A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators took over Denver's City Council chamber on Monday night, causing councilmembers to postpone their regular meeting.
The Council meeting takeover was the latest of several demonstrations ahead of an annual gathering of Jewish leaders and Israel supporters slated to take place at the Colorado Convention Center. Protesters previously gathered in front of the state Capitol and marched through Cherry Creek Mall during Black Friday shopping.
The conference, organized by the Jewish National Fund-USA, has become a lightning rod in the local reaction to Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. It is set to start Thursday.
Scheduled conference attendees include Gov. Jared Polis, who is Jewish, and Gilad Erdan, Israel's U.N. ambassador. The gathering, which changes cities each year, is expected to draw more than 2,000 attendees to Denver.
More than 80 people signed up to speak during the Monday night City Council meeting, with nearly all listing JNF as their focus. JNF, which organizes the annual international conference, describes itself as an environmental nonprofit.
Panel sessions at its conference will focus on the organization's "humanitarian" work and fundraising, as well as wide-ranging conversations about the attack that took place on Oct. 7, as well as the Israeli government's response, said Yaron Marcus, JNF's mountain states vice president of fundraising, who did not attend the city council meeting.
"There's going to be difficult questions posed and answered," Marcus said. "And I'm sure there's going to be many wide ranging feelings and opinions about what has transpired and what should transpire."
"Cities like ours have always been at the forefront of change and in this time of death and destruction, standing by on the sidelines is implicitly supporting the status quo," said Anish Alvani, a Five Points resident who spoke during Monday's meeting. "Supporting the JNF in their whitewashing of genocide through this conference is supporting the genocide."
More demonstrations are scheduled to take place this week, with the goal of disrupting and shutting down the JNF-led conference. The Colorado Palestine Coalition has organized an all-day picket of the conference on Nov. 30, according to its social media pages.
The Denver Police Department, in a statement, said it was working with organizers to plan security protocols, but it did not elaborate on specifics.
JNF staff removed most information about conference registration and its location from their website earlier this week as a security precaution and because registration is already closed, Marcus said.
"The same way anybody, any group in the United States, has the right to demonstrate peacefully and to share their views and to speak out, we also have that same right to gather peacefully and share our views and speak out against antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment," Marcus said.
"Governor Polis strongly believes that Israel has a right to defend its citizens against Hamas and to respond to the brutal murder of hundreds of Israeli citizens, and to work to facilitate the return of hundreds of hostages," the spokesman said. "Here in Colorado, he has made it clear that hate against Jews, Muslims, or Christians will not be tolerated and that includes ensuring that any effort to intimidate or prevent people from speaking to a group of Jewish Americans convening in Denver does not succeed."
Speakers at City Council on Monday also called for members to pass a resolution in support of a permanent ceasefire. A temporary agreement between Israel and Hamas remains in place through Wednesday as governments exchange hostages and prisoners.
More than 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli military strikes since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. An estimated 1,200 Israelis, mostly citizens, have died, mostly during Hamas' initial attack.
Councilmembers did not discuss the war or the upcoming JNF conference during their meeting. The Denver City Council does not have authority over programming at the convention center, according to the center's website.
