Over 75 people gathered at the Dandelion Fountain in downtown Naperville Saturday afternoon, chanting “Free, free Palestine,” demanding action from Mayor Scott Wehrli and the Naperville City Council.
Organizers called for the council to pass a local Gaza cease-fire resolution at their upcoming meeting on Tuesday, March 19.
Speakers call for Gaza cease-fire
Several speakers shared their stories and perspectives with the group.
Waubonsie Valley High School student and Palestinian, Sabrina reminded the group. “You don’t need to be pro-Palestine or pro-Israel to want a cease-fire. You simply have to be a human being.”
Naperville psychiatrist Othman Mohammad spoke of solidarity.
“We standing here in downtown Naperville to be part of this process. We are joining the movement of hundreds of thousands of people around the globe in solidarity with entrapped and starved people of Gaza. We are demanding that the city council “to have the political courage and have the moral integrity to call for a cease-fire.”
Keith Larson, who was raised Jewish and attended Congregation Beth Shalom said, “Palestinians are not my enemies. They are my friends and neighbors. As a Jew, I say ‘not in my name,’ I say ‘never again means never again for anyone.’ As a US citizen, I say ‘not with my tax dollars.’ And, as a human being, I say ‘cease-fire now.’”
Many of those gathered also attended the last two city council meetings to speak during public forum to demand a resolution and to persuade at least three city council members to call for the topic to be added to the agenda.
Chapter 1 of the Naperville Municipal Code requires, “All agenda items shall be introduced at the meetings by the City Clerk or City Clerk designee.” Currently, a Gaza cease-fire resolution is not included in Tuesday’s agenda.
Protestors call out downtown businesses
After a short program, the group began a march around downtown Naperville. During the walk they stopped in front of stores like Sephora, Apple, and Starbucks to chant and call out the major retailers for what they claimed was “complicity.”
A heavy police presence facilitated both protesters and visitors to Naperville through the downtown area.
The group ended their march in front of city hall, where organizers endorsed the leave-it-blank strategy, calling on everyone to pull a ballot but leave the President and delegates sections on the ballot blank. Organizers said they hope this will make a statement to the Democratic leadership not to take the Palestinian vote for granted.
City hall was open for early voting at the time of the protest, and the marchers filed into the municipal center to pull a ballot.
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