Anti-Israel protests fail to overshadow first day of Democratic Party confab
3 Israel mentions in 6 hours of speeches are meant to unite delegates eager for Gaza deal, after ‘March on DNC’ turnout falls well below pro-Palestinian organizers’ expectations
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
CHICAGO, Illinois — Midway through US President Joe Biden’s speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, several people in an upper-level section of Chicago’s United Center unfurled a banner that read, “Stop arming Israel.”
The lights above the section immediately went out, delegates sitting in front of the activists covered the call for an arms embargo with “We love Joe” signs and others began chanting the same message, and then the banner itself was pulled away.
Biden continued speaking without pause, and the incident would have likely gone unnoticed if it hadn’t been caught by (or quickly leaked to) a sympathetic reporter who posted a clip on X. Those watching live TV broadcasts saw none of what went down.
The mini-disturbance was the closing note of a day that was preceded by significant speculation — if not anticipation — by mainstream media outlets of major disruptions by anti-Israel activists. But the march that organizers predicted would see 30,000 pro-Palestinian activists converge on the United Center earlier Monday brought well under half that figure.
Biden didn’t ignore the protesters entirely, noting that “they have a point.”
“A lot of innocent people are being killed — on both sides,” he said, with a last-second equivalency that the anti-Israel activists likely didn’t appreciate. Those in the United Center applauded.
Audience members at the DNC in Chicago unfurl banner that says “Stop arming Israel.”
After audience sees the banner, they begin chanting “We love Joe.”
Man tries to rip banner away.
Stadium lights over this spot then dimmed and banner was ripped away. pic.twitter.com/3RfK1aUSV4
— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) August 20, 2024
Concerns that the Israel-Hamas war would divide the DNC proved exaggerated — at least on day one — as the evening began with tens of thousands of delegates unanimously approving a platform that pledged to maintain an “ironclad” commitment to Israel. They then cheered Biden as he talked about his efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage-release deal to “finally, finally… end the war.”
Israel was only mentioned two other times in the nearly six hours of speeches Monday night.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading member of the progressive congressional Squad known for its criticism of Israel, sufficed with a quick line asserting that Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, “is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bring the hostages home.”
The declaration was met with overwhelming cheers, as was the empathy Sen. Raphael Warnock later expressed for the plight of Israeli and Palestinian children.
“We are as close in our humanity as a cough. I need my neighbors’ children to be okay so my children will be ok… I need the poor children of Israel and the poor children of Gaza… to be okay. Because we are all God’s children,” he said.
The evening’s most spirited receptions came during the speeches of Ocasio-Cortez and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton; upon the surprise appearance of Harris (who is only set to speak on Thursday); and after the introduction of Biden.
The focus was very much on Biden passing the torch to Harris, and whatever displeasure was sensed in the audience wasn’t related to Israel but rather to the length of the program, which ran quite late. Biden’s planned primetime address didn’t start until around 11 p.m. Eastern time, and finished after midnight.
Most delegates were on their way to the exits as “Biden’s rabbi” Michael Beals began the concluding benediction — a Hebrew rendition of the priestly blessing.
Way out there
Earlier, toward the beginning of the speeches, The Times of Israel spoke with three Democratic lawmakers on the convention floor who were in agreement that the protesters who marched on the DNC were not representative of those inside.
“They’re outside for a reason… They’re not Democrats. If they’re anything, they’re Democratic Socialists of America,” said Representative Steve Cohen from Tennessee, pointing out that DSA had withdrawn its endorsement of Ocasio-Cortez after she hosted an event that acknowledged antisemitism on the political left.
“That’s how far out [the protesters] are — either that or anarchistic,” Cohen added.
“They’re supporters of [far-left activist] Cornel West and Green Party’s [presidential candidate] Jill Stein,” said Rep. Brad Sherman.
Sherman still respected Harris’s decision to engage with some of the so-called “Uncommitted” activists who led a protest vote movement against Biden during the primaries over his support for Israel.
“This election will be decided by so few votes that no one wants to write off any group of them, no matter how small. If I found out that people in the kumquat industry were upset with us, I’d reach out to them, even though there are very few kumquats grown in America,” Sherman quipped.
Still, he asserted that Harris has only gone “one step — maybe half a step” further than Biden in engaging with Israel critics, while not accepting their views.
The lawmakers speaking to The Times of Israel distanced themselves from the anti-Israel protesters, but still made a point of expressing displeasure with the government in Jerusalem and with the civilian toll of the war against Hamas, which began with the terror’s group’s October 7 massacre in Israel.
Sherman said, “The pictures coming out of Gaza are terrible. The statements by some Israeli politicians are awful.”
The California Democrat claimed Israel’s leaders “have put their own electoral interests over the interests of the state, and the voters have to punish that behavior.”
“Democrats’ disappointment is focused on Bibi Netanyahu,” said Rep. Bill Foster, using the premier’s nickname. “Under his leadership, there’s a feeling that Israel has lost its way in many directions.
“We’re not going to abandon Israel, but we have to talk sternly to a friend who’s lost their way,” the Illinois lawmaker added.
He, too, said that the views of the protesters are “not consensus on the floor here, but there’s a very strong concern” about Israeli policy.
Harris — the last hope?
Former US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides argued that Harris would be better suited to persuade young Americans — who have made up the backbone of the pro-Palestinian protest movement — to reconsider their opposition to Israel.
“If we have any hope whatsoever to convince the next generation to understand the importance of supporting the State of Israel, [it is] people like Kamala Harris,” Nides said in an interview on the sidelines of the DNC.
“She’s not Joe Biden for all the apparent reasons. She’s an African American, Indian woman who is saying, ‘It’s good to support the security of the State of Israel,'” Nides said, acknowledging that Harris has gone further than Biden in recognizing Palestinian suffering.
“This is not about being critical of President Biden… But we’re now talking about passing the torch to a much different generation,” he continued.
“We should all recognize that we’re in a very deep hole. It’s her face and her positions on the State of Israel that are the only hope we have for turning kids under 30 back in support of the State of Israel,” Nides said separately, during a DNC side event organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
2024, not 1968
Another side event that took place at the same time was titled “Democrats for Palestinian Human Rights,” with pro-Palestinian activists celebrating its formal inclusion in the convention as another first step toward shifting the argument.
But there wasn’t complete overlap between the several hundred who attended that event and the thousands who were still marching outside.
The latter group appeared far more militant, with some even breaching an outer security fence around the United Center, drawing riot police who detained four people.
Members of the crowd chanted “End the occupation now” and “The whole world is watching!” just as anti-Vietnam War protesters did during the infamous 1968 convention in Chicago, when police clashed with protesters on live television.
Seeing how the day ended, though, with little apparent impact by the anti-Israel crowd, the parallel between the two DNC protests may have ended there.
Agencies contributed to this report.
