A pair of area elected officials — U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, early Saturday morning, and former Waukegan Ald. Gregory Moisio, 3rd Ward, four years ago — experienced nighttime demonstrations at their homes and had similar reactions.
A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators came to Schneider’s Highland Park home in the wee hours of Saturday protesting his position on the Israel-Hamas war using bullhorns and drums to get his attention.
“This is more like the Ku Klux Klan coming in the middle of the night with covered faces, like they’re going to burn a cross,” Schneider said Sunday morning before Waukegan’s American Independence Parade. “This is intimidation and scare tactics. It was frightening for my neighbors.”
Moisio, who criticized the idea of “defunding the police” four years ago in the wake of the George Floyd killing, said when the police learned a demonstration was planned they blocked off the area of the street near his house. The marchers still came.
“Coming to someone’s house is out of bounds,” Moisio said. “It’s intimidation. I firmly believe in the First Amendment, but there are certain limits on protesting.”
Schneider and Moisio were among several local leaders who said Sunday in Waukegan and elsewhere that taking a protest to an individual’s home is not the way to persuade influential people to change their point of view.
The war became a hot topic locally when pro-Palestinian community members asked the Waukegan City Council to adopt a cease-fire resolution in May. Many have continued to make the request at the past four meetings. The legislative body has not yet taken action.
Approximately 40 demonstrators arrived at Schneider’s home very early Saturday morning, according to an email from the city. Police arrived at 2:47 a.m. Schneider is a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee and a strong supporter of Israel.
Vaseem Iftekhar, the founder and president of the Northern Illinois American Muslim Alliance, was among the people to initiate the cease-fire request from the council. He said going to the private home of an elected official is the wrong way to affect change.
“It’s totally inappropriate,” Iftekhar said. “I supported the cease fire because of the loss of life in Gaza. You have to effect change in a civilized manner.”
The Rev. Mark Rollenhagen, the pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Waukegan, spoke in favor of the cease-fire resolution at the May 20 City Council meeting. He said in an email the demonstration at Schneider’s home was wrong.
“It’s not appropriate to show up at a public official’s home in the middle of the night to harass, or try to intimidate them,” Rollenhagen said. “More than anything, this world needs people who are willing to sit down and not merely talk or exchange grievances – but to listen to each other, to hear each other out. “
Schneider said Sunday he is always open to listening to constituents share their ideas, whether he agrees or not. The appropriate place to do that, he said, is at his office by appointment or at one of the town halls he holds throughout the 10th Congressional District.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Evanston, represents parts of Lake County. She experienced pro-Palestinian demonstrators at her home on Nov. 7, a month after Hamas fighters entered Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.
Hatem Abudayyeh, the chair of the United States Palestinian Community Network, said at the time the group chose Schakowsky’s home on Ridge Avenue because, “We wanted to get the most attention possible.”
Schakowsky said in a written statement at the time she wanted an immediate cessation of hostilities, humanitarian aid for Gaza and a swift return of the hostages. She respects the right of the protesters at her home. She was unavailable for comment over the weekend.
“As a Jewish American, this is extremely personal for me,” she added in November. “I have always supported the existence of a Jewish and democratic state of Israel and believe Israel has a right to defend itself and its citizens, but at the same time, I have always adamantly supported justice for Palestinians, an end to the occupation, and a two-state solution guaranteeing the rights of all.”
David Goldenberg, the Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Sunday it is no mistake what he calls “Hamas sympathizers” are targeting Jewish public officials like Schneider and Schakowsky, but no other members of the Illinois congressional delegation.
“It’s anti-Semitism,” Goldenberg said. “When you make false charges of genocide. When you suggest because they are Jewish they support the Israeli government, it’s anti-Semitism. This is not only false, it’s dangerous.”
