A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Protesters marched outside the Democratic Convention yesterday.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Free, free Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting) Free, free Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Free, free Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting) Free, free Palestine.
MARTÍNEZ: They're objecting to U.S. support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. People who support the Palestinian cause represent a significant part of the Democratic coalition, and they include Ruwa Romman. The Georgia state representative is in Chicago for the DNC and joins us now. Representative, as a Palestinian yourself, what exactly do you want to hear from Kamala Harris when it comes to Israel and Gaza?
RUWA ROMMAN: Yeah, thanks for having me. And, you know, for us, specifically, the asks have actually not changed. I think sometimes people think that somehow the goalposts have moved, but they haven't. Specifically, when we are calling for things like a cease-fire, we are talking about how to even get there. And that is why there has been this sort of new movement, particularly around the slogan, not another bomb, because the demand has been and continues to be, there needs to be an immediate cease-fire. The bombs need to stop dropping. The sort of mass killing of civilians needs to stop because that seems to have kind of gotten lost along the way.
MARTÍNEZ: Do you want Kamala Harris to demand a cease-fire right now and an arms embargo on Israel, even if it somehow hurts her chances to defeat Donald Trump?
ROMMAN: So that's an interesting framing of the question because we now have polling from Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona, I believe, by IMU, where it actually shows that when you ask Democrats and independents about how they feel about conditioning military aid, they actually say that it would make them more likely to vote for her. So this idea that it would hurt her chances is actually incorrect because it would prevent, you know, one of the few places where a rift could emerge in our coalitions.
MARTÍNEZ: How - would it be wise though for a sitting vice president to go against the president when she's running for his job on a major foreign policy issue such as this one, though?
ROMMAN: I mean, this is supposed to be her administration. So, you know, this is not the first time that a vice president is running while a president is still in office. And the entire point was that we are looking for a different path forward. The reality was that President Biden's polling was already bad before the debate. It's not like everybody decided one thing was what ended up changing course. It was the fact that there had been this sustained need to change direction. And a lot of that really started back in November. And so this is, again, an opportunity. If we're serious about a different path to the future, this is one of those opportunities to do that.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, if it's not Kamala Harris as president, the other option is former President Donald Trump. Pro-Palestinian Democrats also don't want that, and Kamala Harris knows that. Here's how she responded after being interrupted multiple times by pro-Palestinian demonstrators at a rally in Detroit earlier this month
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking.
(CHEERING)
MARTÍNEZ: Representative, how do you think Harris handled that moment?
ROMMAN: You know, for us, I was, frankly, very, very disappointed, but simultaneously, immediately by her next rally, she had a very different response to protesters moving forward. Because the reality is that, from my understanding, the protesters that were in that crowd were a very different group than uncommitted. And those specific protesters in Michigan of all places, had lost family members. And so that is what I would hope people would remember is that there is very serious loss and anguish here and desperation to save the loved ones who are left and end this carnage.
MARTÍNEZ: If Kamala Harris wins the White House in November, what would you want her to do right away about the war in Gaza?
ROMMAN: So again, for us, it's - if the goal is a cease-fire in order to stop the bombs dropping on innocent people and allow aid in and be able to de-escalate tensions and be able to free the hostages and be able to sort of meet a lot of these goals that we currently have, my hope is that that is what she does. And that is what we're asking. We're asking for her to commit to enforcing our laws, our international laws on friend and foe alike, which is what we do to Ukraine, which is what we do to everybody else. And that continues to be and has been the ask all the time.
MARTÍNEZ: But isn't it counterproductive to pressure the only candidate that would most likely be most willing to achieve what you want?
ROMMAN: Not at all. That's the entire point of a political process, is to be able to get those policy commitments.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's Democratic Georgia State Representative Ruwa Romman. Thank you very much for getting up early at the DNC to talk to us.
ROMMAN: Thank you. Have a great one. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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