Chicago disrupts Magnificent Mile for Palestine
Chicago, IL – The Chicago Coalition for Justice In Palestine continued with its weekly protests on Saturday, August 23, mobilizing 150 Chicagoans to the riverwalk near Trump Tower. Protesters continue to demand an end to both the genocide and famine in Gaza, as well as an arms embargo, divestment of Illinois bonds from the Zionist entity, and justice for martyred journalists.
This protest came days after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which works with the UN, has officially declared that Gaza is in famine.
“The violence the Zionist entity has inflicted on Palestine before is unlike anything we have seen in modern history, shaking every person to their core,” said Lara Hadadin, an organizer with the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, who opened the agenda for the rally.
“We have witnessed the murder of 250 journalists, the death of over 63,000 Palestinians, and the injury of at least 150,000 Palestinians,” Hadadin said. “And we know these numbers are vastly undercounted because people are still buried under the rubble from 2023.”
Hadadin criticized politicians who are only now starting to denounce the famine in Gaza, despite having supported the entity perpetuating it for nearly two years.
“Though it is true [Netanyahu] doesn’t care about the settler hostages in Gaza, most of Zionist society supports the genocide, and regularly, sexually, verbally, and physically assaults Palestinians in their daily lives,” Hadadin continued.
“Just as South Africa didn’t have the right to exist as a racist white supremacist state, the Zionist entity does not have a right to exist — as a racist, white supremacist, apartheid, settler colonial Zionist state!” Hadadin then demanded the Palestinian right of return, a major demand of the Palestinian liberation movement.
To close the program, the organizers read aloud the final message of Al-Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif’s before his assassination by Israel. The protesters then took Michigan Avenue and marched down the Magnificent Mile, disrupting weekend commerce to remind shoppers of the genocide their own tax dollars being used to fund.
Some of the shoppers raised their fists in support or chanted along with the protesters as they marched past boycott targets such as Starbucks and Zara.
“I never want to hear a Republican talk about pro-life and support this genocide,” said Tarek Muhammad Khalil with American Muslims for Palestine, as the crowd marched. “I never want to hear a Democrat talk about free and universal healthcare and supporting the quality of life of the citizens here — while they send bombs, to bomb children in Gaza. These are hypocrites representing us!
“So tell your representatives, whether it's Sean Casten, Jan Schakowsky – or whether it's any senator, such as Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth – you tell them, your days are numbered if you continue to support this genocidal regime,” Khalil said.
As the march concluded, the organizers encouraged protesters to register for the People’s Conference for Palestine 2025 from August 29 to 31 in Detroit, Michigan.
