Pro-Palestinian protests set to embroil Chicago Democratic National Convention

Several pro-Palestinian protests are planned during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month, threatening to create a scene comparable to the 1968 Democratic convention that was embroiled in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the same city.

Leading into the convention, set for Aug. 19-22, Democrats have experienced infighting over whether to keep President Joe Biden on the ticket. Following a disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump, some lawmakers, donors, and other prominent Democrats have been questioning Biden’s ability to win.

But the DNC is set for other spectacles as well, including the planned protests from several pro-Palestinian activist organizations, some of which are drawing a direct comparison to the chaotic 1968 convention.

“Make 2024 as Great as 1968,” Behind Enemy Lines, a self-described “anti-imperialist resistance” organization promising to protest at the convention, said.

“If you’ve spoken out and protested against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, you may have been doxxed, fired from your job, slandered in the bourgeois media, or arrested. Your student organization may have been disbanded by your college administration,” the group posted on social media. “You should wear all those acts of repression as a badge of honor, as to be attacked by the enemy is a good thing. But have you thrown down against the Chicago police yet? Come to Chicago this summer to oppose the Death and Nakba Coronation, a.k.a. the Democratic National Convention!”

The group is calling for Chicago to cancel the DNC “due to Biden and the Democratic Party’s material, moral, and political support for Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and genocidal war,” the post added, dubbing Biden “Genocide Joe.”

Other aligned groups, such as Palestine Action US, have shown support for the plans as well, and Behind Enemy Lines is planning agitations every Friday leading up to the convention and to ramp up outreach efforts starting Aug. 9.

Two weeks before the convention, the group will be focused primarily on the DNC, telling “students and youth to be bold and audacious, take the frontlines, and yes, take police beatings and arrests. … Make bruises from Chicago police batons the 2024 back to school Fall fashion!”

Chicago police say they are ready for the demonstrations.

City police Superintendent Larry Snelling vowed last month that “this will not be 1968,” according to the Chicago Tribune, adding, “Our response as a Chicago Police Department will be a lot more deliberate … a lot more controlled because our officers are being trained in the best way possible to respond to any level of civil unrest.”

More recently, Snelling doubled down on police preparedness, saying, “There’s pressure on this department all the time. … Our job is to call audibles when we see a change in the formations.”

Behind Enemy Lines is not the only organization planning protests in Chicago; the city’s Black Lives Matter chapter, Students for Justice in Palestine (notably behind many of the encampments on college campuses this past spring), and Students for a Democratic Society are planning to add to the anticipated chaos.

The Chicago Tribune also reported that many groups vow to protest “with or without permits.” Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, said, “We’ll be marching with or without permits. This DNC is the most important one since 1968, also in Chicago when Vietnam War protesters and the Black liberation movement organized mass demonstrations that were violently repressed.”

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“The march on the DNC will be the largest mobilization for Palestine in the history of the city,” Abudayyeh added, saying organizers expect thousands of people to come. The outlet noted that at least 78 agitator organizations are part of a coalition to protest in Chicago, and while the primary factor bringing them there is the Israel-Gaza war, other issue areas include abortion, illegal immigration, and labor.

At least three groups were denied protest permits in March, including Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Anti-War Committee, and Students for a Democratic Society at University of Illinois Chicago. After suing, the city provided them with alternative routes. The groups’ lawyers are still in negotiations with city officials.