Anti-Defamation League, Jewish United Fund raise concerns about pro-Palestinian protests during DNC

The Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish United Fund fear chaos from pro-Palestinian demonstrations during the Democratic National Convention this month. But a leading pro-Palestinian group accused the organizations of fear-mongering.

The two organizations warning of trouble point to recent protests that happened in Chicago and around the country, including in Washington, D.C., New York City and Los Angeles. They played videos from the demonstrations at a news conference Thursday in the Loop.

"They did not demand peace. They threatened that Hamas was coming. They didn't wave banners calling for peace. They burned American flags. They didn't chant for peace," David Goldenberg, director of the ADL’s Midwest chapter, told reporters.

Goldenberg, alongside local and state politicians and other Jewish leaders, called for the city of Chicago and Mayor Brandon Johnson to "keep our communities safe" during the DNC and to reject groups looking to "to create turmoil through hate and violence."

Their specific worries surround the March on the DNC, a multi-group effort with a broad platform of demands, including calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and for the U.S. to stop sending aid to Israel.

The coalition behind the march says it is ready to keep marchers safe and that it will be diverse and family-friendly.

City Hall and protest organizers have been embroiled in a months-long dispute over where those protesters will be allowed to march during the convention, which begins Aug. 19.

The groups first sought permits back in January to march “within sight and sound” of the United Center. Their attorneys predicted that up to 25,000 people could participate.

The U.S. Palestinian Community Network-Chicago, one of the groups involved in the Coalition to March on the DNC, said the concerns the groups aired at their news conference are overblown.

The ADL and the Jewish United Fund are "attempting to paint the [March on the] DNC and other pro-Palestine protesters as dangerous, ignoring over 10 months of sustained Chicagoland activities and marches for Palestinian rights that have proceeded without incident," the USPCN said in a statement.

Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) said at Thursday's news conference she worries the planned protests during the DNC will distract from a chance to highlight Chicago on a national stage.

"Instead, I fear, the focus will be on the tens of thousands of protesters who flock to the DNC intent on violence and diverting the media attention from a celebration of our democracy to a focus on their radical and anti-American agenda," Silverstein said.

She also called on Johnson to denounce the groups and encourage only peaceful protests. Goldenberg said the ADL has made several attempts to speak with the Johnson administration about their concerns, but those calls have gone unanswered.

Johnson has a mixed record in handling the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, including encampments at local universities earlier this year. The Chicago Police Department aggressively cleared out protesters at DePaul University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, but ignored the University of Chicago’s request to do the same.

His law department is pursuing charges against dozens of protesters who blocked Interstate 90 to O’Hare International Airport in April, forcing air travelers to get out of their cars, cabs and rideshares and lug their suitcases to the terminal.

“We reaffirm our commitment to mobilize tens of thousands of people from across the U.S. to march and protest in Chicago the week of the 19th of August, and will be taking our demands to end the genocide in Palestine and to end U.S. aid to Israel directly to the doorstep of the Democratic Party," said Muhammad Sankari of USPCN in a statement.