About 100K anti-Israel demonstrators expected in Chicago during DNC: reports

Approximately 100,000 anti-Israel demonstrators are expected to descend on Chicago during the four-day Democratic National Convention this week, according to the New York Post.

At least seven large rallies and marches are scheduled to unfold across Chicago this week as the McCormick Place Convention Center hosts DNC programming about the Harris-Walz ticket. Additional rallies are also planned, though they’re unsanctioned, meaning organizers have not obtained required city permits, the Post reported.

Photos showed some businesses boarded windows in anticipation of possible riots.

The DNC is planned for Monday to Thursday. But some demonstrations are starting Sunday. The group Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws organized a march toward Grant Park Sunday focused on “abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights and stopping Israel’s war efforts in Gaza,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Yet the largest number of expected protesters are expected Monday and Thursday at the “March on the DNC 2024” rallies, orchestrated by a coalition of 125 anti-Israel groups including the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. Multiple reports say more than 30,000 people are expected to attend Monday’s rally alone.

Hatem Abudayyeh, chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, vowed to the Washington Post to still lead protests in Chicago during the DNC despite President Biden no longer being on the ticket.  

“We’re not changing a thing. Everything is still full steam ahead,” Abudayyeh said.

“It’s still about ending the genocide,” he added. “Our target is the Democratic Party and the leadership of the party and ‘Killer Kamala’ is one of them.”

At least three other anti-Israel events are happening in Chicago during the DNC. Among them is a march titled “Behind Enemy Lines” planned to start Tuesday in front of Chicago’s Israeli consulate, according to the Tribune. The group “Poor People’s Army,” which also demonstrated at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, organized another march in Chicago this week demanding the U.S. stop sending military aid to Israel.

Chicago saw bloody riots in 1968 while hosting the DNC during the Vietnam War.