Palatine council takes a pass on Gaza cease-fire resolution

Palatine leaders declined Monday to formally support calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, but said they will relay advocates’ message to the village’s congressional representatives.

“This is a foreign policy matter. It does not relate to the core services of our village government,” Mayor Jim Schwantz said.

Although Schwantz opened the public comment of the village council’s meeting Monday by urging speakers to confine their remarks to village business --- “police, fire, water, sewer, roads” — several nonetheless addressed the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Palatine resident Aleena Malik said there is “a divide in the community” that can be bridged with a cease-fire resolution. She added that she has noticed increasingly hostile behavior toward her in town, especially while wearing her hijab.

“That makes this a local issue,” she said.

Noting that the Ukrainian community had received support from the village council after Russia’s invasion in 2022, Malik asked the council, “Why does our community’s pain not affect a single one of you?”

Fellow village resident Farzeen Harunani said the well-being of those who live in Palatine is village business, “though that is not fire, water, sewer.”

Hoffman Estates resident Fayez Khozindar also urged the council to pass a resolution, telling officials that he knows 100 people now trapped in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

“Silence is not an option for you,” he said.

Advocates have appeared before several other suburban boards and councils in recent months seeking cease-fire resolutions, including Schaumburg, Naperville and Hoffman Estates. Most have declined, but Villa Park and Bolingbrook, along with the Chicago City Council, have endorsed such measures.