Bolingbrook passes Gaza ceasefire resolution

The village of Bolingbrook last week passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza along with other hot spots in the world.

An advocate for the ceasefire resolution said it is the first action in Illinois outside the city of Chicago taken by a municipality calling for a ceasefire in the controversial conflict between Israel and Hamas.

DuPage Township Trustee Reem Townsend, one of the advocates for the ceasefire resolution, said she and others have turned to local authorities because of a lack of support on the federal level.

“I hope that with more and more of these local municipalities passing ceasefire resolutions, it might call for our federal leaders to call for a ceasefire,” Townsend said.

The resolution approved Tuesday by the Bolingbrook Village Board is wide ranging, taking in not only Israeli military action in Gaza but also the Hamas raid on Israel on Oct. 7 and other military actions in the Middle East and Ukraine.

It expresses “deep concern at the initiation of violence against civilians in the attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and the rapid deterioration in the region, particularly in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, throughout Israel and now in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, along with the continued war in Ukraine and Russia.”

“The main purpose of the resolution was for a harmonious peace,” Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta said, emphasizing that the village has a diverse population and the resolution was worded in a way so as to avoid taking sides in international conflicts. “We do have residents from Ukraine, and we do have residents who are Jewish. We are not leaning toward one way or the other.”

Alexander-Basta said the resolution was approved in a 5-0 vote, with one trustee absent.

“It was important for us to come up with a resolution that would be voted on unanimously by the board,” she said.

Language was added to the resolution Feb. 13 to specifically address the situation in Gaza.

Townsend said about 200 people came to the Village Board meeting, and many insisted on more specific language calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

So far, only the city of Chicago and the village of Bolingbrook have approved ceasefire resolutions, Townsend said.