Starting as a sit-in demonstration of around 200 led by Jewish Voices for Peace Action and the California Progressive Alliance inside the convention center hosting the Democratic Convention, increasing numbers led the protesters to flock to the streets surrounding the center. This led the party officials to cancel the evening convention events “for the safety and security of our delegates,” including “caucus meetings, hospitality suites, and VoteFest taking place at the convention center.”
Protesters march for a cease-fire in Sacramento (Common Dreams)
Earlier that day, some activists disrupted the speeches of the U.S. Representatives Adam Schiff and Katie Porter during the Senate candidates' forum, while many cheers could be heard as Representative Barbara Lee called for an end to the war where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed or maimed. This difference in ideas could have impacted the distribution of votes, as Lee led the group with over 41% of the delegate votes, although Schiff was close behind at around 40%.
Among the protesters is Sacramento Coalition for Palestinian Rights member Adeeb Alzanoon, who said: “We want to stop the genocide against my people in Gaza.” He expresses great concern regarding the conflict, adding that he has “lost 42 of my extended family.”
Similar protests have been occurring in major cities all over the world, all demanding for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine war in Gaza. Such cities include Washington DC, London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, Dakar, and Istanbul, consisting of thousands of people all protesting against the violence of the war. Unlike the crime that could be seen at those larger protests, though, only two security guards were injured during the demonstrations, while the Sacramento Police Department reported no arrests or cases of vandalism. Still, unreported incidents and other minor aggressive clashes between individuals or with security likely happened, as discipline is hard to maintain in a large group of protesters.
Protesters grapple for a banner inside the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center (The Times of Israel)
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6 comments:
I wonder if there were only pro-Palestine protesters there, or if there were protesters from both sides, and the convention was shut down to prevent conflict from escalating between the two groups. Either way, it seems like the right decision for the convention to cancel the convention events so things didn't escalate. I wonder if any of the politicians at the convention had expressed sentiments one way or another about the Gaza conflict and if protesters were hoping to find them. Hopefully, there weren't many instances of the protesters being overly pushy with security or security harassing them back. It is really important for people to feel like they truly can express their First Amendment rights, as long as they are doing it peacefully without infringing on others' rights.
It's important to consider that protests (of any kind) are not all about violence, demands, or anger. Protests include uniting messages of solidarity, kindness, and hope for the future. It's also amazing to see people from very different backgrounds coming together in support of similar ideals. It's easy to get caught up in the news and think that all protests (again, on either side) are angry or violent or demanding, but the truth is that many protests are overwhelmingly peaceful and kind. There's definitely a huge selection bias where most of the protests getting platformed are the most emotionally charged and violent ones. I'd love to see data on recent protests to see how frequently acts of vandalism, violence or looting even happen. I would guess they're pretty rare.
At this point, I think most people care more about stopping innocent people from dying than one side winning the war, and obviously for good reason. Recently there have been big demonstrations from both pro-Palestinian protestors and pro-Israel protestors and from the far-away perspective of a bystander, it appears that they are at odds with each other, like enemies, and this leads to people taking extreme stances. For example, the idea that "if you're pro-Palestine you support a terrorist organization" or "if you're pro-Israel you support people dying in Gaza" is simply not true, and I think this and similar false ideas get to a lot people, considering, for example, the big impact of social media (on what we choose to believe)---where people spread misinformation and extreme videos and images that play with our emotions and drag us to one side. And therefore I think it's extremely important to remember that no matter what side someone's on, they most definitely just want peace and for people to stop dying, because at the end of the day, people just want to protect their own.
In regards to the convention being shut down I feel that it is a sign that the protests are sparking some form of change. Protests no matter the subject, have a goal of sparking change in whatever they are protesting for. In this case, these protests that are occurring all over the world are aiming to do all they can to help the people who are dying in both Palestine and Israel. They are helping them by sparking change in their governments through showing that they care and what to see change, such as a cease-fire take place in Gaza. I strongly agree with David's comments in regards to the impact that social media is having. The spread of false information is very dangerous but cherry-picking what videos to post and what comments to say also have a monumental affect in swinging people one way or another. For example, I saw a TikTok video of someone who went to both a Pro Palestine rally and a Pro Israel rally and took clips of what people said and essentially showed the Pro Palestine protestors in a negative light while showing the Pro Israel protestors as being more "calm" and "peaceful". I read the comments and it seemed like their view changed off of this one video which clearly was made to highlight the Pro Israel agenda.
The fact that the convention reacted to the protesters is a good sign. That means that the message the protesters are getting out is being acknowledged in some way, and I'm glad that people don't see violence as a way to protest violence. Though their protest caused a disruption in plans, disruptions could prove useful in breaking people out of their daily cycles to raise awareness of an issue, at the cost of angering some. These efforts like that are often the driving motivation for change and publicity, and bit by bit, pushed those in power for a ceasefire. I hope that their ceasefire can last, however, I'm not particularly optimistic about it considering their long history of conflict spanning centuries. It's still a good sign, though; at least they aren't actively killing each other for now.
It’s good to hear that the protest wasn’t violent and didn’t harm/endanger anyone’s life. At most, they are just disrupting a meeting, which doesn’t affect one that much like Ray said. Credit has to be given to the organizers too, who didn’t let this protest linger any longer which could have devolved into something more dangerous, and instead quickly handled the situation by canceling the event.
Seeing so many different organizations come together to fight for a common cause in so many other areas is amazing. We talk about how conflict tears people apart, but it needs to be acknowledged that it can also bring people together.
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