Mother Jones illustration; Photo courtesy of Noah Lanard

On Wednesday night, the Uncommitted Movement called a surprise press conference outside the United Center Arena. Under giant glowing signs of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, delegate Abbas Alawieh announced that a few hours earlier the Harris campaign had given him a call. After about two months of asking, the Uncommitted movement had gotten the news: They would not be granted a speaker at the Democratic National Convention.

That means, barring any change, not a single Palestinian or Palestinian-American will be given the chance to step on to the DNC stage. Alawieh, a longtime Democratic congressional staffer—a man who has dedicated his life to working within the system—said he was “stunned” by the refusal of the request: “I said, what do you mean? We just want our voices to be heard.”

At press conference Monday Layla Elabed on a Palestinian American being denied a speaking slot at the DNC.

The “party platform that came out on Monday and it said we value both Palestinian and Israeli lives equally. And that is simply not what has been shown.” pic.twitter.com/7IIdTtbUna

At the DNC, Republican staffers have been offered the chance. An Uber lawyer who is high in the campaign got a prime-time slot. But not a single Palestinian has been given even five minutes on that stage. The Uncommitted movement tried, as Alawieh explained, to appease. He said they offered the DNC an extensive list of potential speakers—even offered to find a Palestinian speaker who would endorse Kamala Harris from the........

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