Durham City Council passed a resolution overnight for a ceasefire in Gaza – became the second city in Northern Carolina to adopt a resolution to join 70 cities across the country.
The proposal was passed in 5-2 votes just before 1 pm on Tuesday. Durham’s Mayor Leonardo Williams and Mayor Pro Tempor Mark-Anthony Middleton voted against Sankalp.
Williams said he did not publicly talk on the issue before the meeting because he did not feel that it was a place to “tip the scale in any way”, but what was right, to do what was right and “embrace everyone’s pain” in the city of Durham.
“I am tired. I am tired,” he said. “When we passed tonight, it did not end.
The resolution “biden urges the administration to facilitate de-escles and a constant, bilateral ceasefire,” as well as unjustly organized Gaza for humanitarian aid and release of all hostages and Palestinians.
Councilman Deadrena Freeman said, “Whenever you use weapons of mass destruction to kill children, it is not right.” “It has no other side.”
Durham residents, Durham Workers Assembly and Mother’s for ceasefire ralled outside the Chambers of the City Council at 6 pm before going inside for the meeting, which started at 7 pm, which started at 7 pm.
A ceasefire supporter said before the meeting, “We know that this was a big step for the city council, and we know that it is not enough that we want to respect the gravity of this moment.”
“This is a small piece of a big attempt,” said Durham City Council member Jevira Cablero. “We have to do better. We all have to realize our shared humanity. And if we have any hope for a different future, we need to move in a collective manner. ,
Previous call for ceasefire in triangle
This vote is contrary to how the Rale City Council handled the call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Earlier in February, the Rale City Council said through a statement by Mayor Mary-N Baldwin that the council would not vote on the resolution of ceasefire.
In the first meeting following that statement, the protesters forced the meeting to finish 45 minutes in the public comment section of the meeting.
“A part of the cause [Raleigh and Chapel Hill] Did not chase a resolution, as they divided the votes, ”said Middleton.
Officials in Durham Vote Gaza say more than 29,000 people have died in the country since the war between Hamas and Israel.
In the last four months, Palestine’s supporters have collected for large -scale demonstrations in support of a ceasefire, including a demonstration for the Jewish voice that stopped the traffic on the NC highway 147.
‘Intellectual integrity’
Middleton said that when it took the month of the council to respond to the call for a ceasefire, it does not mean that he did not care what was happening abroad.
“The way we experience horror and what is going on in Gaza is frightening,” he said. “Not adopting your way of speaking about it, or your world to see wholesale, does not mean that we are not in one place in the context of our horror.”
While most people voiced their support during the public comment section of the meeting, some were against its passage, saying that it is not to decide foreign policy for the city council.
“Your so -called ceasefire is a blood complaint that is called for Israel Palestinian blood. It is a shameful task of a city council that is associated with American privilege and western ego. A speaker said. “Use of the city government is one of a thousand cuts for Jews to whip more Jewish hatred.”
Framean and other council members said that they have recognized the pain that the resolution would cause the Jewish people in the Durham community, some banned the International Police Exchanges due to a vote done by the city council in 2018.
Middleton, who revealed that he had to defend the decision to abolish prisoner exchange in Israel in 2023, stated that a ceasefire was not a sense of resolution, but due to “intellectual integrity” in defending the resolution.
“If we come in a policy statement, I think it assures what our basic goal was … to catch the sounds of Durham as much as possible,” he said. “Because from a policy point of view, I do not know how to deny a ratioless response, but the bilateral ceasefire two-state solution is absent.”
Full resolution can be found here.