Thousands March on DNC in Chicago to Demand End to War on Gaza

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The Democratic National Convention opened on Monday with speeches by top officials of the Democratic Party, including an unscheduled appearance on stage by Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden wrapping up the night with a 50-minute address.

Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters took to the streets to voice their opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza and to call on Biden, Harris and the Democratic Party to end U.S. support for the war. Demonstrators gathered in Union Park for a rally before setting off on a march through the streets amidst a heavy police presence. A few dozen protesters broke away from the larger group and marched toward the United Center, the site of the DNC, and tore down parts of the security fence. Several protesters who managed to get through the fence were detained and handcuffed by police. Protests are scheduled in Chicago every day this week for the DNC.

AMY GOODMAN: Democracy Now! was on the streets yesterday covering the March on the DNC. These are some of the voices of those protesters.

ABLA ABDELKADER: We all come together to say one thing: We want humanity to take priority over profit. We want people to come together. Our front is united. It’s stronger than it’s ever been. I don’t think I’ve ever seen as diverse a protest in my life, and I’ve been to — I’ve been going since I was little. And seeing all these different flags, all these different faces, all these different flyers, holding up signs for queer liberation, for Black liberation, for workers’ rights, for disabled people rights, it’s extremely empowering.

And I think that frightens the white supremacy cushion that our elected officials have been sitting on. They’re losing their power, and they realize that with our tie to solidarity and our united front continuing to build and become more unwavering, it’s only a matter of time until their time is up and we begin to speak. As Kamala Harris said she’s speaking, well, we’re speaking now, and we’re making sure you hear us that you’re not going to get away with killing, the killing of hundreds of thousands of people, not just in Palestine, but just wreaking havoc all over the Global South and on all minority communities.

PROTESTERS: Occupation no more! Five, six, seven, eight!

NICK TILSEN: My name is Nick Tilsen. I’m Oglala Lakota. I’m the president and CEO of NDN Collective. We’re an international Indigenous rights organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. And I’m from Pine Ridge, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. And I’m here. I’m here to remind America that this election is happening on the stolen lands of Indigenous people. And the Land Back movement stands in solidarity with a free Palestine and to end all military aid to the state of Israel and to stop the genocide.

GILLIAN RATH: We’re here today. We, as SDS, have been launching a long campaign for divestments on our campus, so demanding that our administration divests from countries complicit in war crimes, and that includes Israel, and weapons manufacturing companies. But we’re also here as Minnesota residents saying that we want to hold our Democratic politicians accountable, and that now includes Tim Walz. And we’ve actually been protesting Walz for years and years. He’s the chair of the State Board of Investments in Minnesota, so he’s responsible for investing Minnesota tax dollars. And they — him personally, with the SBI, invests currently $3.2 billion into Israeli companies that are complicit in genocide. And I was actually arrested on Walz’s front lawn for protesting this exact thing before he was even announced that he was the VP nominee.

JASPER NORDIN: My name is Jasper Nordin. I’m a UPS Teamster Local 638 Minneapolis. I’m also with Minnesota Workers United. I get really annoyed when Republicans are like, “Tim Walz is a super far-left radical.” Like, I assure you he’s not. He sent out the National Guard to beat up protesters after the George Floyd riots in 2020. He has continually ignored people calling for Minnesota to divest its investments in Israel, in its genocide.

PROTESTERS: ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!

MARI MANSFIELD: Mari with MIRAC, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee. The same company, Elbit Systems, that created the wall in Gaza, created and has funded and designed the wall at our southern border in Mexico, that uses both wall and then — and what they’re calling smart wall technology, surveillance towers, drone systems. And so, there is a pretty direct link between Palestine and Gaza, because the same business of oppression is being used in both places.

MARÍA TARACENA: And what is your response? It seems like Kamala Harris is trying to prove that she’s tougher on border security than Trump in order to garner more support. What are your thoughts on that strategy?

MARI MANSFIELD: Border security is a lost cause. Border security is an illusion. There is no such thing as a safe border. This wall is impossible. We are spending millions and millions of dollars at something that will never be completed and will never make us safe. Most crime, most drugs coming through the border come through legal ports of entry, and they are aided by Custom and Border Patrol agents. So, Kamala, her position is just to continue the same, which is pushing our money, our tax dollars, into a system that will never work for any of us.

CLAUDIA DE LA CRUZ: My name is Claudia De la Cruz, and I’m the presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation. We are here to make it clear that the people of the United States are not represented in that DNC. That DNC convention is a coronation of war criminals. And we are here to say that it is not with our consent that they are continuing to fund and provide weapons to the war criminals of the state, colonial state, of Israel. We’re here to say that they have enough business in the United States to take care of, that does not — does not require for them to go across the globe waging war. We are here to say that we need a price freeze on essential goods. We are here to say that the urgency our communities need to be covered with housing, with healthcare, but instead they’re spending trillions of dollars on bombing babies, and it is not with our consent. And we demand not only to be heard, but to have political and economic decision-making power in this so-called democracy.

PROTESTERS: Palestine will live forever! Palestine will live forever!

AMY GOODMAN: Some of the voices from the thousands in the streets of Chicago at the March on the DNC protest. Special thanks to Messiah Rhodes, María Taracena, Sam Alcoff and Hana Elias.

When we come back, we go inside the convention for the first-ever panel on Palestinian human rights at the DNC. Stay with us.