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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