The event was launched at the last minute in February, with Michigan organizers hoping to use the state’s Democratic primary to send a message to President Joe Biden to end support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Six months later, Biden is no longer the Democratic presidential candidate. But his “ironclad” support for America’s wars continues. And the “No Pledge” protest movement that began in Michigan continues.
Initially, the goal was to encourage primary voters across the country to cast “no-will” ballots in protest of the war. But now that the primary season is over, the “no-will” movement has set its sights on a new platform: the Democratic National Convention.
Next week, 30 delegates from eight states, representing some 700,000 voters who cast “no intention” ballots, will head to the convention in Chicago. They were denied an official platform to speak at the convention, but hope their presence will still send a powerful message.
“We are the first delegation representing Palestinian human rights, and I think that’s really important. We are a small but powerful group,” said Asma Mohamed, who organized the “No Pledge” campaign ahead of the Minnesota primary.
Mohamed acknowledged that the “non-committee” delegates would be a minority at the convention. Nevertheless, she stressed that the voter base they represent could be crucial in the November general election.
“There are 30 of us and there are over 4,000 delegates across the country. So we are less than 1% of the delegates,” she told Al Jazeera.
“But inside the convention hall, we will represent the Palestinians who have been slaughtered, and we will represent nearly a million voters across the country who have said they want a ceasefire now, they want an arms embargo now.”
The group asked Dr. Tanya Haji-Hasan, a pediatric intensive care physician who worked in Gaza, to speak at the conference. Mohammed said their appeal was rejected.
Nonetheless, delegates under the banner of the Uncommitted National Movement will host a program of events on the convention’s sidelines, where they will meet with various caucuses and try to rally other delegates committed to the new Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.
‘Fight for human rights’
The Uncommitted National Movement has already taken a stance against the ongoing bloodshed in the Gaza Strip, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Earlier this month, Harris was formally nominated as the Democratic nominee through a virtual roll call, an online ballot in which all delegates could participate.
Instead of voting for Harris, the “non-committee” delegates nominated victims from Gaza. Mohammed was one of the delegates who participated in the protests.
“I voted for Reem Badwan, a 3-year-old boy who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza,” Mohammed said. “And I made it clear that my vote (in the election) depended on a ceasefire and an arms embargo.”
Ahmad Awad, a “disengaged” delegate from New Jersey, called the effort “a symbolic way to highlight the many victims of war.” The 29-year-old lawyer named Abdul Rahman Manhal, a 14-year-old boy killed in November at the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza.
“The district that I represent as a ‘non-committee’ representative includes Paterson and Clifton, New Jersey, which are two places with large Palestinian-American communities. They’re basically like little Ramallahs,” Awad said, using the West Bank city as an analogy.
Awad explained that his involvement with the “No Pledge” movement stems from his family’s history of fighting and surviving human rights abuses.
“Fighting for human rights is deeply ingrained in my DNA,” he told Al Jazeera.
“On my father’s side, my grandparents were all born in Palestine before 1948. On my mother’s side, they are Polish. My grandfather is a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp.”
‘Faith is the best word’
Harris’s sudden entry into the presidential race has activists seeing a potential shift in U.S. policy toward Israel.
Harris won the Democratic nomination after Biden withdrew from the race on July 21 due to concerns about his age and leadership abilities.
While Biden has pursued a “bear hug” policy toward Israel, some observers believe Harris has signaled a willingness to take a harder line.
Shortly after she entered the race, Harris pledged to condemn the suffering of Palestinian civilians. “I will not be silent,” she said after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At a campaign rally in Detroit this month, she spoke briefly with two “non-commitment” leaders, Laila Ellabed and Abbas Alawiyeh, and said she would also talk to the group.
But her campaign has not set a date for the meeting, and Harris’s campaign adviser has dismissed expectations that she would support a full arms embargo on Israel.
Michael Berg, a 49-year-old unofficial delegate from Missouri, said Harris was sending positive signals but had lowered his expectations.
“It’s hard to see where this is going,” Berg said, naming 2-year-old Gaza victim Jihad Khaled Abu Amer as his vote in a virtual vote. “I hope Vice President Harris doesn’t become as obsessed with positions as President Biden is.”
Nonetheless, Berg described himself and the other “unpledged” delegates as steadfast in their mission to advocate for a ceasefire at the Democratic National Convention.
“So we are going to the convention with, I think, decisiveness is the best word. We have a very clear mandate and mission from the people, and we are going to do what we can.”
‘Standing with fellow Kentuckians’
Ahead of the convention, the “Uncommitted” movement added delegates to its group.
For example, Violet Olds ran to represent the “uncommitted” segment of Kentucky voters but initially did not join the movement.
Olds, a digital projects manager, said she was approached by her local Democratic Socialists association to join the national protest movement after she was elected to represent her constituents in the party.
“I actually reached out to other Kentucky voters to find out why they weren’t voting and how I could represent their voice at the convention,” the 41-year-old told Al Jazeera.
“And it all basically comes down to Gaza and Palestine. So I stand with the Kentuckians and the Palestinians.”
During the roll call, Olds revealed the name of Mohammad Barr, a 24-year-old Palestinian with Down syndrome who was mauled to death by an Israeli military dog at his home in Shujayeah, Gaza.
“I have autism, so it means I represent a completely different demographic than the Democratic Party typically represents, and my son is autistic,” Olds said. “So when I heard Mohammad’s story, it really, really, really hit home.”
Others, like Hawaiian delegate Inga Gibson, have long been involved in the Palestinian solidarity movement. In Hawaii’s Democratic primary, about 30 percent of voters voted “no commitment,” the largest percentage of any state. Seven of the island state’s 22 delegates are “no commitment.”
Gibson attributed the turnout to Hawaii’s “history of settler colonialism.”
“Many Native Hawaiians involved in the Palestinian freedom movement have capitalized on that parallel,” she explained.
Gibson, a 52-year-old environmental policy consultant, said the relatively small size of the “no commitments” delegation did not reflect widespread opposition to U.S. support for Israel.
Polls repeatedly show widespread opposition to Israel’s actions among Democrats, and experts say support for Israel could be detrimental to Democrats in several key battleground states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania.
“I don’t think our movement is a minority in any sense, even though our delegates are a minority compared to the 4,000 other delegates,” Gibson said. She named the 22-year-old software engineer Ruba Yaser Nawaz, a Gaza victim, in the roll call.
“Everything we ask for is completely mainstream.”
‘We can’t just make this week a celebration week’
June Rose, Rhode Island’s only “uncommitted” delegate, also said it’s wrong to assume delegates come from the fringes of the Democratic Party.
“We are Democratic experts. I am a senior aide to the Providence City Council. I have spent my career helping to elect Democrats and defeat the Republican Party, which poses a huge risk to the future of our country,” the 29-year-old told Al Jazeera.
“But my relationship with the party can never replace my relationship with my values, and in that case my values and the party are in direct conflict.”
Rose named Ileen Abu Odeh, a toddler who died with his family in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, during the roll call. They explained that the presence of delegates at the Democratic National Convention could be a gut feeling for the party as it charts its course on foreign policy.
“Our party can’t make this week just a celebration, and I think a lot of people in our party want that atmosphere,” Rose said. “But that celebration will be on the graves of the innocent children who were massacred.”
