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The Syracuse Common Council voted 7 to 1 against a resolution to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war during its Monday meeting. Common Councilor At-Large Chol Majok, who originally proposed the motion, was the only councilor to vote in its favor.

The Common Council chamber was packed with attendees waving Palestinian flags, holding signs calling for a ceasefire and wearing keffiyehs — traditional Middle Eastern scarves that have become a symbol of the Palestinian cause. Small groups of attendees with Israeli flags and signs that read “Bring them home” — referring to the Israeli citizens kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 — and “Israel will never surrender” were also present.

The council tabled the vote for the ceasefire resolution until the end of its meeting, and voted through the rest of the agenda before revisiting the resolution, which Majok spoke in favor of as a refugee and “war survivor.” Majok first arrived in the United States in 2001 as a refugee fleeing violence in South Sudan’s second civil war.

“Dear children of Israel and Gaza, I pray that this horrific and unfortunate war … comes to an end,” Majok said. “May these words and the act of the vote today help give you a second chance at life like it did for me 23 years ago through the act of so many who heard our cries in the jungle of the Sudan.”

Aziza Zahran, a ‘Cuse Ceasefire Coalition member, was invited to speak in favor of the ceasefire before the council vote by Majok, the meeting’s only speaker. The resolution was originally written by members of the CCC — a group of local activist groups dedicated to passing the resolution — who have demonstrated at the council’s study sessions ahead of the voting.

Councilor At-Large Rasheada Caldwell and 2nd District Councilor Pat Hogan expressed concern over the situation in Gaza but said the council’s priorities should remain local.

As a local government body, Hogan said the council should be addressing “local issues,” especially given that calling for a ceasefire in Gaza would have “no impact on international decision-making.”

Hogan said the council has received thousands of emails from non-Syracuse residents since the resolution was introduced, suggesting the efforts are a “proxy fight” that is distracting councilors from local issues like homelessness and poverty.

“If these issues received the same attention and support from the community as a drafted ceasefire resolution, we can go a long way towards generating solutions for residents in our city,” Hogan said. “I would urge my colleagues to vote ‘no’ on this.”

Caldwell echoed Hogan’s remarks, emphasizing that the measure was not “proper for our local legislative body to consider.” Each of the councilor’s statements met with both protest and applause from attendees.

After the council voted against the resolution, attendees in support of the resolution walked out, chanting “shame” and calling Syracuse complicit in “genocide.” A group of demonstrators rallied outside Syracuse City Hall after it ended.

“We recognize that while largely symbolic, it is something that we need to do as a city of international residents, as a sanctuary city, as a city that prides itself in its diversity,” coalition member Amelia Bittel said. “We need to stand behind what we claim to be about and show the world that we won’t stand for this kind of violence and killing that’s going on.”

After Hamas’ October attack on Israel left over 1,200 dead and took 200 hostages, Israel’s response has resulted in over 30,000 killed and 70,000 wounded Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Bittel said the Israeli government is deliberately targeting women and children, journalists and aid workers, including the seven people working with World Central Kitchen killed last week.

Although organizers did not expect the vote to go their way, they saw the coalition’s efforts to bring the ceasefire to a vote as a success, said Karan Buntval, a coalition member.

“Regardless, we’re taking this as a victory because of all the organizing, labor that went into it to get everybody together,” Buntval said.

The CCC resolution voted on during the meeting was a “diluted” version of the one submitted to Majok, Buntval said. The submission resulted from weeks of drafting sessions and an online petition with over 1,000 votes.

“We just want to be another city, helping our federal government realize that their citizens want (a ceasefire) and they need to stop sending money and war machines to Israel to continue the slaughter,” Bittel said.

Other business:

• The council authorized the sale of 53 premises to the Greater Syracuse Land Bank for $326 each. The premises are listed as either a wood house, a wood house and garage, a wood house and barn, a wood house unfinished, or a wood house and garage unfinished.
• The council approved the hiring of 20 trained firefighters over the next three years to comply with standards established by the National Fire Protection using the Department of Homeland Security’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants Program funding, in an amount not exceeding $7,200,000.
• The council authorized the Parks & Recreation System Master Plan Initiative Project, to create a strategy for the “development and enhancement” of Syracuse parks, green spaces and recreational programs, not exceeding $151,900.

Published on April 8, 2024 at 11:00 pm

Contact Griffin: gbrown19@syr.edu