CHICAGO: The former mayor of an prosperous suburban village outdoors Chicago, Illinois, mentioned he’s “pained” and “very concerned” after having misplaced contact with shut relations fleeing Israel’s navy violence within the Gaza Strip the place he was born.

Anan Abu Taleb, who served as mayor of Oak Park from 2013 till 2021, mentioned he has misplaced contact with household residing in Gaza, together with his two sisters, three half-brothers and their households, because of the violent onslaught in Gaza by Israel.

More than 12,000 Palestinians, together with virtually half who’re kids, have been killed in the course of the Israeli assault launched in response to a Hamas assault from Gaza that killed an estimated 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7, a determine that was scaled all the way down to 1,200 on Friday by Israeli authorities.

Abu Taleb mentioned he’s deeply dissatisfied by US President Joe Biden’s failure to cease the violence, or “to put himself in the shoes of Palestinians” and perceive how they’re victims of a “double standard” in American international coverage and mainstream information media protection that distinguishes between the killing of Israelis and the killing of Palestinians.

“What happened on Oct. 7 is a horrific act. Based on what I have read in international law, it is a war crime taking hostages and killing civilians. And I also want to say that killing civilians, if they have fallen victim to a knife, a gun, a missile, or if they were buried alive under the rubble of their destroyed homes, is also a war crime. I am totally against that. We should all stand up for civilians and children, no matter where,” Abu Taleb advised Arab News.

“We are witness now to crimes being solved by more crimes. We must stand up against solving crimes by committing more crimes.”

The second eldest of 13 kids, Abu Taleb was born in 1959 in Beit Lahia, a Palestinian metropolis on Gaza’s northern border close to the notorious Erez Crossing. He emigrated to the US when he was 18 and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago.

After launching a restaurant in Chicago’s western suburbs together with his spouse, Abu Taleb ran for mayor in 2012 with none earlier political or election expertise. He received in a landslide with 58 % of the vote, pushed by a marketing campaign slogan to make authorities extra attentive to taxpayers.

Abu Taleb mentioned his love for the US and democracy fuels his emotions that not sufficient is being completed to cease the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, the place greater than 1.5 million individuals have been compelled to flee their houses, together with his household.

He mentioned his sisters and brothers and their households had nothing to do with the bloodbath of Israelis by Hamas, however Palestinians are being punished within the worst attainable means, with their houses and lives being destroyed with out anybody defending their rights as law-abiding civilians.

“My father (Hassan) was an elementary school teacher and a farmer. He lived his whole life under occupation. He died with a broken heart because he could not protect his children. That (Israeli) soldiers could walk any minute into your house, take whatever they want and turn things upside down whenever they want. And that is what is being done every day in the West Bank,” Abu Taleb mentioned.

“My sisters and half brothers and their families have had to flee south. I pray for them.”

Abu Taleb mentioned that there’s a “hypocrisy of feelings” and a “double standard” on justice that “damages America.”

“We shouldn’t have double standards. We shouldn’t be for freedom and be against freedom. We shouldn’t be for human rights and be against human rights. We shouldn’t be for some children because of where they were born but not for other children born someplace else. And Israeli child and a Palestinian child have no say in what part of the world they are born at. They don’t. And they don’t have a say on what religion to follow when they are born,” he mentioned.

“These are our children. These children who lose their parents and lose their homes, who are deprived of water, deprived of food, energy. What do you think is going to happen to them 10 years from now, 15 years from now, 20 years from now? Are we going to be surprised when they don’t love us 20 years from now? That is the long-term problem that we need to adopt now so we can have a better tomorrow.”

Abu Taleb mentioned that US information media performs a major function on this imbalance.

“Unfortunately, the mainstream news media looks at Ukrainian children different than they look at a Palestinian child. And they look at an Israeli child differently than they look at a Palestinian child,” he mentioned.

“When the media covers the Israelis, they emphasize how they feel when they see a civilian being hurt or being killed. One can see their emotions and their tears and their heart. But when it comes to a Palestinian, it is a casualty of the war.”

Abu Taleb mentioned that he has not dominated out working for greater elective workplace, saying extra should change to convey peace to Gaza and Israel.