A group of Democratic delegates is pushing for a shift in the party’s position on sending US military support to Israel, according to a report from Reuters on Sunday.
The group, called “Delegates Against Genocide,” plans to introduce amendments to the Democratic platform during this week’s national Democratic convention where US Vice President Kamala Harris will be formally nominated as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate.
The delegates, many of whom are Muslim, according to Reuters, have expressed anger over US support for Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, which has resulted in over 40,000 deaths, most of them women, children, and babies.
Citing gross human rights violations, the group is calling for an arms embargo on Israel. It plans to use the convention floor to amplify the message.
The group’s organizers have declined to provide specifics but assured that their voices would be heard during key events in the four-day convention that begins today.
“We’re going to make our voices heard,” said Liano Sharon, a business consultant and delegate who signed an alternative platform along with 34 other delegates. “Freedom of expression necessarily includes the right to stand up and be heard even when the authority in the room says to shut up.”
The convention is taking place in Chicago, Illinois, home to the largest Palestinian-American population in the US, and is seen as a critical moment for the party as it seeks to unify its base ahead of the November 5 elections.
Harris and her running mate for VP, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are on a bus tour through western Pennsylvania before heading to Chicago for the event.