DNC protests planned over Gaza, other causes as one organizer says, 'People feel betrayed by the Democratic Party' (2024)

Chicago protesters have marched against Israel’s actions in the war in Gaza every weekend since October. But the task of organizing those protests has been difficult while leaders witness the daily violence from Israel’s attacks, including the killing or maiming of their own family or friends.

“We’ve been struggling,” said Deanna Othman, a board member of the Chicago chapter of American Muslims for Palestine. “Nobody expected this to last this long.”

This month, they’ll have reinforcements. Demonstrations are planned outside the Democratic National Convention, when the party is expected to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as its presidential candidate.

Here’s the inside look at who’s planning to be there, why they’re protesting and what they’re aiming to achieve.

Where, when will this happen?

Protesters are expected to hit the streets on the first, third and last day of the convention — Aug. 19. Aug. 21 and Aug. 22 — marking the kickoff and the acceptance speeches of both Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the vice presidential candidate, and Harris.

The largest of the planned demonstrations, the March on the DNC, are scheduled to start at noon Aug. 19 and 5 p.m. Aug. 22 with rallies at Union Park on the Near West Side. Speakers from community organizations will take turns on the mic, and organizers aim to book a few noteworthy politicians and celebrities, after which those gathered will march to the vicinity of the United Center, where the DNC main events will be held.

The route has been the subject of a monthslong court fight between city officials, who have denied protest permits, and organizers, who want to demonstrate within sight and sound of the United Center to get their message to Democratic Party VIPs.

The city agreed last month to allow the rally to go on at Union Park, less than a half-mile east of the arena. But Hatem Abudayyeh, a chief organizer of the march and the national chair of the Chicago-based U.S. Palestinian Community Network advocacy group, said the proposed march path is too short and will take protesters down smaller streets, leading to potentially dangerous bottlenecks.

Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times file

Organizers are asking to go west on Washington Boulevard from Union Park, north on Western Avenue, east on Lake Street and back south on Ashland Avenue.

A protest against the war in Gaza is planned for the Wednesday evening of the convention. And a march for LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights is scheduled on Michigan Avenue the eve of the DNC.

Protest organizers are concerned about how the Chicago Police Department will handle the protests and have held safety training sessions in preparation. They point to the department’s forceful response to demonstrations following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 and images of cops beating demonstrators with batons during the Democratic convention in 1968.

Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times file

Police Supt. Larry Snelling has promised to protect the right to protest but also said peaceful protests aren’t always legal, indicating the police might go after demonstrations that block streets or occupy buildings without permission.

Most Gaza protests have taken place without any trouble this year. In the past few months, though, the police broke up a pro-Palestinian student encampment at DePaul University and made 70 arrests as students tried to set up a pro-Palestinian camp outside the Art Institute of Chicago. The city of Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability later began investigating complaints made by protesters about the police response.

Jim Vondruska / For the Sun-Times file

Who’s protesting?

More than 150 groups nationwide have joined the Coalition to March on the DNC.

They include some Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and anti-war organizations that have been part of pro-Palestinian protests.

Other groups focus on issues including housing, education, immigration, policing, health care and LGBTQ+ rights. They plan to protest the U.S. government spending billions of dollars on military aid and not investing enough in under-resourced American communities.

“We just feel really strongly that we have to send the message that … we deserve better than to choose between the lesser of two evils every election; to have things to actually vote for, not just voting because they’re not the other guy,’ said Jae Yates, 31, an organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, a Minnesota group pushing for community control of policing that plans to bring two busloads of people to Chicago.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere / Sun-Times file

The Chicago area is also home to the largest Palestinian population in the United States.

Some protesters have family or friends who were killed or injured in Gaza. American citizens are among those killed and detained there. Nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced, according to the United Nations.

“It’s a confusing time,” said Nida Ali, chairwoman of the Chicago American Muslims for Palestine. “Do you celebrate your kids or not? My daughter got engaged. My daughter graduated from dentist school. I would not post anything about her. How could you post about your daughter graduating when [Gaza’s] colleges are in the rubble? You’re happy, but you feel guilty for feeling happy.”

Julie Kosowski, whose 90-year-old father is a Holocaust survivor, plans to attend the DNC protest and call for a “free Palestine.” She said her father was recently placed in hospice care, making their experience all the more emotional during this time.

“Everything I experience now happens alongside a live-streamed genocide,” Kosowski said. “The fact that my 90-year-old father is a genocide survivor and has access to home hospice care at this stage of his life is comforting to me and also makes the Palestinian experience very personal.”

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere / Sun-Times file

What are the demands?

Some groups planning protests want Harris and the Democratic Party to push for an immediate and permanent cease-fire to the war in Gaza and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel.

Some also want Harris and Democrats to call for a stop to Israel’s 16-year blockade of Gaza and the end of the 57-year Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, which the International Court of Justice ruled last month is illegal.

Protest organizers also want more prominence on the Democratic platform for domestic causes including more education funding, universal health care, more subsidized and affordable housing, greater environmental protections, stronger immigrant rights and legalization, LGBTQ+ and reproductive protections, community control of the police, and stronger union protections.

“We’re working on a program right now that is going to be representative of the fact that this is a national march,” Abudayyeh said. “I think that there are organizations and individuals who will be here who have historically been supporters of the Democratic Party and said, ‘I can’t do this any longer.’”

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere / Sun-Times file

Why protest the DNC?

One reason organizers cite is that Democrats have been the party in the White House since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last October.

President Joe Biden and Congress have directed more than $15 billion in aid to Israel in the past 10 months, some of that for unconditional military use.

Palestinian supporters have been dismayed by that financial and political support, despite Israeli attacks that have killed about 40,000 Palestinians since October, the majority of them women and children, according to the United Nations.

The protests initially targeted Biden. Now, with the president out of the race, some organizers see hope for a change in policy on Gaza and on other domestic issues. Others say Harris’ candidacy is stained by having been Biden’s vice president and say they’re troubled by her support of Israel.

Anthony Vazquez / Sun-Times file

Many Democratic voters fear another Donald Trump presidency. Democrats have long been seen as the more likely of the two major parties to support Palestinian rights.

But Yates said that’s the catch.

“People feel more betrayed by the Democratic Party because Republicans have sort of always been naked in their support for war and repression abroad,” Yates said. “But the Democratic Party has been promising people for years to do so many things that they’ve never delivered on ... I think people are exhausted and sick of the runaround from the Democrats.”