There were Palestinian rallies in the Loop for several days. Yesterday, Boris and I ran into a bigger rally on Michigan Avenue when we went to see the Camille Claudel exhibit at the Art Institute. I already read in the news about how violent the protesters have been, including attacking the City Council members, and that’s how yesterday’s rally felt. And it was way bigger than the biggest Ukrainian rally we ever had in Chicago.
The Tribune front page article talks about Palestinian and Muslim people in general feeling frightened and unsafe these days, especially with several hate crimes, and they compare their feelings with how they felt after 9/11. I think there is a big difference – I remember the feelings in society after 9/11. I understand that Palestinian Americans want to be safe, but that was not the narrative of yesterday’s rallies and all the rallies of the past week. The signs people carried were not about their personal safety. And not even about humanitarian aid to Gaza. And their chants were not about their safety.
Unfortunately, the ideology can’t be destroyed with shelling or any other means of brutal force. Same as it was not the German surrender that put an end to fascism destroying the terrorists won’t put an end to the terrorist ideology.
Hettie's Reflections 