(Headline USA) Anti-Israel activists in Chicago protested in support of Iran after the Islamic regime’s drone attack on Israel this weekend and called for the “death” of America, according to viral video footage.
The video shows Hatem Abudayyeh, an activist who leads the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, announcing to more than 300 protesters that Iran launched a drone and missile attack on the Jewish state.
“They believe that they will be in Palestinian—I don’t call it Israeli—airspace between 2 and 4 a.m., which means about two to four hours from now,” he told the crowd.
Abudayyeh went on to argue that the U.S. should stop Israel from “expanding this war and hitting Iran” in return.
“We’ve got to be the strong, powerful anti-war movement that we are,” he said before exiting the stage.
“We have to assume the United States is going to retaliate against Iran,” he continued. “Our anti-war movement, all of the anti-war communities here and all of the Palestine support coalitions here, must be ready, immediately, to be out in the streets and to stop the U.S. from expanding this war on Iran.”
The protesters then began to chant, “Hands off Iran!”
Earlier in the day the protesters were also filmed chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” in Farsi, Iran’s native language. The language was taught to the participants by organizer Shabbir Rizvi, who told them they should recite the changes if they ever encounter “Zionist freaks,” according to The Free Press.
“It can either mean, ‘death to,’ or ‘down with,’” he instructed them.
The “Death to America” chant first went viral during an anti-Israel protest in Dearborn, Michigan, earlier this month.
Most Democratic leaders have tried to distance themselves from the activists’ radicalism, with even the White House denouncing the rhetoric.
“Peaceful protests are something that the president has also been very clear that, its important to give folks space to peacefully protest,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “But any type of violent rhetoric, we are going to denounce.”
A few, however, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., whose district includes Dearborn, have been noticeably silent on the controversy, even lashing out at a Fox News reporter who questioned her about it.
At both protests, the activists railed against the Biden administration for its continued support of Israel.
“It’s not Genocide Joe that has to go; it’s the entire system that has to go,” Takek Bazzi, who helped organize the Dearborn rally, said. “Any system that would allow such atrocities and such devilry to happen and would support it—such a system does not deserve to exist on God’s earth.”
