A Fierce Debate on Israel-Palestine Has Gripped Chicago Long Before the Democratic Convention - U.S. News - Haaretz.com
CHICAGO – This year's Democratic National Convention and the accompanying mass protests against U.S. President Joe Biden's Gaza policy will serve as a landmark moment in the party's developing conversation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It is fitting that Chicago will serve as the host city, considering both its notable Jewish and Palestinian populations and rich history as the epicenter of mass political protests – particularly when it hosts political conventions in election years.
While Illinois is not a swing state like other states with significant Arab-American and Muslim-American populations, Chicago and its suburbs hold the largest Palestinian community and one of the most significant Arab and Muslim voter blocs in America. An estimated 85,000 Palestinians live in the greater Chicago area, forming about 60 percent of the metro area's Arab population.
According to the Arab America media organization, Palestinians have been coming to Chicago since the late 19th century, with a particularly high influx of Palestinians since Israel's occupation of the West Bank began in 1967.
People take part in a protest organized by pro-abortion rights, pro-LGBT rights and pro-Palestinian activists, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), in Chicago, August 18.Credit: Marco Bello/Reuters
Nearly 20 percent of small retail stores in the area are owned by Palestinian families, the majority of whom are from West Bank cities like Ramallah and Beitunia, with a particularly concentrated Palestinian presence in the city's southwestern suburbs.
This community is currently represented by progressive Democratic lawmakers such as Reps. Jonathan Jackson, Delia Ramirez and Chuy Garcia – all of whom have been consistently at the forefront of criticizing Israeli policy toward the Palestinians and U.S. support for Israel amid the Gaza war.
"Palestinians and Arabs in Chicagoland are excited about the DNC being here, and so proud and honored that our Coalition to March on the DNC has 270 organizations that have joined it," said Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. "We know how much support Palestine has across the world, but Israel has been exposed here in the U.S. now too, and millions of people are with us to demand a stop to the genocide, an end to all U.S. aid to Israel and a free Palestine."
A Jewish man hands out outdated buttons to people outside the United Center the day before the Democratic National Convention, on August 18.Credit: Mark Hoffman / USA TODAY NETWORK / Reuters Connect
Chicago's Jewish population, meanwhile, is even greater. As of 2020, nearly 320,000 Jews were believed to live in metropolitan Chicago, according to Brandeis University's Chicago Report, making it the third-largest Jewish community in the U.S.
Most Jews in Chicago have never met much less interacted with a Palestinian in any meaningful way. Those that have tend to be more willing to criticize Israel's conduct in the war and more broadly the occupation
Richard Goldwasser, J Street Chicago chair
This is reflected by the vast majority of Illinois' representatives in Congress being aligned with pro-Israel organizations across the spectrum.
J Street, for example, has endorsed 12 of the 14 House Democrats – including Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who is viewed as the Jewish lawmaker most ideologically aligned with the liberal pro-Israel group, and both Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth.
AIPAC, meanwhile, has endorsed seven Illinois lawmakers – two Republicans and five Democrats, including Jewish Rep. Brad Schneider (widely considered among the most pro-Israel lawmakers in the Democratic caucus) and three others who are also among the J Street endorsees.
A person works during preparations at the United Center, the host venue of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, August 18.Credit: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters
"Like in most places in the U.S. there's a diversity of opinion in Chicago," said Richard Goldwasser, a Chicago native and chair of J Street Chicago. "Obviously the legacy organizations are backing the Netanyahu government even at the risk to the remaining hostages. But the newer organizations like J Street are calling for a cease-fire and a hostage deal which has become the mainstream view" among Chicago Jews, he said.
"And while the generational divide has received a lot of attention, based on my own interactions there may be another factor at play and that's meaningful connections with Palestinians. Most Jews in Chicago have never met much less interacted with a Palestinian in any meaningful way," he continued, adding, "those that have tend to be more willing to criticize Israel's conduct in the war and more broadly the occupation."
A resolution, a walkout, a targeted alderman
Considering the sheer size of both communities, it reasons that the Chicago City Council's fierce debate on whether to pass a resolution calling for a Gaza-ceasefire was deadlocked with a 23-23 split, with the affirmative tie-breaking vote cast by progressive Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The January vote was not passed, however, before significant public outcry on both sides – including repeated disruptions from the crowd, leading Johnson to order the council chamber cleared prior to the vote.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is greeted by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson during her arrival at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on, Aug. 18.Credit: Brynn Anderson/AP Photo
The resolution, passed in January, was modeled after the United Nations General Assembly's non-binding resolution passed the month prior, which the Biden administration notably opposed.
The council's only Jewish member, Debra Silverstein, slammed the "biased, one-sided resolution" ahead of the vote, saying "we all want peace, but it's vital to understand what caused the conflict."
"How do you support a resolution that allows a terrorist regime to stay in power so it can continue to attack the world's only Jewish state, a democratic state with a 20 percent Muslim, Christian population," she added in direct comments to her fellow council members, also directly criticizing Johnson for failing to serve as a unifier.
Illinois' Jewish Governor J.B. Pritzker downplayed the resolution by insisting it wouldn't "have any real impact."
