As the Democratic National Convention (DNC) unfolded with themes of unity and celebration in Chicago, a starkly different scene played out nearby. Six doctors, who recently returned from humanitarian missions in Gaza, stood before a crowd, their faces somber, their voices heavy with the weight of what they had witnessed. These medical professionals, driven by a deep sense of moral urgency, implored the Democratic Party—particularly Vice President Kamala Harris—to end the United States’ military support for Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
The doctors’ plea comes at a critical moment. Despite the Biden administration’s superficial backing of a ceasefire, U.S. military aid to Israel has continued unabated. Activists and humanitarian workers, frustrated by the administration’s inaction, have shifted their demands. No longer satisfied with vague calls for a ceasefire, they are now pushing for an arms embargo against Israel, a policy they believe is necessary to stop the relentless killing in Gaza. Yet, despite these desperate appeals, Vice President Harris has thus far rejected the call to cease arms transfers to Israel, maintaining her administration’s commitment to its staunch ally.
One of the most poignant testimonies came from Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care physician who recently spent weeks working in Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals. “I have never seen anything so horrific, so egregious, so inhumane,” Haj-Hassan said, her voice trembling with emotion. She described a heartbreaking phenomenon so common in Gaza that it has its own acronym: “wounded child, no surviving family” (WCNSF). These are the children who arrive at hospitals, gravely injured, with no surviving relatives to comfort them. Haj-Hassan recalled holding the hands of these children as they took their last breaths, alone and terrified.
Dr. Ahmad Yousaf, a specialist in internal medicine and pediatrics, shared another harrowing story. He spoke of a woman who arrived at the hospital with severe burns covering her body. As doctors worked to save her, they discovered she was pregnant. “We knew she was going to die there and her baby would die there, and there was nothing we could do,” Yousaf said. The hospital lacked the necessary medicine to ease her pain. She lingered in agony for days before finally succumbing to her injuries. “Her story is just one of tens of thousands,” Yousaf continued, his voice filled with anguish. “Her family mourned for her just like we would mourn for our own family members.”
Dr. Tammy Abughnaim, an emergency medicine physician, painted a grim picture of the conditions in Gaza. “The things we were seeing in Gaza were unimaginable,” she said. “Children do not have access to basic nutrition. Every single child is in need of psychological care that they are not going to be able to get for a very long time.” Abughnaim expressed her deep frustration at the knowledge that the very shrapnel she was pulling from her patients’ bodies was paid for by U.S. tax dollars.
These doctors were not alone in their appeals. They were flanked by delegates from the Uncommitted National Movement, a group that represents the 740,000 voters who chose to protest U.S. involvement in Gaza during the Democratic Primary by voting “uncommitted.” The movement has been a persistent presence at the DNC, organizing panels, press conferences, and vigils to ensure that Gaza’s plight is not forgotten amid the festivities.
Yet, breaking through the celebratory atmosphere of the DNC has been a challenge. Political conventions are meticulously choreographed events, designed to project unity and enthusiasm, not to engage in difficult conversations about the human cost of foreign policy decisions. This year’s convention, energized by Harris’s replacement of Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, has been particularly focused on themes of joy and hope. While President Biden did face one disruption from DNC members urging the U.S. to stop arming Israel, the issue of Gaza has largely been sidelined.
Despite this, the Uncommitted Movement continues to press its case. Polls show that an overwhelming majority of Democrats support a ceasefire, and seven major labor unions, representing nearly half of all unionized workers, have called for an arms embargo. More than 200 delegates have signed onto a letter demanding that the U.S. stop sending weapons to Israel. Yet, there remains a clear divide between the party’s base and its leadership. Harris, despite initial engagements with the Uncommitted delegates, has refused to agree to their demands.
The emotional toll of this ongoing crisis is evident in the testimonies of those who have witnessed it firsthand. Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian-American emergency medicine doctor who worked in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, made a powerful plea: “There is no music that you can play on the main stage during this convention that’s going to make us forget the sounds and the tears of all of the children that we saw laid on the hospital floors.” His words encapsulate the deep frustration and sorrow felt by those who have seen the devastating impact of U.S. policy in Gaza.
The statistics are staggering. One in 10 people in Gaza is either dead, wounded, or missing as a result of Israel’s actions over the past 10 months. Just six months into the conflict, the United Nations reported that 19,000 children had been orphaned—a number that has surely increased since then. These figures, however, fail to capture the full human toll of the conflict. As Dr. Nabeel Rana, a vascular surgeon, reminded the audience, “We get caught up in numbers, but every single human being there is a human like you and me.”
For the doctors and delegates at the DNC, the stakes could not be higher. They are fighting not just to change policy, but to save lives. Yet, they face an uphill battle. The Biden-Harris administration, despite expressing sympathy for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, continues to support Israel’s military campaign. Human rights advocates fear that if Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, is elected to a second term, U.S. support for Israel’s actions in Gaza will only intensify.
As the DNC drew to a close, the words of Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan hung in the air: “History is watching us. The world is watching us. I cannot make sense of this. I suspect you cannot too. And I hope that the Democratic Party recognizes the irony and the hypocrisy of what we continue to fund and chooses to finally stand by the values of human rights and justice that we claim to stand by.”
COMMENTS