Chanting “cease-fire now,” yelling “shame, shame,” and turning their backs on speakers at the podium, about 50 pro-Palestinian demonstrators interrupted the Democratic Party of Evanston’s “meet the candidates” event at the Unitarian Church on Sunday afternoon.
The Illinois Democratic primary is March 19.
The protesters demanded that party leaders endorse an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, in the war between Israel and Hamas.
The demonstrators used similar tactics as they did at a recent City Council session and a Fourth Ward residents meeting, disrupting the event for about 20 minutes, then leaving.
Evanston’s City Council has not voted on the cease-fire issue and is not expected to. A similar measure presented to the city’s Equity and Empowerment Commission was ruled out of order because it was not connected to the panel’s Evanston-specific mission.
Lesley Williams, spokesperson for the loosely-organized protest group at the DPOE meeting, told Evanston Now that “there has never been an Israeli government that has respected Palestinian rights.”
She said that “once there is a cease-fire, then there can be negotiations on the hostages [kidnapped by Hamas and still held in Gaza] and on the release of Palestinians” whom she said were detained by Israel without due process.
About 1,200 Israelis were murdered by Hamas terrorist invaders on Oct. 7, and approximately 250 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Around 130 remain as captives, although about a quarter of those are believed to have died.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s’ retaliation and effort to defeat Hamas. The Health Ministry does not differentiate between civilian casualties and deaths of Hamas fighters. While different groups interpret the numbers differently, all agree that the majority of fatalities are civilians.
When demonstrators tried to drown out Illinois House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel, the Rev. Eileen Wiviott , minister at the church, went to the podium and told the protesters that “you’re fighting the wrong enemy. If you’re not quiet you’ll have to leave,” which they eventually did.
Wiviott later told Evanston Now that “everyone in this room wants a cease-fire, but the way to do it is not to go to local government. They’re pushing the wrong levers.”
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) told Evanston Now “This war must end and President Netanyahu [of Israel] is on the wrong page.”
But Schakowsky, who previously called for an extension of the November hostage-release cease-fire in order to secure the release of all Hamas captives and set the stage for a permanent solution, said some of the demonstrators “don’t want a state of Israel.”
After the demonstrators filed out, the DPOE returned to its “meet the candidates/get out the vote” rally, with an introduction to party-endorsed candidates in the primary.
Speakers stressed the Democratic support for reproductive rights, gun control and protecting the environment, in contrast to the Republican party.
The most closely watched race in the primary is for Cook County State’s Attorney, trying to replace Kim Foxx, who opted not to run for re-election.
The party has endorsed attorney Clayton Harris III. His primary opponent is former judge Eileen O’Neill Burke.
Former Chicago alder Bob Fioretti is unopposed in the Republican primary, and will be the GOP candidate in a county that has not elected a Republican prosecutor in more than 30 years.
The protests at the DPOE event raised questions about the possibility of similar demonstrations outside or even inside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this summer.
Mayor Daniel Biss told Evanston Now that Democrats “have more that unites us than divides us. We need to make sure that Donald Trump does not get back in the White House.”
Williams, speaking for herself and not for the protest group, said it would not be surprising if some “people in support of Palestine have some sort of presence” at the convention.
She also stated that a Palestinian acquaintance said “there’s no way that she’ll ever vote for that man [Joe Biden] again.”
But Schakowsky said “everyone has to understand that Joe Biden should and can win this election. On every front and in every way, Trump would be a disaster, who would be far worse for any of the protesters.”
Is this the same Lesley Williams who is former EPL librarian and Evanston taxpayers shelled out $110k for a settlement after she resigned? I know she had several vocal supporters in her corner throughout that whole episode where it sounded like she was forced out after social media posts.
Overall, definitely seems like the wrong forum to have this type of protest but it seems like just being disruptive for their cause is their goal. Clearly, Evanston has ZERO power/influence on anything even close to related to this. Ironically RE: Lesley William’s quote, while certainly one can criticize much of Israel’s actions, the fact remains that Israel is the only Middle Eastern country that affords equal rights to Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Druze. The others — Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Palestinian Authority (PA), Iran, and Lebanon — do not. Regardless of this statement, doesn’t seem like having these types of debates (and this reported event certainly wasn’t a “debate” — it was merely a disruptive protest) in a Democratic Primary event in the city of Evanston, IL is a reasonable thing to do. As Biss and Schakowsky correctly point out, having an issue like this be a huge distraction in the needed goal of defeating Trump is totally nonsensical for the party. I am worried about this in states like Michigan in particular.
The answer to your first question is yes.
When U.S. Rep Schakowsky is there and re-electing Biden is one of the issues discussed I think, unlike protests at an Evanston ward meeting or council meeting, discussion of the Israel-Palestine issue is appropriate. Schakowsky’s comment addresses this when she says that policies under Trump “would be far worse for any of the protesters”. Hard to say, though, what she is doing to change the Biden administrations policies. With her seniority she should be able to do much more than it seems she is doing. Time, Jan, to step up and be heard.
Interesting, and telling, that with all the wars going on the world (Ukraine & Russa to name just one), the only one that gets attention here in Evanston is the one between Gaza & Israel. Thoughtful readers can draw their own conclusions.
These “protestors”, along with Rep. Schakowsky, may have the loudest voices here in Evanston, but thank goodness our City Council knows better than to wade into the muck.
Meanwhile, every day hundreds of dead Palestinian children are pulled out from under the rubble from the bombs paid for by our tax dollars.
At what point do the protesters “peaceful free-speech rights” supersede the rights of the people gathered to listen, learn & go about their business in Peace?
Disrupting and shouting down any and all activities in Evanston only shows your contempt for your neighbor’s freedoms.
It does nothing substantial for your stated cause.
It is performative and self-serving.
It doesn’t help the people you claim to care so much about.