CHICAGO — As protesters began massing in a Chicago park Monday morning to oppose U.S. military support for Israel, some Democratic delegates gathered in a meeting room deep within McCormick Place and vowed to press for change from the inside.
The delegates, 30 in all, represent Democratic primary voters who cast uncommitted ballots to signify their unhappiness with U.S. support for Israel in a war that has claimed more than 40,000 Palestinian lives.
“We’ve been able to send a message that our values, our votes and our rightful place in the Democratic Party cannot be taken for granted,’’ Layla Elabed, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement and sister of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said at a press conference Monday morning. “This is our fight for the soul of the Democratic Party.”
