Bill Text: IL HR1009 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Recognizes the life of Chicago news columnist Ray Hanania.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-11-29 - Resolution Adopted [HR1009 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-HR1009-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives wish to recognize the life of Chicago news | ||||||
4 | columnist Ray Hanania; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Ray Hanania was born into a Christian Palestinian | ||||||
6 | Arab American family in Chicago, the son of immigrants; his | ||||||
7 | mother, Georgette, was born in Bethlehem and lived adjacent to | ||||||
8 | the Church of the Nativity, where relatives continue to serve, | ||||||
9 | and his father, George, was born in Jerusalem; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Ray Hanania was raised in Chicago and attended | ||||||
11 | Chicago Public Schools; he attended Warren Elementary School, | ||||||
12 | Bowen High School, Bogan High School, and Little Flower School | ||||||
13 | and graduated from Reavis High School; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Ray Hanania followed the example of his father, | ||||||
15 | who served in the OSS, his Uncle Moses, who served on a | ||||||
16 | battleship during World War II, and his brother, John, who | ||||||
17 | served in the U.S. Marines; in 1972, he enlisted in the U.S. | ||||||
18 | Air Force and served at an F-111 fighter base stateside during | ||||||
19 | the Vietnam War; he was honorably discharged and served 10 | ||||||
20 | years in the Illinois Air National Guard in Peoria; and
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21 | WHEREAS, Although his parents wanted him to be a doctor |
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1 | like many of his relatives, Ray Hanania studied politics under | ||||||
2 | the late Professor Milton Rakove at the University of Illinois | ||||||
3 | at Circle Campus; in his final semester in 1977, he was hired | ||||||
4 | by the Southtown Economist as a reporter, where he began | ||||||
5 | covering Chicago City Hall; in 1985, he was hired by the | ||||||
6 | Chicago Sun-Times; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Ray Hanania interviewed Richard J. Daley before | ||||||
8 | his death and covered the administrations of Michael A. | ||||||
9 | Bilandic, Jane M. Byrne, Harold Washington, Eugene Sawyer, and | ||||||
10 | Richard M. Daley; he is the recipient of four Peter Lisagor | ||||||
11 | Awards, two Stick-O-Type Awards, and the Sigma Delta Chi | ||||||
12 | National Writing Award in 2009; he was named Best Ethnic | ||||||
13 | American Columnist in America (2006-2007); his columns were | ||||||
14 | distributed by Creators Syndicate; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Ray Hanania hosted a live radio show on WLS-AM | ||||||
16 | for 10 years; he is a longtime member of the Society of | ||||||
17 | Professional Journalists and the author of several books, | ||||||
18 | including Arabs of Chicagoland; and
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19 | WHEREAS, As an Arab American, Ray Hanania has dedicated | ||||||
20 | his life to pursuing Middle East peace between Israelis and | ||||||
21 | Palestinians and served as National President of the | ||||||
22 | Palestinian American Congress in 1995, advocating for the | ||||||
23 | Rabin-Arafat peace accords; and
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1 | WHEREAS, After September 11, 2001, Ray Hanania launched | ||||||
2 | the Israeli Palestinian Comedy Tour with the motto "If we can | ||||||
3 | laugh together, we can live together," being the first | ||||||
4 | Palestinian to perform live comedy with Israelis throughout | ||||||
5 | Israel, the West Bank, and Dublin, and across the U.S.; he | ||||||
6 | continues to serve the community on the Arab American | ||||||
7 | Democratic Club and Arab American Chamber of Commerce; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Ray Hanania balances his life working as a media | ||||||
9 | consultant for government clients and writes political | ||||||
10 | analysis for the Southwest News Newspaper Group and | ||||||
11 | SuburbanChicagoland.com; he writes on Middle East issues for | ||||||
12 | the Arab News Newspaper distributed in in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, | ||||||
13 | France, and Japan and online in Britain and the U.S.; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Loved and hated like any good columnist because | ||||||
15 | of his political writings, Ray Hanania pursues truth | ||||||
16 | regardless of politics in the U.S. or the Middle East; he is | ||||||
17 | dedicated to peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and | ||||||
18 | Arabs, hosting and speaking about and documenting Arab | ||||||
19 | American heritage; and
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20 | WHEREAS, Ray Hanania lives in Orland Park with his wife, | ||||||
21 | Alison, and son, Aaron, who are Jewish, and has a daughter, | ||||||
22 | Carolyn, from a previous marriage, and two grandchildren; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Ray Hanania's greatest enjoyment was to watch | ||||||
2 | Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis, dancing and | ||||||
3 | laughing together at his son's Bar Mitzvah in 2014, proving | ||||||
4 | that if Arabs and Jews can get along, Democrats and | ||||||
5 | Republicans can get along, too; therefore, be it
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6 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
7 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
8 | we recognize the life of Chicago news columnist Ray Hanania; | ||||||
9 | and be it further
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10 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
11 | presented to Ray Hanania as a symbol of our respect and esteem.
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