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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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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’

Zohran Mamdani Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.

In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.

At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.

Nearly half  of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.

The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.

Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.

“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”

Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.

Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.

The post New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events

A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.

The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.

Incidents reported by the group include:

  • At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
  • A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
  • In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”

CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”

The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”

Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.

A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”

CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”

In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.

Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”

The post Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.

Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.

Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.

“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.

Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.

Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.

The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.

That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.

As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.

“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.

The post IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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