Next Tuesday, May 28, the Salem City Council will consider adoption of a resolution drafted by the city's Human Rights Commission regarding the Israel-Hamas war. It calls for:
An immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to the hostilities, the free flow of humanitarian aid and the release of all civilian hostages.
Hard to see how any member of the City Council could object to that, though I bet some will (Mayor-elect Julie Hoy, for one).
The only viable argument against the resolution that I can come up with is that Israel should be able to continue going after Hamas fighters until they're all dead or surrendered, even though by Israel's own admission they've been killing more innocent Palestinians in Gaza than Hamas fighters.
There's greater weight on the side of the resolution, given what I know about this conflict, which includes Israel's horrible treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank for decades, a fact beyond dispute.
The United States has acknowledged that Israel hasn't been complying with international law in its conduct of the war.
But since President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken are so wishy-washy when it comes to standing up against Israeli atrocities, they decided to take the easy way out and merely restrict the transfer of large 2,000 pound bombs to Israel, instead of cutting off offensive weapons entirely, as seems to be required by U.S. law when our weapons are being used in an inhumane fashion.
Thankfully, the International Criminal Court cares more about justice than Biden and Blinken do. The court is considering arrest warrants for the Prime Minister of Israel and the leader of Hamas.
In addition, the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to back off its invasion of Rafah, a city in the south of Gaza where about a million people had sought refuge from the fighting elsewhere in Gaza.
So the time is right for the Salem City Council to stand for peace against mindless war. Hamas engaged in horrific terrorism in its October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel. Since, Israel has been engaged in horrific war within Gaza, killing well over 10,000 women and children in what arguably is genocide against the Palestinian people, destroying most of the residences in Gaza.
If you agree, email testimony to the City Recorder prior to Tuesday afternoon, if possible.
Background information for Tuesday's agenda item includes this statement from city staff:
Salem residents have approached Mayor and Council and called on their elected leaders to address a crisis that has continued to unfold on the world stage for more than half a year: the siege in the Gaza Strip.
The City of Salem Human Rights Commission, at the request of the Mayor, met three times over three weeks and held some six hours of public discussion on the question. During the Commission’s public engagement, the Commission performed outreach to faith communities, received more than fifty pages of public input, 107 members of the public attended meetings, and forty-four provided spoken testimony. One commenter shared she had a petition signed by over 200 people in support of a resolution.
Salem residents provided diverse perspectives. Most community members, regardless of perspective, centered on a concern for decency. Some residents communicated that they lived in fear, and asked Salem not to move forward out of concern for what they perceived to be the safety of the Jewish community in Salem.
Oh, please, give me a break. How is the safety of the Jewish community in Salem at risk from a resolution calling for an end to hostilities in Gaza? That's ridiculous. Playing the anti-semitism card whenever there is justified criticism of how Israel has been conducting its war against Hamas is deeply irritating.
Israel is a country led by right-wing extremists. Judaism is a religion. The two are distinct. I'm strongly anti-Israel when it comes to that country's despicable treatment of Palestinians. But I have no problem with the Jewish religion, aside from the problem I have with every religion: they're figments of the imagination with no basis in objective reality, since God almost certainly is a fiction.
So the City Council should pass the resolution with no concern about supposed anti-semitism. Again, if you agree, email testimony to the City Recorder prior to Tuesday afternoon, if possible.
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