DNC Palestinian Delegates Response to the Biden Campaign Attack on Palestinian Leader, Linda Sarsour
DNC Delegates Demand Immediate Retraction & Apology from the Biden Campaign for Attacks on Palestinian-American Delegate Linda Sarsour
After DNC delegate and Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour spoke at an official DNC event of the Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly on August 18th, 2020, Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the Joe Biden campaign, issued a statement stating, "Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform. She has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever."
As Palestinian-American delegates and allies, we stand by our fellow Palestinian-American delegate Linda Sarsour and condemn any effort to exclude elected national DNC delegates to official DNC events. We reject efforts to marginalize and demonize the Palestinian narrative. We also call upon the Democratic National Committee to renew its commitment to its own core principles of equality and justice for all.
The DNC seeks to represent an inclusive and diverse population and should not discriminate against any segment on the basis of ethnicity, religion or political dissent. The vast majority of Democratic voters are calling for accountability, including BDS as a nonviolent form of curbing Israeli violations and challenging Israel's impunity. The statement by the Biden campaign has willfully dropped the reference to freedom of speech from its platform language quote in the rush to malign, condemn and exclude Sarsour. Such an attack goes against the principles of the Democratic Party and the 2020 Democratic Party Platform to end systemic racism and to build a coalition.
While we recognize the prevalence of anti-Semitism, criticism of Israel must not be conflated with anti-Semitism. Israel has repeatedly violated international humanitarian law and human rights as well as American international aid conditionality. Moreover, Jake Tapper of CNN has a history of singling out Palestinian-Americans, Muslim-Americans and anyone who stands behind Palestinian human rights or criticizes the Israeli occupation.
This disavowal of Linda Sarsour reeks of misogyny, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bigotry. It provides a false shield for Israel's human rights abuses. The Biden campaign must not follow the lead of the Trump administration and should rise above these attacks and make a concerted effort to be inclusive and represent the collective vision for a truly democratic Party.
Palestinian-American delegates and allies demand an immediate retraction and apology from the Biden campaign that smeared a prominent Palestinian-American activist, undermined her constitutional right to free speech, and weaponized anti-Semitism to silence the just critique of Israeli oppression of Palestinians.
Sincerely,
Palestinian American Delegates
Huwaida Arraf, MI Delegate (CD-10)
Zeina Ashrawi Hutchison, VA Delegate (CD-10)
Samia Assed, NM At-Large Alternate (CD-1)
Summer Awad, TN Delegate (CD-2)
Sam Hindi, CA Delegate (CD-14)
Hatem Natsheh, TX Delegate (SD-25)
Murad Sarama, CA Delegate (CD-6)
Ibraheem Samirah, VA At-Large Delegate (CD-11)
Endorsed by the following delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention:
Abdul-Khabir, Kareema - CA Delegate, CD-8
Ahmad, Nadia - FL Delegate, CD-7
Alexander, Cory - ID Delegate, CD-1
Ali, Faiza - NY Delegate, CD-10
Alvarez, Roberto - CA Delegate, CD-38
Aszterbaum, Joey - CA Delegate, At-Large
Bagheri, Aaron - CA Delegate, CD-24
Baker, Dana - CA Delegate, CD-4
Beall, Elise - CO At-Large Delegate
Beichler, Amber - VA Delegate, At Large
Bellanca, Jay - NY At-Large Delegate
Bernal, Karen - CA PLEO Delegate, CD-6
Beyer, Timothy - CA Delegate, CD-43
