A group of disengaged delegates to the Democratic National Convention ended their sit-in outside the United Center on Thursday night, nearly 24 hours after it began and without a speaking time reserved for a Palestinian American on the DNC stage.

But the group vowed to keep fighting. The delegates walked back to the United Center just after 7:30 p.m., after waiting until 6 p.m. for a call from DNC leaders about their request. The call never came.

“This is a disastrous decision by the Democratic leadership to deny a minimal request that we requested weeks ago, prior to the convention,” said Layla Elabed, co-chair of the Uncommitted National Movement. “Nevertheless, uncommitted delegates and armistice delegates are not here just for a speaker, we are here to continue to demand that our elected officials and our candidates running within the Democratic Party do better.”

The delegates invited Vice President Kamala Harris to visit every state with unassigned delegates and speak to voters before Sept. 15.

The sit-in was supported by Illinois Mayor Brandon Johnson and U.S. Reps. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Delia Ramirez. It began during primetime speeches on the third night of the convention.

The group sat on the sidewalk, walked past a microphone and began sharing personal stories and pleas.

The demonstration was peaceful and calm. Whether to end it was a decision in the hands of DNC officials, the Secret Service and Chicago police said.

The group’s primary demand was that Harris end military aid to Israel and support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. They framed their additional bid for a Palestinian speaker as a secondary, “highly reasonable” request — one they made months ago.

Undecided representatives said they had already been in talks with the vice president’s team but did not receive a formal response until Wednesday evening.

It was around 8:30 p.m. that night when a senior DNC official reportedly told the group, “The answer is no.” Members of the group also say they were told that Harris would give the biggest speech of her life on Thursday and that the day “cannot be defined by this.”

“This level of oppression, silencing, exclusion in the party of representation, of inclusion, of diversity,” said Rep. Abbas Alawieh of Michigan. “It’s shocking. It’s a shock to the system. I really can’t believe it, and that’s why we’re staying here.”

Journalists and other spectators stood in a semicircle around the delegates and demonstrators, who sat with their legs crossed on the sidewalk. Others stood with a banner that read in capital letters: “Arms Embargo Now.”

“If any country in the world uses weapons to injure and kill civilians, we oppose it,” Alawieh said. “This is not a conversation that can be held in secret anymore.”

Johnson weighed in on the discussion Thursday, saying a Palestinian voice should be invited onto the United Center stage before the convention ends. “We are the party that welcomes a broad spectrum of ideologies,” he said.

Earlier, the US Congressman said Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar paid a visit to the uncommitted delegates. She walked over to the group to cheers and hugged Alawieh as DNC attendees filed out of the arena for the night. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also FaceTimed from a representative’s phone.

Other Illinois delegates said the war in Gaza was not ignored at the convention. They noted that the parents of an Israeli-American hostage spoke from the podium, pleading for his return.

Illinois Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, argued that Harris “has shown a lot of empathy” and that she believes Palestinian voices “have been heard.” When asked if she would support a Palestinian-American on stage, Feigenholtz, who is Jewish, said “it depends on the message.”

“I would have a very hard time listening to someone chanting ‘from the river to the sea,’” Feigenholtz said, referring to a phrase that has offended some Israel supporters and is seen by others as a call for peace and Palestinian liberation. “But if they’re talking about living in peace, side by side, then absolutely.”

When former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi walked past after a speech, two disengaged representatives asked why she wouldn’t support a Palestinian-American speaker. The representatives followed Pelosi, who was surrounded by security, as she got into her car. She didn’t respond to their questions.

“We just asked Speaker Pelosi, who is sitting in this car, whether she believes that the 16,000 Palestinian children who have been needlessly murdered in this brutal war in Gaza deserve someone to speak about the experience of Palestinian suffering at the convention of a party that stands for equality, freedom and justice in every area except one,” said June Rose, a noncommittal representative from Rhode Island.

Asma Mohammad, a non-committed delegate from Minnesota, noted that there was no shortage of potential speakers. The convention was taking place in the homeland of the country’s largest Palestinian-American population.

“It is a shame that here in this community, this community in Chicago, where we have the largest population of Palestinian-Americans, there will not be a single Palestinian-American speaker on that stage,” Mohammed said.

“Thirty miles from here, a 6-year-old Palestinian boy was murdered because he was Palestinian,” Mohammed said, referring to the killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume. “The least our party can do is honor him by showing that Palestinian Americans are welcome on the stage.”

Contribution: Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mitchell Armentrout

Emmanuel Camarillo and Sophie Sherry also report for the Chicago Sun-Times. Tessa Weinberg and Mariah Woelfel cover city government and politics for WBEZ.