Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson asking the crowd to behave with proper decorum during the duration of the meeting. | Chicago Mayor's Office / Facebook
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson asking the crowd to behave with proper decorum during the duration of the meeting. | Chicago Mayor's Office / Facebook
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Friday ordered police to clear the City Council chamber after rowdy spectators jeered as public commenters discussed a resolution pledging the city's support of Israel in the wake of recent Hamas terror attacks that killed more than 1,000 people.
The so-called "Israel Solidarity Resolution" sponsored by Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th), who is the only Jewish member of the City Council, passed in a voice vote after the contentious hearing.
"I urge my colleagues to be on the right side of history, and to take a stand against Hamas' evil," Silverstein said.
The resolution condemned the Hamas terrorist attack and asserted that the City Council stands "in support of Israel, express our deepest sorrow for all innocent civilians, and pray for the release of all the hostages taken into Gaza," Fox News reported.
Silverstein's resolution was met with pushback not only from Palestinian supporters but also from Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, Johnson's hand-picked chairwoman of the City Council committee on health and human relations, and other members of the Democratic Socialist Caucus that supports him.
“Mr. President, I would like to be recorded as a no,” Rodriguez-Sanchez said.
She has been opposing the resolution way ahead of Friday’s hearing, according to an earlier report from Chicago City Wire.
Rodriguez-Sanchez sent Silverstein an email last week asking for the alderwoman to revise the resolution to acknowledge the suffering of Palestinians during decades of conflicts between Israel and Hamas, Politico reported. Silverstein refused to make the suggested changes.
Over 1,300 Israelis, more than 2,300 Palestinians, and 29 Americans have died in the conflict.
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