Dozens of uncommitted delegates selected to represent voters from their home states at the Democratic National Committee Convention met earlier this week, refusing to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris and instead casting protest votes to signal their discontent with the White House’s continued material support for Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians living in Gaza.
In a post shared by one of the uncommitted delegates, Samuel Jacob Doten, it was explained that they had felt “pressure” to cast votes for Harris to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in the 2024 election. Instead of voting for her, however, in a virtual meeting this past Sunday, 29 uncommitted delegates voted in a way to honor their commitments “to push for a nominee who will support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel’s war and occupation against Palestinians.”
“Delegates cast their votes for children, medical workers, journalists, families, and other civilians killed in Gaza,” Doten wrote in the post.
Uncommitted delegates from Hawaii, Michigan, Minnesota, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, Washington and Rhode Island were featured in the video of the meeting.
Although none of the individuals they nominated to be president would lawfully be allowed to run for the office, their votes were deeply symbolic, highlighting the deaths that have occurred in Gaza since last fall. Many of the speakers were visibly emotional, holding back tears as they spoke.
“I cast my ballot today for Mohammed Gamal Al-Haddad, who was murdered by Israel on November 17, 2023,” said Fatima Abed, an uncommitted delegate from Hawaii, who explained in her vote that Al-Haddad, who was 30 years old, was killed by an Israeli missile.
Rima Mohammad, an uncommitted delegate from Michigan, committed her vote to Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israel’s military in January of this year.
“Hind was a child only six years old, as old as my own child, promised safe passage with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society,” Mohammad said in her voting statement. “Her car was shot 335 times. The ambulance she called was hit by a tank using American missiles. Her body was found decomposing 12 days after she was supposed to have found safe passage.”
New Jersey delegate Ahmad Awad cast his ballot for 14-year-old Abdul Rahman Manhal, saying:
Abdul Rahman was a child full of joy and playfulness, who lived a life of fun and adventure. Abdul Rahman was murdered by the Israeli army on November 5, 2023, after sustaining extensive burns to his body from an Israeli airstrike.
The delegates also took the opportunity to discuss their greater aims, including Asma Mohammed, a delegate from Minnesota, who said that the delegates were seeking a meeting with Harris to convince her to change her views on continuing to allow the United States to provide material and financial support for Israel’s genocidal killings.
“These names are not just symbolic — they are showing that we cannot commit to this candidate without real change,” Mohammed said in the video.
Abbas Alawieh, an uncommitted delegate from Michigan, closed the meeting by reminding those watching why they had chosen to cast symbolic votes for Palestinian victims of Israel’s war on Gaza instead of for Harris or any other Democratic Party option.
“We have an obligation to speak their names, together, to make sure we’re honoring their memories, and that in their memories we prevent any more killing using U.S. taxpayer funds and bombs,” Alawieh said.
Largely due to support for her beforehand as Joe Biden’s vice presidential running mate, Harris was quick to secure presumptive nominee status shortly after the incumbent president dropped out of the race. At the conclusion of the virtual roll call vote on Monday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced that Harris was the official nominee.
The roll call vote, happening weeks before the party’s convention in Chicago, was deemed necessary in order to ensure Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, would appear on some states’ ballots, as the deadlines for having their names submitted occur before the convention.
Harris received around 99 percent of the delegates’ votes, according to DNC officials.
“Vice President Harris has historic momentum at her back as we embark on the final steps in officially certifying her as our Party’s nominee,” a joint statement from DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and DNC Convention Chair Minyon Moore read.
For several weeks since Biden’s dropping out, Palestinian solidarity activists have expressed skepticism over Harris, and have urged her to take a more forceful stance against Israel, as well as to commit the U.S. to ending its support of that country and its continued genocidal attacks.
“For months, we’ve warned that Biden’s support for Israel’s assault on Gaza would hurt his electability. Now, it’s crucial for Vice President Harris to take a clear stance against weapons for Israel’s war and occupation against Palestinians,” read a statement from the Uncommitted National Movement in July.
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