Palestinian organisers lead diverse coalition march at US Republican convention

A coalition of hundreds of activists led by Palestinian organisers held a rally and marched through downtown Milwaukee on the first day of the Republican National Convention.

In addition to pro-Palestinian activists protesting US support of Israel's war in Gaza, the gathering drew union members, women's rights activists, members of the LGBTQ+ community, Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans.

"I'm here with Teamsters Local 344, and I'm here to protest with everyone else to show our city's discontent with holding an event like this here," Kris K., a Milwaukee-based employee with the United Parcel Service, told The New Arab, marching with other union members near the Milwaukee River, a short walk from the convention.

"Milwaukee isn't the kind of city where it makes sense to hold the RNC with their bigoted views and their regressive policies. The city is full of union people and working class people and people of colour who are not OK with the Republicans holding their convention here," the union member added.

The gathering, estimated to be around 800, started with a press conference at Red Arrow Park, then a rally with speakers representing Palestinians, Blacks and other groups, followed by a march through the city's downtown lasting over an hour. Demonstrators came from across the US to join the protests, though most appeared to be local or from the Midwest.

People carried Palestinian flags, signs related to women's healthcare, and multiple other signs indicating the RNC wasn't welcome in Milwaukee. There were also a handful of signs in support of Biden, though most demonstrators focused on specific issues that the RNC opposes.

Standing on the sidelines of the march were small groups of counter-demonstrators holding signs denouncing gays, Muslims, abortion, and other issues that most of the marchers appeared to support.

Azmi Alaeddin, a 50-year resident of Milwaukee originally from Jerusalem, who immigrated to the US from Kuwait, marched at the front of the demonstration holding a tall Palestinian flag. He told TNA that he came to protest US support for Israel's war in Gaza. 

"It means a lot to me, but it touches me more, because those are my people. It could be me there. It could be my kids being killed there. I could be under the rubble," he said, adding that he had hoped the demonstration would be bigger. 

"The war and the genocide should have brought in way more people. But I understand with the closing of the downtown, it's very hard to come in," he said, referring to the barricades erected in the city centre for the RNC.

Aladdin, a local restaurant owner, says he's had his tall Palestinian flag for over 20 years, bringing it to different festivals in Milwaukee in a show of pride of his background and of the diversity of his adopted home. 

Speaking to the upcoming US presidential election, he said, "As an American, I am really ashamed. That's what we have to offer? Those two clowns? One is a criminal, and the other is almost a dead man," he said, noting that as he has gotten older (he is now 64), he has had to downsize his own businesses. 

"We don't hold things to our last breath. That's only in dictatorship countries," he said, referring to both candidates, Donald Trump who has said he would be a dictator on day one, and Joe Biden, who continues running for re-election despite his age (81) and his diminishing popularity.

"Please, the Democratic Party, don't make me throw my vote away. You still have time to correct the direction you are going. Biden, you need to step aside. Your name is Genocide Joe. You can't take it away."