Buffalo council urged to pass ceasefire resolution

Alia Williams, one of the coordinators of the rally in support of Palestinians killed in the war, highlighted what other municipalities in upstate New York, such as Albany and Ithaca, have done.

“Many cities have taken a stand…and called for a ceasefire. They passed resolutions in their towns. I don’t see why Buffalo can’t also join that list, and it’s important that local representatives use their voices of influence and their voices of power to say that we want a ceasefire and also to say that we let’s not do it. I don’t want military aid to be given to Israel,” Williams said.

Other voices in favor of the ceasefire resolution included Palestinian Americans, members of Jewish Voice for Peace, and representatives of Liberation for One, Liberation for All.

Marion Werner, a member of the Buffalo chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, also called on lawmakers to demand a ceasefire.

” I am Jewish. I have close family in Israel. I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors,” she said. “As a member of the JVP and a peace activist, I mourn the loss of all lives. I stand before you today to speak in favor of a ceasefire resolution because (since October 7) Israel has waged a campaign of violence that shows no respect for human life.

“We cannot remain silent,” she said. “We must assert at all levels of government that we demand a permanent and lasting ceasefire. »

“More and more people are being massacred while we wait,” said Amber Powers, a city resident and representative for Our City Buffalo. “And now there is a complete blockade and an all-out attack in Rafah. According to the most recent estimates, at least 14,500 children have been murdered in Gaza. Fourteen thousand five hundred faces that never had time to wrinkle, 29,000 hands without calluses, 145,000 fingers and toes, 14,500 favorite candies… 14,500 innocent souls forever frozen in time deprived of the possibility of growing old and making mistakes, of falling in love, of experimenting. the intense joys of life and the inevitable sorrow.

“Council Members, your constituents are deeply troubled by the genocide in Gaza and they are watching you,” she said.

One speaker, Rabbi Brent Gutmann of Temple Beth Zion, spoke against the group’s resolution. He urged the Council to reject the group’s “biased and one-sided resolution.”

“It is no small coincidence that just yesterday Jews around the world celebrated Holocaust Remembrance Day,” Gutmann said. “Exactly seven months ago today, thousands of armed men led by Hamas carried out the deadliest and most traumatic day in Jewish history since the end of the Holocaust. »

The Council has not made a decision on the proposed resolution. However, Niagara Council Member David A. Rivera said he would submit a resolution to Council next week that would address the humanitarian crisis.

The request comes as college campuses across the country grapple with war-related protests.

A University at Buffalo student was charged Monday with making a terroristic threat after campus police said he posted a threatening statement on social media toward participants in a pro-Israel protest.