PHOTO: Pro-Israel counter-protesters to the ceasefire rally / Elizabeth Diaz

Pro-Palestinian groups and The Westchester Jewish Council had each rallied their supporters to appear at City Hall. The confrontation created the impasse.

By Mark Parolisi | Yonkers Ledger

The Yonkers City Council tabled a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel/Hamas conflict.

Some speakers present demanded stronger language condemning the suffering of civilians in Gaza while others rejected anything less than a solitary condemnation of Islamic terrorism.

Demanding action

Activist group, Westchester for Palestine, joined by other organizations and residents, have spent months calling on the Yonkers City Council to adopt a resolution supporting a ceasefire.

Through social media campaigns, e-mails, and in-person demonstrations, the steady actions by the coalition finally swayed City Council President Lakisha Collins-Bellamy to present a “Peace Resolution.”

However, the language of this resolution did not match what the group proposed. Furthermore, the Council’s failure to consult with the group before drafting its own version served to only inflame the debate.

Co-founder of Westchester for Palestine, Hadil Sarrar, expressed the group’s frustrations as the resolution made it through the legislative process.

We wanted to go and to say we don’t want the peace resolution that you proposed. What we want is a ceasefire resolution.

With tensions growing, the resolution adopted some revisions from the group’s original language. Ultimately, the following resolution was placed on the City Council’s meeting agenda for Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

Full text of the City Council’s resolution:

WHEREAS, on October 7, 2023, Hamas violently attacked thousands of innocent Israeli men, women, and children, with scores seriously wounded and killed, while hundreds of others were taken as hostages and unjustly incarcerated in Gaza; and

WHEREAS, following the events of October 7th, widespread armed conflict erupted within Gaza between Israel and Hamas, with tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and children wounded and/or killed, and many more displaced; and

WHEREAS, the City Council of Yonkers believes that all human life is precious; and

WHEREAS, the City of Yonkers is home to a diverse population representing many races, ethnicities and religions, including Arabic, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian, who, like many Americans, wish for an end to this terrible conflict, the prompt and safe return of all the remaining hostages, the prompt end to the displacement of, injury to and loss of life of innocent men, women and children, and the establishment of a just and enduring peace for all in the region; and

WHEREAS, our City mourns the assault upon and killing of Israelis on October 7th, the continued unjust captivity of the innocent hostages in Gaza, and the subsequent displacement of, injuries to, and loss of life of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians in Gaza occasioned by this conflict; and

WHEREAS, we unite in calling upon our elected officials to magnify our voices, our concerns, and desires to the Biden administration, recognizing that the United States holds immense diplomatic influence to save Palestinian and Israeli lives; and

WHEREAS, we recognize the right of the Israeli people to live in Israel in peace and the existence of the democratic Jewish state; and

WHEREAS, we recognize the right of the Palestinian people to live in Gaza in peace, respect the right of the Palestinian people, dignity, freedom and self-determination; and

WHEREAS, we recognize the right of the innocent men, woman and children, including the many who are Israeli citizens, being held hostage in Gaza to be freed immediately from their captivity; and

WHEREAS, we acknowledge the immediate need for a ceasefire, to facilitate the entry and delivery of necessary humanitarian aid in all forms to the innocent men, women, and children of Gaza; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT BE RESOLVED THAT this Legislative Body urges our local, State, and Federal elected officials to call for an immediate ceasefire, rigorously pursue an end to the violence, to effectuate the prompt and safe return of all hostages, to provide for the prompt entry and delivery of all critical humanitarian aid to Gaza, and to prevent the continued displacement of, and/or injury and death to, innocent men, women, and children, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, we, the members of the City Council, condemn all forms of hate and discrimination, including islamophobia and antisemitism in the City of Yonkers.

Remarks began with three young speakers wishing to represent the children in Palestine suffering violence and starvation. Fellow Palestinian residents followed; pleading with the Council to adopt a resolution recognizing the suffering of their families in their homeland.

Hadil Sarrar herself questioned why the proposed resolution reads as if “history only started on Oct. 7” and neglects the generations of conflict in the region.

And while some critics questioned why a matter of foreign affairs should be within the jurisdiction of Yonkers local government, one resident quipped that since the Council fails to act on any local issues like roads and flooding, then the least it could do is pass a symbolic resolution.

Fears abroad and at home

Despite many supporters of a ceasefire resolution passionately speaking on its behalf, members of the Westchester Jewish Council and others spoke just as passionately against such a resolution.

City of Yonkers employee and labor leader Brandon Neider also spoke against the resolution. He believed it “dumbed down” the Oct. 7 attacks and did not adequately convey the horrors of the rape and torture committed. Ultimately, Mr. Neider thinks that any ceasefire resolution amounts to “[making] peace with terrorists.”

Rabbi Binni Krause further noted the terrorism as he detailed the tragedy of a family attacked in their kibbutz.

He pointedly questioned the Council, “would you call for a ceasefire if 134 of your family members were held hostage, sexually assaulted and tortured? Would you allow the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to continue to live on your borders?“

While some speakers spoke out against terrorists, others took aim at those who requested the ceasefire resolution in the first place.

Michael Mittelman of The Westchester Jewish Council warned that the adoption of such a resolution would “give an excuse for people who hate Israel to act on that hate against Jews here.”

Echoing that fear, Yonkers resident Brent Delman warned that “there’s a radical element that we see in our midst today.”

He attributed this faction as the source of difficulty he and his son face by openly displaying their Jewish faith. Speaker Scott Dubin further defined the supporters of a ceasefire resolution as, “the radical fringe of a few small organizations loosely connected by a common hatred of Israel.”

He claimed that this same coalition has unsuccessfully brought similar resolutions to legislative bodies across Westchester. As such, he called on the Council to not be bullied by this group to “spread their hate and lies.”