Injured Palestinian children receive treatment at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on August 1, 2024.

 (Photo: Abdallah F.s. Alattar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Uncommitted Movement Demands DNC Speech for Doctor Who Volunteered in Gaza

"As American bombs fuel violence and suffering in Gaza, it is imperative that the Democratic Party hear directly from those who witness the atrocities firsthand."

The Uncommitted National Movement on Thursday launched a campaign demanding that the Democratic Party allow a doctor who spent two weeks volunteering in a Gaza Strip hospital to speak at the Democratic National Convention later this month.

Uncommitted—a coalition of pro-Palestine, peace, and progressive groups that urged people to vote "uncommitted" in U.S. Democratic presidential primaries in a bid to pressure the Biden administration to push Israel for a Gaza cease-fire—and its 30 delegates want Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American pediatric intensive care physician, to address the DNC in Chicago.

"As American bombs fuel violence and suffering in Gaza, it is imperative that the Democratic Party hear directly from those who witness the atrocities firsthand," said Uncommitted, which launched its campaign with a Thursday morning press conference on Zoom.

Haj-Hassan—who volunteered for two weeks at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip—said that as physicians, "we have been trained to protect and preserve human life."

"But what has become absolutely clear is that that is utterly impossible amidst this military campaign that is destroying life and everything needed to sustain it," Haj-Hassan continued. "I am not a politician but am hoping to provide moral witness to the delegates of the Democratic National Convention because an end to this military campaign is the only way to protect and preserve civilian life."

"It is vital that the most powerful decision-makers in the world hear firsthand accounts of the impact of our foreign policy decisions on civilians," she added.

In a March interview with Democracy Now!, Haj-Hassan said that "it's really difficult to describe in words the horrors that we saw in our two weeks" in Gaza.

"Experiencing in real time entire family structures collapsing, entire families being wiped off the civil registry, having to tell a father or a mother that their entire family, their lifelong partner and all of their children, have just been killed and you weren't able to resuscitate them, is something that was very difficult to experience and something that I hope I never have to experience again," she said.

Describing "one incident where we received a young boy who the side of his face had been blown off, and we were providing care for him while providing care for his sister in the adjacent bed," Haj-Hassan said:

His sister had 96% of her body burned. Their parents and all of their other siblings had been killed in the same attack. And he kept asking for his family, and he had a distant cousin who was at his bedside, who kept saying... "They're going to be fine." And he kept saying, "Where's my sister?" He could see the patient next to him. He just couldn't recognize her, because she was so badly burned. But that was his sister. She unfortunately died despite our efforts... And he is still in the hospital receiving reconstructive surgery for his neck and face.

So many Palestinian children have lost their entire families to Israeli attacks that English-speaking medical volunteers in Gaza have coined a new acronym to describe them: WCNSF, or wounded child, no surviving family. At least 16,000 children are among the more than 39,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian and international officials. Overall, more than 140,000 Palestinians are dead, maimed, or missing in Gaza,

At least 1,000 children wounded by Israeli bombs and bullets have had one or more legs amputated, the U.K.-based charity Save the Children reported. Many more have lost arms, hands, and feet. Due to a lack of medication caused by Israel's siege, many little limbs have been sawed off without anesthesia.

The siege—which has been cited in an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case against Israel led by South Africa—has also resulted in the death of dozens of Gazan child patients from malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of medical care.

"This is not a humanitarian crisis. This is the worst of what humanity is capable of, and it's entirely all man-made," Haj-Hassan told Democracy Now!" And when you witness it firsthand, it's an unbearable injustice."

"This is an utter and complete failure of humanity, and, to be frank, I feel ashamed to be an American citizen," she added. "And I am very much hoping and looking forward to the moment where we decide to take a courageous stance and put an end to this massacre."

Uncommitted delegates said the Democratic convention presents an opportunity for courage.

"The Democratic Party has an opportunity to embrace the concept of moral witness by allowing firsthand accounts of the humanitarian and political crisis in Gaza to be shared within its ranks," Michigan delegate Abbas Alawieh said Thursday.

"Hearing directly from individuals like Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, who has witnessed the atrocities and suffering in Gaza, is crucial for understanding the full scope of the crisis," he added. "This moral witness will provide the party with the essential human perspective needed to formulate policies grounded in compassion, justice, and a firm stance against authoritarianism."

June Rosenbaum, a Jewish American Uncommitted delegate from Rhode Island, said that "for most of my entire life, I was raised learning about the history of Israel and Palestine without ever hearing the perspective of Palestinians. The first time I did, it completely changed my views towards the conflict."

"That's why it is so important for the American people and members of the Democratic Party to hear the voices, and the pain, of people on the ground in Palestine," she added. "Because Palestinian suffering over the last 10 months would not have been possible without our taxpayer dollars."

Uncommitted—which won nearly 20% of the Minnesota Democratic primary vote and garnered hundreds of thousands of votes across the nation—is urging Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, to take a clear stance against U.S. weapons transfers to Israel and for Palestinian rights.

However, there is very little evidence that Harris would abandon President Joe Biden's staunch support for Israel, which both have described as "unwavering," even as they lament the civilian suffering in Gaza.

While the convention is scheduled for August 19–22, Harris is expected to be the official nominee before then, due to a virtual roll call that began Thursday and is set to end Monday.

COMMON DREAMS