Naperville elected leaders acknowledged continued cries for a local Gaza ceasefire resolution at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, but still would not formally take up the issue.
Yet again this week, community members from Naperville and surrounding suburbs packed the Naperville City Council chambers and spoke on the local impact of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. More than 50 people spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.
And has been the case for the past month and a half of council meetings, pleas that Naperville elected officials issue a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in the conflict were repeated Tuesday.
The persistence spurred council members to finally speak on the matter — most for the first time on the dais — but comments did not beget any sort of action by the end of the meeting.
As the chambers cleared, some audience members threw out calls of “shame!” and “cowards” towards the council.
Since February, the public comment period of Naperville council meetings has been dominated by requests for a ceasefire in Gaza. And for the most part, council members have left those requests unaddressed — publicly at least.
At a meeting last month, Mayor Scott Wehrli, breaking his silence on the issue, announced that to “be clear, the City Cuncil does not intend to initiate a ceasefire resolution” because the situation “is clearly outside the scope of our local municipal government.”
His announcement triggered such vocal opposition from audience members that the council meeting was paused for 10 minutes. Days after, pro-Palestinian graffiti and flyers were found along the Naperville Riverwalk. Maintenance staff from the Naperville Park District took steps to remove it.
Tuesday night, Councilman Benny White acknowledged that “our residents are hurting.”
“I know you’re hurting,” he said. “Our Palestinian … our Jewish brothers and sisters, I know you’re hurting.”
Those both for and against a ceasefire resolution addressed the council this week. While at previous meetings ceasefire comments have primarily concerned pushing for a resolution, a large contingency of those against the idea also turned out Tuesday, including a number from the Congregation Beth Shalom in Naperville.
“The council has no impact or expertise in the longstanding, intractable conflict in the Middle East,” David Eber, rabbi of the synagogue, said to elected leaders. “Diplomats in foreign policy, mavens … have tried for years to broker solutions to this conflict, and I think it is foolish to think that our resolution will have any impact.”
Still, pro-ceasefire speakers remained resolute.
“My neighbors and I are not … asking you to engage in international diplomacy, to contact foreign governments or to send humanitarian aid,” said Salex Khalid, of Aurora. “We’re asking you to support a ceasefire resolution that addresses an issue of great personal concern to your constituents.”
White apologized for not speaking on the issue in any prior meetings. Though noting that “there’s been a lot of discussions off the dais,” he also said that, “I know you’re wanting to hear something from your council.”
He assured his interest in continuing “the conversation to see what we can do to ease this burden on our community.” However, White also acknowledged that his focus is on Naperville issues.
Councilman Patrick Kelly offered similar remarks.
“I know there’s been very little feedback from the dais over the past many council meetings, which I think is in part because we’ve honestly never dealt with something like this, at least I haven’t in my five years on the council,” he said.
Kelly said he thought it was “important to acknowledge the stories that we’ve heard because they are heartbreaking” but again, like White, pulled the focus back to the city.
“I have argued many times over the past five years that I’ve been up here,” Kelly said, “that as a body, our council should only consider resolutions of this nature if there is widespread consensus in a way that brings our council and our city together … (but) I don’t think we have yet arrived at that point.”
Council members Allison Longenbaugh, Nate Wilson and Ian Holzhauer each also spoke on the matter Tuesday, extending sympathies but also heeding that the situation ought to be addressed by a higher level of government.
“What I’ve been doing is calling my representatives, both as a constituent and as a councilwoman, to tell them about these meetings and to ask them to prioritize getting aid in,” Longenbaugh said. “It’s at their level where this should be discussed and where it should be resolved.”
