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Democratic National Convention to Host Panel on ‘Palestinian Human Rights’
A scene from the anti-Israel protest that took place outside the exhibit “Nova: Oct. 7 6:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still” in New York City on June 10, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Monday will host a panel on “Palestinian human rights,” the latest indication of the growing influence of progressive activists on the Democratic Party’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The convention in Chicago this week to nominate the Democrats’ presidential and vice-presidential nominees for the 2024 US election will feature a panel discussion on Arab and Palestinian issues organized by members of the “Uncommitted National Movement” — an initiative which encouraged voters to withhold support from US President Joe Biden in protest of his support of Israel’s war against the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza.
Monday will mark the first time that the anti-Israel movement will be given such a platform at the DNC. The panel will take place six miles from the main convention action, at a satellite location.
“This week, 30 Uncommitted delegates will be engaging with Democratic leaders inside the DNC, asking them to unite the party, win a ceasefire, and save Palestinian lives by no longer arming Israel. Democratic leaders need to know the delegates represent a grassroots movement,” the Uncommitted movement said on X/Twitter.
“We thank the DNC for recognizing this pivotal issue and remain dedicated to pushing [US President Kamala] Harris to stop providing weapons for Israel’s assault on Gaza,” the organization added.
Uncommitted leaders will attempt to push Harris, the Democratic nominee, to endorse a US arms embargo on Israel along with a permanent ceasefire between the Jewish state and Hamas. The organization argues that its demands will help end a so-called “genocide” in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Top Democrats have spent recent weeks engaging in meetings with leaders of the Uncommitted movement, hoping to mollify angry Arab Americans, a voting bloc which could prove critical in key swing states such as Michigan.
Harris recently held a meeting with Uncommitted leaders ahead of a campaign rally in Michigan. The New York Times and reported that Harris indicated she would be “open to” arranging a meeting with pro-Palestinian activists to discuss an arms embargo on Israel. The Harris campaign later denied such reports, insisting that the nominee “does not support an arms embargo on Israel” and “will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups.”
Harris also reportedly arranged a secret meeting with Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, the state with the largest Arab population in the US. Hammoud has repeatedly condemned Israel’s military operations in Hamas-ruled Gaza, accusing the Jewish state of committing a “genocide” in Gaza and an “ethnic cleansing” in the West Bank. On Oct. 7, following the slaughter of roughly 1,200 people throughout southern Israel by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists, Hammoud condemned the Jewish state as a “racist apartheid system that criminalizes Palestinian existence.”
“Israel’s decades of illegal military occupation and imprisonment of Gaza make peace impossible and tragic violence inevitable,” Hammoud tweeted on Oct. 7. Israel has trapped millions of Palestinians in Gaza in what is recognized by the international community as the world’s largest open-air prison. Failure to recognize this context is the inability to comprehend what is unfolding overseas.”
Hamas-led terrorists kidnapped some 250 hostages during their Oct. 7 rampage and perpetrated mass atrocities, including rampant sexual violence.
The post Democratic National Convention to Host Panel on ‘Palestinian Human Rights’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.