CHICAGO — As demonstrators gathered in a Chicago park Monday morning to protest U.S. military support for Israel, some Democratic delegates gathered in a conference room deep inside McCormick Place and vowed to push for change from within.
The 30 delegates represent Democratic voters in the primaries who, through their unaffiliated vote, expressed their displeasure with US support for Israel in a war that has claimed more than 40,000 Palestinian victims.
“We were able to send the message that our values, our voices and our rightful place in the Democratic Party cannot be taken for granted,” said Layla Elabed, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement and sister of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, at a press conference Monday morning. “This is our fight for the soul of the Democratic Party.”
The change at the top of the presidential ticket has done little to ease the group’s concerns about support for Israel’s brutal military offensive in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. Vice President Kamala Harris met briefly with Elabed last week, and other delegates said they appreciated Harris’ expressions of sympathy for the Palestinians.
But they want more.
“We need meaningful political change,” said June Rose, an unaffiliated delegate from Rhode Island. “We as Democrats cannot oppose Donald Trump’s fascism at home while supporting Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocide abroad.”
Abbas Alawieh, a delegate from Michigan, said the group was eager to hear Harris’ opinion. “We know how dangerous Donald Trump’s agenda is on Palestine and Israel … and we need Vice President Harris to tell us how she would be different,” he said.
The complex political crosscurrents created by the war in Gaza offered a counterargument to the unity and optimism that were evident on Monday, the opening day of the Democratic National Convention.
The party program emphasizes the US commitment to Israel and condemns the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people.
“The United States strongly supports Israel in its fight against Hamas. And the hard diplomatic work under the President’s leadership has resulted in real progress on a path forward that will free the hostages, bring about a lasting ceasefire, alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza, and enable normalization of relations between Israel and major Arab states, along with meaningful progress and a political horizon for the Palestinian people,” the platform said.
The calls of the undecided delegates to Harris to demand a permanent ceasefire and an end to US military aid to Israel have so far remained unanswered.
The group is also seeking a commitment from the Democratic National Committee to air a prime-time speech by a Palestinian leader on the convention’s main stage.
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison was noncommittal when asked at a separate event Monday morning whether the group’s request for a speaker would be met. “Everyone wants to put forward a speaker,” he said. “I have over 4,000 delegates … and … everyone wants to be on that stage.”
However, the undecided delegates were able to score a victory on Monday: The DNC approved the first official commission on Palestinian human rights.
At the meeting, James Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute, said the last time Palestinians played a key role at a Democratic convention was in 1988, when Jesse Jackson highlighted the issue during his presidential campaign.
The DNC’s willingness to host a panel on Palestinian rights shows a new willingness to discuss the issue, he said. “We’ve never had this forum before,” he said. “It’s not the end, it’s the beginning.”
The unaffiliated delegates said they planned to work within the system, even as they praised protesters from outside. “We are here to fulfill our duties as unaffiliated delegates,” Alawieh said. “We also recognize that protest has dignity, that protesters across the country are raising a central demand … which is the need to respect the human rights of Palestinians, and that protest in our country is a sacred right that we must respect.”
Minneapolis City Council member and unaffiliated delegate Jeremiah Ellison said concerns about the war in Gaza – where more than 40,000 people died during the Israeli offensive – could affect more than just the presidential campaign.
“How disillusioned people are with who is at the top of the ballot definitely affects the election results,” said Ellison, the son of Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general and former House member. “A few people who drop out out of disillusionment are going to … just slide down the ballot.”
Mary Ellen McIntire contributed to this report.
