Pro-Palestinian demonstrators block traffic into Chicago airport, causing headaches for travelers

CHICAGO– Pro-Palestinian protesters blocked a highway leading to three terminals of Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Monday morning, temporarily halting car traffic to one of the country’s busiest airports and causing headaches for travelers.

Protesters linked their weapons and blocked the lanes of Interstate 190 around 7 a.m. A demonstration that they believed was part of a global “economic blockade to liberate Palestine,” according to Rifqa Falaneh, one of the organizers. Similar demonstrations that blocked a highway in California’s Bay Area also took place Monday.

O’Hare warned travelers on social platform

Videos posted on social media showed some travelers getting out of their cars and walking along the highway, suitcases behind them.

Although individual travelers may have been delayed, airport operations appeared largely normal, with delays of less than 15 minutes, the Chicago Department of Aviation said.

Inbound traffic toward O’Hare resumed around 9 a.m

According to Falaneh, dozens of protesters were taken into custody by Chicago police. The police could not immediately provide more details.

Protesters say they chose the location in part because O’Hare is one of the largest airports. They have, among other things, called for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Anti-war protesters have demonstrated almost daily in Chicago since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people. Israeli warplanes and ground troops have waged a scorched earth campaign against the Gaza Strip.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, more than 31,500 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in the count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.