{
  "id": 9018232,
  "title": "The Democrats’ Gaza reckoning",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/the-democrats-gaza-reckoning",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-21T21:48:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Guardian US",
    "slug": "the-guardian-us",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/21/democrats-joe-biden-kamala-harris-book-gaza"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Democratic officials failed to grant Palestinians a platform at their 2024 convention, a decision that proved costly in recent elections, according to Akbar Shahid Ahmed. During a pre-election national gathering, Georgia state representative Ruwa Romman received a subtle signal from the party establishment: while she was welcome, her stance on Palestinians was not. Democratic leaders favored speaking slots for individuals like an architect who supported Georgia's stringent abortion restrictions and other conservatives critical of Donald Trump, but they denied Romman and other Palestinian Americans the opportunity to speak. In the year's Democratic primaries, the party establishment's choices faced rejection. For instance, a 15-year veteran congresswoman from Colorado and the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were defeated. The victors in these races championed empathy and accountability for Palestinian losses in Gaza. Abdul El-Sayed, who emerged victorious in Michigan's Senate primary, made opposition to the heavily pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) a cornerstone of his campaign. Recent polling indicates that 60% of potential Democratic voters sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis, and 48% believe the party has been overly supportive of Israel. This sentiment suggests a strong desire among the Democratic base for leaders to reconsider the party's stance on unfettered US-Israel solidarity.",
  "summary": "Failing to give Palestinians a voice at the 2024 convention came back to bite the party in this year’s elections, writes Akbar Shahid Ahmed The last time she gathered with fellow Democrats for a pre-election national convention, Georgia state representative Ruwa Romman got an unspoken message from the party establishment: on their biggest stage, she said, “There’s room for an anti-choice…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}