CINCINNATI — More than 100 people spoke in front of Cincinnati City Council Wednesday either in favor of or against the council taking up a resolution for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.
After a public comment session that lasted four hours, Mayor Aftab Pureval said he doesn’t believe the city should take up a resolution, which was never formally on the agenda.
That is why many people in favor of the resolution showed up in the first place, including Erin Fung.
“Your silence is radiating through the Black and Brown communities right now,” Fung told the council.
Julia Marchese acknowledged that while a ceasefire resolution from Cincinnati will be unlikely to change the war abroad, passing such a resolution “communicates to Palestinian-Americans in Cincinnati that their municipality actually cares about them.”
Several people, such as Lisa Saia, said they believed the council's silence on the issue is a “double standard.”
“A resolution was quickly passed for the Jewish community, where 1,000 civilians were tragically killed,” Saia said. “Same for the Ukrainian community where 10,000 civilians were tragically killed.”
University of Cincinnati political science professor David Niven has to weigh when and how the council shows where they stand.
“It feels good to say something," Niven said. “Every level of government wants to be heard on things they have no control over."
The council is made up of all democrats, yet they all don't agree on the ceasefire issue.
“What I think is interesting here is, of course, they spend most of their time worrying about filling potholes and keeping the city running, and yet they want to be heard, they know their constituents want to be heard, and so they take a break from sort of the nuts and bolts of city governing to speak their peace today," he said.
During a council meeting on Feb. 7, council member Meeka Owens was the first council member to call for a ceasefire.
“As elected officials, we have the duty to ensure that our constituents feel seen and heard, so that we can create a stronger, safer, more empathetic city,” Owens said. She said the issue went beyond politics.
Council members Mark Jeffreys, Reggie Harris and Seth Walsh circulated a statement that stated a ceasefire resolution would not be unifying nor balanced.
“Instead, we are asking representatives from both communities impacted by the conflict to discuss a path forward,” the statement reads.
Danielle Minson, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, urged the rest of the council to support the statement.
“If our city council takes a stand on and advocates for a ceasefire, it will widen the gap between our Jewish and Muslim community here in Cincinnati.”
Rabbi Ari Jun of the Jewish Community Relations Council said the Cincinnati Jewish community has been intentional about avoiding confrontation since the war began on Oct. 7.
“We’ve reached a point right now, though, where because of some statements put out by city council members, our community needs a time to speak up, share its truth and explain why certain types of rhetoric, much of it used in city council, hurts our Jewish community,” he said.
Holocaust survivor Zahava Rendler told council members that the current period is the “darkest time in [Israel's] history.”
“The last four months, I see the same atrocity [as] what happened to me,” she said.
While the majority of the remarks remained peaceful, the crowd occasionally interrupted to cheer or boo. Pureval had to remind the crowd about decorum.
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