Gaza war protesters make a final bid for recognition at Dem convention

CHICAGO ? After four days of official and unofficial protests, a large group of protesters still remained on the streets Thursday night during the final hours of the Democratic National Convention, as Kamala Harris prepared to formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination.

Despite concerns that Gaza war protests could shut down the city and tank the convention, Chicago had seen four days of modest demonstrations and marches, with only one ? a confrontational Tuesday gathering outside the Israeli consulate ? with a notable number of arrests.

"Why aren't more people speaking up for us?" asked Belal Assaf, 60, as he and his 19-year-old son Mohammed, marched for an end to the devastating war. The Chicago Palestinian-American called for more humanitarian aid to Gaza. "It's bad when you don't have any hope because there's a lack of resources."

After leaving Chicago's Union Park the crowd of more than 1,000 marched in a slow procession Thursday night under the elevated train tracks towards the United Center, where tens of thousands of Democrats gathered to see the vice president's elevation as the party's standard bearer against Donald Trump.

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The crowd of protesters, calling for an end to the war in Gaza and U.S. military support for Israel, filled the street under the "L," with nonstop chanting, blowing whistles, beating drums, chalking the street with messages as police grew visibly concerned over the march exceeding its allotted time.

“We’re young, we’re strong, we’ll rally all night long,” some chanted, even as many demonstrators could be seen leaving march.

There were no reports of arrests.

The march began with a rally at Union Park, where police had to temporarily close at least one entrance as the site filled to capacity. Hatem Bazian, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, encouraged the crowd to turn their chants into reality: “Don’t let anyone silence you. Speak, Speak,” he said. “Free Palestine is a state of mind. Go out and actualize it!”

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By 9:20, the march had returned to the street outside the park, to chants "Long live Palestine."

Marcher Maureen Sweeney, 69, said she was pleased with Thursday’s protest, and stopped Police Superintendent Larry Snelling to tell him so. Snelling walked with the crowd most of the evening.

“At my age, I feel like I can sort of be the mom and ask people to tamp things down,” Sweeney said. “I absolutely believe that the size of the rally absolutely impacts public perception and policy. The more people who show up, the more they will be heard.”

Sweeney, of San Diego, grew up in Chicago and remembers the riots of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. “I saw them clubbing the heads of protesters in Grant Park,” she said of the decades-old disaster.

“Tonight was great. Protest is the voice of the oppressed.”

As, a mile away, Harris accepted the Democratic nomination before a rapturous crowd at the United Arena, the peaceful protest broke up, with a small group of protesters still yelling at police near the train station

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Protesters try to stay on the streets for Kamala Harris speech