Since December 18, Chicagoans have been anticipating Ald. Daniel La Spata’s ceasefire resolution coming to a full city vote. The vote was set to take place last Wednesday, January 24, but was postponed following a request from Ald. Debra Silverstein to delay the resolution out of sensitivity for International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Saturday. This request was co-signed by 27 other alderpeople.
That letter stated, “In deference to this commemoration, and out of sensitivity to the holocaust survivors who suffered so horribly, we do not believe the January meeting is the proper time to discuss this.”
Despite the postponement, hundreds gathered at City Hall last Wednesday morning to express their frustration and disappointment in the Chicago City Council, imploring the urgency of the resolution. Palestinian advocates and activists took to the public comments session to express their disapproval of the delay, alongside other alderpeople who have worked diligently to bring this resolution to light in the city council. The alderpeople include Ald. Rosanna Rodriguez Sanchez, Jessie Fuentes, Daniel La Spata and Byron Sigcho Lopez.
Byron Sigcho Lopez, wearing his black and white Palestinian keffiyeh, addressed his colleagues in the city councilexpressing, “I was not planning to speak necessarily on this item, but I do think given some of this behavior, by some of the members in the council, they should certainly model, should certainly act for what they preach. So if history is any indicator for us, indeed, as some of my colleagues have said, when such atrocities and war crimes have been committed, I do think that the council should have at least a little bit more empathy. More respect, and more focus on the history, before making such remarks, especially when we see members of the audience who have seen family members killed, brutalized.”
Silverstein spoke earlier in the meeting, addressing the commemoration of the 79th year since the liberation of Auschwitz. She announced, “We are joined at council today by the families of Holocaust survivors and by scholars who have dedicated their lives to documenting the Holocaust and teaching it lessons to others.”
Silverstein continued, “Their grandparents have endured the worst atrocity humanity has ever committed, but they did not give up hope. They saw the destruction of their entire world, yet they had the courage to build back a life, a family and a community.”
Palestinian Chicagoans, who’ve lost family members in the bombing of Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank, sat in the room as Silverstein continued her speech to the council.
Silverstein has been an active opponent of the ceasefire resolution. Silverstein expressed this opposition in a Chicago Sun Times op-ed titled, “City Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza is deeply flawed.” Silverstein has been working actively to stand against a call for a ceasefire from the City council since the resolution first passed the Committee of Health and Human Relations and voted to be passed to full Council.
In addition to the votes proximity to International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Silverstein also opposed the ceasefire resolution on the grounds that the city is set to host the Democratic National Convention this upcoming August and doing so would undercut President Joe Biden.
In a letter addressed to the council, she wrote that supporting a ceasefire would “[undermine] the interests of the United States and hence the authority, power and influence of President Biden and every U.S. president since Harry Truman. This is not the message our Council wants to convey just before hosting President Biden and Vice President Harris as they approach the final stages of their campaign against Donald Trump.”
Another colleague supporting Silverstein, Raymond Lopez, stated in the chambers, “We cannot forget there were millions of opportunities, to stand up and be counted to the do the right to stop at any moment. But what brought the Holocaust to its full fruition was that so many good people chose to sit down.”
Lopez has been called out on various occasions for heckling Pro-Palestinian activists and attacked Palestine advocates earlier that day, tweeting:
Why are certain mayoral/aldermanic staff walking people wearing keffiyehs around medal detectors while everyone else has to go through them?
— Ald. Raymond Lopez (@RaymondALopez) January 24, 2024
Yet, despite Silverstein and Lopez’s tactics, support for the ceasefire resolution continues to grow.
Later on Wednesday, following the city council meeting, Mayor Brandon Johnson replied to a reporter’s question at press conference, asking, “Do you support the ceasefire resolution that’s going to be —?”
“Well, as I said before, for the very beginning, the violence that broke out, several months ago, I condemned the actions of Hamas, but at this point now, I believe we’re looking at 25,000 Palestinians that have been killed during this war, and the killing has to stop. So yes, we need a ceasefire,” said the Chicagoan Mayor.
The ceasefire resolution is now expected to see a full city council vote tomorrow, Wednesday, January 31. Chicagoans brace themselves and hope to be another major city demanding a ceasefire. In growing anticipation for the resolution and increasing public frustration, thousands gathered in a large-scale protest organized by Palestinian activist groups on Saturday, January 27, in further efforts to pressure their alders to sign on to the resolution. Speakers reminded the public to maintain positivity and strength, in hopes of Wednesday’s outcome.