The group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz announced it will disband on Wednesday following the Democratic National Convention’s refusal of the uncommitted movement’s request to give a Palestinian American a speaking slot, USA Today reported.
For months the uncommitted movement — a group that formed during the Democratic primaries — has fruitlessly asked Democratic leaders to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and implement an arms embargo on Israel.
The group announced a surprise press conference outside the United Center Arena, outside where the DNC was underway. Delegate Abbas Alawiegh claimed that a few hours prior the Harris campaign called him to deny a speaker at the convention despite two months of pleading, Mother Jones reported.
“We cannot in good conscience continue Muslim Women for Harris-Walz, in light of this new information from the uncommitted movement, that VP Harris’ team declined their request to have a Palestinian American speaker take the stage at the DNC,” the group said in a statement following Wednesday night’s convention festivities.
Essentially, the Harris campaign’s denial meant that no Palestinian nor Palestinian-American would be allowed to take the stage. Alaweigh, who has been a longtime Democratic congressional staffer, was left “stunned.”
One of the movement’s founders, Waleed Shahid, said at a news conference on Thursday that the Democratic Party made other offers to the group including meeting with senior campaign officials, just so long as the group wouldn’t take a speaking slot. He alleged that the Harris campaign said the group could not “define the biggest moment of the vice president’s political life.”