Thousands march in Chicago Loop to call for end to Israeli siege of Gaza

Several thousand protesters rallied and marched in downtown Chicago Saturday to call for an end to Israel’s siege of Gaza.

The protest came as Israeli forces entered Gaza and expanded attacks from the ground, air and sea. It was the sixth large pro-Palestinian march downtown since Hamas’s violent Oct. 7 rampage in Israel.

March organizers speaking to the sprawling crowd staged on Upper Wacker Drive labeled Israel’s attacks in Gaza as war crimes and called for an immediate ceasefire.

The speakers focused criticism on President Joe Biden as they called for the American government to stop sending military aid to Israel. One speaker told the crowd not to vote for Biden in 2024, while another called on attendees to join protests during the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago next August.

They called for renewed public focus on Israel’s bombardment after cellular and internet service abruptly vanished for most of Gaza late Friday as Israel’s attacks heightened and shared criticism of U.S. officials and news media, who they said have dehumanized Palestinians.

“You all saw what happened, Chicago! We all saw what happened with Wadea,” said Ghada Sharub. referring to the death of Wadea al-Fayoume, the Plainfield 6-year-old who police say was killed in an anti-Palestinian hate crime.

The young woman from the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis said her father had been missing there for three weeks.

“We would rather die on our feet than live on our knees,” Sharub told the crowd.

A line of protesters near the procession’s front carried a banner with the names of 7,000 people said to be killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza. Gaza’s Ministry of Health has said over 7,000 people have died in the attacks, the majority women and minors, while Biden has questioned the accuracy of the organization’s reporting.

People holding small casket boxes wrapped in Palestinian flags raised them into the air as the crowd stretching across all lanes of traffic on two city blocks began to march. The caskets represented children killed in Gaza by Israeli bombs, Tawfiq Farraj said as he carried one.

“It’s not a war,” Farraj, 38, of Brighton Park, said. “We’re being cleansed right now in our homeland.”

“We just want justice and peace. That’s all we want. Self-determination,” he continued.

The Michigan Avenue shopping and tourism district had little foot traffic as the protest filled the street on the cold day.

Loud bangs rang out as protesters passed the entrance to Millennium Park. The gunshot-like sounds came from fireworks set off near a small group of counter-protestors who were seemingly affiliated with the Black Hebrew Israelites.

Organizers tried to keep the pro-Palestinian crowd away, but some protesters began to argue and throw water bottles at the counter-protestors as small fights broke out. Officers chased after several protesters and counter-protestors, but police said no arrests were made.

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The protesters began to move at a jog as they neared Ida B. Wells Drive. There, they turned right, breaking off from the route police had closed off to vehicle traffic. Officers scrambled to close intersections to cars as the protesters shut down the road for four blocks until a police line formed at the Clark Street and Wells intersection and halted the march’s progress.

A march organizer said the protest broke off from its permitted route after police blocked the procession from marching up the Magnificent Mile on North Michigan Avenue. Large city work trucks were parked on the DuSable Bridge’s roadway when the protest began, separating the crowd and the iconic street.

Omar Ibrahim, 26, stood near the line of officers blocking the road as march organizers discussed how to proceed with CPD leaders. “It’s our people. We got to stand with them and show them we’re not leaving them behind,” Ibrahim said.

He called the sight of thousands of protesters behind him “heartwarming.”

“We won’t stay silent,” he said.

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