A majority of the City Council signed a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson Wednesday condemning a puppet display at the Chicago Cultural Center as antisemitic and calling on the city to take it down.
The free, public exhibit in the city-run building features bloodied caricatures of Uncle Sam and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described on a sign as “protest puppets.” Writing on the wooden bases holding up the figures criticizes U.S. financial support for Israel’s war efforts in Gaza and labels the characters as “children killers” and “murderers.”
The display is “extremely offensive” and “crosses into unprotected hate speech,” according to the letter addressed to Johnson, sent Wednesday and signed by 27 aldermen.
The group’s letter called on Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth to take out the exhibit. It also requested Hedpseth attend a City Council hearing to explain how the display was approved and “outline steps that will be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
“As public officials, we respect freedom of speech and artistic expression, but not when it crosses into the obscene and promotes hate,” the letter said. “The Chicago Cultural Center is a public space funded by taxpayer dollars, and displays there should reflect the values of our diverse and vibrant city. Artwork that is this divisive should not use public funds without a clear, transparent vetting process.”
The City Council’s lone Jewish member, Ald. Debra Silverstein, said she spoke with Hedspeth over the weekend about the exhibit. The commissioner agreed to remove the display’s title, “US-Israel War Machine,” added a warning that the exhibition “contains sensitive content” and removed a death count included in the exhibit, the alderwoman said.
Silverstein, 50th, said she had hoped to speak with Hedspeth again Tuesday to discuss removing the display, but did not receive a response when she contacted the commissioner. Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected to speak inside the Chicago Cultural Center Wednesday morning at an event unrelated to the exhibition.
The North Side alderwoman criticized the display as “very anti-American, and very antisemitic.” Asked if she believes censoring the display would violate First Amendment protections, she argued the artwork went too far and should not get taxpayer support.
“I do believe in freedom of speech and artistic expression, I do. But I definitely feel like this is crossing a line and promoting hate,” Silverstein said.
The demand that Johnson remove the display is yet another outcropping of local political tension resulting from the war that started after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza. Almost a year ago, Chicago became the largest American city to call for a ceasefire in the war, which was finally enacted Sunday.
Silverstein blasted Johnson at the time for casting the tie-breaking vote needed to pass the ceasefire ordinance. She has regularly criticized Johnson and several of his aldermanic allies over the last year for rhetoric and actions she describes as antisemitic.
“It’s very disturbing to me that I’m not seeing any change here,” she said.
The public exhibit in the city-run building features bloodied caricatures of Uncle Sam and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described on a sign as “protest puppets.”
A majority of the City Council signed a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson Wednesday condemning a puppet display at the Chicago Cultural Center as antisemitic and calling on the city to take it down.
The free, public exhibit in the city-run building features bloodied caricatures of Uncle Sam and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described on a sign as “protest puppets.” Writing on the wooden bases holding up the figures criticizes U.S. financial support for Israel’s war efforts in Gaza and labels the characters as “children killers” and “murderers.”
The display is “extremely offensive” and “crosses into unprotected hate speech,” according to the letter addressed to Johnson, sent Wednesday and signed by 27 aldermen.
The group’s letter called on Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth to take out the exhibit. It also requested Hedpseth attend a City Council hearing to explain how the display was approved and “outline steps that will be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
“As public officials, we respect freedom of speech and artistic expression, but not when it crosses into the obscene and promotes hate,” the letter said. “The Chicago Cultural Center is a public space funded by taxpayer dollars, and displays there should reflect the values of our diverse and vibrant city. Artwork that is this divisive should not use public funds without a clear, transparent vetting process.”
The City Council’s lone Jewish member, Ald. Debra Silverstein, said she spoke with Hedspeth over the weekend about the exhibit. The commissioner agreed to remove the display’s title, “US-Israel War Machine,” added a warning that the exhibition “contains sensitive content” and removed a death count included in the exhibit, the alderwoman said.
Silverstein, 50th, said she had hoped to speak with Hedspeth again Tuesday to discuss removing the display, but did not receive a response when she contacted the commissioner. Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected to speak inside the Chicago Cultural Center Wednesday morning at an event unrelated to the exhibition.
The North Side alderwoman criticized the display as “very anti-American, and very antisemitic.” Asked if she believes censoring the display would violate First Amendment protections, she argued the artwork went too far and should not get taxpayer support.
“I do believe in freedom of speech and artistic expression, I do. But I definitely feel like this is crossing a line and promoting hate,” Silverstein said.
The demand that Johnson remove the display is yet another outcropping of local political tension resulting from the war that started after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza. Almost a year ago, Chicago became the largest American city to call for a ceasefire in the war, which was finally enacted Sunday.
Silverstein blasted Johnson at the time for casting the tie-breaking vote needed to pass the ceasefire ordinance. She has regularly criticized Johnson and several of his aldermanic allies over the last year for rhetoric and actions she describes as antisemitic.
“It’s very disturbing to me that I’m not seeing any change here,” she said.
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