Chicago Dems let anti-Israel protesters march, but block pro-Israel Jews

This week, citizens will gather in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention to voice their support for Israel and protest the abuses of Hamas.

However, this largely Jewish gathering will not be marching. Instead, they will gather on a small private lot blocks away from the convention as thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters march through the streets.

The reason is that Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson has refused to grant their request for a permit.

While pro-Palestinian protesters have been given an array of accommodations by the city (and received a shoutout from President Joe Biden in his convention address), the Jewish protesters are only able to gather due to the donation of a private lot by an owner for their use.

Even as pro-Palestinian protesters veered off approved routes and tore down security fencing, it will be the Jewish protesters who will reportedly remain confined to this private lot under the watchful eye of the Chicago Police Department.

Besides pro-Palestinian protesters, pro-abortion protesters have been allowed to march, and Planned Parenthood is celebrating the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris with free abortions.

So Jewish protesters get to watch as favored groups parade in abortion pill outfits, but they cannot march with the images of the Hamas hostages in Gaza.

Josh Weiner, co-founder of Chicago Jewish Alliance, confirmed that the group was not granted permits, so all they could do is walk around such approved protests to “make our presence felt.”

He added that “pro-Palestine protesters have gotten multiple permits, including a march, which seems to be a little bit weighted on one side.” 

For Chicagoans like myself, the treatment of the pro-Israel protesters at the DNC could not be more ironic or disturbing.

Forty-six years ago, Nazis were allowed to march through Skokie, Illinois, despite the presence of thousands of Holocaust survivors in the largely Jewish city.

The Skokie case is considered one of the milestone moments for free speech, allowing a small group of anti-Semites and racists to march despite the overwhelming opposition in the public. The Nazis were outnumbered 70-1 by counterprotesters and soon receded into obscurity.

Now roughly five decades later, Jewish marchers are being effectively blocked from marching through the city of Chicago, presumably because they would be “too disruptive.”

The city’s passive aggressive approach is fooling no one.

The Johnson administration has been coordinating plans for the convention with the Democratic leadership. The record in this case shows a transparently hostile response to the Jewish protesters.  Despite putting in their request in June, the Jewish protesters were denied while pro-Palestinian protesters were granted permission to march.

The city slow-walked the permit request. When the permit was not granted, it then said that the Jewish groups failed to apply in time when they renewed their requests multiple times. The groups have accused the city of simply not responding to their repeated efforts to address the permits.

Yet Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the Arab American Action Network, said that the mayor had personally reached out to reemphasize his support: “The mayor has said from the very beginning that he supports the protest movement. The protest movement is what brought him to City Hall. . . . He said, ‘I understand that struggle. Because I am part of a national liberation struggle as well.’”

It was equally clear that many Democrats did not want Jews to march.

This is unfortunately nothing new for those who support Israel. At Columbia, a professor had his school access card deactivated and was told not to come on campus because his presence might enrage anti-Israel protesters.

In England, a Jewish man was told that he could not walk on a street because “you are quite openly Jewish” and it might trigger pro-Palestinian marchers.

The treatment of the Jewish groups in Chicago outside of the convention stands in sharp contrast to what is being said into the convention. Speaker after speaker has declared the party to be the champion of the Constitution and free speech.

The one thing that organizers cannot abide in a celebration of constitutional freedom is the actual exercise of those freedoms by unpopular groups.

In only five decades, Jewish groups have become too controversial to march. Instead, the Israeli-American Council has given up waiting for a permit to march and will host a Hostage Square display on private property.

The irony is crushing for many of us who lived through the 1978 controversy. While the Nazis could march in Skokie, these Jews will not be marching in Chicago.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster).