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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to recognize the life of Chicago news
4columnist Ray Hanania; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Ray Hanania was born into a Christian Palestinian
6Arab American family in Chicago, the son of immigrants; his
7mother, Georgette, was born in Bethlehem and lived adjacent to
8the Church of the Nativity, where relatives continue to serve,
9and his father, George, was born in Jerusalem; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Ray Hanania was raised in Chicago and attended
11Chicago Public Schools; he attended Warren Elementary School,
12Bowen High School, Bogan High School, and Little Flower School
13and graduated from Reavis High School; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Ray Hanania followed the example of his father,
15who served in the OSS, his Uncle Moses, who served on a
16battleship during World War II, and his brother, John, who
17served in the U.S. Marines; in 1972, he enlisted in the U.S.
18Air Force and served at an F-111 fighter base stateside during
19the Vietnam War; he was honorably discharged and served 10
20years in the Illinois Air National Guard in Peoria; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Although his parents wanted him to be a doctor

 

 

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1like many of his relatives, Ray Hanania studied politics under
2the late Professor Milton Rakove at the University of Illinois
3at Circle Campus; in his final semester in 1977, he was hired
4by the Southtown Economist as a reporter, where he began
5covering Chicago City Hall; in 1985, he was hired by the
6Chicago Sun-Times; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Ray Hanania interviewed Richard J. Daley before
8his death and covered the administrations of Michael A.
9Bilandic, Jane M. Byrne, Harold Washington, Eugene Sawyer, and
10Richard M. Daley; he is the recipient of four Peter Lisagor
11Awards, two Stick-O-Type Awards, and the Sigma Delta Chi
12National Writing Award in 2009; he was named Best Ethnic
13American Columnist in America (2006-2007); his columns were
14distributed by Creators Syndicate; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Ray Hanania hosted a live radio show on WLS-AM
16for 10 years; he is a longtime member of the Society of
17Professional Journalists and the author of several books,
18including Arabs of Chicagoland; and
 
19    WHEREAS, As an Arab American, Ray Hanania has dedicated
20his life to pursuing Middle East peace between Israelis and
21Palestinians and served as National President of the
22Palestinian American Congress in 1995, advocating for the
23Rabin-Arafat peace accords; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, After September 11, 2001, Ray Hanania launched
2the Israeli Palestinian Comedy Tour with the motto "If we can
3laugh together, we can live together," being the first
4Palestinian to perform live comedy with Israelis throughout
5Israel, the West Bank, and Dublin, and across the U.S.; he
6continues to serve the community on the Arab American
7Democratic Club and Arab American Chamber of Commerce; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Ray Hanania balances his life working as a media
9consultant for government clients and writes political
10analysis for the Southwest News Newspaper Group and
11SuburbanChicagoland.com; he writes on Middle East issues for
12the Arab News Newspaper distributed in in Saudi Arabia, Dubai,
13France, and Japan and online in Britain and the U.S.; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Loved and hated like any good columnist because
15of his political writings, Ray Hanania pursues truth
16regardless of politics in the U.S. or the Middle East; he is
17dedicated to peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and
18Arabs, hosting and speaking about and documenting Arab
19American heritage; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Ray Hanania lives in Orland Park with his wife,
21Alison, and son, Aaron, who are Jewish, and has a daughter,
22Carolyn, from a previous marriage, and two grandchildren; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Ray Hanania's greatest enjoyment was to watch
2Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis, dancing and
3laughing together at his son's Bar Mitzvah in 2014, proving
4that if Arabs and Jews can get along, Democrats and
5Republicans can get along, too; therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
7HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
8we recognize the life of Chicago news columnist Ray Hanania;
9and be it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
11presented to Ray Hanania as a symbol of our respect and esteem.