Jon Stewart Slams DNC For Denying Stage Time To Palestinian Critics Of Israel War

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago concluded Thursday night after four days of musical performances, galvanizing speeches and raucous crowds — and not a single moment of stage time for Palestinian critics of Israel’s U.S.-backed war in Gaza.

For Jon Stewart at “The Daily Show,” that dispiriting fact made for brutally honest comedy.

“They had Black Americans! Hispanic Americans! Asian Americans! Gay Americans! Jewish Americans! Palestinian Ame— oh…,” Stewart said Thursday as his audience groaned in pained agreement. “Well, to be fair, it was only four nights, eight hours a night.”

“But really, it’s best not to think about the consequences of our actions over there, especially given the theme of the week,” he continued before playing a montage of DNC speakers like former President Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey extolling the party’s “joy.”

“Oh, it was joyful — for a convention,” quipped Stewart. “I know what real joy looks like because I’ve watched Oprah on her show. You thought people were happy to see her endorse Kamala Harris, you should see what they do when she gives them lipliner.”

Watch the segment below.

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The Israel-Gaza conflict is now in its 10th month after the surprise Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed some 1,200 people. The death toll in Gaza has since risen above 40,000 people, half of whom are women and children, according to the local health ministry.

Pro-Palestinian activists crashed President Joe Biden’s speech on the first night of the DNC to bring attention to the continuing loss of life in Gaza and clashed with Chicago police outside the Israeli Consulate on Tuesday — before the convention denied Gaza war critics a speaking slot.

Abbas Alawieh, a DNC delegate from Michigan who lived through Israel’s U.S.-backed bombing campaign in Lebanon when he was young, was outraged by the decision to keep Gaza war critics from speaking at the convention.

“Vice President Harris, unfortunately, has made the decision that the child in me, the American child in me, who was certain my own government was going to kill me, is not going to get to be heard at this convention,” Alawieh said Wednesday outside the DNC.

CNN politics reporter Greg Krieg tweeted, “Uncommitted organizers say the DNC told them Thursday nite did not work because it was Kamala Harris’ big night and they didn’t want to do anything to distract from it.”

While U.S. officials, including Biden and Harris, have claimed to be fighting for a cease-fire, many critics remain skeptical about the administration’s efforts to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into halting the military offensive in Gaza.

The State Department confirmed only two weeks ago that U.S. aid will keep flowing to an Israeli military unit accused of human rights abuses. Leaked U.S. memos warned four months ago that Israel might be violating international law by blocking aid into Gaza.

International mediators have since launched a new round of cease-fire talks in Doha, Qatar.