"Death to America," far left activists chanted as they convened in the basement of the Teamsters Union’s headquarters on Saturday to discuss plans on how to disrupt the Democratic National Convention on August 19, according to an investigation by The Free Press’s Olivia Reingold published on Sunday.
“It’s really inspiring to see that people are just as enthusiastic, and maybe even more enthusiastic, to march on the DNC as they are to march on the RNC [Republican National Convention],” Omar Florez, a Milwaukee-based activist reportedly said at the meeting. “We can thank Genocide Joe and our movement for that.”
Recordings show the activists applauding when Iran's attack against Israel was announced during the event.
“They believe that they will be in Palestinian — I don’t call it Israeli — airspace between two and four a.m., which means about two to four hours from now,” speaker Hatem Abudayyeh, said. “In addition, there are reports of drones having been fired on Israel from Yemen and Iraq.”
Abudayyeh reportedly heads the US Palestinian Community Network, “a purported community group which, on information and belief, is an affiliate of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terror organization based in Gaza,” according to a lawsuit cited by The Free Press over the alleged relations between US advocacy groups and Hamas.
The organization's main goals are to establish a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea" with Jerusalem as its capital and establish right of return for all "Palestinian refugees, and their descendants." They also support "the right of resistance against Zionist occupation and colonization of all Palestinian and Arab lands," according to the organization's website.
The Free Press reported that Abudayyeh’s home was searched in 2010 by the FBI as part of an investigation “concerning the material support of terrorism.”
“We have to assume that the United States is going to try to retaliate against Iran,” Abudayyeh continued and was met with boos from the crowd.
The crowd quickly began chanting “Hands off Iran.”
A few minutes after news broke that Iran had launched drones and missiles heading toward Israel, a crowd of far-left activists in Chicago started chanting “hands off Iran!” pic.twitter.com/xuZZ8C0XyU
— The Free Press (@TheFP) April 13, 2024
Joe Iosbaker, an organizer with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, which called October 7 a “good turn of events” in its press release about the terrorist attacks, told Reingold that he supported Iran.
A breakout session of the meeting also saw activist attendees being taught how to chant “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” in Farsi, the language of Iran.
It was reportedly Shabbir Rizvi, an organizer with Anti-War Committee Chicago, who led the Farsi lesson.
Anti-war activists in Chicago learn to chant “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” in Farsi.Read more from The FP’s @Olivia_Reingold: https://t.co/1jMM5ydhpp pic.twitter.com/z7T9AKNrF9
— The Free Press (@TheFP) April 14, 2024
Abudayyeh, from the US Palestinian Community Network, made a special announcement during the Democratic National Convention 2024 conference to tell the audience, “So it begins,” in regards to Iran’s attack on Israel.
“Twelve days ago, Israel brazenly hit an Iranian embassy compound in Syria, violating international law again,” said Abudayyeh, referencing the alleged Israeli April 1 strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force commander Mohammed Reza Zahedi and six other officers. “Iran has just responded around thirty minutes ago.”
The conference clapped at the news Iraqi and Yemeni groups may have joined the assault.
Protesters chant "Hands off Iran"
After Abudayyeh finished speaking, protesters began to spontaneously chant “hands off Iran” and what appeared to be a call of “glory to the martyrs.”
After they finished chanting, a conference organizer led them in a chant in Arabic, “From the water to the water, Palestine is Arab.”
She hesitantly translated the slogan into English and explained that it demanded the liberation of the colonized Arab land.
The coalition of far-left activist groups is planning to demand an end to US aid to Israel while protesting the DNC on August 19.
Other demands include diverting military funding to education, housing, and healthcare; legalizing 12 million illegal immigrants living in the US; and “community control” of law enforcement.
Michael Starr contributed to this report