DNC 2024: Iowa Democrats say room for unity in party amid pro-Palestine protests at DNC

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) – More security fences have been set up around the Democratic National Convention due to some pro-Palestine protestors breaking through a fence as the DNC kicked off Monday.

Tuesday night, a protest is planned outside of the Israeli Consulate in Chicago.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart says the protests walked right past their hotel.

Amid flaring tensions in Chicago outside of the DNC, Hart says the only way the party will get to a better place is if they keep the conversation going. “We are a big tent party. That we are willing to take on the tough issues and we’re willing to talk to people who don’t always agree with us within our own party and from the other side,” she said.

State Senator Janice Weiner of Iowa City says there’s room in the party for a discussion. “We’re also not like single issue people. We are capable than holding more than one idea, one thought, one disagreement in our heads,” she said.

Weiner says the path to a solution to the divisions in the party is to keep the conversation going. “We deal with that by both by acknowledging it, by welcoming everyone in, by having the tough conversations, and by understanding that we’re not going to solve everything right now,” Weiner said.

Cornell College Political Science Professor Megan Goldberg says these protests might work. “There’s a lot of evidence that protests can be effective ways of pushing a candidate further along sort of the your policy continuum towards what you want,” she said.

Goldberg says the Democratic Party hasn’t been subject to many protests recently. In recent years, we’ve seen protests by Democrats against former President Donald Trump, but not by Democrats protesting their own party. She says that this might present a challenge for the Democratic party on how to navigate these protests.

Goldberg adds that at some point, Harris will likely have to confront the issue directly.

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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Media-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.

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