From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 15, 2024
Chicago city councilwoman denies celebrating Iran attack on Israel after uproar
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
A Chicago city councilwoman denies having celebrated last night’s Iranian drone and missile attack after a degree of uproar from local Jewish community leaders.
Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez had tweeted “Free Palestine” shortly after Iran’s widely reported strike had begun.
An hour later, Israel’s Consulate in Chicago tweeted, “We condemn in the strongest terms this Chicago Alderwoman’s celebration of Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel.”
“This is the same Alderwoman behind the highly controversial ‘ceasefire’ resolution. We see a pattern – not aiming for peace, but for Israel’s destruction,” the Israeli consulate added.
Four hours later, Rodriguez-Sanchez tweets, “I’ve been saying Free Palestine for decades and especially the last few months. I do not celebrate war or the loss of human life in any way.”
“I just got off a plane to see people again trying to demonize me for saying something basic. Same people who have been cheering on a genocide.”
“I hadn’t seen the news about the attacks when I tweeted, I had just watched a video of Gaza with a father sobbing holding his dead child. This moment is immensely tragic and it’s sad that there’s people choosing to create so much more hate,” she adds.
Meanwhile, the Free Press news site publishes footage of far-left activists in Chicago chanting, “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”
Anti-war activists in Chicago learn to chant “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” in Farsi.
Read more from The FP’s @Olivia_Reingold: https://t.co/1jMM5ydhpp pic.twitter.com/z7T9AKNrF9
— The Free Press (@TheFP) April 14, 2024
