Protesters planned to overtake DNC. Instead, hostage families were welcomed by Democrats

CHICAGO ― Dozens of protesters yelled and banged on drums in front of the Israeli consulate. Megaphone marchers chanted the familiar anti-Gaza war slogans heard in cities across the U.S. for the last 10 months since Oct. 7.

Down the street at Democratic National Convention, an unlikely voice echoed that sentiment – even if he disagreed with their tactics: Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui is a hostage in Gaza.

"The time is long past due to end this war," Dekel-Chen said in an interview with USA TODAY.

The people in Chicago and elsewhere protesting, demanding a cease-fire, "we want it as well," Dekel-Chen said. "It's the only way to get our loved ones home, to stop the madness in Gaza, to stop the suffering of over a million people."

For months the Israel-Hamas war has cast a dark cloud over Democrats. The mantle of anti-Gaza war protests that spread over college campuses threatened to have its second act in Chicago.

Organizers promised a repeat of the 1968 convention where bloody clashes between police and demonstrators cost an unpopular Democratic candidate the election. But after President Joe Biden stepped aside in July, the wind might have blown out of protesters sails, and the Windy City altogether.

Instead, Dekel-Chen, 60, who is originally from Connecticut, was welcomed with four other hostage families at the Democratic National Convention this week to raise awareness of the plight of the 109 people still captive by militant group Hamas.

Families spoke at breakfasts and events organized by Jewish organizations who would be inclined to lend a compassionate ear – in stark opposition to uncommitted delegates – warning Vice President Kamala Harris won't win in November without calling for an arms embargo to Israel and an immediate cease-fire.

Only 23% of Democrats support Israel's incursion in Gaza against Hamas, according to a recent Gallup poll.

But with the exception of a couple of delegates that interrupted the Democratic convention's proceedings Monday night, it was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ? a vocal critic of the Israeli government? who called for the release of the hostages and a cease-fire in the same breath.

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More: Democrats fear chaos of 1968 convention as they prepare to renominate Joe Biden in Chicago

'I have confidence in Vice President Harris'

Sagui Dekel-Chen was 200 yards from his home when a group of Hamas fighters stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7.

All told, the siege went on for hours, claiming the lives of 1,200 people and 200 were taken hostage. Dekel-Chen said he last heard from his son at 9:30 a.m. that Saturday morning before he vanished into Gaza.

He left behind his wife, who was seven months pregnant at the time, and two daughters. His third daughter was born in his first two months in captivity.

"He's what you would call a guy's guy who loves being the father of little girls," Dekel-Chen said.

Some of the released hostages have shared details about Sagui, Dekel-Chen said. They "were able to tell us after they came home to Israel, that they had seen and spoke to Sagui in the tunnels under Gaza."

Over the course of the last year, Dekel-Chen said he'd had the opportunity to meet with various members from the Biden administration. He's met with Harris exactly once.

Asked about whether he trusts Harris as much as Biden to negotiate the release of the hostages, Dekel-Chen's answer was emphatic.

"I have confidence in Vice President Harris, to put my son's life in her hands," Dekel-Chen said, adding that he's found all of the members of the Biden administration deserving of their trust.

Critics of Biden's policy hoped Harris' approach would take a sharp turn away from the president. And critics of Harris on the center and the right have stoked fears she'd abandon Israel and Jews altogether in her administration.

Dekel-Chen added: "What I can say is that all of the decision makers in the Democratic Party, all of the elected officials, that I've come in contact with and I've come in contact with many dozens, if not hundreds of, congresspeople and senators, from the Democratic Party have completely embraced us."

Hostage family takes DNC stage on second night

Other hostage family members in Chicago include Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of Omer Neutra, who spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month.

There's Liz Hirsh Naftali, great-aunt of released hostage Abigail Edan; and Andrea Weinstein and Lea Silvert, whose family members Gad Haggai and Judy Weinstein were murdered and whose bodies Hamas refuses to release to their families.

And Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin who took the stage Wednesday to a standing ovation at the United Center.

A speechless Goldberg-Polin stood next to her husband as the auditorium chanted: "Bring them home! Bring them home."

More: DNC comes to 'Little Palestine' as Gaza deaths top 40,000

“Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can try to imagine the anguish and misery that Jon and I and all the hostage families are enduring,” Goldberg Polin said.

In the crowd, delegates were moved to tears as the listened to a mother's agonizing plea.

“Hersh is a happy go lucky, laid back, good humored, respectful and curious person. He is a civilian,” she said. But since his kidnapping, Goldberg said she and her husband, Jon Polin, have lived on “another planet.”

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Dekel-Chen warns of United States facing a bigger war

More than an election outcome, Dekel-Chen, warned that without a cease-fire and deal in place the U.S. could be engulfed in a wider war.

"If the hostages don't come home and a cease-fire is not signed quickly, there's a very real danger that in the coming weeks there will be a regional war, a full-scale regional war in the Middle East with Israel at its center, fighting against Iran and its proxies," Dekel-Chen said.

If that happens, he said: God help us all.

Romina Ruiz-Goiriena is USA TODAY's Managing Editor for Politics, White House and Storytelling and a former international correspondent. Follow her on X, @RominaAdi.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Families of American hostages in Gaza welcomed at the DNC