Ceasefire vote narrowly passes Chicago City Council, revealing deep divisions among Democrats
Politico (archive.ph)
By Shia Kapos
2024-02-01 00:59:00GMT
Demonstrators holding Palestinian flags rally in support pf Palestinians in Chicago on Oct. 18, 2023. | Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images
CHICAGO — The Chicago City Council approved a pro-ceasefire resolution in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, underscoring that the Israel-Hamas conflict is still causing deep divisions in the Democratic party.
The vote, which was delayed by an hour due to disruptions from protesters supporting the resolution, was so close that Mayor Brandon Johnson had to break the tie in favor of the measure. Its passage made Chicago the largest city in the country to call for an end to the conflict.
The resolution was non-binding, but the rancorous meeting reveals that the war in Gaza remains a fissure among Democrats — and one that’s unlikely to abate as the election year gets underway. Detroit, San Francisco and Atlanta city councils have also approved ceasefire resolutions.
Alderperson Debra Silverstein, who is the only Jewish member of the council, criticized the resolution’s supporters for going against Biden’s foreign policy strategy, especially ahead of the convention coming to Chicago.
“Chicago, America’s third-largest city, should not vote to strip away President Biden’s control over U.S. foreign policy, especially not as we are inviting him here for the Democratic National Convention,” she said.
Biden himself has been shouted down by pro-Palestinian protesters at unrelated campaign events in recent months, and was dogged by pro-Palestinian protesters in Chicago recently.
Chicago and the surrounding Cook County area are home to the largest Palestinian population in the country and the nearby Bridgeview community is known as Little Palestine. The Chicago area is also home to a large Jewish population. That combined, has added to Chicago being a hotbed of tension over the Middle East.
Supporters of the ceasefire see it as an important message to Biden ahead of the November election from a Democratic stronghold, imploring him to pivot on the issue. He initially backed Israel’s fight-fire-with-fire strategy, even if some of his language has softened recently toward the Palestinians’ humanitarian crisis.
Chicago Alderperson Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez, a co-sponsor of the cease-fire resolution, told reporters she’s “proud” of the vote. | Shia Kapos/POLITICO
Many Democrats are losing patience with the onslaught that has killed 26,000 people in Gaza.
“I think these conversations need to be had. That’s what democracy is about. What are we doing if we’re not actually saying the things that need to be said particularly in the face of a genocide?” Chicago Alderperson Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez, a co-sponsor of the resolution, told POLITICO before the vote. “What we’re doing today is an important exercise.”
Along with calling for a permanent cease-fire, the nonbinding resolution calls for humanitarian assistance including medicine, food and water, to be sent into the impacted region “and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
Activists observing the vote from an enclosed viewing area overlooking the chamber erupted in cheers when the measure passed. Before the vote, the mayor admonished them to respect speakers supporting Israel. Rev. Jesse Jackson had made an appearance earlier in the meeting, a signal of his support of the ceasefire effort.
The divided council voted 23-23 on the resolution, with four alderpeople not voting — three of whom were present but left before the vote took place. Johnson, who had lobbied alderpeople ahead of the vote, broke the tie.
Silverstein said the resolution didn’t go far enough to demand that Hamas not attack again. She had spent weeks, she said, negotiating language that both pro-Palestinian activists and Democrats who support Israel could agree upon. After the vote, she said she was “disappointed” that the mayor didn’t do more to help alderpeople reach a compromise.
The Chicago alderperson had carried a resolution in October that declared that Chicago officially condemns the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. That resolution passed, though numerous alderpeople also skipped out on the vote to avoid taking a side.
After the vote, Rodríguez-Sánchez said, “I feel very proud and happy that the Palestinian community that I believe has not felt heard is going to be able to go home today knowing that the city government has heard them.”
The ceasefire resolution was supposed to be voted on a week ago, but Silverstein asked that it be delayed a week out of deference to Holocaust Remembrance Day, which fell the same week.
Chicago Alderperson Debra Silverstein, the only Jewish member of the council, expressed disappointment after the vote. | Shia Kapos/POLITICO
In a statement, the Israeli Consulate in Chicago criticized the vote, saying the resolution “undermines the position of the Biden administration.”
