Demonstrators carrying flags and placards during a protest in support of Palestinians, amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. — Reuters
AT the Democratic convention recently, Jon Polin, the father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American hostage held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, reminded listeners that there was a “surplus of agony” on all sides of the conflict in the Middle East.
“In a competition of pain,” Polin said, “there are no winners.”
But there’s one group whose pain was not be heard from the convention stage: Palestinian Americans. And there is a loser: the Democratic Party.
A group of “uncommitted” Democratic delegates, who were elected to oppose American support for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, said that their request to have a Palestinian American Democrat address the convention briefly – with a speech vetted by convention organisers – was flat-out denied.
The Democrats had a remarkable “big tent” convention, including even a few Republican speakers. The protests were fairly mild, staving off fears of 1968-style chaos. Nominating Kamala Harris has given the party a huge boost, but it had squandered the chance for a fresh start on this painful, divisive issue.
The heartbroken delegates ended up doing an impromptu sit-in in front of the convention doors, but it was more like a cry-in. Many have family members in Gaza or the West Bank and tearfully talked of their fears that they’d be killed.
Couldn’t the Democrats find one Palestinian American to bring up such a crucial issue?
How about state Representative Ruwa Romman, from the swing state of Georgia, who said her proposed but rejected speech “urged us to unite behind Harris, criticised Trump and spoke about the promise of this moment”?
Alana Zeitchik, a family member of a hostage, quickly supported Romman’s bid for a convention slot, posting that she also believes “a Palestinian American voice deserves to be heard on that stage.”
Or how about Rima Mohammad, a professor in Michigan – a must-win state for Harris, with many Arab American voters – who said she was grateful for the chance America gave to a refugee like her? But she also feared Harris could lose her state.
Some of the uncommitted delegates and their supporters are Jewish. Lily Greenberg Call came by the sit-in to say that she lost loved ones in the Oct 7 attack, but that her Jewish identity compelled her to speak up on the suffering in Gaza. Rima cried as the two women hugged.
These delegates aren’t protesters and they aren’t Green Party’s Jill Stein voters. They merely want a voice in their party, and many delegates largely agree with their positions. Polls show most of the party base does, too.
At the DNC, the delegates said they had hoped for a last-minute change of heart. That would have been the right thing to do, as well as strategically smart.
As Jon Polin, who also supports a ceasefire, made clear, it didn’t make sense to pit the suffering of one group against another. Democratic leaders should have picked up the phone and made that call. — ©2024 The New York Times Company
