Michigan Democratic Party chair joins UAW in pushing for a Palestinian voice at convention

Chicago — The United Auto Workers and the head of the Michigan Democratic Party on Thursday called on organizers of the Democratic National Convention to allow a Palestinian American to address delegates at the final night of the four-day convention amid deep divisions in the party over Israel's war in Gaza.

Uncommitted delegates and supporters staged a sit-in after being told by DNC officials Wednesday night that there wouldn't be a Palestinian American speaking from the convention's main stage inside Chicago's United Center, and they appeared to be continuing the protest Thursday morning.

In a social media post Thursday morning, the Detroit-based auto workers union voiced support for their efforts to secure a speaking slot during the final night of the four-day convention.

"If we want the war in Gaza to end, we can’t put our heads in the sand or ignore the voices of the Palestinian Americans in the Democratic Party," the UAW wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "If we want peace, if we want real democracy, and if we want to win this election, the Democratic Party must allow a Palestinian American speaker to be heard from the DNC stage tonight."

By early evening, the Michigan Democratic Party issued a statement saying state party chairwoman Lavora Barnes "believes that a Palestinian American should have a speaking role at the DNC tonight so that their voices can be heard — all of our delegates are part of our Michigan Democratic party family.”

The governing board of the labor union, which has more than 370,000 members nationally, recently voted to contribute $1.5 million to the Democratic National Committee ahead of this week's national convention, The Detroit News reported Aug. 14.

The UAW called for a ceasefire in December in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and last month signed onto a letter with six other national unions advocating for a U.S. embargo on sending arms to Israel, said Brandon Mancilla, regional director of the UAW's Region 9A.

Mancilla said the union's involvement stems not only from humanitarian concerns, but also from worries that a failure to recognize the concerns of Palestinian Americans could affect the November election. He noted many of the union's members, including those in Dearborn, are affected by the Gaza war.

"I think more needs to be done, more concrete plans. We cannot risk losing the White House because this crisis is enough to keep them home," Mancilla said of uncommitted voters.

The Biden-Harris administration has supported Israel in its war after a Hamas attack into Israel on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 300 people hostage. Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health authority, which makes no distinction between civilian and military casualties. The administration has gradually increased pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire agreement.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that talks are underway among U.S., Egyptian and Israeli officials in Cairo as the White House pushes Israel and Hamas to come to terms on a bridging proposal that would lead to a cease-fire in Gaza, according to a U.S. official.

Several Michigan Democratic lawmakers, including those representing districts with large Arab American and Muslim populations, took to social media Thursday afternoon pushing the DNC to allow a Palestinian on stage.

"The failure of the DNC to make sure a Palestinian voice was heard during the convention cannot be understated," state Rep. Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn, said on social media. "There is still time to make it right, before the convention is gaveled in."

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a Democratic former state lawmaker who spoke to The News Thursday from Dearborn, said the failure to allow a Palestinian American on stage is a "glaring shortfall of this convention" that has left people "deflated."

"For many of us in our community, we really are still trying to figure out: What do you tell constituents? What do you tell residents? What do you tell family and friends?” Hammoud said.

Dearborn's mayor acknowledged that the Arab American and Muslim community is not a monolith. There are likely some who will still vote for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, but he said large numbers are feeling apathetic toward the campaign without real policy change.

"I think apathy will be their choice," Hammoud said of his community. "And there might be a skipping of the presidential question.”

The push for a Palestinian American speaker is among a list of requests presented to the DNC by the Uncommitted Movement, an effort that started in Michigan earlier this year to protest President Joe Biden's ongoing support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

During the Feb. 27 presidential primary, more than 101,000 Michigan residents voted uncommitted in an effort to show the support Democrats could lose if the administration persisted in supplying aid to Israel.

During the DNC's Chicago convention, the group of uncommitted delegates and supporters have had regular press conferences reiterating their calls for an Israel arms embargo and were encouraged by the DNC's allowance of a Palestinian rights panel as part of the convention's programing Monday.

But the group has continued to request a speaking slot on the main stage at United Center and escalated those calls Wednesday when they learned family members of an American being held hostage by Hamas would be speaking.

Michigan uncommitted delegate Abbas Alawieh, one of the founders of the movement in Michigan, stressed that the group supported the inclusion of those family members in the DNC lineup. But he believed the same courtesy should be extended to someone representing Palestinian Americans.

The group got a call rejecting its request for a Palestinian American speaker last night, Alawieh said.

"We think that's unacceptable," Alawieh said in a video posted online Thursday. "We think that this is the party where we shouldn't be silencing people's voices even when we have disagreements about policy."

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Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, whose only son Hersh is among the American hostages taken by Hamas Oct. 7, said their son lost his left forearm during the attack.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin was then "loaded onto a pickup truck and stolen from his life and me and Jon into Gaza. And that was 320 days ago," Goldberg said.

"Since then we live on another planet," she said. "Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can try to imagine the anguish and misery that Jon and I and all the hostage families are enduring."

Goldberg and Polin spoke about their son's plight on stage Wednesday night at the national convention.

During the emotional address, Jon Goldberg said the effort to bring those hostages home is not a political issue, but a humanitarian one. He said Biden and Harris were working "ceaselessly" for a hostage and ceasefire deal.

"There is a surplus of agony on all sides of the tragic conflict in the Middle East," Jon Goldberg said. "In a competition of pain, there are no winners."

eleblanc@detroitnews.com