Bignell, Mark - MI Delegate, CD-4
Bishop, Heather - OR Delegate, CD-4
Blochowiak, Patricia - OH Delegate, CD-11
Bonge, Sam - AZ Delegate, CD-8
Britto, Lisa - FL Delegate, CD-10
Brown, Michele - FL Delegate, CD-18
Caballero, Josie - CA Delegate, CD-53
Cea, Sergio - PA PLEO Delegate
Choudhury, Leila - VA Delegate, CD-5
Chrisliquori@gmail.com
Chu de León, Chris - TX Delegate, SD-13
Corley, Troy - CA Delegate, CD-26
Cramer, Gina - TX Delegate, SD-26
Culver, Jon - WA Delegate, CD-1
Davis, Mina - TX Delegate, SD 5
De Delva, Namcy - NY Delegate, CD-5
Dean, Amy - VA Delegate, CD-7
Derton, Robin - TX Delegate, PLEO Delegate, SD-5
Dinkin, Leah - CO Delegate, CD-2
Dlugosz, Anne - Delegate, Democrats Abroad
Dominguez, Silvia - MA Delegate, CD-05
Dunbar, Melissa - WA Delegate, CD-6
Dupont, Aimee - MA Delegate, CD-2
East, Shana - IL Delegate,
Enriquez, Ivan - CA Delegate, At-Large CD-46
Espinosa, Giancarlo - FL Delegate, At Large
Ester, Lesley - CA Delegate, CD-2
Evans, Stevevonna - CA Delegate, CD-33
Farokhia, Sudi - CA Delegate, CD-45
Farokhnia, Sudi - CA Delegate, CD-45
Fleming, Joanne - WA Delegate, CD-5
Foley, Linda - TX Delegate, SD-12
Garcia Centeno, Krystal - IL Delegate, CD-11
Garcia, Brandon - TX PLEO Delegate, SD-19
Giardinelli, Bryan - CA Delegate, CD-42
Gibson, Emily - OR Delegate, CD-2
Gloria, Ernesto - TX Delegate, SD-9
Gonzalez, Ana - CA Delegate, CD-35
Gonzalez, Elizabeth - CA Delegate, CD-46
Gordon, Patrick - IL Delegate, CD-8
Hassan, Syed - TX Delegate, SD-22
Hastings, Erika - TN Delegate, CD-8
Hernandez, Thomas - WA Delegate, CD-3
Hicks, Jared - MA Delegate, CD-7
Hill, Lauren - NC At-Large Delegate
Hoyt, Margie - CA Delegate, CD-43
Huntley, Paul - CA Delegate, CD-19
Huynh, Katherine - CA Delegate, CD-43
Ibarra, Antonio - IL Delegate, CD-11
Isak, Barbara "Babs" - UT Delegate, CD-3
Jiang, Zhenzhen - CA Delegate, CD-14
Johnson, Cavla - FL Delegate, CD-15
Johnson, Heather - CA Delegate, CD-31
Johnson, Valerie - TX Delegate, SD-9
Joyce, Rommy - CA Delegate, CD-19
Jun Nawabi, Aleena - CA Delegate, SD-52
Kain, Matthew - MI Delegate, CD-14
Kang, Mani - CA Delegate, CD-46
Kaur, Gurdeep - CA Delegate, CD-40
Kessel, Michelle - TX Delegate, SD-25
Khan, Varisha - WA Delegate, CD-1
Khoury, Kari - CA Delegate, CD-9
Klemmer, Isabel - WI Delegate, CD-6
Knight, Mary Ann - TX Delegate, SD-10
Langford, James - FL Delegate, CD-7
Larranaga, Chris - NM Delegate, CD-1
Lee, Briana - MN Delegate, CD-5
Lefebvre, Lyndsey - CA Delegate, CD-39
Lim, Cheng-Sim - CA Delegate, CD-28
Liu, Melanie - CA Delegate, CD-18
Ly, Ricky - FL Delegate, At Large
Lynch, Nita - CO Delegate, CD-1
MacLeod, Duncan - MI Delegate, CD-3
Manos, Michelle - CA Delegate, CD-29
Mansoor, Nabila - TX Delegate, SD-18
Maro, Anthony - CO Delegate, CO-5
Martin, Beth - WA Delegate, CD-9
Martin, Grayson - CA Delegate, CD-52
Martinez, Eduardo - CA Delegate, CD-11
McClain, Christopher - CA Delegate, CD-31
McCord, Kathleen - NM Delegate, CD-1
McGrath, Bob - CO Delegate, CD-7
McLain, Brian - IA Delegate, CD-3
Merritt, Madeline - CA At-Large Delegate
Meyer, Katie - CA Delegate, CD-53
Moffa, Jamie - MO Delegate, CD-1
Mohammed, Sabina - TX At Large Delegate, SD-22
Moran, Kate - WA Delegate, CD-46
Moreno, Gabriel Maximilian - MD Active Alternate Delegate, CD-2
Moxley, Kyle - MI Delegate, CD-8
Nasrullah, Mohammed - TX Delegate, SD-11
Nguyen, Lisa - OH Delegate, At Large
Nygard, Dorothy - CA Delegate, CD-10
O'Hea, Justin - NJ Delegate, CD-12
Ocampo, Christina - CA Delegate, CD-8
Okuzumi, Margaret - CA Delegate, CD-17
Omeish, Abrar - VA PLEO Delegate, CD-11
Orgel-Olson, Shawn - CA Delegate, CD-20
Palma, Dayja - TX Delegate, SD-22
Parr, Andrew - VA Delegate, CD-8
Patterson, Kevin - TX Delegate, SD-30
Perkel, Leah - WA Delegate, CD-3
Pfeiffer, Mindy - CA Delegate, CD-27
Phillips, Gregory - FL At-Large Delegate
Pierce, Eric - CA Delegate, CD-28
