Journalist Noah Lanard just published a piece in Mother Jones, outlining how the Democratic National Convention has refused to allow any Palestinian to address the convention. This despite the “…thirty uncommitted delegates at the DNC representing the hundreds of thousands who voted uncommitted in lieu of supporting President Joe Biden’s primary campaign. They have been calling for a ceasefire and a halt to arms transfers to Israel while in Chicago.”
The Uncommitted Movement put forth a list of possible Palestinian speakers and offered to have the chosen speaker’s speech vetted and edited by the Harris campaign. State Rep. Ruwa Romman (Georgia) was considered a strong choice since she’s a Democratic representative in a swing state.
Romman called herself a safe, last resort. “If an elected official in a swing state who is Palestinian cannot make it on that stage nobody else can,” she told Mother Jones.
Democrats’ cowardice runs very deep because not only are they not allowing a Palestinian on the stage, they were comfortable giving speech-time to a Republican from Georgia.
Here is the speech Romman was not allowed to give:
My name is Ruwa Romman, and I’m honored to be the first Palestinian elected to public office in the great state of Georgia and the first Palestinian to ever speak at the Democratic National Convention. My story begins in a small village near Jerusalem, called Suba, where my dad’s family is from. My mom’s roots trace back to Al Khalil, or Hebron. My parents, born in Jordan, brought us to Georgia when I was eight, where I now live with my wonderful husband and our sweet pets.
Growing up, my grandfather and I shared a special bond. He was my partner in mischief—whether it was sneaking me sweets from the bodega or slipping a $20 into my pocket with that familiar wink and smile. He was my rock, but he passed away a few years ago, never seeing Suba or any part of Palestine again. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss him.
This past year has been especially hard. As we’ve been moral witnesses to the massacres in Gaza, I’ve thought of him, wondering if this was the pain he knew too well. When we watched Palestinians displaced from one end of the Gaza Strip to the other I wanted to ask him how he found the strength to walk all those miles decades ago and leave everything behind.
But in this pain, I’ve also witnessed something profound—a beautiful, multifaith, multiracial, and multigenerational coalition rising from despair within our Democratic Party. For 320 days, we’ve stood together, demanding to enforce our laws on friend and foe alike to reach a ceasefire, end the killing of Palestinians, free all the Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and to begin the difficult work of building a path to collective peace and safety. That’s why we are here—members of this Democratic Party committed to equal rights and dignity for all. What we do here echoes around the world.
They’ll say this is how it’s always been, that nothing can change. But remember Fannie Lou Hamer—shunned for her courage, yet she paved the way for an integrated Democratic Party. Her legacy lives on, and it’s her example we follow.
But we can’t do it alone. This historic moment is full of promise, but only if we stand together. Our party’s greatest strength has always been our ability to unite. Some see that as a weakness, but it’s time we flex that strength.
Let’s commit to each other, to electing Vice President Harris and defeating Donald Trump who uses my identity as a Palestinian as a slur. Let’s fight for the policies long overdue—from restoring access to abortions to ensuring a living wage, to demanding an end to reckless war and a ceasefire in Gaza. To those who doubt us, to the cynics and the naysayers, I say, yes we can—yes we can be a Democratic Party that prioritizes funding our schools and hospitals, not for endless wars. That fights for an America that belongs to all of us—Black, brown, and white, Jews and Palestinians, all of us, like my grandfather taught me, together.
Again, here’s the link to the entire article.
I haven’t watched any of the convention, but apparently a former Trump press secretary and a border control agent were allowed to speak. The Dems are very eager to lurch rightward as they plug their ears and la-la-la their way past the tens of thousands of protestors outside the convention, demonstrating for an arms embargo and immediate ceasefire. Children are literally having their heads blown off by bombs, made and supplied to Israel by the U.S., but the Dems can’t be bothered with acting on behalf of the majority of people in this country who do not want their taxes funding a genocide.
I’d like to believe the Dems will reflect on this when they lose untold numbers of much-needed votes in November. However, I’ve been around long enough to know it’s never, ever the candidate’s fault. The blame will be placed on voters who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for the blood-soaked candidates busy enabling the most horrific atrocities of our lifetime.
Shame on them.
Tracy Abell 