Public Comments Strongly Support Ceasefire Resolution for Gaza

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Town Council, March 4, 2024

This hybrid meeting was held in the Middle School auditorium and was recorded. It can be viewed here.

The public comment period regarding the Resolution for a Ceasefire in Gaza was scheduled for two hours, but, with 80 people wanting to speak, the council voted to extend it for another hour.  Sixty-seven participants spoke for the resolution, and 13 spoke against it. Here is a sampling of the comments. The report on the council deliberations is here. The final approved resolution can be read here.

Majority of Speakers Favor Ceasefire Resolution
Layla Moushabeck pointed out that the council unanimously passed a resolution condemning Hamas in October. “The Gaza Health Ministry recently released the names and ages of 6,000 confirmed dead Palestinians including 3,000 children. That is more Palestinian children killed in under a month than the total number of Israelis killed in 10 years of conflict. That number has since increased fivefold. There are people in this room for whom those statistics are not numbers. They are friends and family and colleagues. For some of us, our awareness of Palestinian suffering did not begin in October, but has characterized a generational trauma.”

Mattea Kramer said, “I am Jewish and my Jewish family was shaped by anti-Semitism and remains traumatized today. Here in Amherst,  Jewish residents fear anti-Semitism and Palestinian residents fear Islamophobia. We will help break the local cycle of dehumanization by voting for a ceasefire. To vote for a ceasefire is to affirm that no one life is more valuable than any other. The bombing of Palestinian children is no less a crime than bombing the children of Crocker Farm School. My Jewish education taught me, ‘Never again,’ meaning no genocide ever again. We can say, ‘the cycle stops here.’”

Rani Parker stated, “More than 10,000 [children] are dead in Gaza. UNICEF estimates that more than 17,000 are wandering about. They’ve lost their families. We have to stop this. We have to get them food [and] medical care. The children have nothing to do with [the politics]. It’s up to us to speak out because we don’t accept this.”

Wildwood principal Nick Yaffee said, “I have devoted my life to working with children and making sure they feel safe and secure. I am speaking on behalf of [the children and families] in Gaza, but also on behalf of the children and young people of Amherst. Your passing of this resolution will say to them that you believe in peace—that whether you’re Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, whatever, we believe in working things out peacefully.”

Art Keene cited a British Medical Journal article that predicted that an additional 85,000 Palestinians will die over the next six months as a consequence of starvation and a lack of access to clean water, sanitation, and medical supplies and services. The article states that fewer than 12,000 excess deaths will occur with an immediate ceasefire. He concluded, “There are seven million Jews and seven million Palestinians living in this troubled land, and the aspirations of one side to eliminate the other are delusional. It will either be endless killing, suffering, and insecurity or coexistence. The path to peace begins with a ceasefire.”

Stephen Brevik said, “I want to offer my perspective as a psychologist, because what we’re witnessing in Gaza is having a significant impact on our community. Individuals are presenting to my practice experiencing symptoms of trauma, depression, substance abuse, and anxiety related to this genocide. Individuals affected are becoming disillusioned, distrusting, and disconnected from our idea of America and our town.”

Fathima Anwar, an engineering professor at UMass, also spoke of the difficulty her students are having in their classes, because their pain over the situation in Gaza has not been acknowledged at the university level.

Rabia Ahmed said, “It’s a scary time to be a Muslim in America. Growing up here post 9-11, I was forced to hide my identity. My family was targeted by law enforcement. Since October 7, Islamophobia has run rampant once again. In October, a six-year-old by was fatally stabbed 26 times in his apartment by his landlord. I have a six-year-old son. Today you have a choice of supporting a ceasefire resolution which acknowledges the humanity and suffering of the children of people like me.”

Hind Mari stated that, prior to October, Gaza has “been under a brutal blockade for 17 years. During that time, Israel systematically bombed Gaza in 2008-9, 2012-2014, and 2021. Since October, Israel has carried out one of the most viscous, indiscriminate military campaigns against civilians, and only because of the support of our government and out tax dollars. I ask you, if 1,200 lives mattered, don’t 35,000?”