Ramos Rios, Virginia - NY Delegate, CD-7
Ramos, Stacey - CA Delegate, CD-35
Rawson, Katherine - UT Alternate Delegate
Recendez, Denis P. - CA Delegate, CD-32
Rehmani, Tasneem - CA Delegate,
Reynolds, Samantha - CO Delegate, CD-2
Rizvi, Maha - CA Delegate, CD-42
Rodriguez, Maya - CA Delegate, CD-41
Rodriguez, Tisa - CA Delegate, CD-41
Roemer, Katy - CA Delegate, CD-13
Salem, Emad - TX Delegate, SD-10
Saines, Koran T. - VA PLEO Delegate, CD-10
Scoville, Carrie - CA PLEO Delegate, CD-44
Shaughnessy, Christian - CA Delegate, At-Large
Shepherd, Jeri - CO Delegate,
Shergill, Amar - CA Delegate, CD-7
Shimizu, Christine - CA Delegate, CD-30
Siddiqui, Aftab - TX Delegate, CD-6
Siddiqui, Zahid - CA Delegate,
Smith, Benjamin - TN Delegate, CD-02
Smith, Megan - ME Delegate, CD-2
Solomon, Norman - CA Delegate, CD2
Sondahl, Birrion - CO Delegate, CD-2
Stevens, Karen - CA Delegate, CD-26
Sukaton, Samuel - CA Delegate, At-Large
Sullivan, Maureen - IL Delegate, CD-3
Summervillle, William Moses - CA Delegate, CD-48
Talevski, Susie - IN Delegate, CD-1
Tatlock, Nina - FL PLEO Delegate,
Taylor, Tarah - TX Delegate, SD-15
Terpening, Stephanie - MI Delegate, CD-4
Terrazas, Stephanie - CA Delegate, CD-39
Thompson, Victoria - CA Delegate, CD-7
Torres, Nelly - PA Delegate, CD-11
Touati, Khalid - TX Delegate, SD-16
Toy, Shirley - CA Delegate, CD-6
Ty, Yaddi - WA Delegate, CD-2
Usman, Sameena - CA Delegate, CD-17
Valladares, Victor - CA Delegate, CD-48
Vazquez, Juan - CA Delegate, CD-10
Verhey, Molly - WA Delegate, CD-08
Wang, Anlin - PA Delegate, CD-3
Ward, Kenneth - ID Delegate, CD-2
Weekley, Dakin - FL Delegate, CD-26
Wells, Marley - FL Delegate, CD-1
Williams, Susana - CA Delegate, CD-9
Winograd, Marcy - CA Delegate, CD-24
Wong, Audrey - CA Delegate, CD-33
Woodhall, Adam- FL Delegate, At Large
Wright, Lissette - Delegate, Democrats Abroad
Wunderly, Maggie - IL Delegate, At Large
Youngblood, Brandon - CA Delegate, CD-9
Zaman, Rubina - TX Delegate, SD-11
Zeisel, Jodi - OR Delegate, CD-3
On Aug 14, 2020, at 5:55 PM, bmlrrg@aol.com wrote:
Must listen to Dr. Cornel West to the very end. He spelled out the strategy for the elections and what to do after defeating Trump. That is courage.Don't endorse them. Just vote for them. Listen at the end what he says about the Palestinianshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0qVePnCy48Sent from my iPhoneOn Aug 12, 2020, at 11:10 AM, bmlrrg@aol.com wrote:🔥ANNOUNCING A SPECIAL EVENT🔥FeaturingDr. Cornel West & Professor Judith ButlerYou're invited to join our team of Palestinian-American delegates in this very special pre-convention event!Don't miss the opportunity to join the Zoom meeting (registration in event below- spaces limited!) or please let us know you'll be joining the live stream via the fb event link below. Please spread the word!https://facebook.com/events/s/rights-for-some-the-dnc-and-pa/3156685587732767/?ti=iclSent from my iPhoneOn Aug 9, 2020, at 10:51 AM, Nazim Uddin <nazim.uddin.1@gmail.com> wrote:Just to update on setting up a meeting with Cal Cunningham. I've reached out to Gabrielle Chwae (gabrielle@calfornc.com) a couple of times over the last two weeks and received no response yet. She is his regional political manager.If anyone has other contacts with his campaign, I urge reaching out as well. I'll keep following up in the meantime.NazimOn Sat, Jul 25, 2020 at 10:02 PM Mark Davidson <jmarkdavidson@cpwj.org> wrote:Excellent, Sam! Thank you!On Sat, Jul 25, 2020 at 6:59 PM Sam Bryan <sam@durhambryans.com> wrote:Here is a link to the Zoom video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14ERvmUiHmd84ztbBPOLySP5H5Cfl9Q2q/view?usp=sharing
I am very sorry that I messed up (dock my pay) and did not hit record until about 3:30 and missed the very best part of the meeting,
