As with the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, there were protests outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. These demonstrations were different and bigger, though, and carried a stronger, more direct message.

“Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine!” chanted marchers.

While some 50,000 attendees gathered at the Democratic National Convention inside the United Center, several thousand protesters – including many from Wisconsin – marched through the streets of downtown Chicago.

“This is something that’s happening on a national stage. Chicago is really just a short walk away from Milwaukee. There’s no reason why people shouldn’t be here if they have a conscience,” said Omar Flores, a Wisconsin organizer who was one of the protest leaders in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention in July.

Back at the DNC in Chicago, protests over ending aid from the United States to Israel are larger and louder.

“There’s currently a genocide happening that the US is supporting,” Flores said.

Omar Flores, who attended pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and was an organizer for protests at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, discusses why people are marching at these events. “This is something that’s happening on a national stage. Chicago is really just a short walk away from Milwaukee. There’s no reason why people shouldn’t be here if they have a conscience,” Flores said. (Credit: PBS Wisconsin)

The crowds in Chicago are giving Flores and others from Wisconsin hope that their voices are being heard.

“The Democrats are really feeling the pressure. They can’t just ignore a movement like they used to,” added Flores. “It gives me a lot of encouragement knowing that we are going to win an end to the genocide.”

Heba Mohammad from the organization Listen to Wisconsin also made the trip to Chicago.

“We were one of many buses that rode down from Wisconsin,” Mohammad explained. “It’s a whole range of folks who are interested in this. There are Palestinians on the bus, of course, peace advocates who’ve been doing this work for decades now, young folks, students who are all coming together to send the same message to the nominees, to the Democratic Party.”

Heba Mohammad, who attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, discusses how the protests could impact voting for Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris the presidential election. “Unless they enact a cease-fire through an arms embargo immediately, we cannot guarantee our votes for them in November,” Mohammad said. (Credit: PBS Wisconsin)

And that message, Mohammad said, is crystal clear: The U.S. needs to stop supporting Israel financially, and force a weapons embargo that would bring an end to the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

“We’re sending billions of dollars abroad to murder people, we’re neglecting our communities at home, and that money can be better spent here,” she said in an interview on the first day of demonstrations.

While the majority of protesters attending the two major, permitted events in Chicago over the week kept things peaceful, others who participated in smaller, unsanctioned protests in the city did clash with police, leading to dozens of arrests.

The opposition to this war is deeply held, and it tears at Democratic Party unity. Flores and Mohammad say if the U.S. does not respond to their demands, there could be a major impact on the presidential election.

During the April 2024 presidential primary in Wisconsin, nearly 50,000 voters marked “uninstructed” on their ballots – meaning they voted for no presidential candidate at all – to send a message to then-Democratic primary candidate President Joe Biden.

The number was significant, because in the 2020 election., Biden only beat then President Donald Trump by just more than 20,000 votes in Wisconsin.

Those voters who feel so strongly in their support of Palestine could refuse to vote again.

“Unless they enact a cease-fire through an arms embargo immediately, we cannot guarantee our votes for them in November,” said Mohammad.

For Halah Ahmad – also from Listen to Wisconsin – the changing tides in the Democratic presidential campaign could pave a new way with the party’s new nominee.

Does she think common ground can be found for those uninstructed voters before November?

Halah Ahmad, a member of Listen to Wisconsin, discusses the potential implications of the Israel-Hamas conflict for the Democratic presidential campaign at the 2024 DNC in Chicago. “I think the Biden-Harris administration has had one policy, but Vice President Harris has the opportunity to stake out a different path,” Ahmad said. (Credit: PBS Wisconsin)

“I definitely think so. I think the Biden-Harris administration has had one policy, but Vice President Harris has the opportunity to stake out a different path,” Ahmad said.

She added that if the Harris-Walz ticket listens and acts on protester demands, it will give Democrats an opportunity before the election.

“Really meet voters where they’re at,” said Ahmad, “and secure a win in November by unifying the party under a pro-peace agenda.”