(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — As fighting in the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 100 days, and with the White House calling on Israel to scale back its military offensive, a gesture of support for Chicago’s Palestinian community came from Latino organizations based on the Lower West Side, where a mural has just been finished.
The piece, done by artists Langston Allston and organized by the Pilsen-based nonprofit Mural Movement, shows Palestinian men and women huddled against a fiery backdrop, with one man drawing back tightly on the band of a slingshot.
Mural Movement founder Delilah Martinez told WBBM she was inspired to commission this piece due to experiences that date back many years, in which she said members of the local Palestinian community have been the first to contribute to her charity actions across the city.
“They’re the ones that donate the most turkeys; they’re the ones that have helped me with the migrants for cell phones, for jobs, for resources,” Martinez said. “A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, it’s none of our business or whatever’ … but who has really shown up for Chicago people? It has been a lot of my Palestinian friends consistently through the years.”
U.S. Palestinian Community Network organizer Husem Marajda said the mural is another sign of growing solidarity between Black and Latino Chicagoans and the local Palestinian community.
“Now, we’re working together to pressure the city council, alderpeople … to vote ‘yes’ on the Chicago Cease-Fire resolution in city council, hopefully, in two weeks,” Marajda said.
In the three months since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel — in which approximately 1,200 people were killed — the Gaza Health Ministry said neary 24,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Over the same period, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said antisemitic incidents in the U.S. have “skyrocketed,” with a total of 3,283 incidents between Oct. 7, 2023, and Jan. 7.
ADL officials said the three-month tally exceeded the total number of antisemitic incidents reported in any year for the past decade, except for 2022.
“Across the country and here in the Midwest, the American Jewish community is facing a level of security threats we have not experienced in this country in generations,” said ADL Midwest Regional Director David Goldenberg.
On “Face the Nation” Sunday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. has been speaking to Israel “about a transition to low-intensity operations.”
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, though, has vowed to press ahead until Hamas is destroyed and all of the more than 100 hostages still in captivity are freed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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