With the Democratic National Convention scheduled to take place from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22 in the Windy City, young Jewish Chicagoans told JNS that they worry about potential political unrest around the gathering, during which the party is expected to formally nominate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris as its 2024 presidential candidate.
Chicago is “the perfect place to tell the story of the Democratic Party to the American people,” according to the convention website since it “represents the diversity of the Democratic Party and the country. It’s a union city that sits at the heart of the Midwest, and it’s a Democratic stronghold that was part of the ‘blue wall’ crucial to the Biden-Harris victory in 2020.”
The event is expected to draw 50,000 people to the city, including more than 5,000 delegates and alternates; 15,000 members of the press; and 12,000 volunteers, per the convention’s website.
Harris has indicated openness to discussing an arms embargo against Israel, has told some anti-Israel protesters and hecklers that she respects the articulation of their views, and has troubled senior Israeli officials with her “tone” in a press statement after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Anti-Israel protests at and around the convention are expected in Chicago.
The city approved an anti-Israel March on the DNC, which accused Israel of genocide and which is expected to draw some 25,000 participants, while it has yet to respond to permit request from the Israeli American Council, Jewish Insider reported.
Some of the six young Chicago Jews who spoke with JNS ahead of the event expressed excitement that the convention was coming to their city.
‘I do not feel heard’
Daniel Sacks of Deerfield, Ill., who recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, identifies as “a Jew and as a Democrat,” and thinks that “there is certainly room for me in the Democratic Party as a liberal Jew in America.”
He told JNS that hopes that the convention resembles the Republican National Convention in inviting family members of hostages to address the audience. “It should not become a partisan issue, especially when they are American citizens held hostage,” Sacks said.
Noah Spiro, a Chicagoan who resides in the Streeterville neighborhood, told JNS that he doesn’t even want to be near the convention when it takes place. “While I feel seen, I do not feel heard by the Democratic Party,” he said. “It is not that we as Jews do not exist, but the majority of the Democratic Party does not care about us.”
Spiro told JNS he identifies as “a Republican Jew” and “does not feel excited for the DNC to take place in Chicago.” He has also heard about extra security precautions being taken around the city, he told JNS.
Sacks told JNS that he has also heard of rising security levels in the city and that a building where a friend of his lives plans to increase protection during the convention.
“I certainly have spoken to people who are afraid of protests getting out of hand and becoming violent,” he told JNS. “I do not think that is out of the question.”