which was getting to hear from our wonderful new participants, Kathy, Lydia and Nazim, all with strong backgrounds
in Palestinian rights. Wonderful additions. Don't let them get away!Thanks, Gabriel for providing (in Chat): Petition: #DefundChildDetention & #FreeThemAll NOW
https://secure.everyaction.com/qVa_EONqyEWS6ORdRL-Pew2
Here are Mark's minutes sent in a previous e-mail.
Good to be with everyone at today's VJP Legislative Advocacy Committee meeting. Here are the minutes.
Please offer comments and clarifications.Present: Sam Bryan, Mark Davidson, Lydia Zakel, Nazim Uddin, Sue Woodling, Kathy McClain, Miriam Thompson,
Gabe Baldasare, Burhan Ghanayem, Judith Ferster, Tom Trueblood1. Introductions: We welcomed Nazim Uddin (from Charlotte), Lydia Zakel, and Kathy McClain to their first VJP meeting.
They shared key features of their background and interest in the issue of Palestinian justice and human rights. Gabe, representing
JVP and Demilitarize! Durham2Palestine, also introduced himself, and briefly introduced the work of the two organizations.
Mark gave a brief overview of VJP, its history, committees, and work.2. We discussed the overall purpose of the Legislative Advocacy Committee. The sense of the committee was that we see our
work as staying current and well-informed on national and state legislation regarding Israel/Palestine, keeping our community
aware and urging their participation in the legislative process, and planning and implementing specific advocacy with our state
federal representatives.3. Sam reminded everyone of the VJP website Legislative Advocacy blog, and urged everyone on the committee to post items
of interest related to legislation. For example, the four resolutions passed by the State Democratic Party (which Judith, Jerry, Tom,
and Nazim were instrumental in getting written, introduced, and approved) are on the VJP LA blog. Sam's recent email (7-22-20) has the details.4. We discussed a strategic outreach to NC Dem. Senatorial Candidate Cam Cunningham. Decision was that Nazim would use
his contacts to request a meeting with Cunningham. We plan to include several people on the Zoom invite list in order to make a strong i
mpression. Mark will draft a response to Cunningham's position paper on Israel/Palestine (which reads like it was written by AIPAC
Mark will circulate the draft among the LA committee for comment. Time frame will be largely determined by Cunningham's office and schedule. Stay tuned.5. The question arose as to whether VJP might be more effective in its legislative advocacy at the Democratic Party if more or us were involved in
"the grunt work" at the precinct level. Tom observed from personal experience that those who put in the time and energy to be proven members
of the team earn credibility and bona fides, which often pays off when we need support on the larger issues we care about. The more connected we
are in Democratic Party politics, the more effective we are likely to be when we have our advocacy meetings with our congressional representatives as well.6. We reviewed several bills, letters and resolutions in Congress on Israeli annexation, proposed suspension of military aid to Israel, petitions regarding HR2407 and #FreedomAll.
7. There was discussion of focusing on repealing the anti-BDS bill in the NC Legislature. Burhan shared the Palestine Legal strategy which is to find a
plaintiff who has been harmed by this legislation and bring a constitutional challenge in court to overturn it. Nazim has worked on passing a bill (HB 161)
to repeal it. There was agreement that this effort on the statewide level will need to wait until after the November election.8. The Next meeting of the VJP Legislative Advocacy Committee will be Monday, August 24 at 7 pm.
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