With the mayor’s tie-breaking vote, the Chicago city council passed a resolution Wednesday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and condemning Israel, even as the Windy City continues to suffer the daily death toll from an out-of-control murder rate and as a rising rate of antisemitism plagues the city.
The council tied on its vote, with 23 in favor and 23 against. But Chicago’s self-proclaimed “progressive” Mayor Brandon Johnson jumped in and supplied the tie-breaking vote to pass the attack on Israel, according to the Times of Israel.
Johnson had signaled his support of the resolution last week.
BREAKING: Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson just joined the call for a #CeasefireNOW. pic.twitter.com/ERefUob1bI
— Сeasefire Tracker (@Ceasefire_Track) January 24, 2024
The measure has no actual lawful consequences, of course, and is completely symbolic, but the vote serves to illustrate of how far against Israel the Democrat Party has turned.
“Today we say we care because it matters here at home as well and we care about our brothers and sisters in Palestine, and today we say yes to cease-fire, yes to the resolution, yes to change here in Chicago and across the world,” 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez told the media, according to WLS-TV.
Still, Johnson foe Alderman Ray Lopez opposed the measure that many called a waste of the city council’s time.
“The cease-fire resolution that has been proposed has been vetoed by President Biden, is opposed by Hamas, but yet City Council and the mayor think they know better than all of the international players out there dealing with this and living with this issue,” Alderman Lopez said.
The Israeli Consulate also struck out at the city council for its outrageous vote. The consulate said in a statement:
This resolution undermines the position of the Biden Administration, the International Court of Justice, and the European Union and the overwhelming majority of Americans who understand that the release of all the hostages held in Gaza and dismantling Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure are preconditions to any ceasefire.
This is the second time the resolution was brought to the council chambers for debate. The measure was also brought before the aldermen last week, but was delayed until after International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was Jan. 27.
The city council still has done little to address the rising crime and the continued daily bloodletting, as its murder rate continues to spiral. While the Windy City saw a slight drop in homicides in 2023, it still ended the year with 617 murders and 2,450 shootings, according to WTTW-TV. Chicago suffers the highest murder rates in the country strictly by the numbers and is tenth in the nation in per capita numbers.
Men loiter on the street in the West Woodlawn neighborhood and the 20th ward in Chicago, July 12, 2012. Residents of the mainly black South Side want stop-and-search tactics brought back as gang murders plague President Barack Obama’s home city. (Photo by John Gress/Corbis via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, as city hall focused on its attack on Israel, rates of antisemitism have also skyrocketed in the city. In March of last year, Chicago had seen the number of antisemitic incidents rise 22 percent from the number of incidents reported in 2021, according to Block Club Chicago. And incidents of antisemitism had risen a shocking 128 percent in the state as a whole by Oct. of last year, WTTW reported.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston