CHICAGO (AP) — Leaders of an “Uncommitted” movement, which garnered hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries across the nation in protest of the Israel-Hamas war, have been negotiating for weeks to secure a speaking slot for a Palestinian American at the Democratic National Convention this week.
The negotiations stalled late Wednesday when leaders with the Uncommitted National Movement say a Democratic National Committee official called and delivered a firm response: “The answer is no.”
The leader, Abbas Alawieh, an “Uncommitted” delegate to the convention and co-founder of the movement, described the call as shocking after weeks of talks that he felt were positive. In response, he and other delegates decided to stage a sit-in outside Chicago’s United Center, where the convention is being held. They spent the night on the sidewalk on Wednesday, and vowed to remain until their request was granted or the convention ended Thursday night.
“When we ran out of options — doing everything we can and working from the inside, when we ran out of options as uncommitted delegates, we just sat down,” Alawieh said in an interview Thursday.
The Harris campaign declined to comment.
The sit-in outside the United Center has exposed cracks in a Democratic Party that otherwise has rallied around the Harris campaign that has energized the vast majority of party members this week.
The news that the DNC had denied the request of a Palestinian American speaker, just a day after featuring the parents of an Israeli American hostage held by Hamas, ignited fresh criticism from some on the left. The politically powerful United Autoworkers Union, which has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, said the party “must allow a Palestinian American speaker to be heard from the DNC stage tonight.”
Cook County, where Chicago and the convention is located, holds the largest population of Palestinian…
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