Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Chicago on Tuesday, expressing their rejection of Israel’s siege against the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank and parallel to the start of the Democratic National Convention.

The group of protesters, according to local media, crossed a fence set up by the police authorities in order to reach the front lines of the headquarters of the Convention.

In response to this action, the police arrested several of those who managed to cross the security fence, however, the authorities detailed that “the internal security perimeter surrounding the convention was not breached and there was no threat to the attendees of the event”.

The demonstrators shouted “End the occupation now” and “Everyone is watching”, among other slogans criticizing the management of a conflict that is latent and not just given a solution.

“Biden, you can’t hide. We accuse you of genocide”, they shouted in reference to the president calling him “Joe the Genocider,” expressing similar criticism of vice president Kamala Harris.

In line with the demands, the spokesman for the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention – made up of hundreds of organizations -, Hatem Abudayyeh stressed that “we must do our part to end the genocide, to stop American aid to Israel and defend Palestine”.

Chicago has one of the largest populations of Palestinian origin in the United States.

Moreover, these protests take place in parallel to a complex scenario in the Gaza Strip where the Israeli siege continues and where the death toll already exceeds 40,000, of whom most are women and children.