A procession of people came to their second consecutive Waukegan City Council meeting asking members to place a resolution on a coming agenda supporting a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.
However, city officials appear no closer to discussing the issue.
Not one member of the council said during the meeting they wanted to see a resolution on a coming agenda, and Mayor Ann Taylor’s position remained the same as it was a fortnight ago.
“I’m waiting for the aldermen to decide what they want to do,” Taylor said. “They need to tell me what they want to see. So far there is no consensus of the aldermen.”
More than a dozen people — most from Waukegan — made their case for a ceasefire resolution from the City Council during the public-comment portion of the meeting Monday at City Hall.
Ahmad Hamdan of Waukegan expressed disappointment council members have yet to act. Though the conflict is taking place approximately 6,000 miles away, he said American tax dollars are being used to supply some of the weapons used.
Hamdan said he wants to see a resolution on the agenda so there can be a discussion locally about the war. He expressed disappointment the issue, “has fallen on what seem to be deaf ears.”
“Silence is more of a statement than it is ignorance,” he said. “Ignorance isn’t bliss in this case. Silence is actually complicit. Let’s not be complicit. Let’s talk about it. If you want to make your statement silence on it, make your statements loud and clear.”
Before the May 6 meeting, Taylor said dealing with international conflicts is not the role of a municipal government. When she works with state or federal officials, it is done to bring benefits to Waukegan.
“This is not something in our wheelhouse,” Taylor said on May 2. “We have enough issues right here and I have to stay focused on Waukegan.”
The Rev. Mark Rollenhagen, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Waukegan, said at the meeting when there is “unconscionable death and devastation and a famine that will continue to kill countless people,” taking a stand on a conflict far away is proper.
“While your voice as a city council might seem, and very well be, insignificant in the stage of international politics, it does not absolve any of us from the responsibility to speak for the preservation and protection of human life,” Rollenhagen said.
When members of the public first asked for a ceasefire resolution earlier this month, a few individuals spoke against taking such action, like Peggy Shapiro. She likened conditions today to Nazi-era anti-Semitism.
“It’s not only the form of hating the individual Jew, but hating the Jewish state,” Shapiro said on May 6.
No member of the public spoke against the idea of a ceasefire on Monday. Of the 14 individuals favoring it, only Lake County Black Lives Matter Executive Director Clyde McLemore mentioned hostages — including Americans — taken by Hamas on Oct. 7.
“I want this mayor and City Council to offer a resolution for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestinian conflict,” McLemore said at the meeting. “I stand for the ceasefire and the hostages to be returned to their families.”
Both Ald. Victor Felix, 4th Ward, and Jose A. Guzman, 2nd Ward, thanked those coming to the meeting to ask for a ceasefire resolution toward the end of the night, but neither endorsed the idea.
“We want peace and love for all of our communities,” Felix said.
“You’re all in the eyes of God,” Guzman added. “Let’s get along. Let’s move forward. Let’s try to find a resolution to this conflict.”
