Rep. Ruwa Romman, invited by the uncommitted campaign to speak at the DNC, addressed Palestinian and Muslim voters in a recent video. She urged them to remain within the Democratic Party. The video is available here. A full transcription follows.
As we approach election day, we’ll encounter similar arguments. We need to prepare counterarguments. While I have my own views, I’m curious about your thoughts on how to respond to this message.
This video is specifically for Palestinians, Muslims, and our allies. If that’s not you, if you’re somebody who’s very partisan, who cannot hear any criticism right now, please keep scrolling. This video is not for you.
First and foremost, I want to validate the anger, the frustration, the hurt, the feeling of hopelessness. Everything that you are feeling is incredibly valid. I need you to- I’m an elected official, I’m a Democrat, I need you to hear this from somebody in my position. Everything you are feeling is valid. And I’m making this video because I need you to understand why I am doing what I am doing. Because the reality of the situation is that people are going to spread misinformation and disinformation.
So first and foremost, I have no political ambitions. I was actually forced into kind of running for office, it’s like a long story and I’m happy to share later, but I don’t have political ambitions. When I was in Chicago, I wasn’t even supposed to be at the DNC, I kind of got pulled into all of this. And the tactic and strategy specifically there was either to be able to, even if you’re symbolically show there’s room for Palestinians in our party, even at the most national level, or if the DNC had said no, be able to literally show the institutionalized racism against Palestinians that still exist within the party.
And you’re probably thinking right now, “So why are you still a Democrat?” Let me explain. The DNC is just one democratic organization of literally thousands around the country. There are state level Democrats, there are county level Democrats, there are city level Democrats. In Georgia, for example, my county has the Gwinnett Democrats, but then there’s also young Democrats of Georgia, and then there’s the Democratic Party of Georgia, and then there’s each county has a party, and then there’s young Democrats of Atlanta. There are literally thousands of democratic organizations that are just not the DNC.
And within those democratic organizations, and particularly down ballot, more and more and more and more and more Democrats, in fact the majority in a lot of these organizations, are now very pro-Palestine. And they have been incredibly supportive of not just me, but other candidates who believe this way. And not just that, my caucus, my house caucus, voted against or walked on a bill that would have defined anti-Semitism to include criticism of the state of Israel. The bill was going to pass anyway, and they chose to stand with our communities. Two-thirds.
Not just that, even at the DNC itself, where it’s supposed to be like a big rally, big party, big pep thing situation, even the most hardcore Democrats, the majority of them stood with us. Yes, there were hecklers, yes there were people who were very annoying and insensitive, and understand that the DNC is meant to be a rally. It is not meant to be a place to hash out differences. And those same people came out and stood with us and demanded that a Palestinian speak on that stage. So when you ask me why I’m still a Democrat, that’s one of the many reasons.
The other reason is there are no other viable parties on the national level. None whatsoever. They’re just, they don’t exist. And when people come to me and say, “You should join the Green Party,” Jill Stein has been at the top of that ticket for 12 years, and she has yet to build out legitimate infrastructure and win down ballot races. 12 years. This woman’s been around for 12 years. And she can’t even grow out her base. And so, I just think a lot about that, and it really makes me upset because I see a lot of you asking me to leave the Democratic Party, and I know you’re probably like, “How in the world can she still stay a Democrat?” And the thing is, the DNC is not just it. There’s so much more.
And not only that, even Harris delegates, the most hardcore Harris supporters, recruited each other to become ceasefire delegates at the convention. The young Democrats of Georgia gave me a standing ovation on Saturday, and they all, from that stage, talked about how the DNC messed up. So you tell me, when you have built that kind of infrastructure, why would you just quit? And the other thing is that the Green Party never asked me to volunteer for them. It was Democrats that showed up to my college campus to recruit us to become volunteers. Not the Green Party.
So again, I ask, why would I leave? And not just that. More Democrats today, even on a national level, vote against more weapons to Israel than ever before. We have not had a decrease. It’s been a consistent trajectory towards no more weapons for Israel. So again, I ask, why would I leave all that behind? Because here’s the reality. When we become the majority of the party, whether as voters, as elected officials, and when I say we, I mean those who think this way about this issue, etc., the party has no choice but to listen, even at the national level. Right now, we’re just not fully there yet.
