Source: Tribune Content Agency
On Jan. 31, the city of Chicago passed a ceasefire resolution calling for an end to the conflict in Palestine. The vote was tied with city council voting 23-23 and Mayor Brandon Johnson broke the tie with his vote in favor of a ceasefire.
This makes Chicago the largest city in America to pass a ceasefire resolution as of publication date. It joins Seattle, Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit, and Minneapolis in this decision.
The recent attacks on Gaza have lasted for over four months, though this is a conflict that has lasted for decades. Since Oct. 7, 2023, nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers and constant bomb strikes.
While this resolution has no legal power, it serves as an expression of the city council’s will to end the genocide and puts increasing pressure on President Biden to condemn Israel for its treatment of the people of Gaza.
Here at SXU, the Students For Justice In Palestine (SJP) and Muslim Student Association (MSA) have been calling for a permanent ceasefire since the attacks on Gaza began.
Jena Kanaan, President of the SJP, detailed the organization’s experience during the city council meeting.
“A few members of our SJP personally were there including myself. The experience for us as an organization can not be put into words. It was a jumble of emotions — joy, liberation, and struggle. Seeing that months of our collective pressure and organization allowed this resolution to be passed was a bittersweet feeling.”
Kanaan said that when the resolution was passed, she and the SJP were “extremely proud of our community.”
“Seeing that 100+ days of organizing, mobilizing, and strategizing paid off this day was a feeling that truly can not be put into words.” she continued.
The passing of this resolution is particularly significant coming from Chicago. The city and the surrounding Cook County are home to the largest Palestinian community in America, which has earned the village of Bridgeview the name “Little Palestine.”
Mayor Johnson has quickly seen a lot of backlash for this decision, from the public and his colleagues. Specifically, Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th Ward), the council’s only Jewish member, was disappointed by the mayor’s decision.
“He had an opportunity to be a unifier and he could have sat down with us and come up with a solution that could have potentially gotten all of us a unanimous vote and instead he didn’t,” she commented after the tie had been broken.
She also expressed during the meeting that “Chicago, America’s third largest city, should not vote to strip away President Biden’s control over U.S foreign policy.”
The meeting for the vote faced some delays, mainly caused by protesters who watched the vote take place within the council chambers at city hall.
At one point, after hearing Ald. Silverstein describe the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel in graphic detail, the crowd became outraged and Mayor Johnson called for a recess and cleared the chamber to calm tensions.
Despite the backlash, Kanaan said that the resolution has brought hope to the struggle in Palestine.
“This resolution has definitely brought us closer to an immediate ceasefire. This made the news in Palestine, and made our people extremely hopeful. We owe our people this win, and this is only the ground.”
Among those who voted in favor of a ceasefire, were Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) and Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th Ward).
Ald. Fuentes, during the meeting, said “The purpose of today is to let our Palestinian constituency, our siblings, know that Chicago stands with them. They matter.”
Likewise, Ald. Spata said, “Do I believe that the words that we speak today, how we vote today, influences directly international policy? I don’t. I don’t have those illusions. But we vote with hope, we vote with solidarity, we vote to help people feel heard in a world of silence.”
Mayor Jonhson was not available for comment after the vote, as there are usually no press conferences held after special city council meetings.
Even though the passing of the resolution has been taken as a victory, Kanaan expressed multiple times that “This is only the ground.”
She stressed that “Our efforts will not stop until an immediate ceasefire is put into place. Our work will never stop until complete liberation.”
“The road ahead of us is long, and we are not slowing down after this win. But our people needed this win. This is our win – the people’s win. This work is all for Gaza, everything we do is for Gaza.”
The protests of SJP have included actions such as calling and emailing alderpeople, and demanding a ceasefire outside the residences of Congressman Sean Casten and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.
“We phonebank, we educate, we ensure that no one is allowed to turn a blind eye to the suffering of our people. We do everything we can to implement change. We continue to mobilize, we continue to strategize, and we continue to make the message clear — as long as our people in Gaza do not get peace, no one gets peace.”
For those who want to be informed on what’s happening in Gaza, Kanaan had several recommendations.
“The best and most reliable news source would be Al Jazeera which provides on the ground updates.”
She also noted some individual journalists on social media who share updates on the conditions in Gaza.
“Our most known journalist on the ground, @motaz_azaiza, had to evacuate Gaza for his safety but has many posts that illustrate the horrific scenes in Gaza. Some journalists who are still on the ground include @wizard_bisan1, @amr.tabash, @abd.pix96, @doaa_khaled.98.”
*This article was edited on Feb. 12 to correctly cite the photo’s source.*