“Stop Arming Israel”: Meet the DNC Delegates Who Unfurled Banner During Biden Speech

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, “War, Peace and the Presidency: Breaking with Convention.” I’m Amy Goodman, here with Juan González in Chicago.

On Monday night, President Biden headlined the opening night of the Democratic National Convention. A few minutes into his remarks, three delegates unfurled a banner that read “Stop Arming Israel.” The action took place where the Florida delegation was sitting. While some other delegates snatched the banner away, many delegates quickly raised Joe Biden placards that read “Thank you, Joe” and “I love Joe” to block any view of the banner. More and more of those placards were brought out to cover the banner as much as possible. The protesting delegates who unfurled that banner were quickly escorted from the convention floor by security. Democracy Now! was nearby when it happened.

BIDEN SUPPORTERS: Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I wasn’t looking in the past. I was looking in the future.

DELEGATE: We have a right. We have a right. We have a right.

BIDEN SUPPORTERS: We love Joe! We love Joe! We love Joe!

BIDEN SUPPORTER 1: Get him out. He’s threatening her. He’s threatening her. Get him out.

AMY GOODMAN: Sir? Sir? Sir?

BIDEN SUPPORTER 2: Ma’am, we’re trying to listen to the president.

AMY GOODMAN: What are you doing?

BIDEN SUPPORTER 2: We’re trying to listen to the president. Sir, you are committing assault.

LIANO SHARON: I’m trying to protest.

BIDEN SUPPORTER 3: We’re trying to listen to the president.

LIANO SHARON: I’m trying to protest the murder of children in Gaza. I’m trying to protest. [inaudible] This is the only way [inaudible] America is through protest.

AMY GOODMAN: What’s your name, sir? Sir, what’s your name?

LIANO SHARON: My name’s Liano Sharon. I’m a DNC delegate from Michigan.

SECURITY GUARD: Can we wait ’til you’re downstairs?

AMY GOODMAN: And what did you do today?

LIANO SHARON: Today, we held up a sign protesting the murder of children in Gaza and the continuing genocide.

SECURITY GUARD: Watch your step. Watch your step.

REPORTER: What did the sign say?

LIANO SHARON: It said “Stop Arming Israel.”

SECURITY GUARD: All right, thank you. Let’s keep it going. [inaudible]

REPORTER: What was your name, sir?

LIANO SHARON: Liano Sharon.

AMY GOODMAN: And what happened then?

SECURITY GUARD: Let’s get into the tunnel. You can interview him in the tunnel. OK?

AMY GOODMAN: And what happened next?

SECURITY GUARD: I just don’t want you to break your ankles.

LIANO SHARON: Then the people behind us grabbed a hold of the sign and tried to rip it out of our hands several times. Eventually, they succeeded.

SECURITY GUARD: Interview in the hall, OK? Let’s get him down. All right, thanks for being cooperative, sir.

LIANO SHARON: Yeah, no problem.

SECURITY GUARD: OK. Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: And why did — and why did you do it?

LIANO SHARON: I did that because we are currently funding a genocide.

BIDEN SUPPORTER 4: Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!

LIANO SHARON: And we need to — and it needs to stop. And also, I want to — I want to make it clear to the Harris campaign that this is actually in their interest. Netanyahu is trying to instigate a larger war so he can remain in power and avoid going to prison.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now by the three DNC delegates who unfurled the “Stop Arming Israel” banner. They’re all members of Delegates Against Genocide. Nadia Ahmad is a Florida Democratic National Committee delegate and member. Liano Sharon is a longtime Jewish progressive activist, an elected DNC delegate from Michigan. And Esam Boraey is a delegate from Connecticut.

We welcome you all to Democracy Now! here in Chicago. Liano, I want to start with you, because you were the one escorted out by security. If you can explain further why you did what you did? As we heard in that clip as you were talking as you were taken out, you’re a Jewish Michigan delegate, a Democratic National Committee member.

