Thousands of us are protesting at the DNC in Chicago this week. Here's why

By the time the Democratic National Convention (DNC) opens in Chicago on August 19, the Jewish state of Israel will be 319 days into its campaign of open genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The United States government is the biggest sponsor of this genocide, and it has financially, politically and militarily supported the occupation of Palestine since 1948.

Those of us in the belly of the US imperialist beast have a responsibility to stand up against our genocidal government, which is why tens of thousands of us will be marching on the DNC to demand an end to all US aid to Israel.

US President Joe Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris' administration has gifted Israel at least $15 billion in military and financial aid since October 7. While millions of people in the US do not have adequate food, housing, education or healthcare, the government prioritises paying for bombs to massacre Palestinians.

Why we march

Last year, as soon as the locations of the Democratic and Republican national conventions were announced, several organisations formed coalitions to march on both of them.

These have grown thanks to more than a year of consistent outreach and buildup. The RNC took place in Milwaukee last month, on July 15, and was met by over 3,500 protesters from all over the country and across various movements for liberation.

These people showed up in spite of threats of right-wing violence in response to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump two days earlier.

Due to the Democratic Party being in the driver's seat during the ongoing US-backed genocide in Gaza, we are expecting tens of thousands more people to march on the DNC in Chicago this week.

The Coalition to March on the DNC consists of over 200 organisations, thousands of people of diverse backgrounds united in solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle, and opposition to US support for Israel.

We are united in understanding the connections between our struggles and the Palestinian struggle. Nelson Mandela said "our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians," and he meant it literally.

Here's a simple example: Police in the US are often trained by Israeli soldiers in repressive tactics. Since 2001, thousands of officers from local, state, and federal agencies have learned surveillance and crowd control methods from Israel under the guise of "counter-terrorism."

US imperialism is a global system, and each crime it commits on oppressed people anywhere allows it to inflict greater injustice on oppressed people everywhere.

The global connections between oppressors also create space for solidarity among the oppressed.

When Black people in Ferguson protested the murder of Michael Brown in 2014, Palestinians were able to give advice on how to deal with tear gas, because they had faced the same US-manufactured tear gas while protesting in Gaza.

Broken promises

The Democratic Party relies on the votes of working and oppressed people to win elections, yet they routinely break promises made to those communities once they get in power.

Biden and Harris won the 2020 election largely due to the momentum of the George Floyd uprising, but their lip service to police reform has not stopped police from killing over a thousand people every year since 2020.

Meanwhile, several Democratic administrations failed to codify Roe v Wade into law, so there was no defence against the conservative Supreme Court's decision to revoke women's reproductive rights in 2022.

In terms of immigration, while Biden condemned former US President Donald Trump's administration for its policy of putting kids in cages, he is on track to deport as many people in his term as Trump did.

And now presumptive nominee Kamala Harris is promising to be tougher on the border than Trump.

So the march on the DNC will also be a march for the people's agenda, because we know Democratic Party leaders will give us nothing without mass action.

Protective measures

Democratic Party leaders have spent almost a year repressing the Palestine solidarity movement rather than ceasing to fund genocide and occupation with our tax dollars.

Notably, police have brutalised thousands of students who formed encampments to demand their universities divest from Israel. Protesters in Chicago and around the country have faced arrests and charges for their righteous actions.

Repression has always been a tactic of the US government, which is why we have made extensive preparations to protect the people who show up to march on the DNC.

Since November, we have fought the City of Chicago for a permit to ensure that police leave our march alone. We have a large team of volunteers prepared to separate police from protesters and de-escalate tense situations.

We have legal observers documenting police crimes in case they happen to take appropriate legal action. We are building a march that children, elders, disabled people, undocumented immigrants, and people who have been impacted by the criminal legal system can safely attend.

We have teams of volunteers throughout the country doing outreach and creating signs and banners for the march. We have buses bringing people from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and even as far as New Mexico. The members of the coalition have poured months of work and years of collective experience into making this march successful.

The March on the DNC will be a historic moment in the anti-imperialist movement. We have learned from those who fought against the US wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, those who stood in solidarity with South Africans fighting apartheid, and everyone who has fought to defend their rights, that freedom is a constant struggle.

Goals go beyond the ballot box

The march on the DNC will be a milestone in building the struggle for collective liberation, and we will continue the fight until imperialism is destroyed.

We will not be divided or intimidated by the rhetoric of the Democratic Party leaders who invoke the name of Donald Trump rather than ending their support for genocide.

We will not be swayed by non-committal comments about a ceasefire from Harris while the Biden/Harris administration is still giving the green light for more arms sales to Israel. We will not settle for anything less than an end to all US aid to Israel.

Martin Luther King Jr. said "The time is always right to do what is right." Now is the right time to demand justice for Palestine and for oppressed people internationally.

If the Democratic Party loses in November, it will not be the fault of people who are doing the right thing. It will be the fault of party leaders who spent almost a year funding one of the worst crimes against humanity while neglecting the communities who got them elected.

Our goals are far bigger than the ballot box. We aim for a free Palestine, and freedom for all people in the world.