The upcoming Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago is shaping up to be an epic clash, with possibly tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators expected to descend on the city to protest the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
Before he withdrew from the presidential race after statewide nomination contests concluded and he secured the status of presumptive Democratic nominee, President Joe Biden’s chances of reelection were heavily threatened by anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian Democrats, many of whom felt betrayed by the administration’s handling of the war, particularly U.S. support for Israel.
Now that Biden has dropped out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged as the front-runner, inheriting those very same issues. Anti-Harris, pro-Palestinian protesters will likely take to the streets of Chicago, famously home to the riotous 1968 Democratic National Convention, to protest Harris and Biden’s war policies.
Politico in particular Reported In April, protest organizers expected 30,000 people to demonstrate against the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the war. For comparison, in 1968, there were about 10,000 protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, despite widespread rioting and nearly 700 arrests. time Reported.
United March to the Democratic National Convention 2024 declare The group said on its website that the removal of “Genocide Joe Biden” from the list of top candidates “does not change the policies of the Democratic Party leadership, particularly its support for genocide in Palestine, so our movement must keep up the pressure.”
The Union, Chicago Sun-Times Notes More than 150 groups from across the country are participating and are expected to converge on Union Park during the tournament on Aug. 19 and 22, according to the group’s website.
In a statement posted on its website, the 2024 Democratic National Convention March said it believes Democrats and Biden are “responsible.” It is called “Israeli genocide against Gaza”
group come The party has two core demands: “Stand with Palestine!” and “End US support for Israel,” along with a number of secondary demands, including “rights and legalization for all immigrants,” radical positions that Harris championed in the 2019 Democratic primary debates.
Other demands include redirecting funding to “jobs, schools, health care, housing, the environment, not war” and “protecting LGBTQIA+ and reproductive rights.” ““Protecting the right to unionize and strike,” “Community control of police,” and “Justice, peace and equality.”
Additionally, the group is at odds with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (Democrat). Notes After waiting several months for a response to its permit application, the city laid out a range of restrictions for protests in Union Park and Park 578. “Your group will not be able to set up stages or platforms, portable or portable toilets, tents or canopies, or sound equipment,” the city declared.
The media outlet said the March for DNC 2024 now plans to file for an injunction. The group said in a statement:
“Many of these restrictions, particularly the ‘no sound equipment’ ban, are blatant attempts to silence dissent and violate the right to free speech,” a statement from the Democratic National Convention March Coalition said. “Tens of thousands of people are expected to march, and loudspeaker sound is critical not only to ensure their message can be heard, but also to give the crowd clear direction on when and where to march.”
Radical leftist Bill Ayers was once the leader of the Weather Underground radical leftist group. POLITICO We reported in May that the city was employing tactics similar to those used in 1968 to block permits for protests.
There are significant clouds gathering over what Democrats hope will be a jubilant election, but Harris has already clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters during her campaign.
C-SPAN
As she spoke at a Michigan rally last week, protesters chanted, “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide. We will not vote for genocide.”
Harris blasted them after the chanting continued after she said, “Everyone’s voice matters, but I’m speaking now.”
“Look, if you want Donald Trump to win, say it. If you don’t, I’ll talk!” she shouted, glaring violently at the protester for about 15 seconds.
Ms Harris drew ire from prominent figures on the far left of the Democratic Party after the exchange, including Nina Turner, a former top adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who said her “response was inappropriate and lacked empathy”.
The Harris-Waltz campaign needs these people. These protesters are not right wing.
Policy requires outreach, and it comes down to telling people that if the rhetoric is hostile, the policies are going to be hostile too.
They need to form a coalition to defeat Trump, and this is not going to do that.
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) August 8, 2024
“People don’t want Trump to win, they want the genocide to end,” she added, writing in another post that “these people are needed in the Harris-Waltz campaign.”
“Policy requires outreach. It tells people that if the rhetoric is hostile, the policy is going to be hostile,” Turner continued. “They have to assemble a coalition to defeat Trump. This isn’t how you can do that.”
“There is no sign that Harris will stop the ongoing crimes against Palestine,” Nathan Robinson, editor-in-chief of the left-leaning news site Current Affairs, wrote in a post on X, sharing the video of the exchange.
So far, there is no sign that Harris will stop the ongoing crimes against Palestine. Those who care about stopping these crimes must press Harris and Walz to make real commitments, rather than just lamenting the occasional civilian death. https://t.co/Et88reg1Qk
— Nathan J. Robinson (@NathanJRobinson) August 8, 2024
“Those who care about stopping these crimes need to pressure Harris and Walz to make serious commitments and not just lament the occasional civilian death,” he added.
That’s a tall order given that Harris now needs to win over moderate and independent voters in the general election. She faces abandonment from key sectors of the Democratic base, including Arab Americans, Muslims, younger voters and far-left radicals, who are pushing her to embrace many liberal policies that moderates may not be keen on.
These groups of voters are deeply involved in anti-Biden undecided campaigns in key battleground states, and more than 500,000 Democratic primary voters across the country turned out to vote in protest of Biden and his administration’s handling of the war.
The effort began in Michigan, where the “Listen to Michigan” campaign had a goal of collecting 10,000 independent votes. The campaign vastly exceeded its goal, garnering more than 100,000 votes, closing in on the 154,188 votes that Biden won in Michigan in 2020.
“These primaries are an early litmus test of the extent to which Biden’s stance on Gaza will hurt his reelection. The threat to Biden’s reelection is not that anti-war Democrats will vote for Trump, but that they won’t vote at all,” reads the Michigan website. state.
The movement also emerged in other key states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota.
In Wisconsin, for example, 48,812 Democratic primary voters selected the non-binding “unlimited” option on their ballots to protest against Biden, who won the state by just 20,682 votes in 2020.
And in Minnesota, the home state of Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz (D), unconfirmed votes outnumbered 45,914 protest votes. Biden won Minnesota handily in 2020, but in 2016, Trump lost to two-time presidential loser Hillary Clinton by just 44,593 votes.
It’s worth noting that the entire convention has been largely a sham, with thousands of delegates already effectively nominating Harris and Waltz as the candidates, an effort first conceived when Biden was the presumptive nominee and POLITICO Political director Jonathan Martin reported that one of the aims was to prevent protests at the convention from being negated and portrayed in a negative light.
