Nov 26

Nov 26 It's Snowing

Protest, Public Declarations, Demonstrations

I didn’t plan on attending the Women’s Global Day of Action for Palestine, a rally scheduled for 11:00 AM in front of the City Center (aka, the NBC 5 Tower) where the Chicago Office of the Consulate General of Turkey is located. Demonstrations on Sunday mornings tend to be small, particularly when the temperatures drop into the 20s, as they have done over the last several days. Yet, when looking out my window this morning, I saw snow falling, so I figured I would hop on the bus, grab a few images of the demonstrators in the snow, and head home.

As I had expected, there was a small group outside the City Center, with a appropriately small group of police officers in close proximity. I didn’t count heads, but I would be surprised if there were more than 40 demonstrators present.

I circulated among the demonstrators for a few minutes, when a man approached me, asking that I stand further to the side. He said that this was a religious ceremony, which required the men to be separated from the women. I certainly didn’t want to offend anyone’s customs, so I complied without uttering a word.

Based on my observations, I have serious doubt that what I was witnessing was a religious ceremony for three reasons. First, I did not see an Imam present. Second, all the signage referenced the current situation in Gaza. Third, the lead banner read, “November 26—Women’s Global Day of Action for Palestine.” But the men did keep their distance from the women, so I had no issues with the request.

I stayed for another ten minutes, capturing images with a long lens. I did not understand what was being said because the speeches were in Arabic.

Two final observations. First, I don’t think this group was affiliated with the Palestinian Community groups that have been responsible for the large demonstrations over the last eight weeks. I asked one of the men about that observation. He seemed to confirm what I thought, but he was a little ambiguous.

Second, while the event may not have been engaging in a religious ceremony, at least outwardly, the members of this group looked like more observant Muslims than many of the people attending the larger demonstrations. I don’t know whether that is true, but many of the women were wearing burqas, which suggests to me that they are more orthodox. Of course, dress can be a misleading indicator.

[Click on a Link to Enlarge an Image]