Far-Left Activists in Chicago Filmed Cheering Iran’s Major Attack on Israel: ‘The Radical Left Is Sick’

Far-left anti-Israel activists in Chicago demanding President Joe Biden end U.S. aid to Israel cheered and applauded a massive attack of hundreds of drones and missiles by the Islamic Republic of Iran on the Jewish state, which ultimately failed but had initially posed a severe threat to residents throughout Israel.

At a Chicago conference on Saturday of the March on the Democratic National Convention 2024 — a coalition of far-left groups planning to protest the DNC in August to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel, attendees — many masked — expressed support for Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel, which was supposedly in response to a recent Israeli strike that eliminated seven senior Iranian military officials, including two generals, in Damascus, Syria.

The gathering, which included dozens of pro-Palestinian activists, also saw commitments to oppose U.S. support for Israel and featured chants and slogans advocating for Palestinian liberation and resistance against U.S. policies in the region.

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Hatem Abudayyeh, a member of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, highlighted the collective actions of Iranian, Yemeni, and Iraqi forces against Israel. When he announced that these factions may have also joined in the attack on the Jewish state, the conference’s participants glorified the potential bloodbath of Israelis, cheering and applauding. They later began chanting “Hands off Iran!” and what seemed to be a cry of “glory to the martyrs.”

Clips of the event being circulated online drew immediate backlash.

“The radical Left is sick,” wrote Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

“The next time you hear the ‘ceasefire now’ crowd described as ‘peace activists’ remember how many of them cheered the launch of hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel,” wrote Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).  

“They don’t want a ceasefire, they want #Israel destroyed,” he added.

“The pro-Hamas, ceasefire now crowd, shockingly in favor of Iran’s attack on Israel. These people are vile antisemites who want to see Israel eradicated,” wrote Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).

“Marxists support every cause that is anti-West,” wrote Turning Point UK. “They are the greatest threat to our way of life.”

“The ceasefire crowd just wants Islamist regimes to survive and Jews to die. That’s their objective,” attorney and journalist Erielle Azerrad wrote on X.

“If your instinct is to support the brutal Ayatollah, you may want to check your liberal credentials,” wrote StandWithUs Executive Director Michael Dickson.

The coalition is currently organizing a protest against the DNC in August, to call for the cessation of U.S. aid to Israel and the redirection of U.S. military funds, the legalization of “all” undocumented workers in the country, the defense of LGBTQ and “reproductive rights,” and “community control of the police.”

Other radical groups and individuals have publicly supported Iran’s recent attack, including a Students for Justice in Palestine affiliate, a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) International Committee official, Professor Asad Abukhalil from CSU Stanislaus, and Mohammed Habbeh, the National Development Coordinator for American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

Iran is the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism and one of the primary funders of the Hamas terrorist group. A U.S. State Department report estimated in 2020 that Iran pays Hamas and a rival anti-Israel terror group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), $100 million a year. A spokesman for Hamas, Ghazi Hamad, told the BBC on October 7 that Iran had offered “direct backing” for the terrorist attack on Israel.

Tehran has long viewed the United States as a principal antagonist and has frequently accused the U.S. of inciting protesters in a bid to “destabilize” the region.

Previously, Iranian Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier-General Abolfazl Shekarchi affirmed that America is the Iranian republic’s top enemy, while the Islamic Republic’s “supreme leader” has boasted of having “defeated” the United States, as he assured a crowd of supporters that their “Death to America!” chant would yet be fulfilled, as a “new order” would relegate the U.S. to isolation.

As Breitbart News reported, Iran attacked Israel overnight Saturday into Sunday with a swarm of over 300 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. Israel’s air defense systems intercepted most of them; the U.S., U.K., and Jordan also intercepted Iranian drones.

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it had scored a “significant strategic achievement” after it prevented 99% of Iran’s drones and missiles from reaching their targets.