CHICAGO (Reuters) – Disappointed Pro-Palestinian activists said Kamala Harris' speech to close the Democratic convention in Chicago failed to demonstrate any break from the status quo, after a week in which the most divisive issue facing the party was mostly ignored.
Under pressure to respond to critics of US support for Israel's war in Gaza, the vice president used her Thursday night speech to repeat earlier calls for a ceasefire and a hostages deal. She said she supported Israel's right to defend itself while also favoring the Palestinian right to self-determination.
Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement that mobilized more than 750,000 voters to protest US policy on Israel, said Harris missed an opportunity to win over those people, many of whom live in battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
"What's needed in this moment is courageous leadership that breaks from the current approach," Alawieh told Reuters shortly after Harris formally accepted the party's nomination.
Muslim delegates and their allies had pushed for a prime-time speaking slot to address the latest bloodshed in the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which began on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's assault on Hamas-governed Gaza, with the aid of US support, has since killed 40,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, along with displacing nearly its entire 2.3 million population, causing a hunger crisis and flattening almost the entire enclave.
A campaign spokesperson declined to explain the decision not to schedule a speech by a Palestinian speaker at the DNC. The decision was made by DNC organizers in close consultation with the Harris campaign, sources familiar with the discussions said.
Party insiders fear the Gaza war could cost Harris needed votes in battleground states such as Michigan, which is home to cities with significant Muslim and Arab American populations and college campuses that have been the site of Gaza protests.
The convention was held in Chicago, home to the United States' largest Palestinian community, according to the Arab American Institute.
The DNC faced pro-Palestinian protests each day in Chicago, including thousands of demonstrators on Thursday night ahead of Harris' speech. Dozens of arrests were made during the week.
Protesters carried banners that read "No Embargo No Vote" and "No Ceasefire No Vote," while thousands chanted "ceasefire now," and "long live Palestine."
About a dozen delegates from the Uncommitted National Movement spent the previous night on the sidewalk outside the convention to protest the DNC's rejection of their request for a Palestinian speaker.
They welcomed a call for a ceasefire and the return of hostages by the parents of one US hostage held in Gaza – Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin – on Wednesday night, but said they should also have been given a chance to speak.
SOLIDARITY FROM ACTIVISTS
The United Auto Workers union and the Movement for Black Lives are among several groups and individuals who have issued statements of support for the demonstrators. Muslim Women for Harris-Walz said on X it would cease operations after the DNC decision.
"Last night, the DNC made clear that it values Palestinian lives and voices less than others. It is unconscionable to silence Palestinian voices as they face US-funded massacre, starvation and ethnic cleansing," said the Movement for Black Lives, a network of over 150 leaders and organizations.
Ruwa Romman, a Georgia state legislator and delegate who spent the night outside the DNC, said Uncommitted organizers had negotiated with the Harris campaign for weeks and provided a list of possible speakers, only to be rejected.
The Uncommitted delegates re-entered the convention center with locked arms on Thursday evening, shortly before Harris was due to speak.
Prior to Harris' remarks, only a handful of references to the war were made from the DNC stage by Biden, Senators Bernie Sanders and Raphael Warnock, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
One major Harris campaign donor, who requested anonymity to be candid about their private conversations with the campaign, said they worried that without a near-term ceasefire deal and clear statements from Harris about ending the war and protecting civilians, campus protests could flare again when universities resume classes in coming days.
"We need every vote," the donor said.