Georgia Rep. Ruwa Romman: Fellow Dems had ‘responsibility’ to include uncommitted, Palestinian voices at DNC

Delegates with the Uncommitted National Movement had been in talks with the DNC for weeks before the convention. They withheld their support for Vice President Kamala Harris to push for an arms embargo and a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and they called for a Palestinian to speak at the convention.

According to Romman, the DNC did not provide the group an explanation for why they did not greenlight any of the speakers offered by the uncommitted movement.

“I really do not understand why they could not provide just a few minutes to a Palestinian,” she told WABE in a Tuesday interview. “It would have been a beautiful symbol to unite the party and they chose not to do it.”

The DNC did not respond to a request for comment, but an official said Harris is committed to negotiating a permanent ceasefire deal. The DNC did provide Uncommitted National Movement delegates with a room to hold a panel discussion at the convention.

Uncommitted delegates also held a sit-in to protest the speaker decision outside the United Center on Wednesday night. The next day, Romman gave the speech she would have delivered at the DNC. The speech called for a commitment to elect Vice President Kamala Harris and for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“To those who doubt us, to the cynics and the naysayers, I say, yes we can — yes we can be a Democratic Party that prioritizes funding our schools and hospitals, not for endless wars,” she said in her speech. “That fights for an America that belongs to all of us — Black, brown and white, Jews and Palestinians, all of us, like my grandfather taught me, together.”

During Harris’ speech at the DNC Thursday night, she reaffirmed the United States’ support of Israel, saying that she “will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.”

Harris also said she and President Joe Biden are “working around the clock” for a ceasefire deal. 

“President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” she said during her speech.

But Romman said words without results aren’t a commitment at all. 

“It just continued the feeling of disappointment because again, people keep applauding ‘the right of Palestinians to self-determination,’ but that has been a line that we’ve been hearing for decades now,” she told WABE. “The reason that uncommitted and the rest of us are continuing to advocate isn’t because nobody is saying the word ceasefire.”

“The problem is if you are saying that you want a ceasefire, but you keep dropping the bombs, I don’t understand how you are working for a ceasefire,” she added.

According to the Harris campaign, the process of drafting a platform included listening sessions with Arab Americans, Muslim Americans and Jewish Americans, and the platform includes an immediate and lasting ceasefire. Harris met with leaders of the uncommitted movement in Detroit earlier this month and said her campaign will continue engagement with Arab, Muslim and Palestinian communities.

Hundreds of thousands of voters submitted ballots marked “uncommitted” during the Democratic primaries in March when Biden was still at the top of the ticket. Though not among the uncommitted delegates, Romman says her party missed an opportunity to reach voters who may be hesitant to vote for Harris.

“To those people, I say they have a point of, ‘Is anybody listening to us? Is anybody going to commit to stopping the killing of innocent people?’ I think that’s a very valid point,” she said. “As a party, we have a responsibility to listen to them and recognize they are part of our coalition.”

Still, Romman said, the work continues. Romman represents House District 97, which encompasses Berkeley Lake, Duluth, Norcross and Peachtree Corners, and she is up for reelection this year against Republican Michael Corbin.

Romman said she’s focused on Election Day, canvassing and driving up voter turnout — especially in light of the recent rule change by the GOP-majority Georgia State Election Board that could allow local election boards to deny certifying election results.

“I want to make sure there is absolutely no question about where we should be headed and about what the results of the election are,” she said. “I do think it’s so dangerous to continue to undermine our elections just because of the ego of one man who cannot believe that he is such a terrible candidate that he lost our state.”

To make progress on this issue and many others, Romman said local races matter. She criticized third-party candidates who “could have spent time building infrastructure down ballot.”

“I’m becoming frankly outraged that there are people using me and my people suffering to try to build their own platforms,” she said.

For Romman, ending the bombing in Gaza should be aligned with the values of the Democratic Party. “As Democrats, we do commit to justice and equality and protection for all,” she added. “We care about people. And if we want to meet that promise, both of this historic moment with Vice President Harris’ candidacy, but also in the future, we have a responsibility to get this right.”