MILWAUKEE—Left-wing protesters from across the country assembled near the Republican National Convention, with some holding signs that read "Down with Trump!" just days after the assassination attempt on the former president.
Leaders from several left-wing organizations outlined plans to protest next month's Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Demonstrators at the rally—located just blocks from the convention and attended by the Washington Free Beacon—waved Palestinian flags and held signs, including one that reads "Victory to the Palestinian Resistance."
"Israel also has no right to exist as a racist, white supremacist, settler-colonialist, apartheid, Zionist state. It is on its last legs, as is the U.S. empire," U.S. Palestinian Community Network national chairman Hatem Abudayyeh told the crowd. "And once we're done here this week in Milwaukee, we'll move south to Chicago and do the same with tens of thousands of protesters in August, telling Genocide Joe, Killer Kamala, Baneful Blinken, and their cabal of top Democrats that 'From the river to sea, Palestine will be free'!"
The demonstration reflects the far left's dissatisfaction with the Biden administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. After the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, President Joe Biden described America's support for the Jewish state as "ironclad" and "rock-solid." Since then, however, he has capitulated to his party's progressive faction, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and withholding arms from Israel.
"We have to play our part in the belly of the beast to stop the genocide, to end U.S. aid to Israel, and to stand with Palestine," Abudayyeh said at the rally. "Trump in Milwaukee this week and Genocide Joe Biden in Chicago next month shouldn't forget that the vast majority of the world stands with Palestine and its right to self-defense and resistance in Gaza."
In the past, Abudayyeh—who is also a spokesman for the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine—defended the Oct. 7 terror attack and expressed support for terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Abudayyeh echoed Freedom Road Socialist Organization member and Chicago middle school teacher Kobi Guillory, the first person to speak at the rally.
"Defeating the Republican agenda is a matter of life and death for working and oppressed people," Guillory told the crowd of protesters. "Our government, in a bipartisan initiative, is committing genocide in Palestine with our tax dollars and reinforcing deadly militarism and fascism around the world."
"We live in the belly of the beast; this is the headquarters of the world imperialist system. That means it is our responsibility to destroy this system," he continued. "That's why we're here protesting the RNC. That's why next month, we're going to be in Chicago, protesting against the DNC."