ProPalestine protests reach a boiling point in Chicago

Protests against the US support of Israel in the war in Gaza have reached a fever pitch across the country from San Francisco to Philadelphia, but has hit a highpoint in Chicago with a recent protest on Monday that shut down a stretch of the Kennedy Expressway leading to O”Hare International airport, forcing many passengers in rideshares to abandon those vehicles and walk to the airport, or try to link up with shuttles to catch their planes; while, almost simultaneously a large demonstration occurred in downtown Chicago, and where officers from the Chicago Police Department were called to breakup the demonstration, and arrest as many protestors as possible.

“Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP), of which the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)-Chicago was protesting and marching for the 33rd time since October 7th, to stop the U.S.-supported #GazaGenocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. With no warning or explanation, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) ordered demonstrators to stop the march, even though CJP has marched through downtown streets in almost every single one of the 32 previous mobilizations,” in a statement released later that day.

They also added that “Police officers then began grabbing and pushing protesters,ultimately arresting two young men. In response, CJP organizers suggested that protesters should sit in the street and not move until the two were released. This prompted CPD to violently arrest 12 additional protesters, including a number of the top leaders of CJP.”

For many residents this was a lesson in frustration, and many who were interviewed on local television networks expressed their anger, stating that the police should have shut down the protests in advance before they had reached the standoff at the airport, but for others others this seems to be only a foretaste of what may happen when the Democratic National Party holds its national convention in August at the United Center, and there are fears that this will echo the  infamous 1968 incidents at the DNC when CPD began its violent assault on demonstrators complete with hair pulling, pushing, shoving and beatings with billy clubs.

Already the air is thick with anger from organizations like CJP and USPCN, and even more so when demonstrators from across the country  seeking permits to march near the Center have been denied, thus further organizing them, but they have vowed to march “with or without permits.”

78 representatives from national organizations met before the O’Hare and downtown demonstrations to organize their efforts, including fundraising, hosted by the March on the DNC Coalition, according to the Chicago Tribune who quoted Hatem Abudayyeh said, “The march on the DNC will be the largest mobilization for Palestine in the history of the city.”

“We understand clearly what is happening, especially in the wake of our allies the same morning shutting down the expressway that leads to three of O’Hare airport’s busiest terminals,” said Lara Haddadin of USPCN-Chicago. “CPD has received some kind of directive from federal law enforcement and Secret Service agents to repress protesters in Chicago, knowing that we have pledged to mobilize tens of thousands of Palestinians and others for the Democratic National Convention in August.”

The Chicago Department of Transportation has denied their preferred route and offered an alternate site far away from the convention,four miles away, and along Columbus Avenue, from Roosevelt Road to Jackson Drive, which they have rejected.

All of this is against the backdrop of a federal lawsuit where they demand to be within ”sight and sound” of the convention site.

Much of their belief that they will win is centered on the fact that Mayor Brandon Johnson, who is a stated supporter of free speech demonstrations and has a community organizing background, and Abudayyeh has stated that “we’re asking him and his administration directly to intercede here and to make sure that we get the permits to march within sight and sound of the United Center.”

The number of protestors could see upward of 30,000 people and other members in the hundreds of thousands, and some residents are wondering if CPD and local law enforcement will be able to keep the peace, despite a grant of $75 million in federal funding for security.

Another factor is a mass arrest policy drafted by the police in anticipation of the convention, and the coalitions have requested the judge in the case,Rebecca Pallmeyer, for an injunction against the policy; and, they have the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois who claim that it is against freedom of assembly enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, the Chicago Consent Decree instituted in the waning days of the Obama administration to reduce incidents of police overreach, and CPD’s own policies.

On Wednesday, protestors demonstrated at the United Center when DNC organizers came to Chicago for a walk through of the building and, accordingly, a group of approximately 30 Palestinian and anti-war demonstrators met them in full force.

The nationwide protests have become a source of grave concern for the Democratic party officials in their efforts to reelect President Joe Biden, and with the protest votes against him in the recent primary election in Dearborn, Michigan, with its large population of Arab Americans, previously a reliable voting bloc for the party, that concern is now becoming a reality.

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Blockbuster Madness for March Jobs Report

The recent March Jobs report issued by the US Dept. of Labor has turned the corner on labor in the American economy with a whopping 303,000 non-farm jobs allowing us to stop using the term resilience to describe the steady growth of the labor market over the last four months, in what was expected to have only a number of 212,000 a modest increase considering the previous months revisions.

With a corresponding dip of unemployment to 3.8 %, it is also apparent that with these numbers fears of a recession, often paradoxically hoped for in some quarters, and reverently told to us by random strangers in equally hushed tones; this is now not going to happen.

