CITY HALL — City Council approved a controversial resolution to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel in a verbal vote at the end of a raucous meeting Friday.
Attendees repeatedly cheered, booed and chanted while public commenters and aldermen spoke about the Israel-Hamas war. Mayor Brandon Johnson eventually ordered the council chamber cleared as members of the public chanted in protest.
Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) introduced the resolution, saying City Council members “condemn this heinous terrorist attack by Hamas, stand in support of Israel, express our deepest sorrow for all innocent civilians, and pray for the safe release of all the hostages taken into Gaza.”
However, it contains limited mention of the deaths of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. It also does not describe the brutality of Israel’s retaliation against Gaza, which has included use of a dangerous chemical, according to Human Rights Watch, forced evacuations of over 1 million Palestinians, and cutoffs from electricity, fuel, food, water and medical supplies, according to the United Nations.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Israel since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, according to media reports. According to a Saturday update by the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 2,215 people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Silverstein, who is the only Jewish alderperson, addressed the council after 30 minutes of heated public comment.
Referencing the Holocaust, she said Jews did not do anything to invite violence and that hate is a sickness that continues to grow. She emphasized her resolution specifically focuses on Hamas, not Palestine as a whole.
“This resolution is not about Israel and Palestine,” Silverstein said. “It is not about one military against another. It is about Israel versus Hamas, a democratic nation versus an internationally recognized terrorist organization.”
As she spoke, chants among the crowd escalated: “We don’t have a military! We’re under occupation!” “What about Gaza?”
Police escorted all members of the public out of the council chamber. A few dozen pro-Palestinian attendees continue to demonstrate on the first floor of the building, some holding signs that read, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”
“The best way that I can describe it is like trying to fight for a voice when someone’s stepping on your neck,” said Nadia, a 25-year-old Palestinian who asked to go only by her first name. “We knew what to expect coming in here. We knew they weren’t going to side with us.”
Nadia attended the meeting with her close friend Masa, who also declined to share her last name. They said they both left the chamber in tears, feeling dehumanized — particularly by comments that ignored the mounting deaths in Gaza, which they said amounted to an ethnic cleansing.
Organizers and supporters of Jewish Voice for Peace likewise said they hoped council would vote against the resolution. Since the United States provides so much financial support to Israel, they said they felt it was important for Chicagoans to protest Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
“The U.S. are not a neutral party,” said Nisha Bolsey, a JVP supporter. “We send billions of dollars to Israel every year specifically for their military.”
Several people giving public comments spoke about the pain they felt, condemning the Hamas attacks, the Israeli occupation of Palestine or both.
“Today’s vote … is about where this great city stands when it comes to terrorism,” David Goldenberg, the Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said during public comment. “When it comes to Hamas, there are no nuances. There is no grey area. … Hamas is about terrorism, and it’s about killing Jews.”
A few minutes later, another commenter took a very different stance: “I’d like to ask, are you considering a resolution condemning Israel for using white phosphorus against the civilian population? Are you considering condemning Israel for its planned war crime of forced removal of 1 million Palestinians from northern Gaza?”
The UN’s Secretary General António Guterres has urged Israel to rescind the evacuation order, saying in a New York Times op-ed it could have “devastating humanitarian consequences.“
Most aldermen spoke in favor of the resolution, though not all were present at the beginning and several left in the middle of the meeting. Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd), who co-sponsored the resolution, said the Jewish community in his ward is “hurting and fearful.”
“It isn’t aspirational, in fact I believe it’s a necessary mindset, to continue to picture a world without anti-semitism, islamophobia, racism, homophobia, xenophobia and other forms of hate,” Knudsen said in a statement following the vote. “When we lead in our families and our communities with this mindset, we all do our part in creating a more peaceful future.”
However, City Council members including Alds. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd), Jim Gardiner (45th) and Jeylú Guttiérez (14th) spoke out about how the resolution failed to adequately reflect Palestinian’s perspectives and grief.
The council voted without taking a roll call, and Rodriguez-Sanchez was the only person to audibly vote against the resolution.
Johnson concluded the meeting by condemning the attacks and vowing to fight for liberation for all people.
“The pain and trauma that has rippled across this world is certainly felt right here in the city of Chicago and amongst all of us,” Johnson said. “We are grieving together as a city.”
Support Local News!
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:
