Oct 23

Oct 23 A Sit-In For Palestine

Demonstrations, Protest, Public Declarations

“Well you can sing a happy song if you’re glad (if you’re glad)
You can sing a protest song if you’re mad (if you’re mad)

Ah, but if you want to sing the blues, then boy you’d better learn how to lose
”

— David Bromberg, Suffer to Sing the Blues, from David Bromberg (1971)

“All Hat No Cattle”

— Originated in Texas Cattle Ranching Communities (circa 1930s)

Several Jewish groups, including IfNotNow, Never Again Action, and Jewish Voice for Peace, staged a demonstration in Federal Plaza starting at 4:00 PM today. It began with several short speeches. Speakers demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, while also enumerating the wrongs inflicted on the Palestinian people. The group demanded that Senators Richard J. Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, who have offices in the federal office building adjacent to Federal Plaza, work for an immediate cease-fire.

Those attending numbered somewhere between 200 and 250 people. By 4:30 PM, the group had marched from the plaza to the intersection of West Ida B. Welles Drive and Clark Street. At least 70 people then stood in the crosswalks—one running from the south side of Ida B. Welles Drive to the north side and the other running from the west side of Clark Street to the east side. For commuters, the consequences were a disaster. With the thoroughfare leading to the Eisenhower Expressway closed, the police had to divert rush hour traffic along an alternative route leading to the Eisenhower.

The remaining demonstrators stood on the sidewalk at the intersection’s northeast corner. Facing the street, many held signs, visible to the non-existent drivers passing by. Other demonstrators stood with their backs to the street, listening to more speeches.

As is customary, the organizers and leaders led the group in now familiar chants, but they introduced a delightful new twist; they sang songs with words, harmonies, and melodies. The people leading the singing had beautiful voices; I wondered whether some were cantors from area synagogues.

Deanna Othman, wearing a white hijab brightly lit by the setting sun, gave what I found to be the most effective speech that I have heard at any pro-Palestinian demonstration since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas. In a restrained voice, she read e-mail messages that she had received from relatives still living in Gaza. One correspondent wrote,

This is the first time in my life that I feel closest to death. It is all around me, but I don’t see it. Death can kidnap me in any moment now without me realizing it. We are living the most difficult and cruel days of our lives, and yet we feel forsaken in our loneliness. We lived alone, and we die in groups. Here in Gaza the stench of death permeates all, and there is no way for us to escape it except through death.

I remember this striking message well, but thanks to the Emmanuel Camarillo for quoting it in his Chicago Sun-Times article. Chicago’s Palestinian Community should consider inviting Othman to read more of these e-mails at its next major rally. Doing so would mitigate some of the overly strident rhetoric that has been a hallmark during each of the five pro-Palestinian rallies I have attended since the war’s onset. Moreover, these messages, being so personal, are far more effective in conveying the horrors of the war, as well as the Israeli 16-year-long blockade.

At some point, those standing in the street sat down with arms still linked. I at first assumed that the Chicago Police Department had sanctioned the street closures; although given the time of day, I was surprised that the CPD would so agree. Yet, when I first arrived at the intersection, police cars were already blocking the street a block or two to the east and west, with officers rerouting traffic, suggesting that the police knew in advance about the sit-in.

As I scanned the intersection, I saw a number of high-ranking officials discussing the situation, which caused me to question my initial assumption. Several wore suits rather than uniforms. As it turned out, one was a media liaison who eventually made a few remarks to reporters. I wondered whether another one was a city attorney.

Sometime around 5:00 PM, several officials conferred with a woman who may have been an attorney providing legal guidance to the demonstrators, but I don’t know. The discussions were cordial—no raised voices; sometimes even a smile.