If people, and I’m saying everyone, especially our allies, had cared about this this much, even just two, three, five years ago, things would be so different right now. But they care now. So why would I concede any ground ever on this? Why? That makes absolutely no sense to me. Particularly for somebody who, like I said, has been around for 12 years, and I have never been recruited as a volunteer by the Green Party, and I’m politically active. I’ve never been recruited as a volunteer by the Green Party. I’ve never seen them on our college campuses, at least mine. I’ve never seen them, like, try to grow out their base, because it’s hard work.
I want to be clear, this is hard work, and you need infrastructure. And when I talk about third parties and down-ballot and being strategic, that’s what I’m talking about. I’m talking about, what are you doing outside of presidential elections? And I’m sure there are people in the Green Party who’ve been doing this for a long time, who do this year-round, but the reality is the top of the ticket keeps failing them. And so again, for me personally, if I know that one party, there is only one viable party on the trajectory that I want them on, why would I leave that behind?
And I want to be abundantly clear. We offered our endorsement in exchange for a place for a Palestinian on that stage. That was rejected. So for those of you who are still partisan and still watching this, y’all need to be yelling at the campaign, not at us. And people have every right to be angry about what’s going on. I’m furious. But my long-term goal, my long-term goal is to ensure that our coalition is strong enough and grows enough that even on the national level, Democrats will have no choice but to listen. Because they are listening, especially down-ballot. My colleagues are listening. The people I know are listening. The majority are listening. The amount of people that will send me messages like, “I stand with you,” are listening.
But the other thing I need you to understand is I am the only elected Palestinian who currently lives in a red state that is controlled by Republicans in all three branches of government. I was on the front lines during Trump. Anybody who downplays a Trump presidency is lying to you. And right now I feel stuck. I literally feel like I have nowhere to go because on the one hand, I personally was rejected by the DNC. And on the other hand, I’ve got somebody who is genuinely an evil person. This is not, what do they call it, like Trump derangement syndrome or whatever. No, this isn’t. I literally was on the front lines against this man’s policies. I watched it with my own eyes. My life was in danger.
So please hear me when I tell you, I’m not selling out. I have no political ambition. Anybody who is saying stuff like that is a liar. Because these are people popping up who I’ve never spoken to before. Who’ve never spoken to frankly any of the Palestinian elected officials before. There are people who are using my pain to virtue signal and convince you that the threats that we are facing are not actually that big of a deal. My philosophy is that if I can prevent the death of even a single person, I will make the decisions to do that. Period. End of story.
I do not believe in the fact that just because things are bad, that it’s okay to let them get worse. And you know who does that by the way? AIPAC, DMFI, KUFI. They will never, ever, ever, EVER punish a candidate, meaning get them out of office, without making sure that the person replacing them is going to be better on their issue. And we need to get to that point. Because the reason we keep regressing, like I saw people talking about the ratchet effect, about how like, you know, Democrats try to hold the line and Republicans just keep moving us back. That’s true. That’s 100% true.
But to fix that, you don’t just take the brakes off. You don’t just let it go completely unattended. What you do is you start thinking not just this election, but the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that, and you build towards it, right? Early voting starts in a month. That’s the reality. Early voting is going to start in a month. For me, it’s like I’m just trying to get through November, but the question for me isn’t just even through November, it’s what are we doing right now to build out our strategy for 2026? Because AIPAC is already talking about primarying Ilhan, Rashida, and Summerlee. They’re already talking about it. Because that’s what they do. They prep years ahead of time. We can do the same.
So please hear me when I tell you that when somebody says that, “Oh, third party can win,” it’s not possible. They’re lying to you. And the reason I haven’t joined a third party, although technically I’m a Working Families party member. I want to be clear. When I said that Democrats are a bunch of parties in one, I really meant it. There’s Working Families Party, there’s DSA, etc. But my point is that the Green Party ain’t it. And I’ve joined other third parties, for lack of a better word. The Green Party is not it.
And for those of you who keep coming into my comments telling me to join the Green Party, that I am betraying my people, whatever, first off, not true. Second off, I hope you take a moment to understand that my main priority is to save as many lives as possible. That’s it.