Another Day of “No School”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson cast a tie-breaking vote for calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. As the WSJ reports, “Skeptics wonder when the mayor will support a cease-fire on the West Side.”

The Council resolution calls for a “permanent ceasefire to end the ongoing violence in Gaza . . . for humanitarian assistance including medicine, food and water, to be sent into the impacted region; and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”

In a statement last week, Mayor Johnson said he supports a cease-fire in Gaza because “the killing has to stop” and because he “want(s) to save lives.” He cited numbers from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry that the war has killed some 25,000 Palestinians.

The resolution did cause a flag-waving ruckus at city hall. The resolution, however, will have no effect on Israel or Hamas. The only thing it will affect is school kids’ ability to read and do math. Chicago now stands with cities (San Francisco, Oakland, Atlanta, Detroit) that also align themselves with the Palestinian cause.

In the Windy City, the resolution was helped along by the Chicago Public Schools system, which offered students grace time to join Tuesday walkouts supporting the cease-fire. Mr. Johnson said he was “incredibly proud” of students for “exercising their constitutional rights” and “speak(ing) up for righteousness.”

Pray for a Cold Snap

Chicago had 617 murders in 2023, which had the editors of the WSJ worrying that the kiddies who took part in the walkout might not get safely home.

On some weekends in the warmer months, dozens of people are killed by gunshots or stabbings. Two high school students were killed in the Loop last week in the early afternoon.

Amid national notice of this mayhem last summer, Mr. Johnson said critics had to live in Chicago before they had the right to criticize. Israel might ask the same of Mr. Johnson.