The tension within the council mirrors what’s happening across the country as the Democratic Party tries to manage its left.
“The discord that we see across the United States isn’t just Republican versus Democrat. It’s within the Democratic Party, where you have the Socialist Party trying to, you know, really get a foothold,” said Chicago Alderperson Scott Waguespack, who was a leader in the Progressive Caucus but is now seen by some on the far left as being too moderate.
Similar dissension has happened across the country as mostly Democratic cities debate ceasefire resolutions.
Abed Ayoub, the national executive director of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, said divisiveness within the party is “a failure of the leadership” of the Democratic Party.
“We know over the past few years that the attitudes toward Israel-Palestine have been changing. The public opinions have been changing,” Ayoub said. “But the politics hasn’t been moving. That’s the problem. And now we’re seeing it manifest.”
---
Chicago City Council passes Gaza cease-fire resolution as Johnson casts tie-breaking vote
Chicago Sun-Times (archive.ph)
By Fran Spielman and Sophie Sherry
2024-02-01 03:38:45GMT
After a meeting interrupted by protests that caused a one-hour delay, the mayor delivered the 24-23 vote by lobbying fence-sitting alderpersons, then voting to break the 23-23 deadlock.
Supporters cheer from the third-floor gallery of the Chicago City Council chambers after a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza passes the City Council on Wednesday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Chicago became the largest city in the nation to demand a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas, thanks to a symbolic resolution approved by a divided City Council Wednesday at a raucous meeting that forced Mayor Brandon Johnson to cast the tie-breaking vote.
Johnson helped deliver the 24 to 23 vote by personally lobbying fence-sitting alderpersons on behalf of the resolution, breaking the tie after a 23 to 23 deadlock and by asking two allies — Stephanie Coleman (16th) and Vice-Mayor Walter Burnett (27th) — to “take a walk” if they couldn’t vote in favor of the resolution.
Had Coleman and Burnett voted against the resolution, it might have failed. Burnett refused to comment, and Coleman could not be reached. Two other Johnson allies did not attend.
The meeting was so raucous, Johnson was also forced to clear the Council chambers, resulting in a delay of about an hour.
At first, Johnson had admonished the jeering crowd to “demonstrate some restraint.” If they didn’t, he warned, he’d clear the chambers as he was forced to do last fall, when a divided Council approved a resolution condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war.
“Take a deep breath, you all. Just relax for a second. … I’ve asked you all to respect those who are speaking so that we can hear their full testimony. If you disagree, demonstrate some restraint. … I hear things that I agree with and I hear things that I don’t agree with. All I’m asking you to do is just show some humanity,” Johnson said.
“I do not want to have to clear this chamber. If you want to participate in this democratic process, I would ask for you to allow those who are speaking to finish their presentation.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson ordered the chambers cleared at Wednesday’s Chicago City Council meeting. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The crowd ignored Johnson’s warning, shouting down Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) when she rose to oppose a resolution she viewed as lopsided. Silverstein stopped, saying she would not be forced into shouting over the demonstrators.
Johnson urged her to continue.
But as Silverstein spoke about the Oct. 7 attack, a man in the audience yelled “Wadea was murdered because of your lies.” The man then left, to applause and high-fives.
He was referring to Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy who was stabbed to death in Plainfield a week after the Hamas attack, allegedly by the landlord of the home where he lived with his mom. Authorities said the landlord’s wife told them he regularly listened to conservative talk radio and became worried his tenants’ “Palestinian friends” would “come and harm” him before he allegedly murdered the boy.
Protesters being cleared from the City Council chambers on Wednesday. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
As chants of “Cease-fire now!” continued, the mayor ordered a recess and asked the sergeant-at-arms to clear the chambers.
Protesters were moved to the hallway, then initially required to return to the lobby to be re-screened to enter the glass-shielded third-floor observation gallery.
In the lobby, the chants continued: “Silverstein you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.”