Lynne Peskoe-Yang said, “I’m Jewish, and I support this resolution. Thanks to an exhaustive 60-year campaign that crushed dissent from diaspora Jews like me, there exists a contingent of the world population who believes Jewish safety depends on Israel. The idea that Jews cannot survive without committing genocide is absurd, but it is crucially anti-Semitic. To my cousins in this room, who still believe that their safety as Jews requires them to silence the grief and self-determination of Palestinians, I ask, ‘Is it worth it?’” Lily Israel, a descendant of Holocaust survivors also said, “It does not keep us safe to perpetuate the same kind of harms that were done to us, to others.”

Michele Miller asked, “Before you vote, I ask you to consider this question. If the council’s decision on this resolution guaranteed an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and the removal of obstacles to humanitarian aid, what would you decide?”

Gary Tartakov, who identified as a Ukrainian Jew, quoted a character from Israeli author Amos Oz’s novel Fima, saying, “Can a worthless man like me have sunk so low as to make a distinction between the intolerable killing of children, and the not so intolerable killing of children.” Tartakov continued, “Must we not ask that question of ourselves. Have we sunk so low as to make a distinction between the intolerable killing of Israelis and the not so intolerable killing of Palestinians?”

Jewish Community of Amherst Rabbi Devorah Jacobson and Rabbi Deborah Kolodny also supported the resolution. Kolodny said, “The question before you is not complicated. You don’t need to decide whether there should be one state or two states or a confederation. You don’t need to decide how to heal the wounds or make massive reparations. You just have to decide to agree that the continued massacre of civilians has to stop. I’m part of a group of 300 rabbis for a ceasefire. I’m part of a network of progressive Jewish organizations that tomorrow will be making a statement to the press in support of a ceasefire. You would not be alone in making this decision. The wind is at your back.”

Ethan Markham read a letter in support of the resolution signed by more than 100 Jewish residents of Amherst.

Amherst Regional High School students Marisol Pierce Bonifaz, Amritta Rudder, Mar Gubrium, and Julian Hynes also supported the resolution. Hynes stated that the over 760 community sponsors of the resolution deserved an up or down vote at this meeting. He did not want to see the vote pushed off to “another four hour meeting.”

Opponents of Resolution See It as One-sided, Divisive, and Not Sufficiently Critical of Hamas
Mike Offner maintained that the resolution was “highly divisive.” He said, “The opponents are mostly Jewish, but Jews are a tiny percentage of the Amherst population. I offered to help fact check and slightly modify the resolution to make it a statement of unity. My offer was rejected, and I was attacked and insulted. It is easy for a bigoted majority to trample over the small number of dissenters.”

Randy Stein said she is in favor of a ceasefire, but not for the reasons in the resolution. She pointed out that “There is a difference between the description of what happened on October 7 and what happened since. The resolution mentions women and children, but I want to remind everyone that women were butchered, raped, and mutilated on October 7.”

Lisa Perlbinder stated, “Israel is at war due to an unprovoked attack, a ceasefire broken by Hamas, and has the right to defend itself. A resolution calling for a ceasefire will not bring about peace. In fact, of all the signs I’ve seen tonight, not a single one called for peace. Hamas believes that no part of the land of Palestine should be compromised or conceded from the river to the sea. Those of you who know geography can figure that one out. The leader of Hamas prayed for the annihilation of the Jews who he described as filthy animals. He vowed to repeat October 7 attacks time and again.”

Henya Lewin, an 84 year old Holocaust survivor who said, “Since October 7, I feel again a holocaust, and now, living in Amherst for the last 25 years, being involved in so many community activities, I feel again like the unwanted Jew. I have wonderful friends from Egypt and Turkey, and all of the sudden we aren’t friends anymore because of this kind of statement. This is divisive. Let’s leave foreign policy to our President.”

Tom Porter insisted that “tonight’s proposed resolution only inflames the situation. Be prepared to amend it month after month. As a member of the Jewish Community of Amherst, I’m telling you that our synagogue has not voted to support this resolution. It is not for this body to decide. Please abstain.