CHICAGO

Thousands of pro-Palestine protestors gathered in Chicago as the Democratic National Convention (DNC) kicked off on Monday to push for an end to US support for Israel's war on Gaza, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Located just half a mile east of the convention hall, Union Park was filled with protestors who were determined to make their opposition to the US's Gaza policy heard by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Democratic delegates and the world.

As delegates arrived at the convention center, protesters marched through downtown Chicago, periodically chanting slogans such as "Free, free Palestine” hours before Biden was set to address the convention.

Among the protesters, Benjamin, a member of the human rights organization Jewish Voice for Peace in Chicago, said that one unifying belief among the thousands gathered in the park is that everyone deserves to feel safe in their homes and communities.

"They are funding and arming a genocide that has killed over 40,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children. And this is happening with our tax dollars, billions of dollars a year that could be funding education and health care and jobs and housing for our communities," he told Anadolu.

"Our demands are to immediately impose an arms embargo on Israel, no more funding for apartheid and occupation and genocide, and to instead invest in a future where we can all be safe, here in the United States, here in Chicago, and in Gaza," he added.

Jewish Voice for Peace is one of the organizers of the Coalition to March on the 2024 Democratic convention, which is supported by more than 240 local and national organizations such as CODEPINK, the ANSWER Coalition and American Muslims for Palestine.

Linda, who is with the Freedom Socialist Party, one of the organizers, said they are protesting because they think it's time for an "alternative" to Democrats and Republicans.

"We put the genocide in Gaza on the Democratic Party, which is in the White House right now," she said, adding she has no confidence that if Kamala Harris wins she's going to do anything else other than carrying on a policy of defending Israel no matter what as they commit "genocide.”

Tom, who is from the state of Illinois, said he wants to see an end to the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the "genocidal massacre" of Palestinians.

He said that even if Harris is elected president, they will take to the streets to continue demanding justice.

"This is not a political issue...This is an issue of whether or not we are human beings," he added.

During the convention, Democratic delegates are set to nominate Harris as their candidate to compete against Republican candidate Donald Trump in the presidential election this November.

A Gallup survey in June found that only 23% of Democrats support Israel's military operations in Gaza.

The US is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel, with more than 70% of its arms imports coming from the US, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. US-made weapons were photographed several times in Israeli strikes in Gaza although US authorities have declined to confirm this.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's war in Gaza since last October, the vast majority of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. A total of 1,139 people were killed in a cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, according to Israeli figures.