A controversial resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas narrowly passed Chicago City Council Wednesday.
After hours of debate, the measure came down to one single vote -- Mayor Brandon Johnson's -- with council ending at 23 yays and 23 nays. Johnson's tiebreaker vote lifted the measure to 24 yays and 23 nays.
The council was initially expected to vote on the resolution last week but the vote was delayed as the council instead backed a resolution supporting an international day of Holocaust awareness.
Sponsored by 1st Ward Ald. Daniel LaSpata, the Chicago resolution calls on Congress and the president to “facilitate a lasting peace in Gaza starting with a permanent ceasefire.”
The measure was supported by pro-Palestinian groups and some Jewish groups who oppose the months-long war between Israel and the Hamas terrorists responsible for the Oct. 7 kidnappings of more than 200 people, including numerous Americans.
“Now we move onward to use this victory as inspiration to continue demanding that Genocide Joe Biden stop supporting the genocide against our people," Hatem Abudayyeh, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) national chair, said in a statement.
Other mainstream Jewish groups, however, denounced the resolution calling it dangerous.
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“Mayor Johnson and City Council members could have drafted a resolution that supports a ceasefire, advocates for increased humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, demands the unconditional release of hostages, and calls for the dismantling of the terrorist organization Hamas. Instead, they advocated for a one-sided resolution that divides our city, emboldens Hamas, and dangerously undermines U.S. global influence," The Jewish United Fund and ADL Midwest said in a joint statement. “The debate and rhetoric around this resolution has fanned the flames of antisemitism as antisemitic incidents in the city and U.S. reach unprecedented levels."
"While this resolution will have no impact in the Middle East, it will create more division among communities in Chicago and inspire more antisemitism, as we saw on the floor and in the galleries of City Hall today," the Israeli Consulate in Chicago said in a statement.
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Nearly half the hostages were released during a weeklong November cease-fire in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to continue the war until Israel destroys Hamas' military and governing capacity and returns all the hostages.
U.S. and Mideast mediators appeared optimistic in recent days that they were closing in on a deal for a two-month ceasefire in Gaza and the release of over 100 additional hostages held by Hamas.
Egyptian officials said Israel had offered a two-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages, but Hamas rejected the offer, saying no hostages would be released until an end is declared to the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Then on Tuesday, Netanyahu rejected the militant group's two main demands — that Israel withdraw its forces from Gaza and release thousands of Palestinian prisoners — indicating that the gap between the two sides remains wide.
Hamas is widely believed to be holding the hostages in heavily guarded tunnels deep underground, using them as human shields for its top leaders and bargaining chips for the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners. These include high-profile militants involved in attacks that killed Israeli civilians.
The United States, which has provided crucial military aid for the offensive, largely supports Israel's goals in the war. It wants all hostages released and assurances that Hamas can never again carry out an attack like the one on Oct. 7.
But the Biden administration also has a strong interest in winding down a war that has caused regional instability and divided Democratic voters in an election year.
The resolution in Chicago passed out of the City Council’s Committee on Health and Human Relations last month.
After the resolution was delayed last week, Johnson said he supported a ceasefire in the war-torn region.
“At this point now I believe we are looking at 25,000 Palestinians who were killed during this war and the killing has to stop,” he said.
Among those who voted no on the resolution was Ald. Timmy Knudsen, who released a statement Wednesday morning saying "the ceasefire resolution that the City Council will vote on this week has become a flashpoint for division" and he "will be voting no on this particular version as its language presents a false choice and fails to promote unity for Chicagoans."
"Like many Chicagoans, I feel gutted by the murder and kidnapping committed by Hamas on October 7, an act of terror against Israel which should be universally condemned. As it would with any nation, this atrocity and the mission to bring the hostages home warranted a measured military response by Israel," Knudsen's statement read in part. "Since then, I have been equally gutted by Israel’s ongoing response in Gaza, which has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians. I mourn for all innocent civilians lost in this conflict, and for the large Palestinian and Jewish communities impacted in Chicago and worldwide."
