Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally at DFL convention
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About 200 protesters traveled from the Twin Cities to Duluth to urge Democrats to take a stronger party stance on the war in Gaza.
Demonstrators boarded buses Saturday morning and made the trip north to make their case to DFL activists. They joined local protest groups and demonstrators that had traveled from Ely outside the convention center where party leaders held their convention.
Delegates were set to weigh party resolutions on Saturday that would call for divesting state investments from companies in Israel and taking a firmer stance as a party in urging a cease-fire in Gaza.
The throng of protesters carried Palestinian flags and banners as they marched up to the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. They yelled out cheers voicing support for the Palestinian people and piled baby dolls named after children who’d been killed in the war.
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“This body better do something meaningful on the issue of Gaza and Palestine, or it is a losing issue for us in November,” Dan Engelhart, a delegate and member of the Free Palestine Coalition said. “We will lose if the Democratic party cannot get this together and realize what is happening and change course.”
Meredith Aby with the Anti-War Committee said that DFL officials need to take a firmer stance in pulling state and federal resources from Israel.
“We are tired of being told that we have to vote Democrat but we have to just be happy because they aren’t Trump,” Aby said. “We deserve better.”
Party officials planned to vote on resolutions late Saturday that would call for a cease-fire in the region, allow for humanitarian aid to be distributed and hostages released. Additional proposals would call for cutting off federal funding to Israel and supporting the human rights of Palestinian people.
Some delegates sought to block an endorsement for U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Friday, saying that they felt she hadn’t done enough in her role to limit funding to Israel. Dan Engelhart tried to launch a bid from the floor but came up short.
Klobuchar briefly touched on the war in her acceptance speech and urged delegates not to let that single issue pull from their support for President Joe Biden.
“I support a ceasefire, return of the hostages, and, ultimately, a two-state solution. I am with you,” Klobuchar said.
Minnesota is set to send the largest delegation of uncommitted delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Roughly 20 percent of those who cast ballots in the DFL presidential primary voted for an uncommitted option.
The political movement was aimed as an effort to press Biden to change course on the federal response to the war in Gaza. Some activists in the Abandon Biden movement have since said they would not vote for the president in his reelection bid to send a political message about the significance of the war.
DFL Chair Ken Martin on Friday urged delegates to come together to prevent former President Donald Trump for winning in November.
“American democracy was put to the test and endured this time,” Martin said, referring to the 2020 presidential contest. “We must never be put in that position again. If we are and if our democracy does not hold, people across America and across the world will suffer.”
DFL delegates also debated disagreements over mining in northern Minnesota and tribal sovereignty questions.