Tens of thousands of protesters are set to march outside the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, targeting the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel in the war on Gaza. The protests, organised by Left-wing and Arab- and Muslim-American groups, are expected to overshadow Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential nomination festivities.
Hatem Abudayyeh, a protester and executive director of the Arab American Action Network, compared the situation to “the Vietnam War of our generation”, emphasising that the protests are directed at the Democratic Party as a whole, not just Biden or Harris. Some protestors have even dubbed Harris “Killer Kamala”.
The DNC, scheduled from August 19 to 22, will conclude on Thursday with Harris delivering a primetime speech after formally accepting the party’s nomination.
The anti-Israel protests will include two marches — one at noon on Monday before President Biden’s appearance and another on Thursday at 5 pm before Harris’s acceptance speech. Protesters will camp out at Chicago’s Union Park, a 10-minute walk from the United Center.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza following a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The international community has criticised Israel for the high number of civilian casualties. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reports that over 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the BBC.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, who secured the presidential nomination in a virtual roll call after Joe Biden withdrew from the race on July 21, has not yet released a clear policy on Gaza and Israel.
DEMOCRATIC PARTY, NOT HARRIS OR BIDEN, IS THE TARGET
Hatem Abudayyeh, the executive director of the Arab American Action Network, emphasised that the target of the protests is the Democratic Party, not individual leaders.
“The Democratic Party is the target and not Joe Biden as an individual or Kamala Harris as an individual… She’s just as complicit as Biden is,” Abudayyeh said, reported the Post.
He cited Harris’ opposition to an arms embargo on Israel as evidence that her attempt to seem more “empathetic” rings hollow.
Abudayyeh also warned that if Harris loses to former President Donald Trump, the Democratic Party would be to blame.
“If Kamala Harris loses to [former President Donald] Trump, then they have nobody to blame but themselves. This is the Vietnam War of our generation,” he said.
PROTESTORS CALLED HARRIS AS ‘KILLER KAMALA’
The protests were initially expected to be massive when President Biden was the party’s presumptive nominee, but his decision to quit from the White House race and endorse Harris has cast some uncertainty over the scale of the protests.
Despite this, organisers still expect tens of thousands of participants.
Harris has faced interruptions at rallies, including one in Detroit where protesters chanted “We won’t vote for genocide”.
In response, Harris sternly told them, “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that”, before giving a cold stare and head-snap.
This response drew mixed reviews, with some praising her directness and others finding it insulting to the communities the activists represent.
Abudayyeh noted that the assumption that protests against the DNC, Biden, and Harris mean that the communities are supporting Trump is incorrect.
“People were very upset with that — because there’s an assumption that protests of the DNC, protests of Biden, protests of Harris mean that somehow our community and the other people protesting are supporting Trump, and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said, reported the Post.
Some protesters have even called Harris as “Killer Kamala”.
Despite the ticket swap, Abudayyeh predicted that “there’s really not going to be much of a difference at all”.
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