Several protest group organizers gathered Sunday at Union Park ahead of what they are calling a “massive mobilization for Palestine” on Monday, the opening day of the Democratic National Convention.
They have been embroiled in a monthslong dispute with the city of Chicago in federal courts over protest parameters.
The Coalition to March on the DNC, which comprises nearly 270 organizations nationwide, was given permits to march Monday and Thursday, but the city of Chicago is imposing “unreasonable restrictions,” according to organizers.
The coalition is demanding a 2.4-mile route after only being approved to march a 1.1-mile route near the United Center. Organizers said the existing route is too short and includes several blocks of narrow residential streets that are insufficient for the many thousands they expect to join them in protest of all U.S. aid to Israel.
Israel launched its bombardment of Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, where the group killed some 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Since then, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
People from 21 states, including four states bringing full charter buses, are expected to congregate at Union Park Monday morning to begin their march by the United Center, according to organizers.
The shorter route infringes on these individuals’ right to protest by creating a bottleneck that will prevent many from getting “within sight and sound of the DNC,” according to organizers.
“This isn’t just a march for students and young people. This is families coming out to send a message. So, we need to have a safe secure march for everybody,” Abla Abdelkader, a leader of Chicago’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and a student at the University of Illinois Chicago, told the Tribune. Her parents and sister joined her at Sunday’s gathering and they all plan to attend Monday’s protest together.
The coalition will continue demanding the longer route until their march starts at 2 p.m. Monday.
Coalition spokesperson Hatem Abudayyeh believes city officials will recognize the need for a longer route when they see the crowds that will start to gather around 9 a.m. for pre-march speeches beginning at noon in Union Park, about half a mile from the United Center.
When asked whether protesters would adhere to the approved route at march start time, Abudayyeh said, “We have a philosophy in Chicago that the numbers dictate what the route is.”
On Friday, the protesters won the right to have stages, sound equipment and a handful of port-a-potties in the park. But the city is still prohibiting the use of media risers and canopy tents, which organizers said are necessary to shade medics and supporters trained in de-escalation.
City officials have said their efforts are to ensure protests do not get out of hand, but organizers are confident they can independently make sure Monday’s and Thursday’s marches are peaceful.
“The only worry about violence is violence coming from Chicago police and other police,” said Abudayyeh. “They’re only responsible for one thing: to make sure they don’t infringe on our First Amendment rights.”
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, joined the Sunday gathering in support of March on the DNC and encouraged participants to continue exercising their voices.
In February, Chicago became the largest city to pass a cease-fire resolution, an effort for which Sigcho-Lopez was a vocal supporter. Mayor Brandon Johnson was the tie-breaking vote on the resolution.
In a Mother Jones article published Saturday, Johnson called the Israel-Hamas war “genocidal.”
Abudayyeh spoke favorably of the mayor and accused “conservative leanings” in other city departments like the Police Department for the barriers the coalition has faced.
While March on the DNC has marshaled around violence in Gaza and U.S. aid to Israel, the protest was planned before the Israel-Hamas war began to advocate for the “rights and liberation of all oppressed people.”
Marc Daniels was an unexpected addition to Sunday’s event. The 69-year-old Jewish man from Springfield happened upon the gathering on his way back to his hotel. He came to Chicago to distribute yarmulkes embroidered with the saying “Make abortion Kosher again” to party officials.
“Everyone has the right to protest,” Daniels told the Tribune. “I’m not qualified to do the geopolitics, not no way, no how. But we need to find a way to lift people above this part of it, and I think the Muslims and the Jews need to find a way to talk to each other, engage in a dialogue here in the U.S.”
It was this sentiment that swayed him to stay and listen to the coalition’s demands, even as it began raining Sunday.
Other Jewish individuals are joining Palestinians at Buckingham Fountain every morning during the DNC to run Chicago’s lakefront in a show of solidarity and to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.
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