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Pro-Hamas Protesters Show Up at Jewish Illinois Officials’ Homes, Declare ‘No Sleep for War Criminals’
Illustrative: Pro-Hamas protesters outside the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo: Ron Sachs via Reuters Connect
Pro-Hamas agitators roamed the streets of the greater Chicago area over the weekend, harassing Jewish residents and fostering unrest in their campaign to pressure elected officials into boycotting and divesting from Israel.
Marching through the heavily Jewish suburb of Highland Park early on Saturday morning, a mob consisting of some 40 protesters — who concealed their faces with masks and keffiyehs — amassed outside the home of US Rep. Brad Schneider (D), who is Jewish, reportedly dousing “red liquid” on the sidewalk.
About 24 hours later, the protesters undertook a similar action, showing up at the Chicago home of Illinois Gov. Jay Robert Pritzker (D), who is also Jewish.
The group responsible for the disturbance, which calls itself “Direct Action for Palestine,” said on social media that Pritzker and Schneider are “war criminals” while denouncing Schneider’s voting for a bill which, if passed, would defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), several of whose employees allegedly aided Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
“No sleep for war criminals. Palestinian, Arab, and allied youth refuse to let war criminals rest, including Representative Brad Schneider who was awoken at 2:30 am,” Direct Actions for Palestine said in a social media post following its demonstration. “We demand a complete reinstatement of UNWRA funding, Illinois’ divestment from Israel, and an end to the US backed genocide on Gaza.”
Reports on the protesters’ actions circulated on social media, with some saying that they approached residents asking if they are a “Jew.” Others said that local law enforcement declined to make any arrests.
“It’s unfortunate that instead of seeking a constructive dialogue with Congressman Schneider, a group of people hiding their faces chose to taunt and intimidate a predominantly Jewish neighborhood on the Jewish Sabbath in the middle of the night,” a spokesperson for Schneider said in a statement following the incidents. “It’s even more disturbing the chose to harass a community that is preparing to commemorate the second anniversary of the Highland Park mass shooting, a shared tragedy that was spurred by hate.”
The statement added, “The congressman is always happy to meet and sit down with anyone. I encourage those who disagree with his views to seek a conversation in the daylight rather than disturbing and traumatizing families in the darkness of night.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Midwest office denounced the demonstrations on Sunday, describing them as blatantly antisemitic and undermining the group’s claim that it wants peace.
“The chants were antisemitic. The false charge of genocide is antisemitic,” ADL Midwest tweeted. “The targeting of Jewish elected officials is antisemitic. This clearly isn’t about peace.”
Incidents of antisemitic hatred in Chicago have increased, according to a new report by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations issued last week.
“Antisemitic acts including assault, harassment, and vandalism rose to their highest level in recent history in 2022, jumping 128 percent from the previous year, from 53 to 121,” the report said, before noting that anti-Jewish hate crimes have further spiked due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. “Tensions around the conflict have impacted communities across the country, leading to protests in our streets and college campuses.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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