A Florida delegate who was repeatedly hit by a man with a “we love Joe” sign as she protested Israel’s war in Gaza during President Joe Biden‘s speech at the Democratic National Convention has accused the Biden administration of being “willing to sacrifice everything” to support Israel.
Nadia Ahmad, a law professor at Florida’s Barry University and a delegate, and several other protesters unfurled a banner that read “STOP ARMING ISRAEL” a few minutes into Biden’s speech on Monday night.
Video posted on social media showed a man sitting in the section behind Ahmad, who was wearing a hijab, repeatedly hitting her on the head several times. Other video showed that two men eventually wrestled the banner away from them.
Ahmad, who is also a PhD student, told Newsweek: “I have no interest in speaking with Vice President Harris or President Joe Biden. We know [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu wants former president Donald Trump to win, and we also know that Joe Biden is willing to sacrifice everything, even his own presidency, to support Israel.”
She said she protested in the convention hall to “honor my fellow students and support those who have been protesting on the frontlines, facing arrest for doing nothing more than speaking truth to power.”
The Biden administration was “prepared to lose elections just to allow the genocide in Palestine to continue,” she said.
“We are here to make sure the world witnesses our resistance, and we are prepared to accept the consequences of our actions, just as the United States and Israel should be ready to answer to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.”
Ahmad added that the Biden administration “may not care how many die—40,000, 100,000, 200,000—but they do care about controlling the White House, the Senate, and the House. We must not let the blood in the streets of Palestine turn into a sea of red at the polls in November. We cannot allow genocide to be sold in exchange for political power.”
Newsweek has contacted representatives for Harris and Biden for comment via email.
Lauren Steiner, an activist, told Newsweek that she had reached out to delegates to take part in the protest.
“While I’m no longer in the party, I have been very active as a Jewish person fighting this genocide and felt I had to help organize something like this at this convention,” Steiner told Newsweek.
“We initially had more than the four [delegates] who were there. But they either changed their minds or were intimidated by other delegates or party leaders not to.”
Steiner said the initial plan had been to chant “ceasefire now” as Biden spoke.
“But with only four people, no one would hear us,” Steiner said. “So we decided to hold up a banner with the more controversial ‘Stop Arming Israel,’ which is the main demand to stop the genocide.”
Steiner said she painted the banner and Ahmad “snuck it in under her dress.”
Newsweek has contacted convention organizers for comment via email.
Biden used part of his speech on Monday to address the ongoing war, acknowledging that those protesting “have a point.”
“We’re working around the clock, my secretary of state, to prevent a wider war and reunite hostages with their families and surge humanitarian health and food assistance into Gaza now,” Biden said. “To end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and finally, finally, finally deliver a ceasefire and end this war.”
U.S. President Joe Biden holds US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris hand after delivering the keynote address on the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 19, 2024. A Florida delegate hit with a “we love Joe” sign at the DNC has called out the Biden administration.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
He added: “Those protesters out in the street, they have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides.”
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, The Associated Press reported, citing Gaza’s Health Ministry. Officials say the true death toll is likely to be far higher as many bodies remain buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed by airstrikes. The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million have been displaced, often multiple times.
Now in its 11th month, Israel’s offensive began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. About half were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
