Chicago: Thousands of protesters gathered near the site of the Democratic National Convention Monday in Chicago, attacking US President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies on the war in Gaza, even as the Democratic Party attempted to portray a united organisation inside the United Center – main venue for the convention.
“Those protesters out in the streets have a point, a lot of innocent people are being killed (in Gaza) on both sides,” said Biden in his address on the first day of the convention. He was the only major Democratic leader to take note of the protests, as the party attempts to sidestep a major issue challenging its unity.
A month earlier, the Democrats had another issue fracturing the party – Biden’s continuing candidacy – especially after a disastrous debate performance against Republican nominee and former president Donald J. Trump. The debate brought to public the deep fears over Biden’s age and whether the octogenarian would be able to continue for four more years as the leader of the country.
On 21 July, however, Biden withdrew from the race and supported his vice president Harris as the Democratic nominee. Harris’ quick consolidation over the democratic machinery has upended the polls, which showed Trump in the ascendancy, and for the most part has energised the party faithful for the November presidential election.
Despite large parts of the party coalescing around Harris, it still faces challenges, especially from the Left.
In Chicago, furious protestors from a myriad of organisations – racial justice, pro-labour and anti-war activists – organised a march from Union Park to United Center. The protests lasted for hours, as protesters labelled Biden as “Genocide Joe” and Harris as “Killer Kamala” for the administration’s continued military support to Israel.
Hamas on 7 October 2023 attacked Israel, which led to the deaths of around 1,150 Israelis and a further 250 Israelis taken hostage. Tel Aviv’s retaliation has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, injured countless others and laid waste to large swathes of Gaza. The conflict has seen massive protests across the US, especially in college campuses earlier this year – highlighting fault lines that exist within the Left of the Democratic Party.
While some Democrats, such as representatives Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have all criticised the war, other members of the party have continued their long-standing support for Israel.
Apart from Biden, the pro-Palestine protests, however, found little mention by the speakers at the Democratic National Convention, with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York – a strong critic of the war – only highlighting that Harris is working on a deal to see the return of the hostages home and securing a ceasefire to the conflict.
The march in Chicago drew a variety of support from activists to families with children and students from across the US, incensed by the continued military support from the Biden administration to the Israeli government in the ten-month long conflict.
Chants including “from river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a slogan that some have claimed is anti-semitic and calls for the elimination of Israel – were heard across the march. In a similar vein, protesters called out names of African Americans killed in police action.
Draped in Keffiyeh and carrying Palestinian flags, the protesters marched roughly 1.6 kilometres to the United Center, while hundreds of police officers were deployed along the route, some even on bicycles.
While the march remained mostly peaceful, some protesters breached the perimeter at the convention centre – leading to at least six protesters being detained by the police, according to reports.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)