Anika Begay
By Andrea Shalal
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Dozens of Muslim delegates and their allies, angered by U.S. support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza, are demanding changes to the Democratic platform and intend to push for an arms embargo this week, warning the party of possible disruptions to high-profile speeches at its national convention in Chicago.
Calling itself “Delegates Against Genocide,” the pro-Palestinian group said it will exercise its free speech rights during key events at the four-day Democratic National Convention, which will be held Monday to formally nominate Vice President Kamala Harris for president in the Nov. 5 election against former Republican President Donald Trump.
The group’s organizers declined to provide details, but said they would propose amendments to the party’s platform and use their delegate rights to speak at the convention.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak on Monday, while Harris is scheduled to speak on Thursday.
Pro-Palestinian delegates say they deserve a bigger role in drafting the party platform. The convention is taking place in Chicago, which has the largest Palestinian-American population of any U.S. city.
The group wants to include language supporting the implementation of laws that prohibit providing military aid to individuals or security forces who commit serious human rights abuses.
“We will make our voices heard,” said Liano Sharon, a business consultant and delegate who co-signed an alternative platform with 34 other delegates. “Freedom of expression necessarily includes the right to stand up and be heard even when the authority in the room says to shut up.”
Harris’s campaign declined to comment.
BIDEN SEEKS CEASEFIRE
The party’s draft program, released in mid-July, calls for “an immediate and lasting ceasefire” in the war and the release of remaining hostages taken to Gaza during the Oct. 7 attack by Islamist Hamas fighters, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed.
The platform does not mention the more than 40,000 people Palestinian health officials in Gaza say were killed in Israel’s subsequent offensive. Nor does it mention any plans to limit U.S. arms shipments to Israel.
The United States on Tuesday approved an additional $20 billion in arms sales to Israel.
Mediators, including the United States, have tried to agree a truce between Israel and Hamas, which rules Gaza, based on a plan Biden presented in May, but have so far failed.
The war between Israel and Hamas, now in its 11th month, has eroded support for Democrats among Muslim and Arab-American voters, who represent crucial votes in key election states such as Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Although activists make up a small fraction of the convention delegates, clashes inside the hall and large protests outside could undermine the party’s plan to unite Democrats around Harris after Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 under pressure from his Democratic colleagues.
“I WILL NOT BE SILENT,” SAYS HARRIS
Pro-Palestinian activists say Harris has been more sympathetic to Gazans than Biden has been. Her national security adviser told X this month that she does not support an arms embargo against Israel.
But after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month, Harris told reporters not only that Israel has the right to defend itself, but also, in reference to Gaza: “We cannot afford to become numb to suffering, and I will not remain silent.”
About 40,000 demonstrators are expected to gather outside the convention on Monday to protest the Biden administration’s stance on Israel. Organizers say the number could swell to more than 100,000.
Nadia Ahmad, a law professor at Barry University in Florida and a delegate, said there were about 60 Muslim delegates, a fraction of the 5,000 total. But their concerns were shared by others, she said.
The Uncommitted National Movement, another effort pushing Democrats to change their Israel policy that won more than 30 delegates in the primary elections, also wants an arms embargo. But it has focused, so far unsuccessfully, on winning a main-stage speaking slot for a Palestinian American or a Gaza aid worker.
On Saturday night, convention organizers added a daytime debate on Arab and Palestinian issues and one on anti-Semitism to Monday’s agenda. American Jews, traditionally Democratic voters, expressed concern about rising anti-Jewish activity, and Muslims decried growing American Islamophobia.
Speakers on the first panel will include Layla Elabed, co-chair of Uncommitted National, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Muslim ally of Biden, and a doctor who has worked on the front lines in Gaza, sources said.
Uncommitted, which has said it has no intention of disrupting the convention, is pressuring Harris to issue a statement on the use of U.S. weapons to kill Palestinians.
