Mayor Biss rebukes outcry over ‘Free Palestine’ entry in 4th of July parade
At an Evanston City Council meeting, members of the Chicago Jewish Alliance and other Jewish residents criticized the inclusion of a pro-Palestine group in the city's Fourth of July parade, arguing it made many Jewish families feel unwelcome, while Mayor Daniel Biss defended the decision as consistent with free speech and American values. The discussion highlighted deep disagreements over the parade and the balance between free expression and concerns about antisemitism.
Ten people spoke at Monday night’s City Council meeting against the Evanston Fourth of July Association’s decision to allow the “Evanston for a Free Palestine” entry in the city’s Fourth of July parade, taking particular aim at Mayor Daniel Biss, who later rebuked the criticism in a rare response of his own to public commenters.
The public comment session at Monday’s meeting was tense. Extra police officers were on hand standing guard. A group of organized speakers took turns to denounce the 35 parade marchers who headed down Central Street behind a “Free Palestine” banner, holding signs about genocide in Gaza and waving the Palestinian flag.
Na’amah Devine receives a standing ovation after declaring: “We, the Jewish people, say ‘never again’ means never again. Not in Israel. Not in Evanston. Not anywhere.” Credit: Richard Cahan
Those who spoke against the group said they see chants like “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea” as threatening.
“Many Jewish families arrived expecting a celebration of shared American identity, and instead encountered political messages that they experience as divisive and not a place at a Fourth of July celebration,” said Stacey Hunt of the Chicago Jewish Alliance, a regional nonprofit formed in response to Chicago’s City Council passing a resolution in early 2024 in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. The group has published a number of Instagram posts condemning the parade entry.
“When members of a minority community tell elected leaders that they felt unwelcome at a civic event, the response should begin with empathy and acknowledgement, even among political disagreement,” said Stacey Hunt. Credit: Richard Cahan
The speakers, who identified themselves as Jewish, criticized Biss for his response to earlier questions from the Chicago Jewish Alliance about the parade entry’s inclusion. The parade is solely organized and run by the independent Fourth of July Association, and neither Biss nor any other city officials have any control over what parade entries are permitted or rejected.
According to one Instagram post from the alliance, Biss wrote in a July 5 email that he supported the association’s decision and felt rejecting the entry would have been “a violation of and insult to the American ideals we were celebrating yesterday.” Hunt said at Monday’s council meeting that the mayor should have responded “with empathy and acknowledgement,” and that she and others were asking whether the parade “belongs to them too — the Jews.”
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss listens to public comment Monday night. Credit: Richard Cahan
Only two people spoke in favor of allowing the parade entry, including activist Andy Thayer. “The idea that one group should be excluded from a parade, frankly, reeks of the kind of censorship which is sweeping our nation now,” he said.
Thayer, an anti-war activist who described himself as “a long-time supporter to Palestinian freedom,” was heckled when he mentioned the organization Jewish Voice for Peace.
“To say that this was a message of intimidation to one entire community is frankly nonsense,” said Andy Thayer. Credit: Richard Cahan
At that point, Biss — who thanked every person who commented — stopped the meeting briefly and said, “Residents who stand at the podium to share their opinions should be treated with respect and not mocked or dismissed.”
Still, other speakers made more extreme comparisons. William Choslovsky said there was “no principal distinction” between allowing the “Free Palestine” group and allowing the Ku Klux Klan or North Korea to march, and Na’amah Devine called the Palestinian flag a “modern political invention weaponized against the Jews,” with both commenters receiving loud applause from a group of meeting attendees.
City Council has long avoided taking any kind of public stance on the war in Gaza, and councilmembers seldom respond to public comments. But Biss broke that trend after public comment ended Monday, making clear that he agreed with the association’s decision to accept the parade entry.
“Thank God the Evanston July 4 Association chose not to do that [ban the entry], and certainly had it been my decision, we would have not done that either,” the mayor said. “I think that would have been un-American, and it would have been a deliberate effort to silence a bunch of Evanstonians — by the way, many of whom are Jewish.”
Mayor Daniel Biss responds to public comment Monday night. Credit: Richard Cahan
Biss said that he’s “appreciative” of Monday’s commenters, and that it would not be “in keeping with our core American principles” for him to block them from speaking as mayor. But he wasn’t shy about his own thoughts on the comments, which he “personally found offensive” and said “others in the community doubtless found offensive.”
“As a Jewish person myself,” Biss said, “I am personally offended at the idea that others who see the world completely differently than me would purport to speak for the entire Jewish community. I think we could be better than that.”
Biss is also the Democratic nominee for the 9th Congressional District, having won a packed primary race where Israel and Palestine was the predominant issue, particularly due to the millions of dollars in outside spending by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He published a statement on his congressional campaign’s Substack account on Monday saying that “solidarity with the Palestinian people, the overwhelming majority of whom are civilians enduring immense suffering, is an expression of humanitarian concern” and not antisemitism.
The Evanston Fourth of July Association is an all-volunteer nonprofit that produces annual Independence Day festivities in cooperation with the city. The group’s trustees issued a statement dated July 8 saying that one resident had “expressed concern” about the entry before the parade, and explaining their response.
“In the interest of safety, we sought the advice of the Evanston city manager and the Evanston Police Department,” the trustees wrote. “They both advised there were no direct threats, and that this parade entry is not on any watch list. Based on their advice and our mission and vision statements … we agreed they should be allowed in the parade.”
Their statement read in part: “The association was founded and continues to operate on these core values: freedom of views and expressions, respect for individual rights, responsibility to provide fair and equal treatment of participants and spectators.”
The trustees wrote that they had received “many emails” since July 4 that both supported and protested the parade entry. “We heartily support our Constitution and all its amendments and encourage all people to embrace their civil rights,” they said.
“Following the Fourth of July parade, the Chicago Jewish Alliance received thousands of outspoken emails, phone calls and messages from Jewish families,” said the alliance’s Ethan Slyder. “Parents told us their children felt intimidated. Others said they no longer felt welcome at what should have been a celebration of our country.” Credit: Richard Cahan
“We have every right to demand that our communities feel safe and that the Fourth of July belongs to proud Americans celebrating liberty, not to people importing hatred against Jews,” said Na’amah Devine. Credit: Richard Cahan