Chicago Muslim advocates travel to Illinois capitol to call for cease-fire in Gaza

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) – Muslim American advocates from Chicago traveled down to the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to also call for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Usually, action days in Springfield focus on legislative issues related to Illinois’ Muslim community, but this year, the organizers said, is different. On Wednesday, they tried to widen the calls for a cease-fire in Gaza and to bring home the realities of what life for those directly affected by the war is really like.

“We thought we are going there to help our medical colleagues to do some management with the mass casuaity events, but what we witnessed was massacre,” said Dr. Chandra Hassan of the University of Illinois Chicago.

Hassan was among those who traveled to Springfield. He talked about spending two-and-a-half weeks in Gaza last January. He shared what he saw with the gathered crowd and legislators.

“You can’t describe those kinds of wounds we witnessed,” Hassan said. “Those kinds of wounds are not even in the trauma textbooks, surgical books.”

Calls for a cease-fire were among the messages shared by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, whose leaders also reacted to the growing pro-Palestinian protests on campuses that include DePaul and the University of Chicago.

“I saw some pictures, some student had a hammer in his hand, at a window,” said CIOGC Executive Director Gregory Abdullah Mitchell. “We do not endorse lawlessness. We do not endorse the breaking of the laws. But what we do endorse and what we do advocate is that the leaders of the universities must open the door and have meaningful conversations.”

At Northwestern University, that conversation led to protests ramping down and tents coming down after an agreement was reached between the school and some protest leaders.

Abdullah Mitchell didn’t comment on whether that was the right way forward, saying he was “not familiar with the parameters of the agreement.”

As other schools grapple with how to manage campus encampments, the message in Springfield from hundreds of protesters was both pointed, against U.S. leaders helping fund Israel’s attack, and hopeful.

“We must stand in solidarity with all faiths, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, uniting for the humanity to the people of Gaza,” said Shafeek Abubaker, of the CIOGC.

Demonstrators also called on legislators to take action like making it easier for Muslim Americans to attain auto insurance and lower prescription drug prices. But their top issue was calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

CBS 2 reached out to multiple state lawmakers about the calls from the group, but none returned those requests for comment.

Chris Tye

Chris Tye is a reporter and fill-in anchor at CBS2 Chicago.