(Headline USA) Chicago granted permits to anti-Israel protesters ahead of the Democratic National Convention, but allegedly ignored requests for permits from pro-Israel groups.
The March on the DNC, organized by a coalition of anti-Israel groups, received permission from the city for their protest route last month.
The group expects more than 25,000 protesters to attend and rally against the Biden administration’s continued support for Israel in its military campaign against Hamas.
The Israeli American Council, a pro-Israel group, also submitted two applications with Chicago’s Department of Transportation to hold its own march, but has not heard back from the city yet, they said.
“It seems like we don’t have equitable access to whatever the other group was approved for,” Aya Shechter, chief programming officer for the IAC, told Jewish Insider. “We didn’t get any offer to do a march, not even in an alternative location.”
The IAC previously filed an application to hold a stationary protest near the DNC, but that request was rejected because there were not “sufficient city resources” to “secure an assembly at the location for the dates and times requested,” the city told them.
They were offered an alternative location for the stationary protest several blocks from the DNC.
The anti-Israel groups, however, were granted permission to demonstrate near the convention, the IAC alleged.
“[We are] deeply disappointed by the City of Chicago’s ongoing delays in processing our request to hold a solidarity march during the Democratic National Convention … especially when our goal is to peacefully raise awareness about the U.S. citizens affected by the October 7 attacks and those still held hostage by Hamas as well as the unbreakable bond between Israel and the U.S.,” the group said in a statement.
“Our hope was to provide a counterbalance to the anti-Israel rhetoric expected at the convention, and it is frustrating to see our efforts hindered by bureaucratic delays.”
However, Chicago officials said that while protesters would be allowed to demonstrate “within sight and sound” of the DNC, no permits had been issued to protest “near the United Center or McCormick Place,” which is where the DNC will be held.
