CHICAGO — Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to march outside the Democratic National Convention in the Windy City in opposition to the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel — threatening to tarnish Vice President Kamala Harris’ weeklong presidential nomination fest.
A coalition of mostly left-wing and Arab- and Muslim-American groups are planning two protest marches — the first and largest on Monday at noon ahead of retiring President Biden’s evening appearance and again on Thursday at 5 p.m. ahead of Harris’ acceptance speech.
“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,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, the executive director of the Arab American Action Network who cited her opposition to an arms embargo on Israel as evidence that her attempt to seem more “empathetic” rings hollow.
“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.
Protesters will be camped out at Chicago’s Union Park — a roughly 10-minute walk from the nearby United Center that will serve as the main convention venue.
Massive attendance had been expected at protests when Biden, 81, was the party’s presumptive nominee — but his decision to retire on July 21 and endorse Harris, 59, has cast some uncertainty over the scale of protests, though organizers say they still expect tens of thousands of participants.
Biden has been denounced as “Genocide Joe” at large and passionate protests – including one in November when thousands of demonstrators painted the White House’s gates red while chanting, “F–k Joe Biden.”
But Harris has been able to address large rallies with few interruptions over the past month — with the exception of Detroit, where protesters interrupted her Aug. 7 chanting “We won’t vote for genocide,” prompting the VP to sternly scold them, “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that,” before giving a cold stare and head-snap.
Harris’ brushoff of that heckling drew mixed reviews — with some on social media praising her directness and others saying it was insulting to the communities the activists represent.
“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 for the truth,” said Abudayyeh.
Some protesters have dubbed Harris as “Killer Kamala.”
Despite the ticket swap, “there’s really not going to be much of a difference at all,” he predicted.
The protest coalition has been granted a permit to march within sight of the convention’s venue, but has been bogged down by last-minute struggles over whether they’re allowed to use a sound system and portable toilets in the park, and also are seeking a longer march route.
Businesses in downtown Chicago have boarded up their storefronts ahead of the protests.
Similar permitting issues impacted pro-Israel organizers, though the Israeli American Council was granted a permit last week to hold a rally on Wednesday night.
More informal pro-Israel counter-protesting is possible on the other nights as well.
The Republican convention in nearby Milwaukee last month drew just hundreds of protesters upset about the US support for the Israeli invasion following Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack that killed about 1,200 people — but Democrats are considered by activists more pliable to pressure.
“We know Trump is not only the biggest pig we’ve ever seen as the president, he might be the biggest pig we’ve ever seen in this entire country,” Abudayyeh said.
Although there’s no indication either are likely, mass arrests of protesters and scenes of violence could steal attention away from what Democrats hope will be a show of unity around Harris — who has benefited from a prolonged honeymoon period, including by giving no interviews that would risk knocking her off-message.
The convention is expected to feature lavish praise for Biden’s legacy — softening the blow of party bosses forcing him to relinquish the nomination last month over concerns about his mental acuity.
Political conventions often feature grandiose protest planning that sometimes falls flat.
Anti-Iraq War organizers ahead of the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver branded their effort “Recreate 68” in the hopes of replicating the captivating anti-Vietnam War clashes at the 1968 convention in Chicago.
But such plans can fizzle — in 2008, for example, many of the most militant activists were scooped up by police on the first night during an “anti-capitalism” march and days later thousands marched without a permit, but peacefully and without issue — hardly altering coverage of Barack Obama’s nomination.
The 2016 Democratic convention in Philadelphia — the most recent in-person convention by the party — drew thousands of anti-Hillary Clinton activists upset with her stance on various foreign and domestic issues, with many vowing to vote Green Party for “Jill [Stein] not Hill!” months before Clinton narrowly lost to Trump.
But if the protests take the shape of the anti-Israel demonstrations that closed schools and wreaked havoc on college campuses in the spring, Chicago police will be on hand to manage the chaos.