Protesters talk to Chicago police officers in the hallway after Mayor Brandon Johnson ordered the City Council chambers cleared. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
When the recess ended at around 12:45 p.m., Silverstein began her emotional address from the beginning so she could deliver it uninterrupted.
She argued the final version “is not a compromise,” doesn’t mention the “kidnapping, abuse, depravation and rape” Hamas committed during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, or demand “the unconditional release of all of the innocent hostages.”
“We all want peace in the Middle East. We all want an end to the bloodshed and an end to the war. But it is vital to understand what caused the conflict and we should pass a resolution that addresses the issue responsibly,” she said. “We should not pass a resolution unless it makes clear that Hamas cannot and should not attack again.”
Ald. Debra Silverstein speaks at Wednesday’s City Council meeting on a Gaza cease-fire resolution. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
At the end, she admonished Johnson for lobbying behind the scenes for what she called the “one-sided, lopsided resolution” and expressed her “disappointment and frustration” with how the administration handled the vote.
“I don’t understand why there was so much personal political capital put behind this when 28 alders asked for collaboration and there was absolutely no collaboration from the other side. We had and we continue to have opportunity to craft a resolution that could have gained unanimous support and, instead, we once again have a deeply divided Council,” Silverstein said.
Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), co-sponsor of the resolution, had opened the debate before the recess, thanking lead sponsor Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd) for her “compassion, courage and consistent leadership.”
“We condemn the violence that happened on Oct. 7 against the Israeli people. Unspeakable, horrifying violence. … Equally, I condemn the violence that has been visited on the people of Gaza. I deeply and truly cannot imagine it,” La Spata said.
“There is so much violence that has been visited and this cease-fire is the path out of that violence. … Do I believe that the words that we speak today — how we vote today — influences directly international policy? I don’t. ... But we vote with hope. We vote with solidarity. We vote to help people feel heard in a world of silence.”
Wednesday’s City Council meeting to discuss a and vote on a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza attracted a large crowd. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), a keffiyeh around his neck, also spoke in favor, calling the resolution “not controversial.”
“We all want peace, but how can we want peace and be against a cease-fire? ... I’m really proud of this administration for having a democratic dialogue, which it’s going to take to address historic conflicts that did not start on Oct. 7th. To get to that, we need a cease-fire. We need diplomacy, and we need a government that works for us and not for other interests.”
Rodriguez Sanchez, Human Relations committee chair, closed the debate by saying “sorry to the people who feel like they were not heard or didn’t agree with the process.” She said she and La Spata did their best “to make sure that people knew where the process was at, what was in the resolution and ask for feedback repeatedly.”
“I have learned a lot in this process, and I am very committed to doing better,” she said.
Rodriguez Sanchez noted the Chicago area has the biggest population of Palestinians in the U.S., and Chicago has the fifth-largest Jewish population in the world.
“As the minutes pass, more and more people are being killed and displaced. We, as elected officials, have the power to save lives by uplifting a demand that is now shared by many and to be on the right side of history,” she said.
A letter from the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and a walkout by Chicago Public School students demanding a cease-fire intensified the political pressure on Council members, many of whom receive “thousands” of emails on the subject. Some alderpersons, including the Northwest Side’s Samantha Nugent (39th), had shouting pro-Palestinian protesters show up in force at their ward offices.
Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd) appeared with Rev. Jesse Jackson at a news conference before Wednesday’s City Council meeting. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Jackson, retired founder of Operation PUSH, attended Wednesday’s meeting and entered to a standing ovation.
The resolution approved Wednesday declares, in part: “We, the Chicago City Council, do hereby call for a permanent ceasefire to end the ongoing violence in Gaza; call for humanitarian assistance including medicine food and water to be sent into the impacted region and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
It further calls for “creation of plans to protect civilian populations in the region in particular to support the needs of women, children persons with disabilities and the elderly” and demands that “suitable copies of this resolution be sent to President Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris and the Illinois Congressional delegation.”
References to UN Resolution 377 were stricken from the final version. Under that resolution, adopted in 1950, the UN General Assembly voted for a cease-fire in Gaza in December after the United States had blocked a similar measure in the Security Council.