LIANO SHARON: Mm-hmm. Well, I mean, as I said when I was escorted out, you know, I was always raised as a Jew that “never again” means never again for anyone, anywhere, ever, period. And that’s not what we’re doing. We are currently continuing to arm a Zionist regime that is set on genocide and mass murder of children, and we need to stop that. And there isn’t anything else that is as important as that in this moment. So, that’s why I did it.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Esam, I’d like to ask how you managed to organize it. You’re from different states. And the motivation for you to get involved in this kind of protest right on the floor of the convention?

ESAM BORAEY: Well, thanks to Nadia, since we learned that we would be part of the DNC delegation to Chicago, we quickly came together with our history together on organizing and activism in the community since the war on Gaza started, and we decided to do something, and we wanted to make sure that our voices are heard. We tried multiple ways and many ways of doing these things, and that was our last resort last night.

It means a lot because, you know, as an immigrant myself, I was once political activist back in my home country of Egypt, and I was kicked out of the country because I was pushing for justice and equality for everybody. And I believe, and I still do, that within the convention, that will be the best platform that our voices will be heard. And this is why, following Nadia’s lead on that, we decided to do something yesterday.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Nadia, this was your delegation. This was the Florida delegation where you unfurled this banner. It was almost as if they knew. I mean, I was amazed at the alacrity with which, first, they immediately put up these banners that said “We love Joe,” “Thank you, Joe,” but they didn’t have enough to cover the banner, and so someone had a large stash of them, and they were bringing more and more, and they were handing them out so people were holding two and three to cover up this banner. Did other delegates know or in any way support what you did? And talk about your work in Florida. You’re a professor. You’re also getting a Ph.D.

NADIA AHMAD: So, for me, this was really a matter of being able to speak up for the community. And this was a moment where we have a massive audience, and we were there specifically to confront President Joe Biden. We could have confronted at any time at that convention, but we chose specifically during President Joe Biden’s address, because he’s the one who can stop this genocide by picking up the phone and making a phone call, and he has chosen not to do that.

And for the organizing that we have done, it’s really something that has happened on its own, whether you saw with the student encampments that have happened since April, and also with the protests that’s been just endless and ceaseless. And we felt that we could make a change within the party, and that’s why we took the actions that we did. And I specifically decided to do it in Florida, and that was just a strategic location, because we felt that it would be harder for them to take down the banner right away. But I don’t think they knew about it. But what they did — because throughout the time that we were there, they kept giving banners and posters. So, they just started to just give a lot more in that particular area.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I’m wondering, just tactically, how you managed to get the banner in, because I’m sure that they’re on the lookout for any kind of protest signs that are not part of the official placards that are distributed at the convention.

NADIA AHMAD: So, I was a reporter for six years. I’m an attorney and a law professor. I’ve been to the White House a number of times. I’ve been to DNC events. So I know like the level of security that they will go through. And I also felt that if I didn’t wear anything — like, I wore hijab — I tried to wear something that wouldn’t attract attention, so I wore a large dress to kind of — just wrapped around myself.

AMY GOODMAN: You’re wearing a Yale University T-shirt right now.

NADIA AHMAD: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: What’s your connection?

NADIA AHMAD: So, I’m a Ph.D. student there. I was also the first visible Muslim woman, or a hijabi, to be somebody who taught there with the rank of professor.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I’m wondering, for any of you, the conversations you’ve been having with fellow delegates, what your sense is of the unspoken support that exists for Gaza among the delegates who don’t dare say anything?

LIANO SHARON: There’s a great deal of it. We spoke to a large number of delegates, and the vast majority of the people that we spoke to, certainly the people that I spoke to, were supportive of the idea, but were intimidated by the party. In fact, we know of people who were told explicitly that, “If you participate in this, you will never have a position in the party again.” And that’s the kind of intimidation that we really have to expunge from the Democratic Party, because we have a right to protest and to have our voices heard and to have our opinions known.

AMY GOODMAN: Describe the sash that you’re wearing.

LIANO SHARON: This is a Palestinian symbol, a keffiyeh. This is a — these lines symbolize the Mediterranean Sea, and the dots symbolize the olives, which are, you know, important symbols of Palestine. And it says “Democrats for Palestinian Rights,” which I don’t know why anybody in the Democratic Party could possibly object to Palestinian rights or human rights anywhere.

