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‘We believe enough is enough’: Palestinians and Jews jog at DNC for ceasefire, hostage deal
Before starting a 4-mile run, about a dozen joggers warmed up at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park Tuesday morning. Some stretched, while others handed out gray T-shirts to newcomers.
On the front, in a simple white font, was the message “Ceasefire Now. Hostage/Prisoner Release.” And on the back — “All for All.”
“This war hasn’t offered more security to the Israelis or freedom to the Palestinians. We believe enough is enough,” said organizer Anan Abu-Taleb.
The morning runs during this week’s Democratic National Convention are the brainchild of Abu-Taleb, the former mayor of Oak Park who was born in Gaza, and his friend Richard Goldwasser, a Jewish American attorney. Through running, the two hope to advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages during a week when many politicians and dignitaries are in town.And if they were hoping to capture the attention of a high-profile candidate, they were in the right place. As the group started their run — about 2 miles on the lakefront trail to McCormick Place before heading back to the fountain — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, jogged past with security on a nearby sidewalk.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the war began 10 months ago with the Hamas-led attack on Israel, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, about 110 of whom remain in the strip. The war has also become an important and, at times, contentious issue in the presidential election and the subject of large protests in Chicago and nationwide.
“This is our way of saying that if we have a human connection … and invest into our own relationships, it can go a long way of making us see each other as human and as people who have the same aspirations, the same hopes, the same fears,” Abu-Taleb, 65, said.
For Goldwasser, 59, of Highland Park, there’s something about running, being stride by stride with someone, that helps form bonds. He said it’s the perfect activity to understand other people and come together. Running also sends a “good, positive message” that Goldwasser hopes will be heard during the DNC and after.
“Most people in my community have never met a Palestinian. They don’t have any connections, meaningful connections with them,” he said. “But the ones who do are able to see the situation differently, and to criticize the conduct of this war and criticize American support for this war.”
At the convention, Abu-Taleb said “words are cheap” and that he’s looking for politicians to offer substantive policy, namely ending US taxpayer funding of the war.
“It’s one thing to make a political statement and empathize with the suffering of the people in Gaza and also the displaced people in Israel and the people who have lost family members on both sides,” he said. “It’s another thing to put teeth behind it.”
The only way forward is together
Along with an affinity for running, Abu-Taleb said he and Goldwasser have been friends for about five years because they share values of caring for others and advocating for peace. He said Goldwasser has also frequently checked in on him throughout the war since he has family members still in Gaza. They also like to have discussions over old fashioneds, he laughed.
The friends’ message is one that resonated with Lily Greenberg Call, a Jewish staffer who resigned from the Biden administration over his handling of the war in Gaza. She joined the jog Tuesday morning, saying running is her favorite sport and one that’s brought her a lot of joy and helped her make it through stressful times.
“I think moments like this, doing things like running, activities that help remind us that we are all really the same and want the same thing — everyone just wants their kids to go to bed happy and be able to have opportunities — they’re really important,” she said, adding that it’s a “moral obligation” that Democrats push for a ceasefire.
“It also helps ground us when things feel really horrible and awful, I think being outside, being in the sun, moving your body, that’s the best way to connect to ourselves and what really matters,” she added.
Another person who joined the run was Ilana Axel, 68, of Buffalo Grove. Axel said she previously lived in Israel, so the issue is very close to her heart. After Oct. 7, she said she worked to learn more about the conflict, even starting a study group at her congregation.
“My conclusion is the only way forward is when Israelis and Palestinians come together,” she said. “Number one, show that there can be a life together … and we both have to fight together against the extremist elements within our own people.”
“It may not even happen in my lifetime, she added, “but I need to work for it now, even if I don’t get to see it.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday put him at odds with the IDF regarding how many haredi the military can absorb in a short amount of time.
Netanyahu said that while he was in favor of increasing haredi integration into the IDF, in practicality, the military needed more time to establish haredi-tailored programs and environments for this to be successful.
The prime minister’s remark comes days after top IDF officials presented a series of highly specific, customized programs for the ultra-Orthodox that are either already open or are “ready to go” as soon as the haredi respond to their military summons. This directly contradicts the prime minister’s words during the briefing.
Netanyahu spoke to the committee in a closed and classified hearing, but portions of what he said were, nevertheless, publicized, including his comments regarding haredi integration into the IDF.
When asked about the issue, Netanyahu said, “We would prefer that anyone who is not studying [in a yeshiva] share the burden [of military service.] But right now, there is a gap between what the army says it can absorb and what it can absorb, so the absorption capacity of the IDF needs to be increased.”
He added that there were intentions to create new frameworks that would allow the haredi to maintain their way of life as well as to respond to operational needs, such as establishing an ultra-Orthodox base along the border with Jordan that would be responsible for defense there.
How to fulfill the IDF’s need for more soldiers
Besides that example, Netanyahu said that the army’s need for more soldiers could be filled by extending the service of mandatory service soldiers as well as calling up a variety of reservists from among the population living in border communities who never responded to their call-ups or were given exemptions.
In contrast to Netanyahu’s statements, seeming to indicate that the IDF cannot absorb a significant increase of haredi men, the military has said repeatedly, dating back to August, that it has been ready to receive an additional 3,000 haredi per year, on top of the approximately 1,800 per year it has already been absorbing.
