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Election 2024
Liz Baker, NPR

Pro-Palestinian protesters rally outside the Democratic National Convention

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Protestors march from Union Square in Chicago during the DNC.
Protestors march from Union Square in Chicago during the DNC.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR

The NPR Network will be reporting live from Chicago throughout the week bringing you the latest on the Democratic National Convention.

As the DNC gets underway for the third night, protesters gathered in Union Park, a few blocks away from the United Center.

Chicago has the largest Palestinian-American population in the U.S., and this pro-Palestinian protest attracted several hundred people, including multigenerational families and busloads of people from mosque and community groups.

Palestinian flags and banners waved while activists took turns leading loud call-and-response chants.

“Wherever you look, we will be there!” they vowed.

Protesters outside the DNC on August 21.
Protesters outside the DNC on August 21.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR

But at the security checkpoints where DNC attendees were starting to line up to enter the arena for tonight’s speeches, the chants and rallying cries from the park were audible only as a faint background noise almost indistinguishable from the sounds of the city; wiped out completely with each passing L train on the nearby tracks.

Nida Sahoury, chair of the Chicago chapter of the advocacy nonprofit American Muslims for Palestine, handed out signs on wooden stakes.

“They got the message, it’s just about making the right decision and being on the right side of history,” she said, when asked if she thought the Democrats inside the convention were aware of protesters’ demands.

Protesters near the DNC on August 21.
Protesters near the DNC on August 21.
Grace Widyatmadja/NPR

“He acknowledged the protest,” she said, referring to President Biden’s brief comment during his Monday speech at the DNC.

“That means they hear us,” Sahoury points out, adding that whether it makes a difference to U.S. foreign policy: “We can hope. We can only hope.”

Recently, the rally began to move, marching closer to the park near the United Center where a handful of people broke the security barrier on Monday and were arrested.

Copyright 2024, NPR