AMY GOODMAN: Esam, can you describe what happened to you on Sunday around a Palestinian flag?

ESAM BORAEY: Oh, yeah. So, we arrived — I arrived in Chicago on Sunday afternoon. And as part of our efforts to raise the Palestinian issue within the party, we were invited to an event by the American Palestinian Community Association. And there, they shared, gave us flags, Palestinian flags, and pens. So, I didn’t have time to go — after that event, to go back to my hotel room and drop my stuff, so I decided to go, to carry my bag to the reception party. And at the gates, they asked me to open my bag, which I did. And then they started digging into my bag.

And immediately the security guard held my bag from me and said, “You need to wait for a minute,” and then called his supervisor, who came along and looked at the bag and said, “OK, we need to call someone.” So he called the DNC people, who showed up. And I kept begging for any explanation, so the supervisor told me, like, “I’m not going to give you an explanation. The DNC will do. But we’re not going to let you in.” And then the DNC employees showed up, and they asked me to leave or leave the bag behind. I was not allowed to get in with the flag inside. I told them that I’m not planning on anything. I’m just — just a flag in my bag, there is no harm found in that whatsoever. But they forced me to go back and leave my bag outside and come in without the bag, which was very concerning.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I’m wondering, after this convention is over, the debate that will continue among those who believe that the Biden administration, whether it’s President Biden or Kamala Harris, are not really moving in the way they should to end this war, what your sense is of what’s going to happen in the future in terms of the Gaza support movement. And also, I’m getting the feeling that the Biden administration is really trying to rush to announce a ceasefire before this convention is over, as a means of building greater unity within the Democratic Party. Your thoughts on that?

ESAM BORAEY: We’ve seen a lot of change in the rhetoric of the party, which is something we really appreciate and support. But that rhetoric is not going to cause any real change on the ground. So, we are — I believe our efforts to push forward will continue.

However, we have a biggest concern. Like, let’s be honest here for a second. So, we’ve been, for the last — all last night, we’ve been hearing about “We are stopping the fascism from coming to the American politics, and Trump will come back and bring all of the fascism to the American politics again.” And here we are, a hijabi woman, a Jew and an immigrant, who just raised a banner. And the immediate reaction was someone from the Democratic Party who started beating a hijabi woman with a sign on her head, and three others pulled down just the banner, while the staff of the DNC encouraged everybody to raise their signs as high as possible to block just the simple banner. So, if we are fighting fascism, what are we doing in the convention center?

AMY GOODMAN: Nadia, we’re going to give you the last word, and, actually, I’d like to know if any of you want to share, with whether you are going to support Kamala Harris in November, what your thoughts are, what your bar is.

NADIA AHMAD: So, Kamala Harris has to decide if she wants me to support her, because every vote has to be earned. That’s been the position of the Democratic Party. And the Democratic Party has taken the Muslim vote, even the African American vote, for granted for a number of years, because what are we going to support? A Muslim ban?

But we have to decide as a community how we’re going to decide. And so, 80% of the Muslim community, even higher number, depending on which state you live in, are against the Biden administration and are very much against supporting the Democratic Party. And so, if we look at that, I mean, I live in a red state, so it’s hard for my vote to have that much of an impact, but it’s going to really have an impact.

AMY GOODMAN: Liano? We have 10 seconds.

LIANO SHARON: So, I plan to vote for Harris, OK? Because I don’t want Trump. That’s the only reason. I’m not really voting for Harris; I’m voting against Trump.

AMY GOODMAN: And Esam?

ESAM BORAEY: I’m a proud Democratic Party member, but vice president needs to earn my vote.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to leave it there. I want to thank you all for being with us, Esam Boraey, a Connecticut delegate; Liano Sharon, a Michigan delegate; and Nadia Ahmad, a Florida delegate. All three, with Delegates Against Genocide, unfurled a banner that read “Stop Arming Israel.”

That does it for our broadcast. It’s now an expanded two-hour broadcast during the DNC. Check it all out at democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González, from CAN TV in Chicago.