Chicago has yet to issue permit for pro-Israel demonstrators, despite massive number of Hamas-supporting protesters expected.
While presidential nominee Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz take hits from both right and left for their stances on Israel, the Democratic National Convention will feature a number of events tied to the American Jewish community.
The convention, which runs Monday through Thursday in Chicago, is expected to highlight divisions within the party on the issues of Israel and antisemitism.
Some analysts suggest as many as 100,000 protesters—many of whom support Hamas and have links to terrorist groups—will descend on the Windy City to disrupt the event in an effort to push Harris towards forcing a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas, and to threaten to withhold their votes in November’s election if she doesn’t back an arms embargo on Jerusalem.
The so-called Uncommitted movement, which lodged protest votes in droves for no candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries in Palestinian, Arab and Muslim-heavy states such as Michigan and Walz’s domain of Minnesota, garnered 30 delegates, and various media reports state that Democratic insiders are fearful of a show of dissent to Harris’s Israel policies on the convention floor itself.