Despite that deletion, the resolution remained wholly unacceptable to Jewish leaders and Silverstein, the City Council’s lone Jewish member.
Wednesday’s drama marks the second time in eight months Johnson has been forced to cast the tie-breaking vote in a deadlocked City Council. The first time, it was to save his now-former floor leader and deposed Zoning Chair Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) from censure for bullying and intimidating his fellow alderpersons.
Ald Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th), wearing a “Gaza will be free” pin, talks to Ald. Rossana Rodriquez Sanchez (33rd) during Wednesday’s City Council meeting. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
How they voted:
Yes: Joining co-sponsors Rodriguez Sanchez and La Spata were Lamont Robinson (4th); Desmon Yance (5th); William Hall (6th); Nicole Lee (11th); Julia Ramirez (12th); Jeylu Gutierrez (14th); David Moore (17th); Jeanette Taylor (20th); Ronnie Mosley (21st); Mike Rodriguez (22nd); Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th); Jesse Fuentes (26th); Chris Taliaferro (29th); Ruth Cruz (30th); Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th); Andre Vasquez (40th); Jim Gardiner (45th); Angela Clay (46th): Matt Martin (47th); Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th) and Maria Hadden (49th).
No: Besides Silverstein, voting against the resolution were Brian Hopkins (2nd); Greg Mitchell (7th); Michelle Harris (8th); Anthony Beale (9th); Peter Chico (10th); Marty Quinn (13th); Ray Lopez (15th); Derrick Curtis (18th); Matt O’Shea (19th); Silvana Tabares (23rd); Monique Scott (24th); Jason Ervin (28th); Felix Cardona Jr. (31st); Scott Waguespack (32nd); Bill Conway (34th); Gilbert Villegas (36th); Nick Sposato (38th); Samantha Nugent (39th); Anthony Napolitano (41st); Brendan Reilly (42nd); Timmy Knudsen (43rd) and Bennett Lawson (44th).
Not voting: Burnett, Coleman, Pat Dowell (3rd) and Emma Mitts (37th).
Read the resolution:
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/cho...8/Substitute_Gaza_City_Council_Resolution.pdf (archive.org)
Politico (archive.ph)
By Shia Kapos
2024-02-01 00:59:00GMT
Demonstrators holding Palestinian flags rally in support pf Palestinians in Chicago on Oct. 18, 2023. | Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images
CHICAGO — The Chicago City Council approved a pro-ceasefire resolution in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, underscoring that the Israel-Hamas conflict is still causing deep divisions in the Democratic party.
The vote, which was delayed by an hour due to disruptions from protesters supporting the resolution, was so close that Mayor Brandon Johnson had to break the tie in favor of the measure. Its passage made Chicago the largest city in the country to call for an end to the conflict.
The resolution was non-binding, but the rancorous meeting reveals that the war in Gaza remains a fissure among Democrats — and one that’s unlikely to abate as the election year gets underway. Detroit, San Francisco and Atlanta city councils have also approved ceasefire resolutions.
Alderperson Debra Silverstein, who is the only Jewish member of the council, criticized the resolution’s supporters for going against Biden’s foreign policy strategy, especially ahead of the convention coming to Chicago.
“Chicago, America’s third-largest city, should not vote to strip away President Biden’s control over U.S. foreign policy, especially not as we are inviting him here for the Democratic National Convention,” she said.
Biden himself has been shouted down by pro-Palestinian protesters at unrelated campaign events in recent months, and was dogged by pro-Palestinian protesters in Chicago recently.
Chicago and the surrounding Cook County area are home to the largest Palestinian population in the country and the nearby Bridgeview community is known as Little Palestine. The Chicago area is also home to a large Jewish population. That combined, has added to Chicago being a hotbed of tension over the Middle East.
Supporters of the ceasefire see it as an important message to Biden ahead of the November election from a Democratic stronghold, imploring him to pivot on the issue. He initially backed Israel’s fight-fire-with-fire strategy, even if some of his language has softened recently toward the Palestinians’ humanitarian crisis.
