At the Democratic National Committee, Ilhan Omar defends Palestine

Photo: Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Over the past decade, Minnesota State Representative Ilhan Omar has been one of the only voices in the American political establishment to consistently speak out in support of the Palestinian people. On Wednesday, she participated in a pro-Palestinian rally outside the Democratic National Convention.

CNN reports that the sit-in was organized by Hostage Movement co-founder Abbas Alawieh after he received a phone call from a DNC official refusing the group’s request to have a Palestinian speaker. The protest followed a statement from the Hostage Movement, an anti-war, pro-Palestinian group of future Democratic voters who choose to remain uncommitted in order to advocate for a ceasefire in Palestine and an arms embargo on Israel, calling for Palestinian voices to be heard at the convention. “We are learning that the families of the Israeli hostages will be speaking from the main stage. We strongly support this decision and also very much hope that we will also hear from the Palestinians who have suffered the highest number of civilian deaths since 1948,” the statement read.

As protesters read the names of Palestinian children killed in the genocide, some DNC attendees were filmed covering their ears as they passed:

Uncommitted’s statement noted that the group had provided the Democratic Party with a list of potential speakers. Georgia Rep. Ruwa Romman, who could have been selected to speak, tweeted that her speech would have “urged us to unite behind Harris, criticized Trump, and spoken to the promise of this moment” and later released the full speech with Mother Jones.

Omar wasn’t the only political figure calling for Palestinian voices to be heard at the DNC. AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush and others, including the United Auto Workers, tweeted their support:

The group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz announced in a statement that it would be disbanding following the news. “We cannot, in good conscience, continue to be a part of Muslim Women for Harris-Walz in light of this new information from the Uncommitted Movement that Vice President Harris’ team declined their request to have a Palestinian-American speaker at the DNC.”

During the DNC this week, the violence in Gaza went largely unnoticed on the main stage. Earlier Wednesday, Omar spoke alongside Uncommitted activists to express her support for the effort and her pride in the 32 percent of voters in her own district who cast uncommitted ballots in the Democratic presidential primary. “It has been unconscionable to me, over the last 10 months, to watch my colleagues in this administration refuse to acknowledge the genocidal war that is going on in Gaza; to not see the mothers who have lost countless children, the babies whose bodies are being exhumed, to not understand that working tirelessly for a ceasefire is really not a thing, and that they should be ashamed of themselves for saying such things,” she said. “Because we are supplying these weapons, so if you really wanted a ceasefire, you would just stop sending weapons.”

Her comments were widely interpreted as a response to AOC’s speech at the DNC on Monday, in which she said Kamala Harris is “working tirelessly to get a ceasefire in Gaza and bring the hostages home.” It’s worth noting, however, that Omar tweeted in support of AOC’s speech, and on Wednesday she went on to specifically refer to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “How do we allow our Secretary of State to go to Israel, say, ‘We’re about to get a ceasefire,’ now for the 11th time, leave for Egypt, only to have Bibi Netanyahu hold a press conference right after him and say, ‘We will not accept a deal that ends this war’?” She then thanked the uncommitted voters and her fellow Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush for their pro-Palestinian advocacy.

As for Kamala Harris, when interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters at a rally earlier this month, she responded defensively, saying, “You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, say so. If you don’t, I’ll do the talking.” According to the New York Times TimesShe met with Alawieh and her No Commitment Movement co-founder, Layla Elabed, earlier in the day. Describing the meeting, a campaign spokesperson told the Times Harris has “reaffirmed that her campaign will continue to engage with these communities.” But for now, it appears that the Harris-Walz campaign’s willingness to engage does not include giving Palestinians a chance to speak for themselves at the DNC.