Elected officials joined many in the Muslim community March 28 in a Skokie ballroom for an iftar dinner, the meal that ends the daily sunrise-to-sunset fast for Muslims during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The event was hosted by Bushra Amiwala, a board member of School District 73.5 in Skokie, and drew about 250 people. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Lincolnwood Mayor Jesal Patel, State Sen. Ram Villivalam and State Rep. Kevin Olickal attended the event, held at the Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago North Shore.
“Islam teaches us to feel for what we want for our brothers and sisters the same (as) what we want for ourselves,” said Amiwala. “Anyone with the tiniest amount of faith, Iman, is impacted by the atrocities going on in Palestine right now,” she said before calling for a prayer for Palestinians, referring to the ongoing hostilities in Gaza.
Skokie School District 73.5 Board of Education Member Bushra Amiwala at the iftar celebration she hosted at a Skokie ballroom on March 28, 2024. Richard Requena/Pioneer Press
“Many of us are so lucky,” Amiwala said, “We have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and food… I pray that Allah always keeps my intentions pure and he puts benefits and blessings into the work that we do as leaders.”
“I have access to dreams that many people did not,” said Amiwala, of being born in the U.S. and, according to previous reporting, becoming the youngest Muslim elected official in the country when she was a college junior. “Little did I know I would grow up to find an immense passion for public service, volunteerism — all starting with getting back to the issues of hunger, homelessness, poverty and food insecurity.”
Wesam Shahed, an assistant state’s attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, spoke about the resolution supported by the Muslim Civic Coalition to honor the life of Wadea al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old boy slain by his landlord who targeted him and his mother after hostilities began in the Middle East, according to Will County authorities. The resolution was introduced to the Senate by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin on March 14.
Schakowsky told Pioneer Press she had attended the Iftar hosted by Amiwala in the past and that this time it was special because “the Muslim community, certainly in Gaza, people are suffering so much,” she said.
“Change can happen through elections; we can make sure justice prevails through elections.”
U.S. Rep Jan Schakowsky at an Iftar celebration in Skokie hosted by Bushra Amiwala on March 28, 2024. Richard Requena/Pioneer Press
When asked if her position on calling for a ceasefire in Gaza has changed since protestors held a sit-in protest in her Skokie office, Schakowsky said, “I’ve always been a supporter of the Muslim community and against Israel occupation. I’ve always been for a two-state solution. I’m mystified. (The protestors) don’t want to talk to me, they don’t want a conversation.”
“That’s why I’m with a group that includes some other Jewish people that sent a letter to the president that says Israel is violating the laws of the United States and international law when it comes to what’s happening without the humanitarian assistance,” Schakowsky said. “I’ve always been for Palestinian rights; I’ve always been for human rights and the Muslim community. They have never said what they want. Pretty early on, I called for a ceasefire… but I’m not against them (the protestors).”
A spokesperson for Schakowsky, Alex Moore, added that the letter to the president urges the administration to enforce Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act. This law prohibits the U.S. from providing security assistance to any government that blocks or restricts the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid. So long as the Israeli government hinders the entry of U.S. humanitarian aid into Gaza, it is in violation of this law and Schakowsky and the letter’s other signatories say it should not receive continued U.S. weapons or offensive aid, Moore explained.