Chicago Alderperson Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez, a co-sponsor of the cease-fire resolution, told reporters she’s “proud” of the vote. | Shia Kapos/POLITICO
Many Democrats are losing patience with the onslaught that has killed 26,000 people in Gaza.
“I think these conversations need to be had. That’s what democracy is about. What are we doing if we’re not actually saying the things that need to be said particularly in the face of a genocide?” Chicago Alderperson Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez, a co-sponsor of the resolution, told POLITICO before the vote. “What we’re doing today is an important exercise.”
Along with calling for a permanent cease-fire, the nonbinding resolution calls for humanitarian assistance including medicine, food and water, to be sent into the impacted region “and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
Activists observing the vote from an enclosed viewing area overlooking the chamber erupted in cheers when the measure passed. Before the vote, the mayor admonished them to respect speakers supporting Israel. Rev. Jesse Jackson had made an appearance earlier in the meeting, a signal of his support of the ceasefire effort.
The divided council voted 23-23 on the resolution, with four alderpeople not voting — three of whom were present but left before the vote took place. Johnson, who had lobbied alderpeople ahead of the vote, broke the tie.
Silverstein said the resolution didn’t go far enough to demand that Hamas not attack again. She had spent weeks, she said, negotiating language that both pro-Palestinian activists and Democrats who support Israel could agree upon. After the vote, she said she was “disappointed” that the mayor didn’t do more to help alderpeople reach a compromise.
The Chicago alderperson had carried a resolution in October that declared that Chicago officially condemns the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. That resolution passed, though numerous alderpeople also skipped out on the vote to avoid taking a side.
After the vote, Rodríguez-Sánchez said, “I feel very proud and happy that the Palestinian community that I believe has not felt heard is going to be able to go home today knowing that the city government has heard them.”
The ceasefire resolution was supposed to be voted on a week ago, but Silverstein asked that it be delayed a week out of deference to Holocaust Remembrance Day, which fell the same week.
Chicago Alderperson Debra Silverstein, the only Jewish member of the council, expressed disappointment after the vote. | Shia Kapos/POLITICO
In a statement, the Israeli Consulate in Chicago criticized the vote, saying the resolution “undermines the position of the Biden administration.”
The tension within the council mirrors what’s happening across the country as the Democratic Party tries to manage its left.
“The discord that we see across the United States isn’t just Republican versus Democrat. It’s within the Democratic Party, where you have the Socialist Party trying to, you know, really get a foothold,” said Chicago Alderperson Scott Waguespack, who was a leader in the Progressive Caucus but is now seen by some on the far left as being too moderate.
Similar dissension has happened across the country as mostly Democratic cities debate ceasefire resolutions.
Abed Ayoub, the national executive director of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, said divisiveness within the party is “a failure of the leadership” of the Democratic Party.
“We know over the past few years that the attitudes toward Israel-Palestine have been changing. The public opinions have been changing,” Ayoub said. “But the politics hasn’t been moving. That’s the problem. And now we’re seeing it manifest.”
---
Chicago City Council passes Gaza cease-fire resolution as Johnson casts tie-breaking vote
Chicago Sun-Times (archive.ph)
By Fran Spielman and Sophie Sherry
2024-02-01 03:38:45GMT
After a meeting interrupted by protests that caused a one-hour delay, the mayor delivered the 24-23 vote by lobbying fence-sitting alderpersons, then voting to break the 23-23 deadlock.
Supporters cheer from the third-floor gallery of the Chicago City Council chambers after a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza passes the City Council on Wednesday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Chicago became the largest city in the nation to demand a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas, thanks to a symbolic resolution approved by a divided City Council Wednesday at a raucous meeting that forced Mayor Brandon Johnson to cast the tie-breaking vote.
Johnson helped deliver the 24 to 23 vote by personally lobbying fence-sitting alderpersons on behalf of the resolution, breaking the tie after a 23 to 23 deadlock and by asking two allies — Stephanie Coleman (16th) and Vice-Mayor Walter Burnett (27th) — to “take a walk” if they couldn’t vote in favor of the resolution.
Had Coleman and Burnett voted against the resolution, it might have failed. Burnett refused to comment, and Coleman could not be reached. Two other Johnson allies did not attend.
