Israel activists erect ‘Hostage Square’ in Chicago on sidelines of Democratic convention
Hostage’s father welcomes supportive interaction with Ocasio-Cortez; Israeli envoy raps city’s ‘institutional support’ for anti-Israel protesters as they disrupt an Orthodox event
CHICAGO — Hundreds of people on Tuesday stopped by “Hostage Square,” which was erected in Chicago to raise awareness for the plight of the 105 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
The square, located in an empty lot about a mile from the Democratic National Convention, featured several exhibits by Israeli and American artists honoring the victims of the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.
One of the exhibits featured milk cartons adorned with photos of the eight American hostages in Gaza, playing off “missing person” ads that were seen on such containers in the late 20th century.
The expo was organized by the Israeli American Council, which said it was forced to find a space on private property after the city of Chicago refused to give it a permit for a space closer to or within the perimeter of the Democratic National Convention.
The pop-up square was meant to be a deliberate repudiation of the raucous protests that a coalition of pro-Palestinian groups has planned.
The contrast was the point, said Elan Carr, the Israel American Council’s CEO, who said the Israelis did not have to shout to get their point across to a sympathetic nation.
“We thought art is the best way to draw attention to the horrific plight of these hostages,” Carr said. “This is heart-wrenching stuff. The noise we see out in the streets, these people who burn flags and vandalize buildings and tear things down — they represent a fringe extreme group.”
Whether the exhibit would attract anyone who had not previously been invested in the plight of the hostages was unclear. Registered attendees got notice of the address only at 7 a.m., a tactic that virtually every Jewish organization running an event this week in Chicago has adopted in order to avoid disruptions from protesters.
People who just turned up were let in as long as they showed identification and gave a phone number. The pop-up closed at the end of the day.
IAC did accept a Wednesday evening spot at a “Speaker’s Platform” that the city set up in one of its nearby parks to accommodate the many groups that were declined rally permits due to capacity limits.
Israeli envoy slams Chicago’s ‘institutional support’ for anti-Israel protests
Israel’s Consul General in Chicago Yinam Cohen lamented on Tuesday the “institutional support” he argued the city of Chicago had provided to anti-Israel protests taking place outside the Democratic National Convention.
Speaking to The Times of Israel from “Hostage Square,” Cohen declined to elaborate on the charge.
Earlier this week, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson characterized the war in Gaza as “genocidal.” Pressed on that assertion on Tuesday, Johnson softened his rhetoric, instead calling for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that the US has been working to broker.
The city has granted organizers of the anti-Israeli March on the DNC permits to hold rallies on the first and final days of the convention, allowing them to gather within sight and sound of the main confab hall. Several demonstrators were arrested Tuesday after breaching one of the outer perimeters of Chicago’s United Center, where the main events are being held.
Despite his criticism of the city, Cohen said the reception he and other Israeli diplomats have been receiving at the DNC has been “extraordinary.”
“Just like we were at the RNC last month, we are here at the DNC to really celebrate the strategic alliance between the United States and Israel,” he said.
“The most significant foundation of this alliance is its bipartisan nature and our ability to work well and evenly with both parties,” Cohen added.
Hostage father and AOC
One of the Americans pictured on a carton at the pop-up square was Itay Chen, an IDF soldier who was killed and whose body was abducted by Hamas on October 7.
Chen’s father Ruby told The Times of Israel that in conversations with Democratic delegates, he and the other relatives of American hostages had sought to differentiate the plight of the hostages from the broader Palestinian issue.
He attended a breakfast earlier on Tuesday for the New York delegation where he met briefly with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
A lot of responds to this. I approached AOC as a fellow New Yorker at the NY delegation bash and immediately responded positively to take a photo together https://t.co/IAwkdc8lql
— Ruby Chen (@EmailRubychen) August 21, 2024
Recalling his conversation with the lawmakers, Chen said he noted that New Yorkers are known for standing together and asked Ocasio-Cortez if she’d be willing to stand with his family, who are also from the state. The Democratic lawmaker agreed and Chen expressed his hope that there would be follow-up meetings.
Ocasio-Cortez highlighted Vice President Kamala Harris’s commitment to securing a ceasefire and hostage release deal during her well-received Monday night speech at the DNC.
The lawmaker is an important ally to cultivate, given her widespread following in the US, Chen said.
At the Republican National Convention last month American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra’s parents were given a primetime slot on the event’s main stage.
Chen said the American hostage families in town for the DNC had been in touch with organizers about receiving a similar speaking slot.
“It will be difficult to not provide us a platform,” he said, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic” about ultimately receiving one before the convention ends on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian activists were seeking a similar speaker spot for one of the American doctors who recently returned from treating patients in war-decimated Gaza.
Chen also cast doubt on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public acceptance of a US bridging proposal submitted last week to secure a ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas.
“It’s difficult to understand why the prime minister is coming up with new [demands] and further clarifications on things that he himself put in place,” Chen said.
Chen acknowledged that Netanyahu’s office issued a statement on Monday announcing his support for the US proposal, but noted that Netanyahu then immediately met with a small minority of hostage families who have opposed previous hostage deal offers, and “backtracked a bit on what was agreed upon in the prime minister’s meeting with [US] Secretary [of State] Antony Blinken.״
According to an Israeli official, Netanyahu told the hawkish hostage families in Tuesday’s meeting that Israeli forces will not under any circumstances leave the Philadelphi and Netzarim Corridors in Gaza, doubling down on the new demands he issued last month that Israeli negotiators have warned could scuttle a deal.
Chen accused Netanyahu of “posturing,” saying the prime minister conducted himself similarly during and after his meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House last month. The hostage’s father said Netanyahu “made clarifications after the meeting that weren’t in line with what we understood at the White House.״
For now, the Biden administration has maintained that Netanyahu is, in fact, sticking with the latest bridging proposal submitted by the US on Friday, but a US official did acknowledge to The Times of Israel on Tuesday that there’s concern from both sides regarding the implementation of the deal.
Highlighting Israel’s recovery of six hostages’ bodies from Gaza hours earlier, Chen said the development highlights the urgency of his plight.
“The enemy of a good deal is an excellent deal. The prime minister is looking for an excellent deal, but to get there he’s taking such a long time that more hostages are being sacrificed,” he said.
Pressing Netanyahu to act, he cited a Jewish teaching that states that saving one life is equivalent to saving an entire world.
He clarified that Hamas also needed to accept the US proposal on the table — something the terror group has yet to do.
Orthodox event disrupted
Meanwhile, a handful of anti-Israel protesters briefly disrupted an event organized by an Orthodox Jewish group on the sidelines of the DNC on Tuesday. The Agudath Israel of America event focused on growing the electoral strength of the Orthodox Jewish community and rising antisemitism in the US.
While the event only mentioned Israel in passing, a handful of masked, far-left protesters chanted, “Brick by brick, wall by wall, Zionism has got to fall” and shouted “Shame on you” at participants.
Organizers of Jewish events at the DNC have refrained from publicizing their location ahead of time to avoid such disruptions. The incident appears to be the first time far-left protesters succeeded in discovering the site of a Jewish gathering in advance.
The Agudath event saw speeches by Democratic Sen. Debby Stabanow, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and the chairman of the DNC host committee.
