Israeli Americans Spoke At The DNC — So Why Not Palestinian Americans?
Day 3 of the DNC was tense and affords the Democratic Party an opportunity to do what is right
Much happened on Day 3 of the DNC, but I want to share the moment when two Israeli American parents spoke about their son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who is being held hostage by Hamas. It was a powerful moment. Let’s Address This.
Hersh’s father Jon emotionally shared his son’s background and character, and then eloquently stated, “This is a political convention. But needing our only son — and all of the cherished hostages — home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue.” That is a message I hope everyone takes with them—to not lose our humanity.
Jon’s words resonated with the audience as his wife Rachel momentarily broke down in tears. Hersh deserves to come home safe and sound, and as a parent myself I cannot fathom the pain they’re going through. And as I hoped, Hersh’s parents made it a point to not only speak about their own son, but about the Palestinians suffering under the brutal siege. I saw and appreciated this as a beautiful act of solidarity and sincerity.
And while they did not directly call out Netanyahu’s cruelty or incompetence from the DNC stage, the families of the hostages have laid the blame squarely on the Israeli Prime Minister’s shoulders for failing to secure a deal, even calling for his removal from office. As reported:
In a press statement, the families accused Netanyahu of obstructing potential deals by rejecting offers for hostage releases and adopting a hardened stance in talks with Hamas. They criticized the prime minister for making unilateral decisions without consulting the cabinet and accused him of prioritizing his personal interests over the welfare of the hostages.
The DNC did a sincere justice to the hostage families in allowing a detailed 10 minute speech by Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin. The question now remains—why not given Palestinian Americans that same platform?
I spent much of last night, until nearly 3am, standing in solidarity with Jewish and Palestinian Americans outside the United Center, calling on the Democratic Party to allow a Palestinian American speaker to also speak from the DNC stage. As of this writing, they have been denied this request without explanation.
The request to have a Palestinian American speak at the DNC is not to condemn Harris or Biden, but to do what the Goldberg-Polin’s did, humanize the suffering of their family members and help create more mass movement to end this siege and save lives. Here’s my clip from last night, also on Instagram:
Several members of Congress have likewise called for a Palestinian American to speak from the DNC stage, including NY Rep AOC, PA Rep Summer Lee, MN Rep Ilhan Omar, MI Rep Rashid Tlaib, and IL Rep Delia Ramirez, as well as the entire Congressional Progressive Caucus. Joining this chorus to let a Palestinian American speak are MN Attorney General and the United Auto Workers, two of President Biden’s key allies:
A stage that welcomed the family of Israeli hostages (and frankly one that welcomed numerous anti-choice Republicans) should also welcome the families of Palestinians suffering a genocide. It is the fair and just thing to do. Far from hurting Kamala Harris’s chances of winning, it will further increase her chances by broadening our tent and living up to our values of compassion and empathy.
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Palestinian Americans absolutely deserve a voice at the DNC. Palestinians are getting hit from both sides & suffering tremendous losses.
Thanks for this reporting, Qasim, and thanks for joining the many sincere calls on the DNC to welcome Palestinian Americans to join other Americans who speak at the convention and share facts and viewpoints with millions in America and around the world.
I cannot help but remember and be grateful for the observations of the late Edward W Said. He bemoaned the fact that, as with other groups of people, in America and in the world, the sort of discrimination in evidence in at the DNC and in regard to public comments from Palestinian Americans is evidence of a broader, humanly disgraceful discrimination out of fear that is aimed at quieting and thereby making invisible the lives and interests of Palestinians.
The fear that drives this is the discriminators' fear of having personal opinion undermined by the other human beings. It is based on the fraudulent assumption that disagreements do not inform but weaken another person's self-understanding. How can it be that some Americans are self-convinced that it is personally dangerous or threatening to learn from others what the current social and political conditions and cultural norms actually do to dispossess these others of lawful protections and of essential personal and social resources for living?
Those accountable for the discrimination at the DNC will learn the hard lesson that to exclude Palestinian Americans today will alienate many other Americans who otherwise would stand with the Democrats in this election. Not only in this election but in supporting constitutional governance, all Americans must be respected, encouraged to speak candidly and publicly and encouraged to have the constitutional protections and responsibilities for improving civil society governance.