The meeting was so raucous, Johnson was also forced to clear the Council chambers, resulting in a delay of about an hour.
At first, Johnson had admonished the jeering crowd to “demonstrate some restraint.” If they didn’t, he warned, he’d clear the chambers as he was forced to do last fall, when a divided Council approved a resolution condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war.
“Take a deep breath, you all. Just relax for a second. … I’ve asked you all to respect those who are speaking so that we can hear their full testimony. If you disagree, demonstrate some restraint. … I hear things that I agree with and I hear things that I don’t agree with. All I’m asking you to do is just show some humanity,” Johnson said.
“I do not want to have to clear this chamber. If you want to participate in this democratic process, I would ask for you to allow those who are speaking to finish their presentation.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson ordered the chambers cleared at Wednesday’s Chicago City Council meeting. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The crowd ignored Johnson’s warning, shouting down Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) when she rose to oppose a resolution she viewed as lopsided. Silverstein stopped, saying she would not be forced into shouting over the demonstrators.
Johnson urged her to continue.
But as Silverstein spoke about the Oct. 7 attack, a man in the audience yelled “Wadea was murdered because of your lies.” The man then left, to applause and high-fives.
He was referring to Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy who was stabbed to death in Plainfield a week after the Hamas attack, allegedly by the landlord of the home where he lived with his mom. Authorities said the landlord’s wife told them he regularly listened to conservative talk radio and became worried his tenants’ “Palestinian friends” would “come and harm” him before he allegedly murdered the boy.
Protesters being cleared from the City Council chambers on Wednesday. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
As chants of “Cease-fire now!” continued, the mayor ordered a recess and asked the sergeant-at-arms to clear the chambers.
Protesters were moved to the hallway, then initially required to return to the lobby to be re-screened to enter the glass-shielded third-floor observation gallery.
In the lobby, the chants continued: “Silverstein you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.”
Protesters talk to Chicago police officers in the hallway after Mayor Brandon Johnson ordered the City Council chambers cleared. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
When the recess ended at around 12:45 p.m., Silverstein began her emotional address from the beginning so she could deliver it uninterrupted.
She argued the final version “is not a compromise,” doesn’t mention the “kidnapping, abuse, depravation and rape” Hamas committed during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, or demand “the unconditional release of all of the innocent hostages.”
“We all want peace in the Middle East. We all want an end to the bloodshed and an end to the war. But it is vital to understand what caused the conflict and we should pass a resolution that addresses the issue responsibly,” she said. “We should not pass a resolution unless it makes clear that Hamas cannot and should not attack again.”
Ald. Debra Silverstein speaks at Wednesday’s City Council meeting on a Gaza cease-fire resolution. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
At the end, she admonished Johnson for lobbying behind the scenes for what she called the “one-sided, lopsided resolution” and expressed her “disappointment and frustration” with how the administration handled the vote.
“I don’t understand why there was so much personal political capital put behind this when 28 alders asked for collaboration and there was absolutely no collaboration from the other side. We had and we continue to have opportunity to craft a resolution that could have gained unanimous support and, instead, we once again have a deeply divided Council,” Silverstein said.
Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), co-sponsor of the resolution, had opened the debate before the recess, thanking lead sponsor Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd) for her “compassion, courage and consistent leadership.”
“We condemn the violence that happened on Oct. 7 against the Israeli people. Unspeakable, horrifying violence. … Equally, I condemn the violence that has been visited on the people of Gaza. I deeply and truly cannot imagine it,” La Spata said.
“There is so much violence that has been visited and this cease-fire is the path out of that violence. … Do I believe that the words that we speak today — how we vote today — influences directly international policy? I don’t. ... But we vote with hope. We vote with solidarity. We vote to help people feel heard in a world of silence.”
Wednesday’s City Council meeting to discuss a and vote on a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza attracted a large crowd. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), a keffiyeh around his neck, also spoke in favor, calling the resolution “not controversial.”
