A PALESTINIAN AMERICAN FROM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY MUST BE ALLOWED TO SPEAK ON THE CONVENTION STAGE TONIGHT
The Majority of Americans Want an End to the Slaughter of Palestinian Civilians. The UAW Has Asked the Democrats to Allow Free Speech Tonight and a Call for Peace
Friends,
90 minutes ago, the United Auto Workers union (UAW) posted the following appeal on social media — an appeal that I and many others publicly endorse:
“If we want the war in Gaza to end, we can’t put our heads in the sand or ignore the voices of the Palestinian Americans in the Democratic Party. If we want peace, if we want real democracy, and if we want to win this election, the Democratic Party must allow a Palestinian American speaker to be heard from the DNC stage tonight.”
We have all been thrilled with the Democratic National Convention this week! An amazing and powerful week in support of the most progressive and forward thinking ticket for President and Vice President in my lifetime. From strong stands on protecting women’s rights to creating an economy where everyone has a decent wage, where the rich are taxed and our Democracy is strengthened, where hate and misogyny are crushed and health care and affordable housing is a human right — this convention has left us filled with an overwhelming sense of hope and joy and a belief that maybe, for once, THE PEOPLE are going to get a chance to run our own country!
There’s just one thing that is missing: Not a single word about how you and I as Americans are paying for and providing the bombs to kill over 40,000 Palestinians — over half of them children and the elderly. And the Party’s deafening silence about this tragedy is sadly disheartening. The convention tonight must not end without someone being allowed to say something.
In 2020, President Biden received over 60% of the Arab American vote. Recent polls now show that less than 20% of Arab Americans plan to vote for the Democrat. They have also made it clear they are not going to vote for Trump. Distraught and depressed by the mass murder of their brothers and sisters in Gaza, they may just not vote at all. We need to understand why they feel this way and try to see that this does not happen — for both the obvious moral and political reasons.
Please send an urgent note to the DNC asking them to let a Palestinian American voice be heard tonight.
You can reach the DNC by emailing info@democrats.org or by calling the Democratic Party directly — 202.863.8000
Additionally, the Uncommitted delegates have set up an automated system to help you call Democratic Leadership in the House and Senate to tell their offices that the DNC must address this issue at the convention. They provide an easy-to-follow script, and are seeking to make 10,000 phone calls in the next few hours — CLICK HERE. The convention is being called to order in less than 3 hours. There is still time to do this.
Yes, protect the lives of all Israelis! Yes, the hostages held by Hamas and the Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails must be released! The killing must end immediately! We must insist that no American armaments are used against the civilian population in Gaza.
Thank you to the UAW and dozens of other unions who have taken this stand for an immediate ceasefire.
Nearly 90 years ago, members of my family took part in the Great Flint Sit Down Strike of 1936-37 that founded the United Auto Workers. I am sending this appeal on behalf of all of them, because I know they would all be supportive of this urgent message at this crucial time.
The Palestinian people need to live. We need to win this election. We are out of time. Let’s do the right thing.
— Michael Moore
Top Photos by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu and Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images
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There can be no peace in the Middle East for as long as both Democrat and Republican Congressional members and Presidential candidates accept hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and General Dynamics.
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/lockheed-martin/recipients?id=D000000104
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/rtx-corp/recipients?id=D000072615
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/general-dynamics/summary?id=D000000165
We must remember that these conventions are staged propaganda events. Let us not confuse the charade with the reality of policies that will be pursued. Yes, we must vote for Kamala to prevent a return of Trump, but let us not be fooled by the PR at the convention. The NYT had an article today about how Harris is "driven by the art of the possible." It reminded me of a billboard in VT back in the 90s, a U.S. Air Force advertisement with the slogan "In the Air Force, anything is possible." Someone correctly altered the billboard by adding "except peace." The PR convention machine might want people to believe that under Harris "anything is possible," but we can add "except peace," except the abolition of nuclear weapons, except the creation of a non-profit universal health care system, except work to produce the forms of political, economic, cultural, and social transformations needed to challenge, overcome, and replace the system of corporate capitalism that is wrecking the present for all too many people and arguably the future for everyone; except the promotion of a public education system that works to nurture and nourish informed, involved, and energized citizens who understand the importance of working collectively to democratize the economic system from which will follow a democratization of the political system; except the promotion of a truly public media system under public management and control and geared to promote public interests and concerns and to challenge and replace the corporate media monopoly; except an end to U.S. military, economic, propaganda, and diplomatic support for the genocide perpetrated against fellow humans in Gaza by the State of Israel, etc., etc., etc. So, we keep working...