The announcement in August and the sending of summons to 3,000 members of the ultra-Orthodox community came after months of extensive work and the investment of significant resources to prepare both personnel and bases for a new, major influx.
One new option for service that the IDF has already added for the haredi to make their service more attractive is serving in technical and logistical capacities at hardened aircraft shelters at an air force base section where only men will serve.
Another new option is called the Yoav Track in logistics command centers, which includes fulfilling a wide variety of technical and logistic roles throughout the military, and not just in the Israel Air Force.
Also, though Netanyahu said that the IDF should look into forming a new haredi brigade, the military had already announced last week that on December 26, it would open one, distinct from Netzach Yehuda.
Netzach Yehuda had been the brigade that most of the haredi wanted to join to date. However, it has turned off many of the ultra-orthodox because it has a reputation for being more religious Zionist in nature than haredi.
Additionally, there is a recently established unit of haredi serving at the Ofer detention center, and that program is expected to grow.
Further, a Lt.-Col. with a hassidic Chabad background, who has joined the army. He will be focused on haredi affairs and making sure new inductees are comfortable and are having their needs addressed.
Despite a detailed presentation last week about all of these new service mediums as being already established for haredim, a spokesperson for Netanyahu doubled down on the claim that the IDF was still lacking in its capacity to absorb a major influx of haredi soldiers.
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
British rocker Paul Weller, Scottish band Primal Scream, and Irish rappers Kneecap will headline a ‘Gig For Gaza’ charity show at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on Dec. 13.
Weller, the former frontman for 1970s punk pioneers The Jam, is curating the show, with all proceeds going to organizations Medical Aid For Palestinians and Gaza Forever, which purportedly provide essential aid – including food, medical supplies, and emergency shelter – for Gazans who have been forced to flee their homes due to the Israel-Hamas War.
“This is an opportunity to enjoy a night of powerful music and make a tangible difference in the lives of people facing unimaginable hardship,” a press release for the show said. The concert will also feature guest speakers and short films.
Weller of Primal Scream performed with Palestinian flag
During a recent tour of the US, Weller, a longtime advocate for leftwing causes, performed with a Palestinian flag draped over his guitar amplifier. Speaking onstage from Glasgow, Scotland, last month, Weller said, “I would like to dedicate that last song to all the tens of thousands of women, children, babies, men, civilians in Palestine and Gaza. I would ask you one question. It’s really simple. There is no grey area. Are you for genocide, or are you against it? It’s a f–-king yes or no question…”
Over the summer, Primal Scream, which formed in the 1980s, gave their support for a jersey design for a Palestinian refugee football team based on their classic record ‘Screamadelica.’
In March, Kneecap withdrew from performing at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, after it was revealed that the US Army was a “super sponsor” of the event as well as defense contractor RTX Corporation.
“It is done in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to highlight the unacceptable deep links the festival has to weapons companies,” the group explained of their decision via Instagram. “This will have a significant financial impact on Kneecap… but it isn’t an iota of hardship when compared with the suffering being inflicted on the people of Gaza.
None of the artists appearing nor promo material for the concert mentioned the 101 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, nor the October 7 massacre that killed over 1,200 Israelis and sparked the current war aimed at toppling Hamas.
David Brinn contributed to this report.
Support for a two-state solution in the Middle East among Arab Americans and Palestinians residing in the West Bank and Gaza is on the rise, according to two recent surveys.
The more recent survey from YouGov and Arab News was published on Tuesday. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) published the other in September.
A survey of Arab Americans leading up to the US presidential elections found that half of those polled (50%) believed in seeking a two-state solution.
The poll touched upon the future of the conflict and possible resolutions to see its conclusion. Half of Arab-Americans polled believed in seeking a two-state solution with shared governance over Jerusalem. 34% believe that there should be one state where Israelis and Palestinians have equal rights, and 9% stated that they were unsure.A separate poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in September found that support for the concept of the two-state solution among Palestinians continues to rise and has the support of 39% of those polled.
According to PSR, three months prior, support for two states stood at around 32%. Figures were taken from Gaza and the West Bank, at 39% and 38%, respectively.
However, when asked about a separate Palestinian state not linked to the “two-state solution” and when state borders are identified as those of 1967, support rises to 59%, PSR found.
Half of the respondents prefer the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, while 19% prefer a confederation between the two states of Palestine and Israel. Only 10% prefer establishing a single state with equality between Israelis and Palestinians.
When asked about solving the conflict and reaching statehood, nearly half of Palestinian respondents (48%) said they would choose “armed struggle” as a way to achieve it (50% in the West Bank, 36% in Gaza).
However, a third said they preferred negotiations to end the conflict, and 15% said they would like to see popular peaceful resistance.
International calls for two-states
Recent US administrations and other global actors have called for the end to the ongoing war and to reach a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Biden administration has attempted to broker a hostage and ceasefire deal as a first step. In remarks made ahead of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in September, US President Joe Biden reiterated his support for a two-state solution.
“As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where the world — where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors, where Palestinians live in security, dignity, and self-determination in a state of their own,” Biden said.
The survey conducted by Arab News and YouGov was conducted using a sample of 500 Arab Americans across the United States from September 26 to October 1, 2024. The survey data have a margin of error of +/- 5.93%.
The poll conducted by PSR comprised a sample size of 1,200 people, of whom 790 were interviewed face-to-face in the West Bank and 410 in Gaza. The margin of error stood at +/-3.5%.
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