Democrats can't afford to keep silencing Palestinian voices

Following the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago last week, a controversial decision has cast a shadow over the event and exposed a deeply troubling pattern.

The Democratic National Committee's refusal to allow a Palestinian American speaker on the main convention stage has sparked outrage among progressives and activists, highlighting the systematic silencing of Palestinian voices that has intensified over the past 10 months of devastating violence in Gaza.

This erasure is not limited to convention stages. Major news networks like CNN feature Israeli officials at least four times as often as Palestinian voices. When Palestinians do appear, they are often subjected to intense scrutiny and pressed to condemn Hamas - a standard not applied to Israeli guests.

In political negotiations, Palestinians are routinely excluded from discussions about their own future. Even in activist spaces, Palestinian perspectives are sometimes marginalised.

The silencing goes hand in hand with a broader dehumanisation of Palestinians in Western media and political rhetoric. Many in the West, especially many in positions of power, do not believe Palestinian life has value – they do not see us as human beings. If Palestinians are somehow proved to be inherently violent beasts in a man-made cage, then our slaughter can be justified.

This dehumanisation is evident in the language used to describe Palestinian suffering. In Western news coverage, Israeli children are often "killed" in "terror attacks," while Palestinian children simply "die."

The names and stories of Israeli victims are spotlighted, while Palestinians are reduced to statistics. More disturbingly, the deaths of Palestinian civilians are often framed as their own fault, with reports citing "human shields" or vague "security threats."

Numbed to suffering

The impact of this dehumanisation cannot be overstated. It numbs the global community to Palestinian suffering, making it easier to justify or ignore the ongoing genocide.

This erosion of empathy has real-world consequences. It allows politicians like US President Joe Biden and former US President Donald Trump to use "Palestinian" as a slur on national television without significant backlash.

It enables the US government to approve weapons sales to Israel totaling $20 billion, even as evidence of war crimes mounts and video footage of dead Palestinian children have filled our screens and minds. And it leaves Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and other Palestinian territories vulnerable to continued violence and oppression.

The silencing and dehumanisation of Palestinians serve a clear purpose: to maintain the status quo of occupation and apartheid. If people perceive Palestinians as fully human with inherent rights to freedom, dignity, and self-determination, it becomes much harder to justify the decades-long oppression they have endured.

By casting Palestinians as inherently violent or terrorist-aligned, Israel and its allies can more easily dismiss legitimate resistance to occupation as terrorism.

Not such a 'big tent'

For months, "uncommitted" delegates - representing voters who chose that option in Democratic primaries to protest President Biden's handling of the Israel's war on Gaza - had been pushing for a Palestinian voice to be heard from the convention podium.

Their request seemed reasonable, especially given that the parents of an Israeli-American hostage held in Gaza were given speaking time. The delegates saw it as a small gesture that could go a long way in healing divisions and demonstrating the party's commitment to being a "big tent."

Especially as the DNC took place in a city with over 80,000 Palestinians – the largest Palestinian diaspora in America; a city where 6-year-old Wadea al Fayoume was murdered in October because he was Palestinian.

Instead, the DNC's rejection of the request has left many feeling that Palestinians are being erased and excluded from conversations about their own future. As Palestinian-American Georgia State Representative Ruwa Romman put it, "The message I'm personally getting, frankly, is that nothing we do is ever going to be good enough."

The DNC's decision is particularly painful given the devastation wrought by Israel's genocide in Gaza. With the Palestinian death toll now exceeding 40,000, there is a pressing need to hear from those most affected by the onslaught.

Hospitals have been destroyed, journalists killed, and hundreds of thousands face starvation. Yet Palestinian voices remain largely absent from mainstream US media coverage and political discourse around the conflict.

Harris misses an opportunity

By denying Palestinians a speaking slot, Democrats missed an opportunity to differentiate Vice President Kamala Harris from Biden on this issue.

Palestinians also saw affirmatively that Harris is no different than the war-mongering and occupational presidents who have preceded her. Many voters concerned about Gaza had hoped Harris would take a more sympathetic approach.

A Palestinian speaker could have been a small but meaningful olive branch - a sign that Harris was listening to those who chose "uncommitted" in the primaries, and that Harris is mentally cognizant to recognise the sheer humanitarian disaster.

Instead, the decision risks further alienating Arab and Muslim American voters, as well as progressives who see Gaza as a major concern.

The party's reluctance to elevate Palestinian voices reflects a broader unwillingness to reckon with the human toll of US violence in the region. While Democratic leaders speak of civil rights, human dignity and projecting decency around the world, their actions regarding Palestinians tell a different story – they talk of "rights" while raining down bombs upon starving children.

The implied message is that Palestinian suffering is somehow an exception - an inconvenience to be ignored rather than a grave injustice demanding action.

Breaking the cycle

Breaking this cycle requires active effort to amplify Palestinian voices and stories. We must insist on balanced media coverage that includes Palestinian perspectives.

We must pressure political leaders to engage directly with Palestinians in peace negotiations, to call for an arms embargo, and unequivocally divest from Israel’s violence. And we must challenge the dehumanising language and framing used to discuss Palestinian lives.

As the general election campaign begins in earnest, Harris and the Democrats face a choice. They can continue to sideline and silence Palestinians, risking further fractures in their coalition.

Or they can demonstrate real leadership by creating space for difficult but necessary conversations about US policy in the region. If not, Palestinians and our allies will vote otherwise, and Democrats will lose this election.

The crisis in Gaza is not going away. As the death toll mounts and the catastrophe deepens, the need for Palestinian perspectives only grows more necessary. It's time for political leaders, media outlets, and the broader public to recognise that silencing and dehumanising Palestinians only perpetuates the cycle of violence.

We must actively resist the framing of Palestinians as less than human and engage with their stories, their suffering, and their aspirations for freedom and dignity. Only then, will Palestinians gain independence from their colonial rulers.