Maybe tonight's Democrat convention will feature fireworks after all. Just not in celebration of their substance-free nominee. 

Last night, the DNC featured the family of an American citizen held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin spoke about the need to put politics aside and push to get a deal that will bring all of the hostages home to their families. Their son Hersh had attended the peace-promoting music festival and was kidnapped and maimed in the October 7 attack. In their speech, they professed support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in pushing for a cease-fire, and the crowd chanted in return, "Bring Them Home!"

One might expect that the pro-Hamas wing of the party would satisfy themselves with that message. Instead, they demand a strange kind of equal time by adding a Palestinian activist to the speaker schedule on the last night of the convention. The Uncommitted Movement delegates and activists staged a sit-in overnight outside the convention to pressure the DNC into the change.

Supposedly, they will remain in place until the convention is over or the DNC caves:

"We were hopeful because Vice President Harris' team has been engaging with us. They've been calling, they've been having conversations, and we told them what our policy ask is," delegate Abbas Alawieh told reporters on Wednesday. "I got a call shortly after our press conference earlier, the call said, 'Abbas, the answer is no.' I said, 'What do you mean? We're just asking for our voices to be heard.'"

The group of about 40 delegates and supporters outside staged a 24-hour "sit in," telling reporters they would not get up until Harris or someone from her team called them with an answer other than no.

Thus far the DNC continues to resist the demand, but the dissent is growing. The United Auto Workers, a critical component of Big Labor for Democrats and especially important to their hopes in Michigan, joined the demand for a Palestinian speaker for tonight's program:

If we want the war in Gaza to end, we can’t put our heads in the sand or ignore the voices of the Palestinian Americans in the Democratic Party. If we want peace, if we want real democracy, and if we want to win this election, the Democratic Party must allow a Palestinian…

— UAW (@UAW) August 22, 2024

And hot on that development, a constituent group for the Harris-Walz ticket announced its dissolution over the refusal:

The group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz announced it is disbanding after the campaign refused a request from the uncommitted movement to give a Palestinian American a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention.  

“We cannot in good conscience continue Muslim Women for Harris-Walz, in light of this new information from the uncommitted movement, that VP Harris’ team declined their request to have a Palestinian American speaker take the stage at the DNC,” the group said in a statement following Wednesday night's convention program.  

Democrats probably won't lament losing this group, which barely had time to form in the first place. They may not be too concerned about the Uncommitted Movement either, given their lack of impact in the Michigan primary, although the general election may be close enough for them to matter. But the Democrats cannot afford to lose the UAW and hope to win Michigan, especially their organizational strength. 

Of course, the UAW may not go anywhere even if the DNC holds firm. But is that a risk Harris and the DNC are willing to take? Especially after Joe Biden just told the convention that the pro-Hamas contingent "have a point"?

🔥🚨BREAKING NEWS: Joe Biden went off script from his teleprompter and stated that the Pro-Palestine protesters destroying the outside of the DNC Convention “Have A Point” “A lot of innocent people are being killed, both sides.” Mainstream media has confirmed that this line was… pic.twitter.com/crQ0CD6mds

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) August 20, 2024

If they do cave on this and add a Palestinian activist as a speaker, though, it makes it much harder for Kamala to avoid questions about foreign policy. She's trying to avoid getting pinned down on anything, but that's an especially dangerous land mine in a general election. Polls consistently show overwhelming support for Israel in this war among the general-election populace, and large majorities against any cease-fire deal that doesn't free all of the hostages up front. The most recent Harvard-Harris CAPS poll shows that 80% of Americans support Israel over Hamas, 66% believe Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties, and 70% now oppose any cease-fire that doesn't release all hostages and the removal of Hamas from power. More than eight in ten respondents think Hamas should be removed entirely from Gaza, in fact. 

And only 33% approve of Joe Biden's handling of the war, too. Chew on that for a while if Harris and the DNC allow the radicals to put her even further in the wrong direction and further outside the American consensus.