An Illinois city councilman apologized last Tuesday for a council meeting speech he gave, in which he accused a cabal of Jews of controlling food, media, and music. He also claimed that elements of the Jewish faith informed a supposed genocide in Gaza.
Champaign District One Councilman Davion Williams apologized to Jewish leaders, according to a Friday statement from Champaign-Urbana Jewish Federation, Illini Chabad, Illini Hillel, and Sinai Temple. Williams’s comments were made at the end of a December 17 City Council meeting.
In response to a series of public comments demanding the city call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Williams said, “There’s Jews, they’re gentiles, who believe in peace, but there’s a small group of people of have a lot of control over a whole lot. Over music, over our food, over media, over a whole lot of things.
“I love Pringles. They’re Kosher. I just found that out. I stopped eating them,” Williams said of the potato chip snack.
Williams assured that he didn’t have anything against Jews or Israelis, but was commenting about an “element” in their population. He explained that the Jewish religion is against genocide because unlike Christianity, Jews are waiting for a Messiah. Those who “proclaim to be Jewish” and “follow along with this… genocide” are “out of order,” he said.
He continued, “The occupation of Israel and Palestine has been going on for a long time, since 1948,” and proceeded to compare Palestinian indigeneity to that of Native Americans and South Africans, and that Black Americans are Native Americans because they have hybridized with them.
'Sympathized with anti-Israel activists'
The councilman said that while he sympathized with the anti-Israel activists who spoke at recent public comment periods, he indicated that he didn’t believe that the council could influence the issue, comparing the cause to that of Black Lives Matter.
A BLM sign outside was performative, as cops were still shooting black Americans like “animals,” he explained. He also questioned calls for divestment, noting that vital minerals that came from war zones in African countries were used to make smartphones.
“Free Palestine,” Williams ended his speech.
Champaign-Urbana Jewish organizations said that, after meeting him last Monday, Williams apologized. The groups also said that Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen and other members of the Council “expressed disagreement with the statements made.”
“It is understandable that the tragic events of the war weigh heavily on all of us and inspire passionate responses. However, some of these remarks went beyond expressing grief or frustration – they crossed a line and amplified harmful antisemitic stereotypes that are both false and damaging to our community,” the Jewish groups said in joint statements shared across social media.
The groups said that William’s comments perpetuated an “age-old antisemitic stereotype of Jewish domination in key industries” that had “historically fueled violence and discrimination against Jewish communities” by scapegoating Jews for “broader societal issues.”
Williams’s remarks about Kosher food were condemned by the Jewish groups, which explained that the dietary laws are a core Jewish religious practice with no relation to the Middle East conflict, and that calls for boycotting Kosher products evoked memories of Nazi German policies.
Williams was also criticized for creating a sense of otherization against Jews, and implying that Jewish religious beliefs are responsible for war or genocide. The group said that referring to Israel’s existence as “the occupation” denies Jewish indigeneity and the right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland.
NGO Stop Antisemitism on Friday called William’s apology “hollow,” and that Illinois deserved “better leaders than councilman Davion Williams.”
The Jewish groups noted that over the past eight months, the council had seen protests related to Israel’s war with Hamas and Iran’s proxy groups and that many members of the Jewish and Israeli community felt that they had been verbally accosted during such meetings.
The December 17 meeting saw speakers that wore “End Israel Apartheid” stickers and keffiyehs. They demanded that the council adopt measures relating to the conflict, such as a resolution calling for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine.”
Resident Stuart Levy explained that the resolution would call on the federal government to end all arms trade with Israel, refund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and adopt an investment policy that would prevent financial relationships with countries accused of war crimes.
“The Middle East war is escalating daily,” said Urbana-Champaign Jews for Ceasefire representative Al Kagan, who denounced Israel for bombing Syrian military sites and entering the Syrian Golan. “Will Israel be bombing Iran next?”Kagan said that 46 local businesses and organizations support an arms embargo against Israel.
A man dressed in a top hat, wig, and fake beard to emulate the national personification “Uncle Sam” said that he was “tired of hearing” about an issue half a world away and that all the anti-Israel activists should be put on a list for associating with “political rapists, murderers, jerks.”
“Everybody’s concerned about genocide. I’m for it. Kill the bastards,” said the so-called “Uncle Ken,” continuing that the Palestinians started the conflict and urged the council to tell the incoming US president to end the violence quickly and decisively until they begged for peace.
The Jewish groups on Friday denounced threats against protesters, clarifying that “the threats and devaluation of human life presented by the community member in public comments are unacceptable and stand in direct opposition to core Jewish values. These words do not represent the Jewish community.”