Twenty minutes later, I saw the officials preparing to speak with those staging the sit-in. One officer, who I believe is 18th District Commander John Hien, approached the demonstrators, and then spoke to each demonstrator in a one-on-one interaction, repeating the same speech over and over. To summarize, he asked the demonstrator who he was addressing whether they wanted to voluntarily vacate the street; then told the demonstrator failure to vacate the street would result in the issuance of an administrative citation for obstructing a public right-of-way. He indicated that those who chose the citation would not be placed under arrest or taken into custody.

I occasionally stepped away as the process proceeded—the exercise quickly turned from an amusing one to a boring one—but I believe only one person decided to voluntarily vacate the space, thereby avoiding a citation. In total, more than 70 demonstrators were cited. Nobody resisted. After each person had made their decision, Officer Hien extended his hand, offering them assistance as they stood up. At the start, several people did accept the offered hand, but then few did This certainly is not Mayor Richard J. Daley’s police department.

While the Sun-Times article includes a quote from one of the demonstrators claiming that, “civil disobedience is a public service,” I don’t characterize what I saw today as civil disobedience because aside for a possible fine, there were no apparent consequences to those sitting in. What I saw was a tedious exercise, one that inconvenienced commuters whose only crime was heading home for dinner.

No doubt, those staging the sit-would disagree, likely arguing that the alleged atrocities being committed against the Palestinian people far outweigh any inconvenience sustained by someone who works in the Loop and lives in Oak Park. That may be true, but the local television news reports gave the demonstration very little airtime. I recorded the ABC, NBC, CBS, and WGN 10:00 PM local newscasts. The demonstration did not top the news, but instead filled the third or fourth slot in the lineup. If success is measured by increased public sympathy for the Palestinian people, the demonstration, particularly the sit-in, was a failure.

It was largely an exercise in virtue signaling. Nobody was booked, transported, fingerprinted, or held in custody. I don’t know the amount of the fine, but I suspect it was relatively minor, if there even was one. Any forfeited money would have been better deployed had it been donated to an international aid organization providing food and medical supplies to civilians trapped in Gaza.

As for the CPD, it should have been more forceful; and I don’t mean by beating people. Instead, the department should have removed the demonstrators at the beginning of the sit-in if it was not otherwise sanctioned by the City, or after the demonstrators “overstayed their welcome,” if it had been sanctioned for a specified time period. Had I been a participant, I would have preferred involuntary removal, because then the story would have topped the newscasts, thereby spreading the message.

The sit-in was also troubling because it wasted police resources, which are already stretched. Thirty or forty police officers stood around doing virtually nothing for the better-part of two hours.

Shortly after the demonstration began, a critically-injured man stumbled into the Marriott Hotel located on Michigan Avenue seeking medical aid. He had been shot. While that shooting likely would have occurred had there been no sit-in, the overlap between the shooting and the sit-in nicely illustrates why valuable police resources should not be frittered away on trivial exercises. The officers who functioned as “baby sitters” could have been deterring and investigating crime, or been engaged in community policing. By the way, that shooting and one involving a 12-year old boy topped the 10:00 PM newscasts.

To summarize, the demonstrators inconvenienced a lot of people today, and wasted community resources, but they themselves incurred little cost (except what was probably a modest fine). As for the Chicago Police Department: It was far too lenient. In all likelihood, Officer Hien is probably an excellent leader. He exhibited amazing patience and tact, but he resembled Mr. Rogers. When the City of Chicago welcomes the Democrats to “the neighborhood” next summer and the inevitable demonstrations that surround a national political convention, will the police follow the same protocol, particularly if some of the demonstrators are looking to physically engage with the police?

What I saw today was not civil disobedience.

[Post Script. On Wednesday, October 25, 2023, I contacted CPD’s media relations department, asking whether the police department had agreed in advance to allow the demonstrators to shutdown Ida B. Welles Drive and Clark Street for a limited period of time. They asked me to put my question in an e-mail, which I did. I still have not received an answer, but I will update this post if and when I do. On October 26, 2023, I sent an e-mail to someone who I believe was one of the organizers of the sit-in. I have yet to receive a response.]

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