“We all want peace, but how can we want peace and be against a cease-fire? ... I’m really proud of this administration for having a democratic dialogue, which it’s going to take to address historic conflicts that did not start on Oct. 7th. To get to that, we need a cease-fire. We need diplomacy, and we need a government that works for us and not for other interests.”
Rodriguez Sanchez, Human Relations committee chair, closed the debate by saying “sorry to the people who feel like they were not heard or didn’t agree with the process.” She said she and La Spata did their best “to make sure that people knew where the process was at, what was in the resolution and ask for feedback repeatedly.”
“I have learned a lot in this process, and I am very committed to doing better,” she said.
Rodriguez Sanchez noted the Chicago area has the biggest population of Palestinians in the U.S., and Chicago has the fifth-largest Jewish population in the world.
“As the minutes pass, more and more people are being killed and displaced. We, as elected officials, have the power to save lives by uplifting a demand that is now shared by many and to be on the right side of history,” she said.
A letter from the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and a walkout by Chicago Public School students demanding a cease-fire intensified the political pressure on Council members, many of whom receive “thousands” of emails on the subject. Some alderpersons, including the Northwest Side’s Samantha Nugent (39th), had shouting pro-Palestinian protesters show up in force at their ward offices.
Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd) appeared with Rev. Jesse Jackson at a news conference before Wednesday’s City Council meeting. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Jackson, retired founder of Operation PUSH, attended Wednesday’s meeting and entered to a standing ovation.
The resolution approved Wednesday declares, in part: “We, the Chicago City Council, do hereby call for a permanent ceasefire to end the ongoing violence in Gaza; call for humanitarian assistance including medicine food and water to be sent into the impacted region and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
It further calls for “creation of plans to protect civilian populations in the region in particular to support the needs of women, children persons with disabilities and the elderly” and demands that “suitable copies of this resolution be sent to President Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris and the Illinois Congressional delegation.”
References to UN Resolution 377 were stricken from the final version. Under that resolution, adopted in 1950, the UN General Assembly voted for a cease-fire in Gaza in December after the United States had blocked a similar measure in the Security Council.
Despite that deletion, the resolution remained wholly unacceptable to Jewish leaders and Silverstein, the City Council’s lone Jewish member.
Wednesday’s drama marks the second time in eight months Johnson has been forced to cast the tie-breaking vote in a deadlocked City Council. The first time, it was to save his now-former floor leader and deposed Zoning Chair Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) from censure for bullying and intimidating his fellow alderpersons.
Ald Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th), wearing a “Gaza will be free” pin, talks to Ald. Rossana Rodriquez Sanchez (33rd) during Wednesday’s City Council meeting. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
How they voted:
Yes: Joining co-sponsors Rodriguez Sanchez and La Spata were Lamont Robinson (4th); Desmon Yance (5th); William Hall (6th); Nicole Lee (11th); Julia Ramirez (12th); Jeylu Gutierrez (14th); David Moore (17th); Jeanette Taylor (20th); Ronnie Mosley (21st); Mike Rodriguez (22nd); Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th); Jesse Fuentes (26th); Chris Taliaferro (29th); Ruth Cruz (30th); Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th); Andre Vasquez (40th); Jim Gardiner (45th); Angela Clay (46th): Matt Martin (47th); Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th) and Maria Hadden (49th).
No: Besides Silverstein, voting against the resolution were Brian Hopkins (2nd); Greg Mitchell (7th); Michelle Harris (8th); Anthony Beale (9th); Peter Chico (10th); Marty Quinn (13th); Ray Lopez (15th); Derrick Curtis (18th); Matt O’Shea (19th); Silvana Tabares (23rd); Monique Scott (24th); Jason Ervin (28th); Felix Cardona Jr. (31st); Scott Waguespack (32nd); Bill Conway (34th); Gilbert Villegas (36th); Nick Sposato (38th); Samantha Nugent (39th); Anthony Napolitano (41st); Brendan Reilly (42nd); Timmy Knudsen (43rd) and Bennett Lawson (44th).
Not voting: Burnett, Coleman, Pat Dowell (3rd) and Emma Mitts (37th).
Read the resolution:
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/cho...8/Substitute_Gaza_City_Council_Resolution.pdf (archive.org)
