Last night, the Michigan Democratic Party held a call asking delegates to rally around Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee after President Joe Biden stepped out of the race. During the call, two uncommitted delegates—chosen by voters protesting against Biden’s failure to push for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza—said they would not endorse Harris until they knew her policy on aid to Israel. According to a recent Gallup poll, 55 percent of Americans disapprove of Israel’s actions in Gaza, and only 36 percent are supportive.
Delegate Abbas Alawieh, who is an organizer with the Uncommitted Movement, tried to explain his position on last night’s Michigan Democratic Party Zoom call. He says he was told to “shut up, asshole”—an incident which he says is symptomatic of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism within the party. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said the incident was “unacceptable,” and that “in this moment, we want to reiterate that our Arab American and Muslim brothers and sisters are welcome in this party.”
Alawieh spoke to Mother Jones about what happened.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
What was happening on last night’s Michigan Democratic Party delegates’ call?
I think the intention was to come out of it saying Michigan’s DNC delegates endorsed Vice President Harris. But there is the reality that 101,000 voters in Michigan voted “uncommitted.“
We think this is a really important opportunity to unite the party and have Vice President Harris speak to the pain Arab American voters here in Michigan—anti-war voters here in Michigan—are experiencing. So I got on the call, and I was just trying to do my job. I feel a great responsibility to those 101,000 voters in Michigan to fulfill my end of the bargain.
What were you trying to say, before you were interrupted?
Chair [Lavora] Barnes, who was leading the meeting, asked if anybody had any comments. Several other people raised their hands and were recognized by the chair. I raised my hand and was recognized by the chair.
“My hope is that our party can do better than this pattern of ridiculing fellow Democrats who are just trying to advocate for a policy that would keep people alive.”
I talked about how uncommitted voters here in Michigan are going to be a critical part of our strategy for beating Trump in November, and we need every vote we can get. That’s why, while we’re very excited about the possibility of this moment, uncommitted voters really need to hear from Vice President Harris, because as we’re talking, the bombs continue to drop on Palestinians using US tax funds. People in Michigan, especially Arab Americans and Muslim Americans in Michigan, are deeply in pain. We need to be able to re-engage them by engaging seriously with the demands that they’ve voted for.
And as I was saying that, this person, I don’t know who, unmuted.
You weren’t able to see them, you just heard their voice on Zoom?
Yeah. Somebody unmuted, and said “shut up, asshole,” and something to the effect of “nobody cares about what you’re saying.”
I don’t know what the latter part of the comment was, exactly, but the words “shut up” and the word “asshole” were very clear. I heard it. Everybody on the call heard it. And I was just taken aback.
The next comment was from my fellow uncommitted delegate Rima Mohammad, who is Palestinian. She was visibly shaken up. And she was also speaking from a place of wanting to represent that we need to hear from Vice President Harris what her Gaza policy is.
What was your reaction to being interrupted like that?
Honestly, I felt deeply disrespected. I felt hurt that there were Democratic electeds on this Zoom, people who I’ve heard speak passionately in defense of civility and respecting each other’s opinions—and nobody spoke up. That felt like a slap in the face to me. To be on the receiving end of explicitly anti-Palestinian vitriol, and to have the leaders of our party be silent about it. I guess it’s symptomatic of the larger problem of devaluing Palestinians and Palestinian life.
My hope is that our party can do better than this pattern of ridiculing fellow Democrats who are just trying to advocate for a policy that would keep people alive. We should be able to make that case. Even if our Democratic Party leaders aren’t going to agree to stop sending bombs, the very least they can do is hear us without being completely silent when there are racist attempts to shut us down.
News coverage this morning said that the Michigan DNC delegates “overwhelmingly” endorsed Harris. What does that “overwhelmingly” mean to you?
“Overwhelmingly” is fair. But the two of us who are uncommitted delegates, we did not endorse Vice President Harris, because we need to hear from her first. My hope is that we can all support Vice President Harris and pivot to beating Trump. I need to hear more from her and her team about how she intends to engage with uncommitted voters.
After the meeting, how did others react to the “shut up, asshole” incident?
A reporter called me after the meeting, and said, “I talked to a delegate who said the uncommitted delegates hijacked the call.” That’s not what happened. I raised my hand and waited, like the other delegates. But to be accused of hijacking as an Arab American Democrat in Michigan, that’s not thinly veiled racism. It’s blatant racism.
To her credit, the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party followed up the meeting with a note to all the delegates addressing the situation, which said, “please remember that we’re a Democratic family, and all of us must be respectful of the differences within our family.”
It sounds like you were not necessarily treated like a “member of the Democratic family” last night, though.
I come from Dearborn, where, in the 1980s our longtime Mayor sent out campaign literature that said “let’s talk about the Arab problem.” And even today, 40-some years later, it still feels like sometimes in Democratic circles the fact that I am Arab and a Democrat is a problem. And that feels hurtful, in a moment when Arabs, Palestinians are being killed en masse.
In my conversation with Chair Barnes after the call, she promised that she would raise our Uncommitted delegates’ request for a meeting to Vice President Harris’ team. So I’m hoping that our movement will be engaged with seriously, and not maligned or ignored.