CHICAGO, Illinois — The “Uncommitted” movement is staging a sit-in outside the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being held, demanding that a Palestinian speaker be added to the schedule.
The sit-in is being led by Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the movement, who is a delegate from Michigan. He and fellow Uncommitted delegates marched out of the stadium on Thursday night and began a protest after the convention featured the parents of an Israeli-American hostage but refused to allow a pro-Palestinian speaker.
We are waiting for a phone call from Vice President Harris and the DNC to allow a single Palestinian American speaker to address delegates from the convention stage. #LetPalestineSpeak #NotAnotherBomb pic.twitter.com/nqU7NTX2Um
— Uncommitted National Movement 🌺 (@uncommittedmvmt) August 22, 2024
The activists were joined by left-wing members of Congress throughout Thursday night, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and others.
BREAKING: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) joins a protest sit-in by Uncommitted delegates outside the DNC at Chicago’s United Center. She embraced one of the demonstrators who appeared to become emotional. pic.twitter.com/Vz49P8n1Ie
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) August 22, 2024
The members of the movement say that they will continue their sit-in until they receive word from the Democratic Party leadership that a pro-Palestinian speaker will be allowed to present the case onstage during the convention.
All week long, there have been pro-Palestinian protests in the streets outside the United Center. Some participants have carried Hamas flags, and many have chanted slogans that call for the destruction of the State of Israel.
The Uncommitted movement wants Democrats to commit to ending U.S. support for Israel, especially military aid. They represent a small but significant bloc of voters, especially in Muslim and Arab communities in Michigan, which is an important swing state in the 2024 election. What they choose to do could affect the outcome of the election.
There is one more night of programming: the convention will end after Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech Thursday evening accepting her party’s presidential nomination.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
