Many of Brandon Johnson’s biggest mistakes so far as mayor of Chicago can be summed up in one sentence: He seems to have decided to speak only to his base.
Everyone else? Either a sworn enemy or chopped liver. This is the kind of thinking that can cleave a city.
Take the mayor’s ridiculous posturing over the City Council resolution on the conflict in the Middle East. On Wednesday Johnson became, in the tortured syntax of one report, “the biggest city mayor now calling for a ceasefire,” as if the size of a Midwestern metropolis is a measure of its likelihood of affecting the trajectory of a war 6,000 miles away.
After flicking away the Hamas atrocities, Johnson discussed the crucible of the Middle East in terms of Black “liberation.” If you parse those comments, you can see he wasn’t just speaking of a desire to protect civilians and promote peace, a reasonable position many of us share, but to frame the Israeli-Hamas conflict in stark terms of the oppressor and the oppressed.
How did Johnson think those comments would make metropolitan Chicago’s 300,000 Jews feel? He either didn’t think about it or didn’t care. We’ll venture to suggest it made them feel less heard and less safe.
Johnson’s comment came in the context of endless mishegoss over the council’s consideration of the resolution proposed by Aldermen Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, and Daniel LaSpata, 1st. That got put off thanks to some of the more reasonable and moderate voices on the council. In the last day or two, the council’s only Jewish member, Debra Silverstein, 50th, has been working her tail off to come up with a new version that reflects the pain and losses on all sides and does not imply that the fault lies entirely with Israel.
Which, Mr. Mayor, it does not, as President Joe Biden and the White House, not to mention Gov. J.B. Pritzker, have said over and over again.
We think the Sanchez-LaSparta resolution represents needless divisiveness, encourages antisemitism and is a waste of time to boot. But we admire Silverstein’s fortitude in trying to craft a compromise all of her colleagues can support. It’s long but expertly done, and here are the last three resolutions:
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council expects that the international community will ensure that Hamas will no longer be in position or able to attack Israelis or put Palestinian civilians in harm’s way; and BE IT RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council calls on the world to aid in the rebuilding of the parts of Israel and Gaza that were destroyed or damaged starting on October 7 and prevent any interference by parties seeking to prolong the conflict; and BE IT RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council affirms that a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be achieved by peaceful means, in accordance with international law, and on the basis of direct negotiations and recognition.
Johnson should give an inch for once, bring Chicagoans together for once, and support Silverstein’s effort. And if he doesn’t? The council should go ahead and pass her version anyway, and, for goodness’ sake, move on.
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