New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for the Democratic National Convention to include Palestinian voices Wednesday night, as uncommitted delegates protested by hosting a “sit-in” outside the venue in Chicago.
Ocasio-Cortez, known as AOC, posted on X, formerly Twitter, in reaction to news that the DNC had not included any Palestinian speakers in its four-day line-up.
That decision came as the parents of an American hostage in Gaza, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, spoke to delegates, with chants of “bring them home” ringing out, referring to those taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
“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,” AOC posted. “To deny that story is to participate in the dehumanization of Palestinians.
“The DNC must change course and affirm our shared humanity.”
Alex Wong/Getty Images
The New York representative has been outspoken about Israel’s actions since, accusing the country of committing genocide.
The decision to not include voices of Palestinians at an event in a city home to one of the country’s largest Palestinian populations did not go unnoticed.
While pro-Palestinian protesters have walked the streets over the past three nights, uncommitted Democratic delegates staged a sit-in Wednesday that quickly gained attention outside the United Center.
Participants from the Uncommitted National Movement cried and hugged each other as some shared stories of the violence in Gaza, as headline speakers took to the stage inside the venue,
“Excluding a Palestinian speaker betrays the party’s commitment in our platform to valuing Israelis and Palestinian lives equally,” the group posted on X. “Vice President Harris must unite this party with a vision that fights for everyone, including Palestinians.”
The @uncommittedmvmt is hosting a sit-in outside of the convention center calling on the @DNC to have a Palestinian person speak on stage before the convention ends. They’ve also called on uncommitted delegates and Harris delegates alike to come out and sit-in solidarity. pic.twitter.com/IoB13EPVNv
— Chi Ossé (@OsseChi) August 22, 2024
Organizers said they would not leave until they received a call from VP Harris.
“We will conduct a moral act of sitting in at the Convention to push our party to better align our actions, instead of just our words, with the notion that every life is valuable by simply allowing a Palestinian American to speak from the stage,” a joint statement from Abbas Alawieh, June Rose, Sabrene Odeh, and Uncommitted delegates at the United Center read.
Others taking part spoke of their experiences of verbal abuse and harassment as Palestinians in the U.S., with one saying she should not feel like a “second-tier citizen”.
Newsweek reached out to the DNC on Wednesday evening by email for further comment.
Follow Newsweek‘s live DNC updates here.
Do you have a story Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com
