It is going to be kind of a guilty pleasure for Republicans. We can’t wait to pop some popcorn, put our feet up, and watch as chaos will undoubtedly ensue at the Democrat National Convention in Chicago beginning on August 19. Protesters of every stripe will descend on the Windy City making life for Democrats that week as difficult as possible. While most groups are going about it the right way and applying for permits to march and make their voices heard, the granters of said permits appear to be very selective in who they wave the magic permit wand over.
It is no secret that Chicago has been run by Democrats for decades. Now, they appear to be stonewalling a pro-Israel group that has applied for a permit to march outside the convention. The Israeli American Council (IAC) is a nonprofit group that represents Israeli-Americans and seeks to strengthen ties between America and Israel. Aya Schechter is the group’s chief programming officer. She claims that the group applied for two permits to march with the Chicago Department of Transportation in the early part of July. With about a week and a half to go before the convention, Schechter says they have heard nothing regarding their applications despite following up with a phone call and email.
The city going dark on the Israeli American Council could be part of a pattern. Schechter says they also applied for a stationary permit back in June that would be “within sight and sound” of the United Center, where the convention will be held. That request was denied, the city citing that it “would be a direct interference with a previously planned permitted activity or public assembly and would create public safety issues.” Is that code for: It would get in the way of the pro-Palestinian protests?
The city offered the group an alternative. They would be granted permission to protest in a public park on the final night of the convention. They declined the offer, citing the fact that the park was too far away from the United Center. Out of sight, out of mind? Schechter is calling bull cookies on the whole thing, saying:
“It seems like we don’t have equitable access to whatever the other group was approved for. We didn’t get any offer to do a march, not even in an alternative location.”
It is interesting that in July, a coalition of pro-Palestinian activists planning a “March on the DNC” was automatically granted a permit for a route to protest that takes them near the convention site. That offer was made in an attempt to, ironically, settle a lawsuit accusing Chicago of First Amendment violations. You really can’t make it up. But that alliance of groups represents possibly 25,000 participants, whose main objective is undoubtedly to create havoc on convention goers.
Because the city will not return phone calls or emails from the group, it is unknown what the reason is for the delay in granting or rejecting a permit. But what is known is the rise of antisemitism since the attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023. According to the Anti-Defamation League, in the three months after the attack, antisemitic incidents rose a whopping 360 percent in the U.S.
The powers that be at the DNC may be trying to stave off any possible confrontations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups at the convention, but it is a fly in the ointment they should have addressed the minute they appeared on college campuses harassing Jewish students. Now, their supporters, who are the problem, are coming to Chicago.
The IAC has not resorted to any legal means to address the pending applications, and Schechter says she knows of no other pro-Israel groups who have applied for applications. But Schechter says don’t count the Israeli American Council out just yet.
“We definitely wanted to bring up more awareness around the U.S. citizens who were either killed on Oct. 7 or kidnapped and are still being held in Gaza. That’s something we think is important to raise awareness to during the DNC. We are looking for creative ways to get our message across if we can’t get a permit.”
What an odd dilemma for the party that claims to be the party of “equity.”