Over 200 delegates to Democratic National Convention have been disenfranchised by the platform committee during the virtual meeting on July 28, 2020. The group of delegates are calling the action of the DNC censorship, undemocratic, one-sided, lacks of diverse options and inclusivity after the committee adopted a new foreign policy platform on Israel/Palestine without their input or considering their recommendation.
VA DNC Delegate Zeina Ashrawi-Hutchison, a Palestinian American, who helped draft and organize an effort for a platform that is acceptable and just for all, stated, “we are outraged at the lack of transparency, bias and censorship of our input as representatives of our respective communities in the platform drafting process. Our group of delegates feel that the biased language has been pre-drafted and predetermined behind closed doors without our involvement or knowledge, stripping away any democratic process or input from the elected delegation to the Democratic National Convention.”
Murad Sarama CA DNC Delegate and Chairman of Democrats for Palestine, added, “The Israel lobby group—Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI)—publicly admitted that it had a hand in drafting the platform language on Israel/ Palestine. This is not only problematic for the integrity of the drafting process, but also highlights the blatant and deliberate exclusion of the Palestinian narrative and our representation as Muslim American delegates, by the Democratic Party and its leadership. We have engaged in similar platform language here at the California Democratic Party and we were given the opportunity to negotiate language and even have a vote on the floor from the entire delegation, this did not happen with the DNC platform committee.”
Samia Assed NM DNC delegate and Palestinian American, stated, “How would I ask my community to support the Democratic Party while they don’t see a support for our cause, how would I discuss my engagement with the party with my 9 children? It is unacceptable to us; it is unacceptable to a growing majority of the Democratic Party; and it should be unacceptable to every American who aims for true freedom, justice, human rights, and democracy for all.”
