A special City Council meeting on Friday will consider a resolution declaring solidarity with Israel, and an effort to prevent everyday Chicagoans from airing their views in person was thwarted by Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The measure was introduced by Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th), the body’s only Jewish member.
Hamas militants stormed through a border fence Saturday and massacred hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) tried to restrict the typical 30-minute public comment session to virtual participation only and close the second- and third-floor galleries where the public can sit during Council meetings.
With Council audiences becoming more unruly, shouting at members whose views and votes they don’t like, Hopkins was concerned the potentially volatile resolution would draw an angry crowd, posing a threat to Council members.
Johnson, a former Chicago Teachers Union organizer who led protests at City Hall, wasn’t about to keep the public out.
“I do not believe that your motion is in order. We have rules, the Open Meetings Act that we have to abide by,” said Johnson, who also expressed confidence that “our sergeant-at-arms as well as our entire security team will make sure that we keep decorum.”
Ald. Nick Sposato (38th) urged the mayor to reconsider.
“I side with my colleague, Ald. Hopkins. I believe his reasoning is the safety of some people in this Council. … We’re still letting people speak. We’re just asking they speak virtual,” Sposato said.
Johnson acknowledged there has been “an incredible amount of debate, of which I’ve been on the other side of that at times.” But he once again argued that the Open Meetings Act guarantees the public’s right to speak — and in person.
As of Wednesday evening, the Israeli military said more than 1,200 people, including 189 soldiers, have been killed in Israel. In Gaza, 1,100 people have been killed, according to authorities there.
The Sun-Times reported earlier this week that the resolution sponsored by Silverstein faced pushback from Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd).
In response to an email from Silverstein seeking support for the resolution, Rodriguez-Sanchez wrote: “Although I wholeheartedly agree that the attacks from HAMAS are brutal and that no one should be subjected to that violence, I also understand that the situation is more nuanced than what this resolution expresses.”
Saying she was “deeply sorry for all the violence, the pain and the loss of life” in Israel, Rodriguez-Sanchez added: “Any resolution that speaks on this matter should, in my opinion, also center the humanity of Palestinians who are confined to an open-air prison and whose lands have been occupied for decades.”
Stressing the importance of seeking “unity and solidarity among all the People impacted by the horrible violence,” Rodriguez-Sanchez offered to “work together on this resolution so that it provides a more nuanced understanding of the situation” that plunged Israel into war after a monumental intelligence failure that caught the country off guard while celebrating a major Jewish holiday.
On Wednesday, Johnson began his post-Council news conference with a moment of silence for “every innocent life that has been lost” in Israel.
“Hamas attacking and killing innocent Israeli civilians, including children in front of their parents, and indiscriminately firing into crowds of innocent people is truly heinous and represents one of the worst acts of terror we’ve witnessed,” the mayor said.
Now, “war rages where even more innocent Palestinians and Israeli lives are being tragically lost,” he said.
The “pain and trauma is felt” in Chicago where families “have lost loved ones or have yet to hear if their relatives are safe,” the mayor said.
“As a father and a man of faith, I will continue to pray for the safety and pray for peace. And I ask all Chicagoans to do the same,” Johnson said.
Johnson was asked if, like Rodriguez-Sanchez, he believes the wording of Silverstein’s resolution needs to “center the humanity of Palestinians who are confined to an open-air prison and whose lands have been occupied for decades.”
“The brutalization that has taken place in that region for a very long time has cost a lot of people their lives,” the mayor said.
“I’m going to oversee a meeting that allows for the type of robust conversation to take place so that everybody is very clear about how we must center humanity in this moment.”
