DNC protesters say Democrats are all talk, no action on plight of Palestinians in Gaza

A few thousand demonstrators were on scene at Union Park in Chicago on Monday to protest the Biden-Harris administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war, with some criticizing the Democratic Party as all talk and no action in ending the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Carrying Palestinian flags and signs with slogans like "no arms embargo, no vote," "land back," and posters calling for the United States to end aid to Israel, the demonstrators gathered peacefully near a stage to hear organizers and guests speak. 

"Chicago draws the line," an organizer said while leading a chant from the stage. "We stand up for Palestine."

While the protest was largely peaceful, a group briefly broke through a police fence erected on the outer security perimeter in the early evening. Several people were reportedly arrested during the incident, though CBC News has not independently verified the arrests.

Chicago police said the inner security perimeter had not been breached and that the situation was contained.

The March on the DNC, which is led by a coalition of progressive groups, has demanded that the White House end all forms of U.S. aid to Israel. The group says that Israel is committing a genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza and that the U.S. has enabled it.

Israel has denied that its actions in Gaza, which began in the aftermath of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, constitute a genocide. South Africa has brought a case against Israel before the International Court of Justice, alleging that the country's actions in Gaza have "genocidal intent." The ICJ said in a July ruling that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal.

The coalition's website says it is also marching for immigrant, LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights, more investment in jobs, education, the environment, health care and housing, the right to unionize and strike, and advocating for community control of police.

While organizers said they were expecting at least 20,000 attendees, only a few thousand were there by the time the march began at 2 p.m. local time. 

Daniel Garcia, a protester from Chicago, told CBC News he was protesting to show that "the progressive stance is to be against the genocide, and the administration currently conducting it," referring to the Democrats.

He said that Kamala Harris, now pulling double duty as both vice-president and the Democratic presidential candidate, has been "in full co-operation" with the Biden administration's handling of the war.

"I don't think her presidency, if she were to win, would be any different," he said.

One protester said she was there to send a message to Harris and the Democrats: "We need a ceasefire."

"I was really excited about Harris at first," said Ciara Asonye, a Chicago resident. "But at the same time, she's going to be our Democratic nominee, and there wasn't a primary, we didn't get to hear her debate."

Asonye and other protesters are pressing for Harris to support an arms embargo on Israel. The DNC platform, which will be voted on Monday night, doesn't include a call for such a measure.

"If she doesn't stand in solidarity with the people," Asonye said, gesturing to the crowd, "what kind of president is that?"

Harris has expressed sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian people, though she has stopped short of agreeing to an arms embargo on Israel, maintaining that Israel has a right to defend itself. A movement of 36 "uncommitted" Democratic delegates have pushed for the embargo.

Delegates striking a more conciliatory tone on Harris

Inside the convention, pro-Palestinian activists spoke of pursuing party unity.

In interviews, and at a public forum, members of the self-proclaimed uncommitted movement said they wanted Harris to win — and they don't plan to spoil her convention.

They promised to keep pressing her for their goal of a weapons embargo on Israel, and expressed hope she would prove more sympathetic than Biden.

"We want Kamala Harris to win," said Sheigh Freeberg, an uncommitted delegate from Minnesota. 

"We're trying to talk to fellow delegates and tell them that her path to victory is really narrowed if she's supporting the genocide in Gaza.… We don't want Donald Trump to win." 

On Monday, inside the event, he attended what was billed as a first-of-its-kind gathering: a panel on Palestinian rights hosted at a Democratic convention. 

Hundreds of delegates crowded into a room where they heard of civilian death and suffering in Gaza. 

One longtime party activist, who said she has raised millions for the party, wept and discussed her sense of guilt, as the daughter of Palestinians, for not taking a stronger stand years ago. 

She said she felt like a "failure" and a "fraud" for waiting too long, as relatives back home were killed. 

But Hala Hijazi added that she's known Harris for years and is confident she intends to take a tougher line than Biden against the Israeli government.

"I say this as someone who's known her since 1997: She's trying," she said during the panel.

She concluded with a call for party unity: "At the end of the day, we are one Democratic Party."

Protester likely voting for Harris, to stop Trump

Chicago resident Ellen Garza said she's been demonstrating around the Israel-Palestinian conflict for 40 years. She said she typically votes Democrat and will likely vote for Harris in November — if only to stop Republican Donald Trump.

"Fascism is at our door, and we have to fight it. And we only have a two-party system. It's all we've got," she said.

Having Harris at the top of the ticket hasn't changed anything for Garza when it comes to what she referred to as the "genocide in Gaza." 

"It has changed everything for me because we have to keep Trump out of the White House. The fascist movement is real and it's a danger and we have to stop it," she said.

"So it's a big dilemma. It's a dilemma that the Democratic Party always finds themselves in."

A small crowd of counter-protesters holding Israeli flags gathered near the park's perimeter in the morning, cordoned off by police. There was no contact with pro-Palestinian protesters, who shouted "say it loud, say it clear: we don't want no Zionists here."

Counter-protester Anna Steinberg said her takeaway from the demonstration is that "America's in trouble."

She said protesters were pushing "Jew hatred" under the guise of political protest. Referring to the Biden-Harris administration, she said "there's not much that they are offering the Jewish people."

"The most important thing for us is self-preservation," said Steinberg. "We're in a mode of survival. We have to vote for our survival."

Earlier this year, March on the DNC organizers sued the City of Chicago after officials rejected their requests for protest permits. The city later agreed to let the demonstration be held at Union Park, near the site of the convention, and a judge okayed the group's 1.6-kilometre marching route.

Some analysts have drawn parallels between these protests and those at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The '68 demonstration saw protesters and police clash in a bloody confrontation over the Vietnam War.

Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for March on the DNC, told CBC News on Sunday that the group is calling on top Democrats to stop supporting funding for the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

"If it were not for U.S. tax dollars and U.S. weapons, Biden could turn off the tap of money and weapons immediately. He could have done it way back in October," said Abudayyeh, who is also national chair of the United States Palestinian Community Network. The U.S. Congress passed a $14-billion military aid package for Israel in April.

Rally was peaceful

The main rally at Union Park was peaceful and dozens of police officers were stationed on bikes around the park's perimeter. Some businesses nearby boarded up their windows as a precaution.

Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker had said during an interview with CNN on Sunday that "troublemakers" attending the protest would be arrested and convicted.

"But the fact is the vast majority of people protesting are peaceful protesters … and we're going to protect that," he said.

Biden said late last week that the U.S. and other mediators are "closer than ever" to negotiating a Gaza ceasefire deal. Palestinian militant group Hamas, which the Canadian government has designated a terrorist organization, said any claims that there has been progress on reaching terms for a ceasefire are an illusion.

Democrats must stop war funding, says protester

"I've heard a lot of things about things being vaguely bad, but we'd like them to actually take action. They can say that they condemn the genocide all they want but they are the ones funding it," said Audrey Haberman, a member of the Chicago chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace who was attending the demonstration in Union Park. 

While Harris's candidacy has injected some hope into Democratic voters who see her as more progressive than Biden on Israel, pro-Palestinian activists maintain that their demands have not changed with Harris atop the ticket.

"Kamala Harris represents the administration. She represents the policies of the United States as they reflect Palestine and Israel, and nobody's doing anything different," said Abudayyeh.