Gaza activists at the DNC say they are getting a positive reception

Pro-Palestine activists were encouraged on the first night of the Democratic National Convention when speakers mentioned Gaza, but say they want to see concrete policy changes.

During her speech in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York listed off the priorities where Harris agreed with progressives such as herself. “She is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bring hostages home,” Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd in Chicago on Monday evening.

Likewise, Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia spoke about his desire to see Israelis and Palestinians live freely.

“I need all of my neighbors’ children to be okay,” he said. “Poor inner-city children in Atlanta and poor children of Appalachia. I need the poor children of Israel and I need the poor children of Gaza, I need Israelis and Palestinians, I need those in the Congo, those in Haiti, those in Ukraine, I need American children on both sides of the track to be okay.”

The closing part of Warnock’s address drove everyone, including the vice president and her running mate Governor Tim Walz, to their feet.

President Biden has received plenty of criticism because of his steadfast support for Israel during a war in Gaza that has killed more than 40,000 people, by most estimates. Indeed, a slice of Democratic voters in states like Michigan, North Carolina and Minnesota used their states’ primaries to vote “uncommitted” in protest — and a number of uncommitted delegates have shown up, hoping to voice their ongoing concerns about US foreign policy.

Pro-Palestine activists at the DNC, many of whom could be spotted at the convention wearing keffiyehs, said they were pleased with developments so far. At the same time,