About 20 people spoke at a Wednesday council meeting urging the council to consider such a resolution.
(Courtesy, Community Access Television Services)
A Bloomington city commission and several residents say they want the city council to take up a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza amid the current Israel-Hamas war.
About 20 people spoke at a Wednesday council meeting urging the council to consider such a resolution, which would be non-binding and serve as an indication of the council’s stance on the conflict.
“It is the view of the CAPS Commission that the ongoing financial and military aid provided by the U.S. government and the State of Indiana to support the actions being taken by Israel in Gaza constitute a growing threat to the safety of the Bloomington community,” the letter states.
The commission also sent the council suggested language for a ceasefire resolution.
Hours earlier, The Herald-Times published a column incorrectly stating the council would consider a ceasefire resolution Wednesday. No such resolution appeared on the council’s agenda.
Guest columnist David Szonyi wrote in opposition to a potential resolution, calling it deeply divisive. He added, “(It) will alienate, at best, and deeply offend at worst, many members of Bloomington's Jewish community and many others, who feel some sympathy for Israel.”
Szonyi told WFIU/WTIU News he would support a ceasefire, but only with conditions requiring Hamas to release Israeli hostages and relinquish power in Gaza.
The Washington Post reports 130 of the more than 250 hostages abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, remain in captivity, including the bodies of nearly two dozen.
Approximately 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, according to Reuters.
“The desire for a ceasefire is very understandable in some way,” Szonyi said. “Thousands of innocent people are being killed and injured in Gaza, and there’s no way one can’t feel some sympathy, even anguish, about that.”
David Szonyi (Courtesy, Zoom)
Szonyi wrote in his column that an unconditional ceasefire would leave in place the “terrorist, antisemitic, theocratic, misogynist, and homophobic Hamas regime.”
Szonyi also told WFIU/WTIU News he does not think the city council must involve itself in the conflict.
“In some ways, it’s meaningless for the Bloomington City Council, 8,000 miles away from the conflict (and) with most of its members … not really having a detailed, nuanced understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said. “It’s a long, complex history and it’s not essential for the city council to take a stance on what’s happening in Gaza.”
Council Attorney Stephen Lucas told WFIU/WTIU News there are currently no plans for the council to take up a ceasefire resolution, though that could change if any member chooses to sponsor one.
Aidan Khamis, an IU student, spoke in favor of a ceasefire resolution and condemned U.S. military aid to Israel. He said Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians.
“This is not an aberration of the treatment of Palestinians from the past 75 years, but this is the pinnacle of occupation, apartheid and colonialism,” Khamis said. “I stand forth also because of the explicit part that the United States plays in this — because of the United States aiding and abetting. Because of that, we are explicitly responsible as Americans; we are complicit.”
Aidan Khamis (Courtesy, Community Access Television Services)
Last month, the International Court of Justice found it is “plausible” that Israel has committed acts that violate the U.N. Convention on Genocide, according to NPR.
Several Jewish residents also spoke in support of a resolution Wednesday, including Aviva Orenstein, who said she is an Israeli citizen and has relatives who are rabbis.
“My identities cannot blind me to the wrong that Israel has perpetuated as an occupier and an apartheid state,” Orenstein said. “I feel compelled to speak out because of the great harm being done in my name, in my religion’s name and my people’s name.”
Aviva Orenstein(Courtesy, Community Access Television Services)
Orenstein continued, calling the conflict a complicated political situation.
“Israel has also suffered, and Hamas’ behavior on October 7 violated basic human rights,” she said. “This is a long and painful conversation that is not best attempted in two minutes.”
If the council were to pass a ceasefire resolution, it would join dozens of cities across the country to do so. Reuters reports at least 48 cities have passed ceasefire resolutions, and six others have passed resolutions advocating more broadly for peace.
At least 20 other cities have passed resolutions condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which sparked the current conflict, according to Reuters.
Such action by the Bloomington City Council is not unprecedented. In 2003 it passed a resolution against the Iraq War, and in 1972, it passed a resolution against the Vietnam War.
To date, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive following the Oct. 7 attack — but that count is incomplete, according to NPR.
