Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention was met Monday with thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathering for the March on the DNC demonstration at Union Park. The 13.5-acre plot of green is less than a mile from the United Center, where the convention’s primetime programming is set to take place, and about 3.5 miles from the daytime itinerary at McCormick Place.
Calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to U.S. aid for Israel’s military action against Hamas in Palestine, the protest saw support from Chicagoan Palestinians, Jews and their allies. The city of Chicago, which is home to the largest population of Palestinians in the United States, granted permits and access to staging and sound equipment for the event after a legal battle on Friday.
The March on the DNC was in part overseen by coalition cochair Kobi Guillory, who lead the chant, “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes.”
“The Democratic leaders say nice words about the communities who get them elected, but they prove through their actions that they are the same as the Republicans,” Guillory said, speaking at the start of the protest.
That is why now is the ripe time for protesters to be heard, according to Jodie Evans, the cofounder of women-for-peace org Code Pink. “There’s only the next two and a half months. That is when democracy happens. That is when we raise our voice,” Evans, who hasn’t missed a convention since 1976, told TheWrap. “That is when we irritate those that are running. That’s where we we make them make promises that we can then force them to keep.”
In addition to Code Pink, the protest saw many different organizations in attendance, including Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, Starbucks Workers United, Veterans for Peace and more than 200 others all demanding President Biden, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and other party leaders to end U.S. aid to Israel.
More specifically, Aviva Waldman, a progressive Jewish activist, noted they would like to see an arms embargo — “which at this at this point, really seems to be the only thing that is likely to stop the continued aggressions against civilians in Gaza,” she told TheWrap.
But protesters also called for more longterm change in the Middle East, should Harris win the presidency in November.
“We want to see a complete reevaluation of the Democratic Party’s policy towards the Israeli administration, and its material support for the Israeli occupation, both in Gaza and in the West Bank, and for the political regime under which Palestinians of Israel live,” Waldman said.
While the majority of the March on the DNC protesters appeared to be critical supporters of the Democratic Party, there were certainly plenty of signs expressing distaste for Biden, Harris and Trump alike.
A speaker for the U.S. Palestinian Community Network said that “the Biden administration and Democrats have ignored our calls for an end to this genocide, claiming harassment whenever anyone confronts them.”
Independent presidential candidate Cornel West, meanwhile, posed with pro-Palestinian protesters holding signs that read, “Abandon Harris ’24.” There was even a small table set up campaigning for Jill Stein. But, at least for Waldman, the answer to who she’s voting for in November was clear: “Certainly not the Republican Party.”
“I think we can all agree that they’re not looking out for the well being of anyone but a certain, very narrow slice of their voting base,” Waldman said. “That’s all we need to say about the Republican Party.”
Reflecting on the DNC’s history of being “an important venue for protest,” Waldman expressed that “it’s one of the very rare opportunities where you see all of these tremendously powerful people gather in a venue that is not Washington.”
“Having all those people in geographic proximity, in a place where we can yell and have them hear us is an important opportunity to bring the Democratic Party elite face to face with the American people and what we want,” Waldman said.
The main programming of the DNC’s first evening kicks off Monday with headline speakers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden.
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