“The Democratic Party did everything they could do to prevent this disruption from happening.”

Aug 20, 2024

Esam Boraey, a delegate from Connecticut, had his first run-in with Democratic National Convention security on Sunday, when his bag was searched at the DNC reception. A security guard found a Palestinian flag, he said, and forced him to leave the floor with it. “Immediately supervisors were called on me, and then the supervisor called four DNC members who rushed in and cornered me,” he told Drop Site on Monday. “They held my bag all the time and refused to give my bag back until I left the floor.” He described it as a “small example” of the barriers Muslim delegates face in trying to get their message across.

But on Monday night, a few minutes after President Joe Biden took the podium in Chicago’s United Center, several DNC members, Boraey among them, unfurled a banner reading “Stop Arming Israel” in the colors of the Palestinian flag. Their aim, they said, was to disrupt and confront the party with what it was trying to ignore: the ongoing genocide in Israel, funded and armed by the U.S.

I was a few feet away when the banner went up and witnessed a surreal scene, as delegates around them tried to block it with “We <3 Joe” and “USA” signs. Some delegates tried to rip the banner away from the protesting DNC members, but they held on tight as others intervened, urging the crowd to raise their signs as high as possible but not cause a violent scene. Several of them began using signs to block my camera and that of a Democracy Now reporter, who was on the scene with — of course! — Amy Goodman, who couldn’t be kept away from a protest like that.

One delegate followed me through the crowd relentlessly — with frankly impressive determination — putting his “USA” sign in front of my phone as I worked to avoid him. The protest starts nearly eight minutes into the video we’re posting below, but the early part is interesting, too, to get a sense of the intense energy in the arena.

“The Democratic Party did everything they could do to prevent this disruption from happening,” a statement from the protesters reads. “Ceasefire activists were democratically elected in their districts. But when they went to state they found they were nixed by the Party.”

Liano Sharon, a Jewish DNC member from Michigan who took a lead role in the action, noted the vast number of uncommitted votes in the critical state’s primary: “There were 100,000 uncommitted votes in the Michigan primary. These voters will not be convinced by pretty rhetoric They need action. They need Biden to make Netanyahu accept the ceasefire deal and stop killing their families in Gaza. And he can only do that by enforcing our existing laws and stop arming Israel.”

Sharon was escorted out, but was able to do media interviews in the hallway outside. That interview is also included at the end of the video above.

Nadia Ahmad, a Florida DNC member, snuck the banner in under her dress. “We are here to make sure the world witnesses our resistance, and we are prepared to accept the consequences of our actions, just as the United States and Israel should be ready to answer to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice,” said Ahmad in the statement provided to Drop Site News.

Lauren Steiner, a North Carolina activist, helped organize the protest and painted the banner. As a delegate for Bernie Sanders, she organized the floor protest at the 2016 DNC against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade deal.

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