CHICAGO — Yaz Kader heard President Joe Biden call for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza during his swan song Democratic National Convention speech Monday night.
But Kader, a Palestinian American and one of two officially “uncommitted” Washington delegates to the convention, said the pledge rang hollow.
“Words are not enough right now,” said Kader, a registered nurse from Seattle, on Tuesday as local delegates gathered for the second day of the convention. “Over the last 10 months we have seen churches, mosques, schools, universities — almost everything destroyed in Gaza.”
Kader is one of just 36 convention delegates nationally who were not pledged to support Biden before he dropped out of the presidential race. But those delegates, and some thousands of protesters outside the DNC, represent a rare point of tension in a convention otherwise united behind the new Democratic ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Kader pointed to the 40,000 Palestinians killed since Israel launched its Gaza assault following the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack by Hamas forces, in which more than 1,200 were killed and hundreds of hostages taken.
Kader and Washington’s second uncommitted delegate, Sabrene Odeh, said they have not joined the protests outside the DNC and that their goal is not to create a disruption.
They want Harris and Walz to show real signs they’ll differ from Biden and end U.S. arms shipments to Israel. They and other uncommitted delegates said they’re looking for a meeting with Harris’ senior staff to get a sense of her stance. As of Tuesday, that had not happened.
At least four people were handcuffed Tuesday night and led away from a pro-Palestinian demonstration after protesters charged a line of officers, according to The Associated Press. The group, different from the coalition of over 200 groups that organized Monday’s protests, advertised the Tuesday demonstration under the slogan of “Make it great like ‘68,” invoking the anti-Vietnam War protests that seized the city during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Both Odeh and Kader voted “present” during the online roll call that cemented Harris and Walz as the Democratic nominees for president and vice president.
“I entered my vote on behalf of a 10-year-old who was bombed and killed on her 10th birthday,” Odeh said Tuesday, tearing up slightly in an interview.
A relatively tame gesture of protest by Kader, Odeh and other Washington delegates sparked some tensions Monday night.
As Biden spoke, they covered their mouths with their hands and displayed a message of “No More Bombs” written on their bare arms. That spurred other delegates to raise placards in front of them in an effort to block the scene from TV cameras and some nearby journalists.
“Unfortunately, our state party decided that was still too disruptive,” Odeh said.
On Tuesday morning, Scott Forbes, the state party’s executive director, expressed frustration to Kader in a hallway outside the delegation breakfast with actions by some pro-Palestinian protesters in Chicago, saying some had “lied to my face” about their plans.
Forbes declined to say more about what he meant, telling a Seattle Times reporter the convention was meant as to show the world Democrats are unified behind Harris. “That’s what we want to achieve,” he said.
The state Democratic Party officially endorsed a cease-fire in the Gaza war at its convention earlier this year.
Krystal Marx, a Jewish delegate from Washington who also wore a kaffiyeh and joined the “no more bombs” gesture, said the Monday night gesture “was not a disruptive protest — it was just showing displeasure at this one aspect.”
State Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, a delegate who wore a “Proud Jewish Democrat” button on Tuesday, said the Democratic Party has been appropriately inclusive of the views of progressive protesters.
But Senn said she’s concerned that some pro-Palestine protesters have not reciprocated, pointing to protests that canceled a planned joint exhibition at Wing Luke Museum, which sought to compare a history of injustice toward marginalized groups, including Black, Jewish and Asian American people.
“When our super progressive allies are not standing with the Jewish community when we always stand with them — that’s painful,” Senn said.
