In Chicago's Little Palestine, signs of Israel's war on Gaza are everywhere

The ongoing Democratic National Congress in downtown Chicago may be blaring on every television channel with triumphant and celebratory pride, but in Little Palestine, just 15 miles away from the event the mood is different. 

Middle East Eye visited Bridgeview, the southwestern suburb of Chicago, known colloquially as Little Palestine, to see how Israel’s war on Gaza is rippling across the home of the largest Palestinian-American community in the US.

In Little Palestine, symbols of the war being waged on the people of Gaza are everywhere.

They are on the lawn signs planted alongside the main thoroughfare. They are on the giant "Free Palestine" LED sign on Harlem Avenue. Palestinian flags, too, are everywhere. So too, are posters calling for a ceasefire.

"You know, as a community, it's been difficult because most of our students are Palestinian, and so they are very aware of what's happening. Some of them were directly affected. So either some who had lost family or have family that went missing,” Deanne Othman, a local high school teacher told MEE.

"We had some students that actually lived part of their life in Gaza, and so they had friends and family that were killed."

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