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‘Uncommitted’ Activists Slam Democrats Over Not Allowing Palestinian to Speak at DNC
Pro-Hamas activists gather in Washington Square Park for a rally following a protest march held in response to an NYPD sweep of an anti-Israel encampment at New York University in Manhattan, May 3, 2024. Photo: Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Anti-Israel activists are lashing out at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) for allegedly refusing their request to allow a speech from a Palestinian speaker.
The Uncommitted National Movement — an initiative which sought to encourage voters to abstain from voting first for US President Joe Biden and then for his vice president, 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, unless they adopted anti-Israel policies — lamented on Wednesday night that the DNC would not platform a Palestinian on the mainstage. The group urged the Democratic Party to reverse its decision.
The group’s demand for stage time appeared to come after the DNC announced the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin — a duel US-Israeli citizen currently being held captive by Hamas in Gaza — would deliver a speech.
“Uncommitted delegates urge the Democratic Party to reject a hierarchy of human value by ensuring Palestinian voices are heard on the main stage. We are learning that Israeli hostages’ families will be speaking from the main stage. We strongly support that decision and also strongly hope that we will also be hearing from Palestinians who’ve endured the largest civilian death toll since 1948,” the group posted on X/Twitter.
The group called on the Democrats to exhibit a commitment to “valuing Israelis and Palestinian lives equally” by allowing someone impacted by the war in Gaza to share their perspective.
“The difficulty in approving even a single Palestinian American speaker among the dozens of speakers on the convention stage sends a troubling message to our anti-war voters, suggesting they aren’t truly included in this party,” the group wrote.
“Uncommitted” pitched Palestinian American Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman as a speaker.
“My speech urged us to unite behind Harris, criticized [Republican presidential nominee Donald] Trump, and spoke about the promise of this moment,” Romman posted on X/Twitter. “The only reason we’re doing this is to save the soul of our party and prevent bad actors from using our pain in an ongoing voter suppression campaign.”
Romman has repeatedly accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza.
A constellation of anti-Israel organizations vowed to wreak havoc at the 2024 DNC. However, only a few thousand of their supporters showed up to protest the convention, falling far short of their expectation of 30,000-40,000 participants. Amid a disappointing protest turnout, pro-Palestinian organizers struck a notably different tone, encouraging their supporters to work alongside the Democratic Party instead of trying to “fight” it.
Some observers have speculated that the DNC does not trust anti-Israel speakers to follow agreed-to talking points, fearing they might use the platform to bash the Biden administration for supporting a so-called “genocide” in Gaza or calling for an “arms embargo” against the Jewish state.
The Harris campaign has made efforts to appease Arab American voters angry at the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Harris met with Uncommitted members prior to holding a campaign rally in Michigan. Harris also held a secret meeting with Abdullah Hammoud, the anti-Israel mayor of Dearborn, Michigan. Following a private meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris also vowed to “not be silent” about civilian casualties in Gaza.
However, the Harris campaign has attempted to mollify concerns with pro-Israel voters that she would abandon the Jewish state if elected president in November. The incumbent vice president denied rumors that she would consider implementing an arms embargo against Israel, emphasizing that she maintains an ironclad commitment to the Jewish state’s security.
Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, spoke about his Jewish faith and the need to combat antisemitism during his DNC speech on Tuesday.
The post ‘Uncommitted’ Activists Slam Democrats Over Not Allowing Palestinian to Speak at DNC 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.