POLITICS
‘Free, Free Palestine’
Thousands marched in Chicago in solidarity with Palestinian people in May. BY MONIQUE BEALS AND MADISON MULLER
O
n Saturday, May 16, several thousand people gathered in downtown Chicago to call for an end to what was then nearly a week of airstrikes by Israeli warplanes on Gaza. Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags as a steady chorus of car horns and chants of “Free, free Palestine” reverberated through the Loop. Some pushed elderly relatives in wheelchairs while others pushed strollers or carried toddlers on their shoulders, listening as speakers detailed the mounting deaths in Gaza— especially those of children. The rally was one of several that drew thousands to the Loop during the two weeks of fighting in Israel and Palestine, as organizers demanded action from the federal government. That Saturday, protesters demanded President Joe Biden stop blocking a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas, and called for Israeli forces to stop restricting Palestinians from worshipping at al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. On May 21, Israel agreed to a ceasefire, ending eleven days of bloodshed that killed 256 Palestinians—sixty-six of them children—and thirteen people in Israel, including two children. “We are disappointed and extremely appalled that Biden has done nothing to stop murder of Palestinians and by the hypocrisy of the U.S. when it comes to Israel. We call on President Biden to take action,” Deanna Othman, an organizer with the Coalition for Justice in Palestine, said at the march. The Weekly interviewed May 16 demonstrators, including Othman, about the ongoing occupation and attacks.¬ 10 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
¬ JUNE 10, 2021
Madison Muller recently completed her master’s degree at the Medill School of Journalism and is now a Barbara M. Reiss Fellow for the Medill Investigative Lab and The Washington Post. She last reported on CPD use-of-force reports. Monique Beals is currently pursuing her master’s at the Medill School of Journalism, where she is a Barbara M. Reiss Fellow with the Medill Investigative Lab and The Washington Post. This is her first article for the Weekly.
Sarah Mustafa, Oak Lawn Community High School teacher, twenty-five
“There’s a big population that’s growing of Arab Americans, and [the Israel Defense Forces] are killing people in Palestine especially during our holy month, occupying holy space, religious worship centers, killing children, burying people alive, bombing cities, evicting families from their homes. As a Palestinian American and a teacher of Palestinian Americans, it’s really important to end the occupation. It’s terrible what’s happening, and I open a platform to let [my students] feel safe and talk about it. I encourage them to use their social media, platforms, voices, and right to free speech that the people in Palestine don’t have. We have it here, and I tell them every day to use it.”
MEMBERS OF IFNOTNOW CHICAGO, A JEWISH-AMERICAN ORGANIZATION, HOLD SIGNS IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINIAN LIBERATION ON MAY 16, 2021 IN CHICAGO. (MADISON MULLER/SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY)
