CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A pro-Palestinian group took to Chicago area expressways in the form of a car caravans this afternoon, their latest protest of the Israel-Hamas War.
The US Palestinian Community Network organized the mid-afternoon protest, demanding that the US stop funding Israel’s war efforts. Two separate caravans were orchestrated. One began in Bridgeview at 70th and Harlem, while the other started at Allstate Arena in Rosemont. The northern caravan slowly traveled on the inbound Kennedy, with another group moving on the inbound Stevenson.
Both caravans made their way to the other major expressways, ultimately reaching the Dan Ryan, Eisenhower, and the Tri-State. The car caravans lasted for several hours and at its peak consisted of roughly 250 vehicles, according to police scanner conversations.
At one point, it became so congested on the inbound Kennedy that traffic that police shut down all lanes between Lawrence and Montrose. It was reopened at around 4:15 p.m. Much of the caravan eventually dispersed into downtown.
Today’s protest comes after the US vetoed on Friday a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceas-fire in Gaza.
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood called the resolution “imbalanced” and criticized the council after the vote for its failure to condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, or to acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself. He declared that halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and “only plant the seeds for the next war.”
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 17,400 people in Gaza — 70% of them women and children — and wounded more than 46,000, according to the Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry, which says many others are trapped under rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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