West Cook News

A recent incident involving threats from the Village of River Forest to remove memorial ribbons from trees in a River Forest parkway has sparked concerns and raised questions of bias.

JuliAnn Geldner, President of Temple Zion and a River Forest resident, addressed the issue during a village meeting, shedding light on the incident.

Geldner explained that she received a phone call from Matthew Walsh, the village administrator, on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

During the call, Walsh informed her of a complaint about ribbons on the trees in front of her home and requested their removal. If she didn't comply, the village would take action. The complaint, it was revealed, was made during a public comment section of the village board meeting on Oct. 16.

Geldner was puzzled by the request, as there were ribbons on trees all around the village, which had been in place for years without issue. She raised concerns about potential anti-semitism, pointing out that these particular ribbons were not political in nature but were meant to remember the victims of a horrific terrorist attack in Israel.

“In sum, first targeting the ribbons on ribbons, on trees, on the parkway in front of my home feels like a targeted enforcement and feels anti-semitic, since there remain at least 40 other homes that have ribbons that have not been removed from parkway trees. None of them happen to be blue and white,” Geldner said at a River Forest Council meeting.

“Secondly, the ordinance itself does not apply to the ribbon to use around the parkway trees and the ribbons should be allowed to be put back up on the parkway trees around my home. If the village does not in fact want ribbons around the parkway trees, it should in fact enact an ordinance that specifically states that ribbons cannot be placed around trees.”

Geldner said after discussing the matter with Village President Cathy Adduci, both agreed that historically, River Forest had allowed ribbons on parkway trees for various causes, from protesting hostages in Iran in the 1980s to celebrating mental health awareness, awards for elementary schools and supporting various humanitarian causes.

Following the phone call from Walsh, Geldner said she took a drive around the village and saw ribbons out in front of around 40 other homes.

She added that the ordinance Walsh used to try to compel the removal of Geldner’s ribbons was created to apply to items that would hurt trees.

Geldner argued that the ordinance cited for removing the ribbons did not apply, as the soft plastic ribbons she used didn't cause harm to the trees and did not meet the description of "wire or rope" as stated in the ordinance.

Geldner's remarks during the village meeting have raised awareness about the incident, and they have sparked a discussion about the enforcement of village ordinances and the need for clear guidelines and enforcement.

“I do think we have to revisit the ordinance, at least look at it, revisit it with a lot of things that you mentioned are correct. So that's what I would recommend,” Adduci said in response to Geldner’s comments.

Walsh said until the ordinance is addressed the Village will seek removal of all ribbons, not just those in front of Geldner’s home.

Village resident Phyllis Rubin who followed Geldner in the public comment period of the meeting told Walsh she was surprised by his comments.

“I'm a little disappointed in your response to JuliAnn Gelder. First of all, the response shouldn't have been we're going to ask everybody else to take down their ribbons,” Rubin said.

Then Rubin directed her commentary at Adduci.

“Two years ago, we had an anti-Semitic talk about anti-Semitism in our community at Temple Zion and I think you said we haven't had anything like that in River Forest that we know of – the police department said that to me. Well, here we are. Okay. That's all I want to say about that. That's very troubling and it's sad,” Rubin said.  

Geldner has been Legal Counsel and Chief Operating Officer at The Geldner Center for the past 20 years.

She also has a background in public service, serving as a school board member at River Forest School District for 8 years from 2005 to 2013 and assistant in the office of the governor from 1984 to 1987.

Geldner tied the ribbons on the parkway trees in front of her home in the response to the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, involving simultaneous assaults from the sea, air and ground, resulting in widespread destruction and casualties.

More than 1,400 Israelis were killed in the attack along with 29 Americans.

Airstrikes by Israel in the wake of the attack have resulted in the death of over 7,000 Palestinians.

Anti-semitism from pro-Palestinian voices has been pronounced in the wake of the attacks.

A prominent attorney working for the Illinois State Comptroller was fired for using anti-semetic slurs in InstaGram messages aimed at a Jewish person.

Sarah Chowdhury, who was also ironically Co-Chair of the Chicago Bar’s Racial Justice Coalition who was once honored by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois for her “commitment to social justice,” said in the series of messages "F***ing Jew," "I'd rather put you in a gas chamber bet you'd like that," "With all of our Zionist ancestors,” "Hitler should have eradicated all of you,” “ZIONIST PIG,” “all Zionists will pay” and “Hopefully someone sends you anthrax or poison and you die a slow terrible death."

Other instances of anti-semitism sparked outrage including a Hamas rallying cry being hung in a Hinsdale Central High School teacher’s classroom and violence last weekend carried out by pro-Palistinian protestors in Skokie.