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Anti-Israel protesters shut down O'Hare airport by blocking highway - as video shows frustrated passengers abandoning their taxis and cars and walking 20 MINUTES to the terminal

8 months ago 31
  • A group of Anti-Israel protestors have blocked the entrance to Chicago's O'Hare airport 
  • Video shows them sitting and standing as they linked on to one another 
  • Frustrated travelers exited their cars and walked to their terminals with their luggage  

By Emma Richter For Dailymail.Com

Published: 15:34 BST, 15 April 2024 | Updated: 16:46 BST, 15 April 2024

Anti-Israel protesters shut down Chicago's O'Hare airport as they blocked the highway and left passengers frustrated. 

On Monday around 8.23am, protestors sat in the middle of the Kennedy Expressway, linked to each other with PVC pipes, as people fled their taxis and cars and trekked 20 minutes to their terminals. 

Video of the protest showed the demonstrators as they chanted: 'Palestine will be free! Free, free Palestine!' with a loud drum roll in the background. 

A picture showed a long line of people as they blocked the road entrance to the airport. 

All lanes on I-90 were blocked between Bessie Coleman Drive and the airport, but according to O'hare International Airport, inbound traffic on the highway has resumed. 

Anti-Israel protesters have shut down Chicago's O'Hare airport as they blocked the highway and left passengers frustrated

Demonstrators are seen sitting on the pavement, linked to each other as they block the entrance to the airport 

'Allow extra time if traveling to the airport this morning,' the airport said in a post on X.

The demonstrators stalled rows of traffic as some drivers were seen sitting on top of their cars. Law enforcement vehicles were present at the scene. 

Many of the protestors were seen wearing keffiyeh scarves as they chanted and waved signs that read 'Free Palestine' and 'Stop Genocide.' 

As they chanted, angry drivers started to blast their horns, while other got out of their vehicles and hopped the guardrail to make it to their flights.  

The protest, which was organized by Chicago Dissenters, said that they decided to block the airport because it is 'one of the largest in the country' that should not be in business 'while Palestinians suffer at the hands of American funded bombing by Israel.'

They decided to target the airport in an attempt to 'disrupt Boeing's operations,' because the airplane manufacturer is 'sending fighter jets and bombs to support Israel's bombardment of Gaza.' 

'ON THIS TAX DAY, THERE WILL BE NO BUSINESS AS USUAL WHILE GAZANS ARE DYING,' the group said in an Instagram post. 

Rows of traffic have stalled in front of the group as law enforcement vehicles are seen at the scene

Chicago Dissenters posted a picture of a map that showed the congestion on the road as they blocked traffic on Monday morning outside of the airport 

One angry female traveler raised her middle finger at the protestors as walked to the airport and shouted: 'F*** you!' 

Another passenger was seen pushing a protestor as he hurled his bags over the guardrail. 

As people walked out of the cars, the protestors guided them to the side of the road, and instructed them to exit that way. 

'We have protestors putting their body on the line, they will not move until they are physically removed,' an organizer said in a video. 

The group also posted a picture of a map that showed the congestion on the road as they blocked traffic and said: 'It's day 191 of the genocide in Gaza and we are shutting sh** down.' 

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