(RNS) — The Coalition to March on the DNC has united its various constituencies, including faith groups, to demand an end to U.S. aid to Isr
“People of all faiths are coming together to stop what’s happening in Gaza,” said Shelo, 41, a documentary filmmaker whose parents were born in the region now held by Israel. “At this point, it transcends faith. This isn’t just a religious issue or a moral issue. It’s a human issue. Whatever your faith is, whatever your belief system is, you can look at what’s happening and know that it’s wrong and that you want to stop it.”
The Coalition to March on the DNC, the umbrella organization coordinating the various marches and protests, is composed of more than 150 groups, each with its own causes, whether immigration, reproductive health care or LGBTQ rights. But as a whole, the groups have united to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel and to stand up for Palestinians. . . .
. . . “We want to make it very clear that the Palestinians are suffering with the enabling of aid by this administration embedded with our tax dollars,” said Tarek Khalil, a board member of the Chicago chapter of American Muslims for Palestine. “We’re not letting Kamala Harris off the hook just because she’s vice president and she can lay claim to the fact that she’s beholden to the president’s agenda.”
American Muslims for Palestine is arranging to bring demonstrators from mosques around the Chicago metropolitan area and beyond. While AMP marchers will be at all the week’s demonstrations, the group is co-sponsoring its own march on Wednesday (Aug. 21) at Union Park alongside the Coalition for Justice in Palestine.
The main two marches will take place Monday and Thursday.
Jewish organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace will join in as well, as will members of the anti-Zionist Jewish congregation Tzedek Chicago, which is also sponsoring a rally on Sunday.
The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization, is planning an interfaith vigil for Gaza at the Montrose Beach Harbor on Lake Michigan on Tuesday.