Why Pro-Palestinian Protestors Assembled at the 2024 DNC

Frederica Freyberg:
As with the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month, there were protests outside the DNC in Chicago this week. But as “Here & Now” reporter Steven Potter explains, the DNC protests were not only different and bigger, they carried a stronger, more direct message.

Protester:
Free, free Palestine!

Chanting crowd:
Free, free Palestine!

Steven Potter:
While some 50,000 attendees gathered at the Democratic National Convention inside the United Center this week…

Protester:
The occupation!

Chanting crowd:
Shut it down!

Steven Potter:
…several thousand protesters, including many from Wisconsin, marched through the streets of downtown Chicago.

Omar Flores:
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 should not be here if they have a conscience.

Steven Potter:
Omar Flores is a Wisconsin organizer who was one of the protest leaders in Milwaukee last month during the Republican National Convention. Back at the DNC in Chicago, protests over ending U.S. aid to Israel are larger and louder. [chanting]

Omar Flores:
There’s currently a genocide happening that the U.S. is supporting.

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

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

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

Heba Mohammad:
We are one of many buses that rode down from Wisconsin. 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.

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

Heba Mohammad:
We’re sending billions of dollars abroad to murder people. We’re neglecting our communities at home. That money could be better spent here.

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

Announcer over bullhorn:
Hold the line. Get everyone back.

Police Officer:
Back!

Another police officer:
Down on the floor. Put your hands behind your back.

Steven Potter:
Today’s war opposition is different, but deeply held.

Police Officer:
Get behind the line now!

Steven Potter:
And it tears at Democratic Party unity. [Protestors shouting]

Steven Potter:
Flores and Mohammad say if the United States does not respond to their demands, there could be a major impact on the presidential election. During April’s presidential primary in Wisconsin, nearly 50,000 voters marked “uninstructed” on their ballot, meaning they voted for no presidential candidate at all to send a message to then Democratic primary candidate Joe Biden. The number was significant because in the 2020 election, Joe Biden only beat Donald Trump by just more than 20,000 votes in Wisconsin, and those voters who feel so strongly in their support of Palestine could refuse to vote again.

Heba Mohammad:
Unless they enact a ceasefire through an arms embargo immediately, we cannot guarantee our votes for them in November.

Steven Potter:
For Halah Ahmad, also from Listen to Wisconsin, the changing tides in the Democratic presidential election could pave a new way with the new nominee. Do you think common ground can be found for those uninstructed voters before November?

Halah Ahmad:
I think, definitely think so. You know, I think the Biden-Harris administration has had one policy, but Vice President Harris has the opportunity to stake out a different path.

Steven Potter:
Ahmad says if the Harris-Walz ticket listens and acts on the protesters demands, it will give the Democrats an opportunity…

Halah Ahmad:
… to really meet voters where they’re at and secure a win in November by unifying the party under a pro-peace agenda.

Protester chanting:
Free, free Palestine!