Pro-Palestinian demonstrators voice opposition to war in Gaza as delegates leave DNC

CHICAGO (AP) — As attendees filtered out of the Democratic National Convention Thursday on its final night, they were met with the chants of pro-Palestinian protesters calling for the party to do more to end the war in Gaza.

The group yelled “ceasefire now” and “Shame on you,” as one woman folded a campaign sign for the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz ticket over her head.

David Peterson, 50, said he wanted to show up to advocate for Palestinian voices, especially inside the convention.

“Everybody who speaks up is going to save a life,” he said. “This is an opportunity, a window of opportunity.”

The protests in the convention's final hours ended much like they began earlier this week — largely peaceful with a family-friendly atmosphere.

As Harris accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on the DNC stage, a final large-scale protest ended on a hopeful note. Occupying the road under the train tracks on Lake Street for close to 30 minutes, demonstrators roared: “We’re young, we’re strong, we’ll rally all night long.”

Only a few dozen protesters lingered late Thursday near Union Park, clashing briefly with police. The small group had planned to march toward the convention center but was blocked by rows of police in riot gear who shouted “move back” as they pushed into the group. Several of the protesters surged forward, with some swinging wooden signs down on the officers.

Officers put handcuffs on one activist who was waving a big black flag on a busy street. Another officer rolled up the flag and took it away. Demonstration leaders soon instructed remaining protesters to go home.

At Union Park ahead of the march, the grassy field teemed with Palestinian flags, and a speaker system played Palestinian dance songs. The gathering was organized by the Coalition to March on the DNC, a group of more than 200 organizations that also ran a similar event on Monday night.

The march began with a crowd of thousands that slowly snaked through residential areas surrounding the United Center. Some wore red T-shirts that said “Not In Our Name” while others held signs that said “End U.S. Aid to Israel.” Pausing along the march route to turn toward the convention center, they chanted: “DNC, you will see. Palestine will be free.”

There was heavy police presence as protesters walked the blocks by the United Center, including at the spot where a small group of activists breached an outer perimeter fence earlier in the week. In addition to police on bikes along the route, about 100 officers in riot gear and more than 20 law enforcement vehicles followed the marchers.

As protesters slowly approached Union Park where the rally began more than two hours earlier, the marchers shook tambourines and chanted over the rumble of drums and the train overhead: “I believe that we will win.”

Protesters attempted to call attention to what they see as a lack of Palestinian voices within the arena hosting the DNC. Standing at the edge of the crowd, Lisa Pint, a 61-year-old volunteer wearing buttons in support of the Democratic ticket of Harris and Tim Walz, said she wanted to see the protest as a “neutral” observer. But after speaking with an activist, Pint said she’d come to the conclusion that a Palestinian voice should have been represented on the convention stage.

“I didn’t think of it until a protester said it. It’s a good point,” said Pint, a nurse in the Chicago suburbs. “I’m very strong for Kamala and Walz, but they should have been included.”

Leaders of an “Uncommitted” movement, which garnered hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries across the nation in protest of the Israel-Hamas war, expressed frustration ahead of the convention when weekslong negotiations to secure a speaking slot for a Palestinian American at the DNC stalled.

Chicago police said Thursday they would not changing any of their tactics and were ready for a final night of pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside the Democratic National Convention, after a peaceful march that resulted in no injuries or arrests.

On Wednesday night, more than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched peacefully past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had gathered earlier. That demonstration came a day after violent clashes between police and protesters led to 56 arrests at a much smaller, unsanctioned protest outside the Israeli Consulate in downtown Chicago.

Protesters try to block traffic after a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Police move protesters during a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters try to block traffic after a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Police move protesters during a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Police move protesters during a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Police move protesters during a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Police watch as protesters march during a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Protesters watch during a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A counter protester yells at demonstrators during a rally near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy talks to the media at demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A protester listens during a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters clash during a march near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Protesters march during a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A counter protester yells at demonstrators during a rally near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Protesters fight during a demonstration near the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Law enforcement members remove a protester from a train station during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

BOSTON (AP) — A study that explores the feasibility of using pigeons to guide missiles and one that looks at the swimming abilities of dead fish were among the winners Thursday of this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement.

Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, the 34th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine’s website to make people laugh and think. Winners received a transparent box containing historic items related to Murphy’s Law — the theme of the night — and a nearly worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Actual Nobel laureates handed the winners their prizes.

“While some politicians were trying to make sensible things sound crazy, scientists discovered some crazy-sounding things that make a lot of sense,” Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an e-mail interview.

The ceremony started with Kees Moliker, winner of 2003 Ig Noble for biology, giving out safety instructions. His prize was for a study that documented the existence of homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks.

“This is the duck,” he said, holding up a duck. “This is the dead one.”

After that, someone came on stage wearing a yellow target on their chest and a plastic face mask. Soon, they were inundated with people in the audience throwing paper airplanes at them.

Then, the awards began — several dry presentations which were interrupted by a girl coming on stage and repeatedly yelling “Please stop. I'm bored.” The awards ceremony was also was broken up by an international song competition inspired by Murphy's Law, including one about coleslaw and another about the legal system.

The winners were honored in 10 categories, including for peace and anatomy. Among them were scientists who showed a vine from Chile imitates the shapes of artificial plants nearby and another study that examined whether the hair on people's heads in the Northern Hemisphere swirled in the same direction as someone's hair in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other winners include a group of scientists who showed that fake medicine that causes side effects can be more effective than fake medicine that doesn't cause side effects and one showing that some mammals are cable of breathing through their anus — winners who came on stage wearing a fish-inspired hats.

Julie Skinner Vargas accepted the peace prize on behalf of her late father B.F. Skinner, who wrote the pigeon-missile study. Skinner Vargas is also the head of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.

“I want to thank you for finally acknowledging his most important contribution,” she said. “Thank you for putting the record straight.”

James Liao, a biology professor at the University of Florida, accepted the physics prize for his study demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout.

“I discovered that a live fish moved more than a dead fish but not by much,” Liao said, holding up a fake fish. “A dead trout towed behind a stick also flaps its tail to the beat of the current like a live fish surfing on swirling eddies, recapturing the energy in its environment. A dead fish does live fish things.”

Professor James Liao displays a stuffed fish while accepting a prize for physics for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A team of researchers perform a demonstration during a performance showing that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus while accepting the 2024 Ig Nobel prize in physiology at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

People in the audience throw paper airplanes toward the stage during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Mass, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)