Thousands of Palestine supporters march near DNC in Chicago
Gathering at Union Park, demonstrators chanted “Free Palestine” and “Stop the genocide” before marching toward the United Center stadium where the convention is being held.
Amid a heavy police presence, protesters were kept from approaching the venue.
Hatem Abudayyeh, spokesman for the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine, told Anadolu that the real excitement was in the streets, where people are raising their voices with concerns about Gaza.
Abudayyeh accused Democratic Party leaders of complicity in the deaths of over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, saying that the US could halt the flow of weapons to Israel but chooses not to.
A protester from the anti-war group Codepink expressed support for Gaza.
Noura Ibrahim, a protester of Palestinian descent, urged the US to impose an arms embargo on Israel and push for an immediate truce.
“Ceasefire is not enough. We need to end the genocide, and we need to let in humanitarian aid immediately,” said Nazek Sankari, Co-chair of US Palestinian Community Network and spokesperson for Coalition for Justice in Palestine. “And there needs to be a total and complete end to the genocide to allow for that to happen. And it’s not enough to just say, ‘oh, it’s sad’ or, ‘oh, there’s too many civilian casualties’, like Kamala Harris has said. She needs to put action behind those words,” she added.
Sankari said that the Joe Biden’s administration has been “funding it for 10 months, and Kamala Harris is part of that administration. And so there’s nothing to celebrate in the Democratic National Convention when bombs are dropping and people are continuing to be murdered.”
Reem Odeh, a Palestinian-American from Chicago said she was “not very happy, because she’s (Kamala Harris) not listening to us . . . regardless of whether it’s 100,000 innocent children being killed or millions, she will continue supporting Israel. It’s just a blanket, carte blanche, blanket approval of anything that Israel wants.”
Raquel Mogollon, a protester from Arizona, slammed US funding to Israel. “We have to talk about the US’s role. The US is absolutely like this (crossing her fingers), with this policy in Israel and the occupation and the continuing genocide, the continuing persecution of the Palestinian people. We have to, we are absolutely responsible.”
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
