(NewsNation) — After the Democratic National Convention denied a request from protesters to have a Palestinian voice address the crowd, uncommitted delegates organized a sit-in to urge Vice President Kamala Harris to call for a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas War.
Asma Mohammed, chair of the Minnesota uncommitted delegates, joined “NewsNation Live” to talk about the sit-in and why the Democratic Party and Harris should support a cease-fire.
“A majority of democrats support a permanent, immediate cease-fire and an end to the flow of weapons, the endless flow of weapons, to Israel,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed said that she thinks it’s important that the party is enthusiastic about the candidate, but that the amount of delegates asking Harris to call for a cease-fire is continuing to grow.
“Now we have 300 Harris delegates, people who have pledged to vote for Kamala Harris, who are now calling themselves ‘cease-fire delegates,’” Mohammed said. “They are asking her publicly to call for a permanent, immediate cease-fire and to call for an arms embargo against Israel.”
According to Mohammed, the group requested to have a Palestinian person address the convention months ago, and they weren’t told a hard no until the eve of the last day of the convention.
The family member of an Israeli hostage being held by Hamas spoke at the convention and called for a cease-fire, and Mohammed said this was important.
“Even hostage families have been protesting for months now for the bombs to stop, they’ve been protesting for months for a hostage deal, they’ve been protesting for months to tell Benjamin Netanyahu to stop,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed said that having a Palestinian or Palestinian American voice at the DNC would have been a big win for the uncommitted delegates and many in the Democratic Party who feel that the U.S. should stop sending aid to Israel.
“I’m a Democrat and I know that there is room in this party for Palestinian-Americans because I’ve been a part of this party my entire life,” Mohammed said. “I am ready to have this conversation about why we can’t have a Palestinian American on stage.”