By Christy Gutowski, Caroline Kubzansky, Sam Charles and Megan Crepeau
Source Chicago Tribune
An unsanctioned demonstration outside theIsraeli Consulateon Tuesday evening led to multiple arrests, as roughly 100 protesters commanded the attention of an even greater number of police and journalists.
Demonstrators chanted “long live the intifada” as they headed toward the consulate, which is located in theAccenture BuildingonMadison Street. In the context of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the term intifada has historically referred to an uprising againstIsraelusing both violent and nonviolent means.
“There is only one solution,” protesters chanted. “Intifada revolution.”
Before the skirmish with police, protesterJosh TaylorofMemphis, Tenn.told the Tribune that he didn’t want to see anyone hurt, but he believes theU.S.needs to stop supportingIsrael. He said this issue was critical enough to merit civil disobedience.
“Different voices get their voices heard in different ways,” said Taylor, 36.
The consulate was heavily protected, withChicagopolice officers outside the entrance and across the street, with several more visible inside. Police Supt.Larry Snellingand other members of the CPD command staff stood outside the building monitoring as demonstrators stopped marching to hold a rally.
Authorities were able to move the demonstrators away from the building. Around 8:30 protestors squeezed past the police line and onto the sidewalk ofClinton Street, sparking an impromptu march through the surrounding blocks.
As the demonstrators chanted anti-police rhetoric, a masked protester set fire to a half-American, half-Israeli flag.
“(Expletive) this country,” a protester yelled. “Burn it down.”
A group of counterprotestors holding American and Israeli flags also demonstrated in the area, prompting police to stand 8 rows deep to separate the two groups.
The counterprotesters sang “Hatikvah” — the Israeli national anthem — and “God Bless America” from behind several lines of police in helmets, while the protesters took aim at police and Democratic leaders, chanting slogans about PresidentJoe BidenandKamala Harris, his vice president who accepted the nomination fromDemocratsto succeed him Tuesday.
Tribune reporters witnessed multiple protesters being taken into custody, including two independent journalists. A spokesman for the National Lawyers’ Guild put the number at 67, including those journalists.
By9 p.m.the crowd had mostly disbanded.
The consulate demonstration took place after amostly peaceful pro-Palestinemarch Monday, in which a small group of protesters broke through a security fence near theUnited Centerand had brief standoff with police. About13 people were arrestedduring the protest, law enforcement officials said.
The group behind the consulate demonstration, Behind Enemy Lines, derided Monday’s event in a series of social media posts, blaming its lower-than-expected turnout on organizers’ cooperation with police and city officials.
“When we do a real (expletive) protest, this is what happens.Brandon Johnson, you pretend to be some kind of (expletive) progressive,” one protester said. “But when we come here, what do we get? We get pigs, we get batons, we get arrests. Shame!”
The back-to-back high-profile protests – which have included chants and signs theAnti-Defamation Leaguehas labeled antisemitic – have put many in Chicago’s Jewish community on edge this week, saidDan Goldwin, executive director of public affairs at theJewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago. The calls for an intifada have been particularly disturbing, he said.
“It wouldn’t take much for the organized Palestinian leadership community to come out and say, ‘no, no, no, that’s not what we’re here for.’ But there has been none of that, absolutely none of that,” Goldwin said. “And yet the rhetoric (Monday), when they are proudly carrying signs that I saw in the protests, ‘globalize the Intifada,’ that means bringing violence to our front doorstep.
The tensions have made it difficult to fully embrace the city’s role in the national spotlight, Goldwin said. Organizers of Jewish events at theDNChave made efforts not to announce locations ahead of time for safety reasons and to avoid disruptions like the one at the The Agudath Israel of America event Tuesday, in which a few masked protesters interrupted the event and chanted “shame on you!” at the attendees.
“It’s this emotion of ‘let’s show great pride in our city’, but we’re really scared and nervous about who’s coming and why they’re coming and what they’re gonna do,” Goldwin said. “So it’s tough for people like me who love everything about this city, that we want brag about it and show it off, but we’re also spending so much time looking over our shoulder.”
Behind Enemy Lines made headlines in March when Ald.Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, spoke at theirCity Halldemonstration in front of a scorched American flag set ablaze by a veteran.
And the organization – more radical than other pro-Palestinian protest groups – plans to continue to demonstrate aggressively throughout the convention. OrganizerMichael Boytepreviously referred to the planned, but unsanctioned protest as a “DIY” version of other permitted marches.
“No permits, no cooperation with the city, people are going to come ready to rock,” he told the Tribune.
The group’s website promises to “shut down the DNC” and “make it great like ’68.” It also shirks the idea of working with police to keep protesters safe at its nighttime demonstration. The group does not plan to engage in violence or vandalism, but also does not believe it should need a thumbs up from the city to protest, Boyte said.
My Pillow CEO and conservative political activistMichael James Lindellalso made a brief appearance at the protest, voicing his support forIsrael.
“How do you sleep at night?” one protestor asked.
“What do you sleep on?” Lindell responded. “Do you sleep on a My Pillow?”
Lindell and formerNew York CityMayorRudy Guilianialso showed up at Park 578 Tuesday afternoon and began speaking to a small crowd about alleged election fraud, arguing for a switch to paper ballots.
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