While some critics, especially some of the curmudgeons in the national media pooh-poohed at the very mention of a “soft landing”, this now appears to be more of a realization than a pipe dream, more than the Federal Reserve could have imagined, or hoped for.

The significance of the report is also borne aloft by the fact that the unemployment figure has held steady, under 4 %, a streak not seen since the 1960s, as The Associated Press heralded in its early coverage.

Of equal significance is that the US economy has gained on average, for the past three months, 276,000 jobs, not seen since the much ballyhooed 251,000 of 2023, and not to be outdone by this is that labor force participation has increased to 62.7 %, with a large surge of 469,000, a hidden gem for Fed Chair Jerome Powell because this has eased the urgency of employers to raise wages to attract workers, and has consequently slowed inflation pressures.

Payroll gains increased by 12 cents on the average at $34.69 an hour, easing wage gain fears that went from 4.3 % to 4.1 %. But it does waggle a finger at the traditional goal of 2 % inflation, along with full employment, the twinned mandate of the Bank, but as we reported last month that goal may reach, according to many observers, a new inflationary standard of 2.5 %, which matches the February increase for inflation, but it should be noted it had fallen from 7.1 % in 2021, and is now 3.2 %.

Despite higher prices, American consumers have continued to buy, and they have less debt to pay off, subprime auto loans aside, and since they are the drivers of the economy, they are in the driver's seat, more often than not, although there is still plenty of complaints to go around, especially with higher grocery store prices, but as we reported in 2023, generally speaking corporate executives realized that consumers were used to paying more, especially with the supply chain bottlenecks during the pandemic, but afterwards keeping them high was to their advantage, and not the fault of President Joe Biden.

If we were to put together the greatest hits of the winners for March we see that health care and social assistance (mostly an umbrella term) covering human services, led at 81,000. The number two spot belongs to local governments who have increased hiring to the tune of 71,000; and construction, still high form February, and still mostly non-residential came in at a strong 39,000, and our old friends in leisure and hospitality, which includes restaurants and bars, raise your glass high people, was at 49,000.

All in all, these stars accounted for 69 % of the hiring in March.

Some, we hesitate to use the term Cassandras, are saying that the high figures for construction were attributable to a mild winter that began in December of 2023, and that may not be sustainable, but again, even with high interest rates there is a true increase, and after all Mother Nature is a fickle figure.

Since this is a presidential election year, and with a deeply polarized country, and a rematch between former President Trump, and Biden, no one is betting the family farm, on who will win, but there is some anxiety as to what could happen: another huge, and permanent tax increase for the wealthiest of Americans, or Biden slaying windmills like Don Quixote, with Ukraine on one side, Gaza on the other and his support for Israel, as an ally; all costing money, not to mention the ongoing migrant crisis with some cities spending millions to care for them with less than desired help from Congress.

Biden has called this report a “milestone” and touted the over 15 million jobs created since he took office, but noted, in full campaign mode, “We’ve come a long way, but I won’t stop fighting for hard working families,” in a statement released by the White House on Friday.

In a recent Wall Street Journal poll of voters from seven swing states, 54% said that Trump would do a better job of handling the economy and Biden coming in at a distant 34 %, but the right leaning Journal is a factor in their reporting.

Inasmuch as any president “controls” the economy, these numbers show that perception is often one-tenth of reality, a perceived one at that.

From that same poll 74 % said that over the last two years, “inflation was moving in the wrong direction.”

Finally, we have the elephant in the room, future interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, but as we have often reported, Chair Powell is data driven and will not make hasty, or even feel forced to ask the Federal Open Market Committee for rate cuts unless warranted by the data.

Comforted by the aforementioned soft landing, they are in no hurry to cut rates, although there are predictions that June may see some movemento relief, say many, especially on Wall Street who have “suffered” from the 11 rate hikes from March 2002 through July of 2023, and now is holding them steady between 5.25 % and 5.50 %.

It was later reported by cnbc.com that, “The plot indicated three cuts in 2025 – one fewer than the last time the grid was updated in December. The committee sees three more reductions in 2026 and then two more in the future until the fed funds rate settles in around 2.6%, near what policymakers estimate to be the “neutral rate” that is neither stimulative nor restrictive.”

There are those, as we noted earlier that like to criticize Powell, and among them was Julia Pollak, chief economist at the job market site Zip Recruiter, who in an interview with the AP said, of the March report, “It suggests that the Fed can walk and chew gum at the same time, bringing down inflation without crashing the labor market.”

Ouch!

Powell, true to form, noted after the FOMC meeting: “We believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this type of cycle, and that if the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year,” and, "We are prepared to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate for longer if appropriate.”