Demonstrators used the traffic shutdown to bring attention to the continuing war in Palestine and push for a cease-fire in Gaza. Traffic flow resumed by about 9:20 a.m.
Palestine
Neither CPS officials nor a spokesperson with the Department of Education would comment on the nature of the investigation, but a CPS source says the probe stems from complaints of antisemitism filed with the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights leading up to a Jan. 30 student walkout.
“The City Council, if they’re going to talk about the challenge of war in the Middle East, you’ve got to make sure that you include all the perspectives,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “They did not do that.”
Chicago is now the largest American city to adopt a cease-fire resolution, joining Minneapolis, San Francisco, Oakland, Atlanta and Detroit.
Students from Ogden International High School and Walter Payton College Preparatory High School marched to City Hall, carrying signs and chanting slogans such as “Viva Vida Palestina” and “our tax dollars are being used to commit war crimes.”
Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, is now the mayor of the biggest American city to call for a cease-fire, putting him at odds with President Joe Biden and most members of the Democratic Party.
On Tuesday, the clock was again set at 90 seconds to midnight — the closest to the hour it has ever been, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which created the clock in 1947.
Joseph Czuba, 71, is accused of fatally stabbing of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and wounding Hanan Shaheen on Oct. 14 in in Plainfield. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Oday Al-Fayoume filed the lawsuit last month against the suburban Chicago landlord charged in the attack that left his child dead and the boy’s mother seriously wounded.
Now in its seventh week, the war has leveled vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank, and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East.
More United Nations aid workers have been killed in Gaza than in any other single conflict in the organization’s 78-year history, a stark reminder that humanitarian staff have not been spared from Israel’s relentless bombardment of the besieged strip.
Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd Ward) posted a tweet Thursday morning to X, formerly known as Twitter, that read: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free.”
The White House Is Working On a Strategy to Combat Islamophobia. Many Muslim Americans Are Skeptical
The launch of the anti-Islamophobia effort has been anticipated for months after the administration in May released a national strategy to combat antisemitism that made passing reference to countering hatred against Muslims.
The eight-count indictment against Joseph Czuba, 71, tracks the charges that were filed soon after the fatal stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, and the wounding of Hanaan Shahin on Oct. 14. Authorities said the victims were targeted because of their Muslim faith.
The Anti-Defamation League and the Council on American-Islamic Relations saw increases in reported instances, many involving violence or threats against protesters at rallies in support of Israel or in support of Palestinians over the last two weeks as war broke out between Israel and Hamas.
Hanaan Shahin, who works as a caregiver to seniors, lost her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume, in the attack that has contributed to fears about rising hostility against Muslims and Palestinians in the U.S.
