“Stop Sending Bombs”: Rep. Ilhan Omar Visits Uncommitted Sit-In & Demands Israeli Arms Embargo

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Delegates from the “uncommitted” movement and their allies launched a sit-in protest Wednesday night after the DNC refused to let a Palestinian American take the main stage, despite allowing the parents of an American Israeli hostage to address the convention. Uncommitted delegates were selected in state Democratic primaries earlier this year to call for an end to the Biden administration’s backing of Israel in its assault on Gaza. The sit-in continued throughout the night and is still ongoing at the time of this broadcast.

Among those who addressed the crowd last night at the sit-in was Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian American who is a Georgia state representative and an uncommitted delegate. She was among the list of speakers offered by the uncommitted movement that the DNC refused to allow onstage. This is some of what she had to say last night.

REP. RUWA ROMMAN: Good evening, everybody. My name is Ruwa Romman. I am a Georgia state representative. I am an elected Democrat. I come from the swing state of Georgia.

We are not here to create any divisions. As my colleagues have said over and over and over again, the only reason we are here — the only reason we are here — is to ensure that Donald Trump will never make it to the White House, and save the lives of the people that we love. It’s about the fact that today I watched my party say, “Our tent can fit anti-choice Republicans,” but it can’t fit an elected official like me? I do not understand. I do not understand why being a Palestinian has become disqualifying in this country.

I don’t know how much more we have to prove. All of us have decade-or-more-long résumés working for this party, because we know that this party is the only one that’s ever tried to meet the promise of our country. We are here to literally save the soul of our party. I do not understand why that is a bad thing.

This would have truly and sincerely been a beautiful gesture to show this party cares about the cries of an Israeli child the same way they care about the cries of a Palestinian child. We are not asking for too much. All we wanted was to be on that stage and show people desperate for hope there is something to hope for.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Georgia state representative, uncommitted delegate Ruwa Romman. Among those who came to the sit-in to express their support were Pennsylvania Congresswoman Summer Lee and Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. I caught up with Congressmember Omar at the sit-in last night.

AMY GOODMAN: The uncommitted delegates are here asking for a Palestinian speaker on the stage of the DNC. Do you support this?

REP. ILHAN OMAR: Yes, I did put in a request for that accommodation to be made, both to the Harris campaign and to the chairman of the DNC. I am hopeful that they will hear. It’s not just me who made that request. There’s multiple leaders within the Democratic Party who are here, have also made that request.

AMY GOODMAN: And the delegates here who have sat down asking for this one response say they’ve been simply told no.

REP. ILHAN OMAR: Mm-hmm. Well, that’s — that’s heartbreaking to learn. That hasn’t been the response. The response was, to me, “Be patient. We’ll figure out something.” And it’s unfortunate if they have been told no.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you think there’s still a chance for them to change their minds?

REP. ILHAN OMAR: Every phone call I’ve had, every conversation I’ve had today, has been, “Be patient with us. We’ll figure something out.” So…

AMY GOODMAN: Do you think Vice President Harris takes a different position than President Biden on the issue of an arms embargo, on the issue of stopping supporting Israel’s assault on Gaza?

REP. ILHAN OMAR: She has certainly been more forceful in talking about how this war and its devastation is unconscionable. I do hope that tomorrow we get to hear what her policy positions will be going forward.

AMY GOODMAN: You spoke earlier today. Can you talk about your message?

REP. ILHAN OMAR: My message is, this is not about just winning votes. It’s about living up to the words that we say about caring for our neighbors, for having a heart, for being compassionate. If that is who we are as Democrats, there is no compassion in continuing to fund this genocidal war. There is no compassion in turning our heads away from the piles of dead bodies that have been going on for the last 10 years. There is no compassion and care in simply keeping this the status quo. There is compassion and care in saying we know that a ceasefire is only possible if we use every leverage that we have. And the biggest leverage that we have is to stop sending bombs. Thank you all.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. She visited the sit-in, where we are going right now.