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker visits the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, August 18.Credit: Vincent Alban/Reuters
The vote occurred hours after Chicago public school students walked out en masse demanding a cease-fire, with Mayor Johnson lauding the students for "exercising their constitutional rights to be able to speak out and speak up for righteousness and speak out against injustice."
Protesters, meanwhile, followed Silverstein out of the chamber, chanting "You can't hide, we charge you with genocide."
Months later, Silverstein would find separate signs reading "Save Gaza, shame on you Debra, 36,000 dead" and another one referencing slain six-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab plastered outside her local office.
"Considering I'm the only Jewish alderman that sits on City Council, and this is an extremely Orthodox Jewish neighborhood – and the fact that there were 23 other alderpeople that voted against the cease-fire resolution, and yet I was the only one that was targeted – I really feel like this was antisemitism," she told the local CBS affiliate.
Silverstein wrote in the local Jewish United Fund Magazine that she "always felt it was my duty to bring my Jewish values to bear in my public service work," adding, "I have proudly stood up for workers' rights, women's rights, and the rights of every resident of my large and diverse ward. I never imagined that when the Jewish people were attacked, there would be so few people willing to stand up for our right to live in peace on our own ancestral land."
Previously, antisemitic flyers and cutouts were distributed throughout predominately Jewish neighborhoods across town.
"It's alarming to see the exponential growth of antisemitic incidents in our state and nationwide. Every segment of the Jewish community has been affected," said Regional Director of ADL Midwest David Goldenberg. "Concern in the Jewish community is significant and heightened, especially considering most antisemitic incidents tracked in 2023 occurred after October 7, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust – and it isn't letting up."
The dismay of the Jewish and Muslim communities at the events of the past 10 months will converge at the convention, where tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are expected to take to the streets
He noted that 68 percent of the total number of antisemitic incidents in Illinois occurred after October 7, adding they were "fueled in large part by anti-Zionist and anti-Israel groups whose activities have fanned the flames of antisemitism in Chicago, the suburbs and on college campuses throughout Illinois."
The spike in antisemitism was accompanied by a parallel spike in anti-Arab and Islamophobic incidents, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations reporting 500 complaints in Illinois in 2023, nearly half of which were reported after October 7. Local community leaders noted that these numbers tend to be underreported over fears of backlash and reprisals.
This notably includes the October murder of six-year-old Palestinian-American Wadea Al-Fayoume, brutally stabbed to death by his landlord who allegedly shouted "you Muslims must die" while attacking him.
A police officer directs a protester during a march prior to the start of the Democratic National Convention Sunday, Aug. 18, in Chicago.Credit: Alex Brandon/AP Photo
The incident became emblematic of concerns of rising Islamophobia nationwide, with Biden himself and other senior U.S. officials frequently invoking his name while discussing the need to combat hate wherever it arises.
The shadow of 1968
Both communities' dismay at the events of the past 10 months will converge at the convention, where tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are expected to take to the streets amid Jewish establishment sideline events throughout the week.
This again affords Chicago a unique historical perspective, with perhaps the most infamous convention protests occurring outside the 1968 Democratic convention and leading to fierce clashes between local law enforcement and protesters, which marred the event and helped clear the path toward Richard Nixon's victory over Hubert Humphrey.
Many observers have noted the parallels between that convention – featuring a generational divide and a party rapidly redefining itself after its incumbent president opted to stand down instead of seeking reelection, amid support for a highly controversial foreign war – and the current one.
The aftermath of the 1968 riot, too, captures a unique vantage point into American-Jewish history. Four of the so-called "Chicago Seven" organizers behind the demonstration were Jewish, with two of them, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, frequently and openly highlighting their Judaism.
Chicago Police attempt to disperse demonstrators outside the Conrad Hilton, Democratic National Convention headquarters, Aug. 29, 1968, in Chicago.Credit: Michael Boyer/AP Photo
The defendants and Jewish lawyer William Kunstler (who also defended El-Sayyid Nossair, the killer of far-fight Jewish supremacist Meir Kahane, as well as an arsonist who killed 12 people after burning down a Jewish community center) frequently invoked their Judaism as well as that of Judge Julius Hoffman in what Rubin called "a Jewish morality play." This included calling the judge "a shonda fur die Goyim" and deeming his marshals Gestapo while performing a Nazi salute and shouting "Heil Hitler."
Fifty-six years later, tensions have risen again as organizers of the march and city officials failed to reach an agreement on providing media risers after months of painstaking fights over other issues.
"The reason [city officials] gave amounted to 'because we say so,'" said March on the DNC coalition spokesperson Faayani Aboma Mijana. "This is an outrageous attempt to suppress free speech and the free press. It's an attack both on protesters demanding an end to genocide and U.S. aid to Israel, but also on the hundreds of media outlets that want to report on the event. It's yet another attempt by the City of Chicago to minimize coverage of dissent. This sends a shameful message to the world about what Chicago stands for."
Despite demonstrators' outrage with the city, one important figure appeared to align himself with their message on Israel's war in Gaza: Mayor Johnson.
"What's happening right now is not only egregious, it is genocidal," he told Mother Jones. "We have to acknowledge and name it for what it is and have the moral courage to exercise our authority."