The Democrats prepared for large-scale demonstrations and unrest by pro-Palestinian forces at their party convention in Chicago this week.

But as the four-day conference in Chicago entered its final day on Thursday, those concerns proved largely unfounded: According to published reports, advocates of an end to the Gaza war secured a place on the stage and in the panel discussions.

But according to a Massachusetts congressman who is at the forefront of the peace movement, Democrats have managed to achieve a kind of “just compassion” that has heard both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel voices.

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“There is so much suffering. There is an excess of fear, grief and trauma,” said Democrat Ayanna Pressley, 7th District, on Thursday on WBUR’s “Radio Boston” program.

“…The freedoms, the fates and the peace of the people of Gaza and Israel are directly linked,” the Boston Democrat continued, adding, “…and that is why it is so important that… we show appropriate compassion and focus on the humanity of all those affected, from Gaza to Israel.”

Pressley’s comments were a response to questions about whether pro-Palestinian voices had been sufficiently heard during the convention.

Two of Pressley’s colleagues in “The Squad,” the group of progressive lawmakers in the House of Representatives, US representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, offered opposing insights this week.

With presidential candidate Kamala Harris, the Democrats have “the chance to elect a president who is for the middle class because she comes from the middle class and is working tirelessly to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and bring hostages home.”

Omar’s comments published by The Intercept were more explicit.

The Minnesota Democrat told reporters on Wednesday: “It has been unbearable for me to watch over the last 10 months as my colleagues in this administration refused to recognize every single genocidal war going on in Gaza and failed to see the mothers with their lost, helpless children.”

That same day, the parents of a 23-year-old American man taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel spoke from the United Center stage, calling for the release of the dozens of people who remain held captive in Gaza.

“This is a political convention. But the need to bring our only son – and all our beloved hostages – home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” said Jon Polin, whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin lost part of his left arm and was kidnapped by Israeli militants who attacked the music festival he was attending.

Polin and his wife, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, were greeted with sustained applause and chants of “bring him home” from the thousands of Democratic delegates in Chicago, the Associated Press reported.

More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters also marched on Wednesday past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had previously gathered and toward the United Center, the news agency reported.

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

Speaking to WBUR on Thursday, Pressley said she has “worked closely with a number of families whose loved ones are being held hostage, and many of them have been early supporters of our calls for a ceasefire.”

“There should be nothing controversial about being pro-peace, pro-diplomacy, pro-humanity,” she said. “Our destinies are intertwined. And it’s important that we center the voices of all those directly affected by this humanitarian crisis. As you heard on the stage of Congress on Wednesday night, this is not a political issue. This is a humanitarian issue.”