WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters were expected to gather outside the Democratic National Convention on its opening day on Monday to assail the Biden administration’s position on Israel as it wages its war in Gaza.
A one-mile march organized by umbrella group March on the DNC was to take place at a park outside the convention arena hours before President Joe Biden addresses the gathering where Democratic delegates will publicly nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate.
Organizers will continue to negotiate with authorities on Monday about extending the march route so that all the protesters can have a chance to walk, said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesman for March, comprised of more than 200 groups.
Organizers told Reuters last week that many people would be coming from Palestinian and Arab communities in Illinois and neighboring states. The coalition also includes groups advocating for a range of causes, including reproductive rights and racial justice.
Abudayyeh said he expected tens of thousands of marchers at the 1 p.m. CDT (1800 GMT) event. The group has its own security, and he does not expect violence from the protesters amid the heavy police and U.S. Secret Service presence around the security perimeter.
Protesters want police not to infringe on their free speech rights, he said.
“That’s their only responsibility. We don’t need them to keep us safe. We don’t need them to protect us, just not to infringe on our rights,” Abudayyeh said Monday morning.
Another large protest was scheduled for Thursday, when Harris was to accept the nomination.
Pro-Palestinian supporters have for months protested the Biden administration’s military and financial support for Israel during its war against Hamas, which has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza health officials. Israel launched the offensive after it was attacked on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants who killed 1,200 people, according to Israel tallies.
The protests swelled on U.S. college campuses last spring, with police clearing student encampments, at times after confrontations between protesters and counterprotesters.
Scattered protests had already begun on Sunday in a relatively empty downtown Chicago.
On Sunday night, a crowd of roughly 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched through downtown Chicago, chanting “Shut down the DNC.”
“The Democrats are the ones in power,” Abudayyeh said on Monday. “It’s their war. They’re responsible for it, they’re complicit, and they can stop it.”
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Kat Stafford and Jonathan Oatis)
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