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Anti-Israel DNC Protests Flop, Far Fewer Agitators Show Up Than Expected
People hold signs and flags in support of Palestinians in Gaza as demonstrators rally on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, US, Aug. 19, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Far fewer protesters showed up to anti-Israel demonstrations outside of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago this week than expected, according to reports.
Only a few thousand demonstrators showed up to the “March on the DNC 2024,” falling far short of organizers’ expected turnout of 30,000 to 40,000 people.
Reporters covering the DNC, where the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee will be announced this week, shared pictures of large piles of unclaimed signs sitting on the ground. The signs read “Victory to the Palestinian Resistance” and “End US Aid to Israel!”
The pile of unclaimed signs at the pro Palestine protest/march on the DNC an hour after it began. Organizers were hoping for 30-40k. The crowd is maybe 1/10th of that size? Crowd covering less than half this 3 softball field sized park. pic.twitter.com/Ba3agQvmfU
— Cameron Joseph (@cam_joseph) August 19, 2024
The majority of anti-Israel protesters outside the DNC marched “peacefully,” according to reports. However, some activists breached the outer security perimeter of the conference, which was being held in the United Center. The police scuffled with the agitators and repelled them from the premises.
“At no point was the inner perimeter breached, and there was no threat to any of the protectees,” the Chicago Police Department posted on X/Twitter.
Rally participants bellowed chants accusing US President Joe Biden and his vice president, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, of supporting a so-called “genocide” in Gaza. Protesters are demanding that the US government cease all aid to Israel and freeze weapons transfers to the Jewish state.
Some demonstrators suggest that Biden’s decision not to run for re-election has mollified many pro-Palestinian voices. After ending his presidential campaign, Biden immediately endorsed Harris for president.
“If it was still Biden, I think there would be a lot more people out here. It’s a very different attitude. I think people are hoping against hope that she’ll do the right thing,” a protester told the Christian Science Monitor, referring to Harris.
“We were hoping that there’d be more,” another protester added.
In the months following Hamas’ slaughter of 1,200 people and abduction of some 250 hostages throughout southern Israel on Oct. 7, protesters have marched across the US to demand a ceasefire between the Jewish state and the Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza. Many of these protesters have openly celebrated the Oct. 7 massacre and praised Hamas as the “Palestinian resistance” to Israel.
Since the launch of her presidential campaign, Harris has expressed empathy toward anti-Israel activists in an apparent attempt to curry favor with younger and progressive Democrats. However, she is reportedly opposed to imposing an arms embargo on America’s closest ally in the Middle East and the only democracy in the region.
Harris skipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the US Congress in July to attend a sorority convention, raising doubts about her support for the Jewish state. After holding a private meeting with Netanyahu, Harris vowed to “not be silent” about civilian casualties in Hamas-ruled Gaza, where for the past 10 months Israel has been waging a military campaign to free the hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7 and dismantle the terrorist group’s military and governing capabilities.
Prior to an August campaign event in Michigan, Harris met with members of the “Uncommitted National Movement” — an initiative which encouraged voters to withhold support from Biden in protest of his backing of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The Harris campaign denied reports that she agreed to meet with Uncommitted leaders to discuss a potential arms embargo against Israel.
Harris also reportedly arranged a secret meeting with Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, the state with the largest Arab population in the US. Hammoud has repeatedly condemned Israel’s military operations in Gaza, accusing the Jewish state of committing a “genocide” in Gaza and an “ethnic cleansing” in the West Bank.
The post Anti-Israel DNC Protests Flop, Far Fewer Agitators Show Up Than Expected first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.