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Excerpt from www.chicagotribune.com
Outside the 18th District Chicago police station, a group gathered Sunday afternoon waving Palestinian flags and wearing kaffiyehs in the first of many actions ahead of the Democratic National Convention being held in the city in August. In a contentious election year, the rally encapsulated a growing feeling of discontent with the political establishment.
The protesting coalition — which draws from many organizations across Chicago, from an antiwar committee to mothers who say their children have been wrongfully convicted — has a list of demands for politicians, but its main organizing principle is to stand in solidarity with Palestine and end U.S. aid to Israel.
“Our communities are diverse. Our strategies are diverse, but our goals are clear and we are steadfast,” said Amira Sohail, a recent graduate of the University of Chicago and co-chair of the Students for Justice in Palestine, which set up an encampment on the main quad of the campus. “We demand an end to the genocide. We demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel and we demand that the U.S. and Chicago stop investing in these systems that oppress us.”
Israel launched its bombardment of Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, where the group killed some 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Since then, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
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