‘Muslim Women for Harris’ Disbands, Says It Can No Longer Support Her

A group called “Muslim Women for Harris-Walz” is disbanding after the Uncommitted National Movement said it was told a Palestinian American speaker couldn’t address the Democratic National Convention.
Uncommitted delegates began a sit-in outside the United Center in Chicago on Wednesday night after being informed that their request for a speaking slot had been denied. Abbas Alawieh, a delegate from Michigan and co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement, told reporters that he received a call from a convention official on Wednesday, who said: “Abbas, the answer is no.”
The movement emerged during Democratic primary contests when those angry over the Biden administration’s backing of Israel’s war in Gaza were encouraged to deny the president their support by voting “uncommitted.” They are calling for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is leading the Democratic ticket after Biden dropped his re-election bid, to endorse an arms embargo to Israel and back a permanent ceasefire.
Muslim Women for Harris-Walz said on social media that it could not continue its efforts to elect Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, after the decision to deny a Palestinian American speaker time on the convention’s main stage.
“We cannot in good conscience, continue Muslim Women for Harris-Walz, in light of this new information from the Uncommitted movement, that VP Harris’ team declined their request to have a Palestinian American speaker take the stage at the DNC,” the group said in a statement posted on Instagram.
“We pray that the DNC and VP Harris’ team makes the right decision before the convention is over. For the sake of each of us.”
The group said the family of an Israeli hostage “has shown more empathy towards Palestinian Americans and Palestinians, than our candidate or the DNC has. This is a terrible message to send to Democrats. Palestinians have the right to speak about Palestine.”
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, spoke at the convention on Wednesday and called for a ceasefire deal that brings home the hostages and “ends the suffering of the innocent people in Gaza.”
Newsweek has contacted Muslim Women for Harris-Walz for comment via social media. The Harris campaign and convention organizers were contacted for comment via email outside of business hours.
A humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is continuing 11 months after Israel launched its offensive in response to the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, which killed 1,200 people in Israel and saw some 250 people taken hostage. About half were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November.
At least 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, The Associated Press reported, citing the Gaza Health Ministry, but many more dead are feared buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed in airstrikes. It has devastated much of Gaza and displaced the majority of the territory’s 2.3 million residents, often multiple times.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have marched in Chicago every day of the convention.
A forum to discuss the plight of Palestinians in Gaza took place at the convention on Monday. But the decision to allow the parents of an Israeli hostage to speak from the main stage on Wednesday night, while excluding a Palestinian voice prompted accusations of double standards.
“@DNC: Why are you saying that Israeli children are more valuable than Palestinian children? Where is our shared humanity?” Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, wrote on X. “Stop erasing Palestinians. We exist. We deserve to be heard.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the Uncommitted movement said it supported the decision to allow the parents of the hostage to speak, but urged the party to “reject a hierarchy of human value by ensuring Palestinian voices are heard on the main stage.”
The statement said: “Excluding a Palestinian speaker betrays the party’s commitment in our platform to valuing Israelis and Palestinian lives equally. Vice President Harris must unite this party with a vision that fights for everyone, including Palestinians.
“The difficulty in approving even a single Palestinian American speaker among the dozens of speakers on the convention stage sends a troubling message to our anti-war voters, suggesting they aren’t truly included in this party.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also joined calls to allow a Palestinian voice to speak at the convention.
“Just as we must honor the humanity of hostages, so too must we center the humanity of the 40,000 Palestinians killed under Israeli bombardment,” she wrote on X. “To deny that story is to participate in the dehumanization of Palestinians. The @DNC must change course and affirm our shared humanity.”
Update 08/22/24, 6:14 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add additional information.