GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A bus from West Michigan will drive to the Democratic National Convention next week with its passengers planning to march alongside thousands calling for Palestinian liberation and the end of US aid to Israel.
On Friday, Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids (PSGR) and its local partners held a press conference about the March on the DNC, which will take place at Chicago's Union Park "within sight and sound" of Democrat leaders, per its website.
"Both parties have been primarily serving the rich, the billionaire class," said Danny Celaya of Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids. "Meanwhile, working folks continue to be given a bad deal."
Celaya and PSGR also marched at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, bringing to the table the demands of the "People's movements," which also include LGBTQ and reproductive rights, protections for unions, "community control" of police and funding for education, healthcare and housing.
In recent months, PSGR has also protested the war in Gaza in downtown Grand Rapids, holding signs near Rosa Parks Circle on Wednesday afternoons or evenings.
"Elections are the prime time to put the most pressure on these politicians," Celaya said.
Representatives for Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression also spoke at the evening press conference, held at Pux Cider Taphouse in Grand Rapids.
"We are not necessarily rallying against the Democrat Party or the Republican Party," said Marissa Wagner of Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War. "We are rallying to hold the people in power within those parties accountable."
Wagner also participated in the Pro-Palestine encampments this spring at Western Michigan University, where she is currently a student.
READ MORE: WMU Gaza Solidarity Encampment clears out, talks with administration begin
"We're seeing small changes little by little, and eventually we're going to see the light at the end of the tunnel," Wagner said.
In total around 60 people from the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo area plan to march at the DNC, where Vice President Kamala Harris will accept her party's nomination for president.
