CITY HALL — City Council narrowly passed a symbolic resolution on Wednesday calling for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
Alderpeople tied 23-23 in a final vote on the measure, forcing Mayor Brandon Johnson to cast a deciding tiebreaker in support. The vote came after a tense debate that saw the mayor clear the council gallery after repeated interruptions from spectators. Some members of the public were later allowed to watch the meeting from City Hall’s third-floor viewing area, but not the main second-floor gallery.
Introduced by Alds. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd) and Daniel La Spata (1st), the measure called on the council to support an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in line with a non-binding United Nations resolution passed in December that was opposed by the United States.
An amended version in front of the council on Wednesday also called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
The resolution passed through committee in December, but a final vote was delayed last week after a majority of alderpeople asked Rodriguez-Sanchez to postpone so the council could take up a measure honoring International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Over 26,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s ground invasion and aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip, according to reports. This followed Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people, according to The Associated Press. Hamas kidnapped about 240 people during the attack, and more than 100 hostages remain in captivity, according to the Washington Post.
The vote comes one week after Johnson called for a ceasefire during a post-council press conference on Jan. 24.
“I condemn the actions of Hamas. But at this point now, I believe we’re at 25,000 Palestinians that have been killed during this war, and the killing has to stop. So, yes, we need a ceasefire,” Johnson said.
City Council regularly takes up symbolic resolutions each month, although they usually relate to local matters like honoring a business, distinguished resident or organization.
On Oct. 14, alderpeople approved a resolution condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel after a chaotic meeting that also saw Johnson clear the council chambers amid sustained protests. The resolution was criticized for not acknowledging the extent of the Palestinian death toll since Oct. 7 or Palestinians’ ongoing demands for liberation.
On Wednesday, Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) — that measure’s sponsor and the council’s only Jewish member — urged her fellow alderpeople to vote against the ceasefire resolution. She echoed concerns raised by some of her colleagues that the measure’s passage would contradict U.S. opposition to the United Nations’ call for a ceasefire last month.
“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.
While Rodriguez-Sanchez was the only person to audibly vote against Silverstein’s resolution in October, Wednesday’s vote was intensely divisive.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, Rodriguez-Sanchez was joined by La Spata, Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th), Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) and Rev. Jesse Jackson at a press conference to push members in City Council to support the ceasefire resolution.
“The questions are quite simple. Do we value the lives of children, do we value the lives of women? Do we value the lives of our Palestinian siblings? Do we believe in their rights to live, to have a home, not to live in the largest open-air prison in the globe?” Fuentes said.
Alderpeople worked the floor frantically until the official roll call, trying to whip up the votes necessary to pass the resolution. The chambers were packed with pro-Palestinian organizers who had lined up for the meeting as early as 8 a.m., before being cleared by Johnson.
Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th), who spoke in favor of the resolution, said it was important for people to feel represented by their elected officials.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever had a Muslim person in City Council … it’s very important that people in the community know that even though they are not represented on this floor … there are people who hear your voices,” Gardiner said.
Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) also expressed her support for the resolution despite feeling that the measure was not as expansive as she would have liked.
“Despite not being aligned … with some of the words on this page … I believe that we must send a clear message that we stand for peace,” Lee said.
But others were not persuaded.
Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd) said that despite spending several months in Israel and the West Bank experiencing “kindness from Christians, Muslims and Jews on both sides of the separation wall,” he ultimately could not vote yes.
Knudsen said his ward office has dealt with “numerous incidents of anti-Semitism such as hate language and graffiti in our parks and on neighbors’ homes” in recent months and felt he couldn’t support the resolution as a result.
“While I know that this resolution did not cause these incidents, I also know that the way in which these conversations were conducted left many feeling unsafe and alienated. It is our job to work to support all people in our communities in a way that makes them feel supported, and not pitted against one another,” Knudsen said in prepared remarks.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said although many Chicagoans are personally affected by the war, the City Council should remain focused on events happening in Chicago.
“What I want to see is an end to violence in the Middle East, but that again has to happen from somebody higher up … what we need here in Chicago [is to] focus … on the crimes that seem unacceptable that have not been addressed,” Waguespack said. “Five-year-olds dying in shelters, young men just a couple blocks from us being gunned down.”
Alds. Pat Dowell (3rd), Stephanie Coleman (16th) and Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) attended the meeting but left before the vote. Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) was absent.
After Council adjourned, Silverstein said she was disappointed with the vote’s outcome — and with the mayor’s support of the resolution.
“[Johnson] had the opportunity to be a unifier. We reached out several times with suggested language that will be acceptable for us. And we were just ignored,” she said. “He could have taken the time to sit down with us and work with us to come up with a resolution that could have potentially gotten unanimous support.”
Rodriguez-Sanchez, however, said the council has an obligation to speak out against injustice — acknowledging that Wednesday’s vote is unlikely to sway international politics.
“We know what our place is. We are a city council. But we also know that what we say here in Chicago matters. That taking this on as a council also legitimizes the struggle of people who are desperate, desperate to see the bombings stop,” she said.
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