CHICAGO – A pro-Palestinian protest outside the Israeli consulate in Chicago resulted in violent clashes and arrests on the evening of August 20, the second day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
The demonstration, organized by the group Behind Enemy Lines, marks an unauthorized escalation of the conflict between mainstream Democrats and pro-Palestinian activists who oppose the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas.
In the hours before the first outbreak of violence, hundreds of protesters had gathered near downtown Chicago in front of the Accenture Tower, home to the Israeli consulate. Among the crowd, chants of “intifada,” an Arabic word for rebellion or uprising, could be heard. Another chant, “The whole world is watching!”, deliberately recalled the 1968 Democratic National Convention, also held in Chicago.
In promotional materials for the protests, Behind Enemy Lines urged demonstrators to “make it great like 1968,” referring to the anti-Vietnam War protests that shaped public memory of the event, as well as the disputes over the party’s candidate during the convention.
Many participants in the August 20 protest wore keffiyehs, masks or other face coverings.
Other protesters included a group of anti-Zionist Jews, including Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of Jews United Against Zionism.
“Since the destruction of the Temple, we Jews have been forbidden to restore a Jewish homeland, a Jewish sovereignty,” he told The Epoch Times.
At around 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, a crowd of protesters and a line of reporters crowded in front of a police wall at the corner of Madison and Clinton Streets.
There was a scuffle between protesters and police officers, bodies were left on the sidewalk, and The Epoch Times witnessed some protesters being quickly arrested.
When asked by email, Chicago police did not immediately say how many protesters were arrested or how many injuries there were.
After the crowd was pushed back, Chicago police set up a security perimeter.
About half an hour after the first outbreak of violence, police ordered the crowd to disperse.
This gave police the authority to disperse the gathering, but the declaration followed a long standoff. A group of remaining protesters stood on Madison Street between two lines of police. Behind one of the lines of police, pro-Israel protesters held up a flag with the Star of David. A police officer ordered reporters to step back from the street.
Starting at about 9 p.m. Eastern Time, a group of protesters attempted to use various routes to get closer to the United Center, where the convention was being held.
“Stay together,” said one protester as the crowd marched through the streets of Chicago.
Although they may have intended to reach the United Center further west on Madison, they mostly moved through the streets south and east of the Israeli consulate.
Other protesters remained at the Israeli consulate to continue the demonstrations there.
As protesters were handcuffed near a police car, police indicated that only “green hats” – members of the progressive National Lawyers Guild who monitor police behavior at left-wing demonstrations – were allowed to cross the police line. Chicago Police Commissioner Larry Snelling led the pushback of journalists and the remaining protesters on the sidewalk.
The mobile group stopped at the corner of West Adams and South Clinton Streets, a few blocks from the United Center. Another police blockade formed.
After a final push south past Union Station that resulted in at least one more arrest observed by The Epoch Times, the protesters had weakened. Near Van Buren and Clinton, Chicago police and Illinois State Police formed perpendicular lines.
The evening’s demonstrations followed protests on August 19, in which demonstrators broke through a fence in a park near the United Center.
More protests are expected during the final two days of the DNC.
From The Epoch Times
