CHICAGO (AP) — More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched Wednesday past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had earlier gathered and toward the arena hosting the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

The demonstration, which was largely peaceful, came a day after a much smaller, unauthorized protest outside the Israeli consulate turned violent with clashes between police and demonstrators, resulting in 56 arrests.

Organizers of Wednesday’s demonstration tapped the Chicago-area Palestinian community, one of the largest in the country, and brought buses from mosques in the suburbs.

Raed Shuk, 48, came from the suburbs with his children, including his two-year-old son, who sat on Shuk’s shoulders before the march. Shuk, whose parents are Palestinian, said they have come to so many rallies that his son knows the slogans by heart.

“The humanity of everyone must be taken into account equally here and there,” he said of Gaza. “I want to help my children learn from this experience that you must always stand up for your rights and always protest peacefully.”

The march, one of the largest anticipated demonstrations of the week, took on a celebratory tone at times as a drum group led the marchers and a sea of ​​Palestinian flags waved over the crowd. Some children ate popsicles as they walked, others were pushed in strollers or carried in carts.

The crowd stopped outside a park about a block from the United Center and used megaphones and air horns to denounce elected officials, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, as “complicity” in the war in Gaza. The two-term Democrat, who has been considered as Kamala Harris’s vice presidential running mate, criticized a ceasefire resolution Chicago passed in January.

As protesters passed under a new elevated train station near the United Center that had been completed just before the DNC, police officers were seen taking a person to the ground on the platform above. In response, hundreds of protesters pushed against the edge of the station, banging their hands and flagpoles against the glass, and demanding that police release the person. The person exited the station moments later through the emergency exit, escorted by police officers but not handcuffed, prompting cheers from the crowd.

The pro-Palestinian protesters included many families and people of different faiths. Small groups of Muslims gathered to pray in a park shortly before the march began, using keffiyehs as prayer rugs. The march leaders included rabbis, and a small group marched through the crowd holding a sign that read “Christians for Ceasefire.”

Rabbi Brant Rosen, one of the founders of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, condemned Democrats for not speaking out about the war in Gaza at the convention.

“The word Palestine is not allowed at the Democratic convention. The word ceasefire was barely uttered,” he said. “This is a Hollywood-style coronation of a candidate. They assume they are entitled to our votes, but they are not entitled to our votes.”

Earlier that day, police escorted pro-Israel protesters from a park near the United Center because the area had been cordoned off for the activists’ march there.

The rally near the United Center was organized by the US Palestinian Community Network, a Palestinian and Arab community organization, and stood in stark contrast to Tuesday night’s demonstration outside the Israeli consulate, where protesters who are not part of a coalition of more than 200 groups approved by the city for demonstrations got into a heated confrontation with Chicago police.

Chicago Police Chief Larry Snelling said those arrested Tuesday night outside the Israeli consulate, about two miles from the United Center, “appeared with the intent to commit acts of violence and vandalism.” Snelling called the police response “proportionate.”

According to Chicago police, 30 of the people arrested by police were cited for disturbing the peace. One person was arrested for resisting police, while nine people were charged with misdemeanors including disturbing the peace, resisting police officers, assault, battery and property damage, police said.

Snelling said two people were taken to hospital with minor injuries, one for knee pain and one with a finger injury. Two officers were injured but refused medical attention because they did not want to leave their colleagues alone, Snelling said. He said three journalists were among those arrested, but he did not provide details on the charges.

Hatem Abudayyeh, co-founder of the US Palestinian Community Network, pointed to the clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and police, saying the police have a responsibility to maintain peace. The police “have only one responsibility here,” he said. “They have a responsibility not to violate our First Amendment rights.”

The Israeli consulate has been the scene of numerous demonstrations since the Gaza war began in October, and the protests during the DNC largely focused on opposition to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The largest protest so far, which attracted around 3,500 people on Monday, was largely peaceful and resulted in 13 arrests, most of them related to breaching security fences. Two people were arrested on Sunday evening during another largely peaceful march.

Also on Wednesday, a man who fled a courthouse in Mississippi and is wanted on charges of murder and armed robbery was arrested. The man was taken into custody at a restaurant about a half-mile from the United Center after a standoff with police. There was no indication he had any connection to the gathering.

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