CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Coalition for Ethical Reporting on Palestine held a “Mothers in Mourning” vigil in downtown Chicago off Michigan Avenue on Mother’s Day.
Deanna Othman, co-chair of the coalition, has family and friends who have given birth during the violence.
Othman called the situation in Gaza horrible and added that they can’t “celebrate Mother’s Day while our fellow mothers are in this situation.”
“Mothers who don’t have the luxury of delivering even in a hospital, or even having any sort of painkillers or medications or even water to wash up after giving birth,” she said.
Another one of the speakers at Sunday’s event said “motherhood is humanity.”
“We are not just here to fight violence,” they said. “We are here to ensure that life proceeds. That after everything is done … the community [can] build and be a beautiful place again.”
Organizers passed out white roses to mothers in the crowd and many shared stories of their family’s struggles in Gaza.
As for the war itself, Israeli forces pushed deeper in the southern city of Rafah on Sunday, which accelerated the exodus of Palestinians from the city. Israel also pounded the territory's devastated north, where some Hamas militants have regrouped in areas the military said it had cleared months ago.
Rafah is considered Hamas' last stronghold. Some 300,000 of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there have fled the city following evacuation orders from Israel, which says it must invade to dismantle Hamas and return scores of hostages taken from Israel in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok