[0:00] [Music]

[0:28] yeah

[0:31] [Music]

[1:58] yeah

[2:01] [Music]

[2:50] I'd like to call the order the city

[2:52] confus meeting for Monday March 26

[2:56] 2024 we have 16 items for original

[2:59] consideration if the clerk would please

[3:00] read item number one item item number

[3:04] one for final consideration an ordinance

[3:07] creating a special assessment District

[3:09] on a portrait of North College

[3:11] Street discussed in committee with

[3:14] objection on consent item number two for original

[3:17] consideration an ordinance amending city

[3:20] code section 93-6 entitled civilian

[3:23] police review board to modify the manner

[3:26] of appointing vacancies to the civilian

[3:28] police review board discussed in

[3:30] committee without objection and on

[3:31] consent item number three item number

[3:34] three for original consideration a

[3:36] resolution calling for a public hearing

[3:38] on the Central Parkway sidewalk

[3:40] Improvement project Plan D discussed in

[3:43] committee without objection on consent

[3:45] item number four item number four for

[3:47] original consideration a resolution

[3:49] setting forth additions to the community

[3:51] benefits agreement between the city of

[3:53] skty and West yard Properties LLC dated

[3:56] February 15

[3:57] 2024 BR brok home by Mr

[4:00] Toral item number

[4:03] five item number five for original

[4:06] consideration a resolution amending

[4:08] resolution

[4:09] 2022-23 to reduce the amount of

[4:12] additional funding commitment for young

[4:13] women's Christian Association of skty

[4:16] DBA YWCA Northeastern New York to secure

[4:20] required Financial commitments discussed

[4:23] in committee without objection and un

[4:25] consent item number six item number six

[4:27] for original consideration a resolution

[4:29] amending resolution

[5:00] discuss in committee without objection

[5:01] on consent item number eight item number

[5:04] eight for original consideration a

[5:05] resolution authorizing the sale of a

[5:07] garage on Bailey Street for

[5:10] $5,000 discussed in committee without

[5:12] objection and on consent item number

[5:14] nine item number nine for original

[5:15] consideration a resolution authorizing

[5:17] the sale of 737 Bailey Street for

[5:21] $45,000 discussed in committee without

[5:23] objection on consent item number 10 item number 10 for original

[5:27] consideration a resolution authorizing

[5:29] the of a vacon lot on Daniels Avenue for

[5:32] $10,600

[5:33] discussed in committee without objection

[5:36] on consent item number 11 item number 11

[5:39] for original consideration a resolution

[5:40] authorizing the settlement of a claim by

[5:42] Niagara Mohawk power Corporation DBA

[5:45] National Grid discussed in committee

[5:48] without objection on consent item number

[5:50] 12 item number 12 for original

[5:52] consideration a resolution appointing

[5:54] Renee Bradley to the city of skincity

[5:56] board of assessment review roll call by

[5:58] Mr Toro

[6:01] item number 13 item number 13 for

[6:04] original consideration a resolution

[6:06] recognizing Holly pagwa discuss in

[6:09] committee without objection on

[6:11] consent item number 14 item number 14

[6:14] for original consideration a res

[6:16] resolution recognizing Pearl tuer Hunter

[6:19] for her service to the community this

[6:21] item will be taken out of order and I

[6:23] will presented to Miss Tucker Hunter

[6:25] item number 15 item number 15 for

[6:27] original consideration resolution

[6:30] recognizing Sylvia Jimson for her

[6:32] service to the city of SKC discussing

[6:35] committee with objection on consent it

[6:36] will be presented to miss Jimson at her

[6:38] party on um March 28th item number 16 under contract and Supply

[6:45] a resolution awarding the bid and

[6:46] contract for the 2024 heating

[6:49] ventilation and air conditioning

[6:50] maintenance and repairs discussed in

[6:53] committee without objection and on

[6:57] consent if there's no further items to

[6:59] come be um excuse me there's no further

[7:02] items to be uh come before the committee

[7:04] I ask for

[7:06] AE oh I did that I ask for a motion to

[7:10] adjourn move on Mr mudar second by Mr

[7:12] Williams all those in favor

[7:14] I I'd like to call the connected city

[7:17] council to meeting meeting to order for

[7:18] Monday March 25th

[7:21] 2024 and I'd ask Reverend James coni to

[7:24] give us the prayer

[7:28] invocation

[7:40] Heavenly Father we turn to you in this

[7:43] time of new life and hope as the Earth

[7:46] awakens from coldness and darkness grant

[7:49] that we too may come to see your way of

[7:51] life and goodness light and warmth Aid

[7:54] Us in perceiving the smallest indicators

[7:57] of growth so that through them we may

[7:59] strive for communal growth you have

[8:01] bound us together in a common home in

[8:04] our city cause Justice truth and peace

[8:07] to Triumph in our community wipe away

[8:09] the tears of those who are suffering and

[8:12] illumin us as we strive to walk your way

[8:15] amen amen I'd like I'd like to call on

[8:19] council member Williams and to the rep

[8:21] for stands one nation under God

[8:26] indivisible with liy and justice for all

[8:30] thank

[8:36] you if the clerk could please call the

[8:39] role Mr Toro Mr Farley here Mr Mancini

[8:45] here Mr muan pres Miss Patrick is absent

[8:50] Mr Williams pres Mr Porterfield

[8:55] here we have one out of Ora resolution

[8:58] recognized Pearl Tucker hun her for her

[9:00] service to the community this time I'd

[9:01] ask Mr Mutan to take the

[9:23] de uh there she is come

[9:27] on I didn't have to call her up if there

[9:29] someone who wanted to take pictures you

[9:30] can't do if you can't get it from there

[9:31] you can come behind here it's up to

[9:34] you may I have the floor please you have

[9:36] the floor thank

[9:41] you

[9:43] welcome you're welcome this resolution

[9:45] is recognizing Pearl L Tucker Hunter for

[9:48] her years of service to the community

[9:51] whereas there are people who have found

[9:52] ways they that they can make a

[9:54] significant impact on their communities

[9:56] and do not do so for attention or Glory

[9:59] but for the most humble notion of making

[10:01] the world a better place they are most

[10:03] likely among those of the dearest most

[10:06] respected most admired and most

[10:08] cherished people in the communities they

[10:09] serve Pearl L Tucker Hunter is one of

[10:12] those people and whereas Pearl L Tucker

[10:15] Hunter has been doing things in skinc

[10:17] County since she moved here with her

[10:18] three children in the early 80s she's

[10:21] built great friendships with a lot of

[10:23] people during that time and whereas

[10:25] Pearl is also known for being able to

[10:27] handle

[10:28] herself

[10:30] which led to her three bees jobs bayth

[10:33] with connected Police Department Bales

[10:35] woman for law order and Justice Center

[10:37] LJ in bartender

[10:41] at at the 548 Mason club and whereas

[10:45] today many people know her from working

[10:47] 17 years at the scum food pantry and to

[10:50] this day operating Pearl's closet at

[10:52] syum which provides clothing to those in

[10:54] need Pearl meets people where they are

[10:57] and does not judge them for their

[10:58] current condition

[11:00] and where as Pearl is a member of Mont

[11:02] Olivet Missionary Baptist Church under

[11:03] the leadership of Pastor Horus Sanders

[11:06] where she serves on the Usher board she

[11:08] does so much for her church and

[11:10] Community when someone needs help people

[11:12] say call

[11:14] Pearl she always answers the call

[11:16] organizes a team of people to help grabs

[11:19] her bag of supplies and shows up and

[11:22] whereas currently Pearl is still doing

[11:24] what she loves doing and that is helping

[11:25] others whether it's cooking for someone

[11:28] taking them to the market Market or

[11:29] helping them at family functions and

[11:32] whereas this quote from George Bernard

[11:34] Shaw embodies how Pearl El Tucker

[11:37] lives I am of the opinion that my life

[11:39] belongs to the whole community and as

[11:42] long as I live it is my privilege to do

[11:44] what it for it whatever I can I want to

[11:47] be thoroughly used up when I die for the

[11:50] harder I work the more I

[11:52] Live Now therefore it be resolved that

[11:54] the connected city council and Mayor

[11:56] Gary R McCarthy do hereby pause in in

[11:59] their deliberations to recognize and

[12:01] thank Pearl L Tucker Hunter for her

[12:03] years of continued service to the

[12:05] community and to acknowledge her recent

[12:07] celebration of 70 trips around the Sun

[12:10] and wish her well in all her future

[12:12] endeavors s I'd like to move the

[12:28] resolution can I

[12:50] have can I can I have a

[12:53] second all those all all in

[12:56] favor all right the motion is passed

[12:58] congratul

[13:00] [Applause]

[13:08] congratulations I just want to thank

[13:11] everyone I I I I'm just overwhelmed but

[13:15] thank you cuz what I do I do for God and

[13:19] if anybody's at my door don't matter

[13:21] when or what time I'm there to help them

[13:25] God bless everyone that's in this room

[13:27] today amen can we take a

[13:35] picture

[13:58] open

[14:06] [Applause]

[14:22] I'd ask for approval of the minutes for

[14:24] March 11

[14:26] 2024 moved by Mr mud by Mr Farley all in

[14:30] favor I uh the clerk would please read

[14:33] any Communications and

[14:38] petitions Communications present to the

[14:40] city council for Monday March 25th 2024

[14:43] under official from Mayor Gary McCarthy

[14:47] a list of appointments dated March 25th

[14:49] 2024 under General there was an email

[14:52] from Mabel Leon stating that

[14:55] she strongly urge you to approve and

[14:58] support the resol solution for a

[14:59] ceasefire in

[15:01] Gaza can they hear you I don't know

[15:10] he

[15:16] sum an email from Mabel Leon stating

[15:19] that she urges the city council to

[15:22] support a resolution for a ceasefire in

[15:24] Gaza she also wants to support the um

[15:29] downtown

[15:32] SKC uh Electric City Community Grocery

[15:36] and establish a controlled grocery store

[15:39] to serve the downtown area of skincity

[15:41] which at present has no grocery

[15:44] store under petitions there were none

[15:47] thank you there are several people that

[15:49] signed up to speak online and you'll be

[15:51] heard during City business unless you're

[15:53] here for something that is on the

[15:55] consent

[15:57] agenda pastor Mari if you're still here

[15:59] I know that you signed up for something

[16:01] that was on the consent agenda but so if

[16:04] any if if what you want to speak on is

[16:07] on the printed

[16:08] agenda that does not count the

[16:10] resolution that many people have come

[16:11] for then we'd ask you to speak at this

[16:13] time there was also someone that want to

[16:15] speak on the Electric City Co-Op you

[16:18] would be speaking during this particular

[16:20] time if you've signed up who do you have

[16:22] signed up okay oh good

[16:27] lord okay all right well who is all all

[16:29] the this is City business whoa okay well

[16:33] the first person I have actually is

[16:35] Elizabeth Walsh is

[16:45] first I just want to say thank you thank

[16:48] you for being Partners in opening the

[16:51] community-owned grocery store in

[16:52] downtown connec I want to thank all of

[16:55] you who came out could I see a standing

[16:58] of pleas address your remarks this way

[17:00] thank you sorry uh for folks who came

[17:03] out in support of the co-op I'd love to

[17:06] see a standing first of current board

[17:08] members and then uh past board members

[17:11] to be able to stand

[17:13] up and our larger member owner Community

[17:17] would you please also stand

[17:20] up on behalf of all of us and our 1,30

[17:24] plus member owners and growing thank you

[17:27] we have a lot of work to do together and

[17:29] it's really exciting to keep this

[17:31] incredible momentum going thank you

[17:33] thank

[17:38] you now Reverend Amari thank you thank

[17:43] you good evening I rise in support of

[17:46] several items coming uh to your

[17:47] consideration item 05 on reducing the

[17:50] amount of additional funding committed

[17:51] to the YWCA item 06 on reducing the

[17:54] amount for additional funding committed

[17:56] to the electricity through Co-op item 14

[17:58] in recognizing Miss Pearl for her

[18:00] service to the community and we just did

[18:02] item 15 on recognizing Miss jimson's for

[18:05] her service in the city several of these

[18:07] items across uh among themselves weave

[18:11] these these themes solidarity

[18:13] Cooperative development Community

[18:15] resilience and collaboration M Pear's

[18:17] service to the community has always been

[18:19] distinguished by a commitment to dignity

[18:21] and compassion for All God's Children

[18:24] especially to those who make up the

[18:25] Hamilton Hill Community Miss jimon

[18:27] service to the city has been recognized

[18:29] to in support of Community Development

[18:32] and resilience and providing timely

[18:34] guidance and committed support to

[18:36] process and success of projects our

[18:38] partnership with the YW is one of the

[18:40] many testimonials of their ability and

[18:42] capacity to be a space of dignity

[18:44] solidarity and resilience to everyone

[18:46] who participate in their programming

[18:48] from children's in childhood development

[18:50] programs to women who can begin

[18:51] breathing safely and with the

[18:53] opportunity of a new start and the

[18:55] Electric City Community grocery has been

[18:57] many years organizing the community to

[18:59] tackle an issue that is impacting most

[19:02] of the population of the city how to

[19:04] have self-determined resilient reliable

[19:07] responsive and representative

[19:09] development that can be forged by for

[19:12] and with the people who reside in the

[19:14] city a yes vote on these items will

[19:16] encourage solidarity Cooperative

[19:18] development Community resilience and

[19:20] collaboration in the singular way sket

[19:23] knows how and the larger Community is

[19:25] watching the Hamilton Hill Neighborhood

[19:27] Cooperative is committed to finding ways

[19:29] to encourage these values in the Carver

[19:31] Center a call for peace to all residents

[19:34] of Gaza and for the hostage held by

[19:36] Hamas including the Liberation

[19:38] encourages these values the challenge

[19:41] however is to make these decisions in

[19:42] support of the singular ways connected

[19:45] knows how to be Community My Hope for

[19:48] everything that will be said tonight for

[19:50] the decisions that are made by this

[19:52] council is that they seek to sustain and

[19:54] encourage the profoundly beautiful and

[19:57] complicated diversity of our beloved

[19:59] City Beauty and complexity cannot be

[20:02] legislated but wellth thought policies

[20:05] and processes that truly seek the voice

[20:07] of the Brock Community can encourage and

[20:09] sustain diversity solidarity peace

[20:13] resilience and cooperation thank you

[20:15] madam president thank

[20:18] [Applause]

[20:22] you Rick

[20:26] maler thank you very much for allowing

[20:28] me an opportunity to speak tonight in

[20:30] support of Electric City Food Co-op um

[20:33] it's always easy to go last here I guess

[20:35] maybe if I am last I don't know but

[20:37] anyways um we really appreciate the

[20:40] support you've given us in the past we

[20:42] encourage you to support our mission

[20:43] going forward and support the resolution

[20:45] to give us a just a little more time to

[20:47] push this across the Finish Line uh I've

[20:50] had the opportunity to join the board

[20:51] about a year ago um one of the skill

[20:54] sets I bring to a very skilled board is

[20:56] that I had the opportunity to work a

[20:57] Price Shopper for 40 1 years and before

[21:00] I did that I worked for Honest Weight

[21:01] Food Co-op for six years so I have a

[21:04] little bit in the food knowledge

[21:05] business that will help us push this

[21:07] across the Finish Line as I said and we

[21:09] are working very closely with Metroplex

[21:12] who's helping us on this endeavor and

[21:13] some of local developers that have past

[21:15] successes in downtown skincity we think

[21:18] this would be a wonderful Community um

[21:21] Endeavor not only for our Co-op but for

[21:23] the entire city disc connec and we very

[21:25] much ask for your support tonight thank

[21:27] you very much thank you

[21:29] [Applause]

[21:35] Kimberly

[21:43] Gonzalez I think I'm tall enough all

[21:45] right thank you so much I guess yeah I'm

[21:47] last or second to last or whatever um

[21:49] thank you for so much for having us here

[21:51] I'm going to speak a little bit from a

[21:53] personal experience I am a recent

[21:54] Resident of skti I moved here four years

[21:57] uh four months ago and and I fell in

[22:00] love with the city I love everything I

[22:02] mean there's a movie theater there's so

[22:05] many activities to be had so many things

[22:07] to do it's quite amazing but there's one

[22:09] huge thing missing and it's a grocery

[22:11] store um we have the farmers market

[22:13] that's in incredible uh I think SKC

[22:16] trading company has some you know fresh

[22:19] available food for folks but those

[22:21] aren't substitutes for a grocery store

[22:23] uh I don't even have a car and that is a

[22:26] real barrier for some folks I'm lucky to

[22:27] have a partner with who has a vehicle uh

[22:30] but this downtown area desperately needs

[22:32] a grocery store not just for Community

[22:35] uh but it's also an opportunity to

[22:37] energize the economy attract new

[22:39] residents like myself uh it's really the

[22:42] one thing I and many others see missing

[22:44] and so you know I as a new Resident I'm

[22:47] really thankful for your support in this

[22:50] project and hope that you continue

[22:51] to thank

[22:53] [Applause]

[22:57] you

[22:59] I have no one else signed up to speak on

[23:00] the com public comment on the

[23:02] legislative agenda so I declare this com

[23:04] public comment

[23:07] closed at this time I ask approval of

[23:09] the legislative

[23:11] agenda motion by Mr M second by Mr

[23:14] Williams all those in

[23:16] favor we have two uh resolutions two

[23:19] pieces of legislation for a roll

[23:22] call resolution number four if the clerk

[23:25] would please

[23:27] read

[23:29] item number four for original

[23:31] consideration a resolution setting forth

[23:34] additions to the community benefits

[23:35] agreement between the city of SCCY and

[23:37] West yard Properties LLC dated February

[23:40] 15

[23:41] 2024 I need a

[23:48] motion there's no motion to move this

[23:51] forward move by Mr Williams any

[23:57] second

[24:03] you second I understand that

[24:09] but there's no second to this

[24:15] motion

[24:18] okay so this can't move back

[24:21] to to a have to do a

[24:25] okay you still have aoll

[24:31] so we without the second then this

[24:33] motion dies is there no

[24:36] second okay so the motion

[24:42] dies uh item number

[24:47] 12 roll

[24:49] call item number 12 for original

[24:52] consideration a resolution appointing

[24:54] Renee Broadley to the city of SKC Board

[24:56] of assessment review

[25:00] I need a

[25:01] motion

[25:03] second Mr mancy all those in okay we

[25:06] need a roll call at this

[25:09] point discuss oh I'm sorry is there any

[25:12] discussion on this item thank you Mr

[25:17] Williams thank you uh once again we are

[25:20] met with having a vacancy on one of our

[25:22] boards and I think it is our

[25:23] responsibility when it is uh uh allowed

[25:26] to us to present an opportunity for a

[25:28] member of the community to replace that

[25:30] vacancy uh I don't know who recommended

[25:33] the individual uh but upon looking at

[25:35] Miss Bradley's credentials uh she is

[25:37] more than qualified in her Progressive

[25:38] uh professional career I'm confident

[25:41] that she will be able to uphold the

[25:43] duties of this position uh faithfully

[25:45] and uh dedicatedly uh based on the need

[25:49] to have a roll call I I again I do not

[25:51] understand the intent I would openly uh

[25:54] welcome any comments or feedback uh but

[25:57] again we have another C from the

[25:58] community who is willing to do the work

[26:00] of this board and yet again we have

[26:02] another roll call uh at this point that

[26:05] is known of why this individual should

[26:07] not be able to continue forth in this

[26:09] manner uh I hope this is not a theme uh

[26:12] but to uh Miss Bradley uh should we pass

[26:15] this definitely I wish you all due of

[26:16] respect in this position and again to

[26:18] any other member that's interested in

[26:20] pursuing one of these vacancies uh I I I

[26:23] deeply apologize for the manner in which

[26:24] these roll calls are coming out but

[26:26] please do not deter your interest

[26:28] 32 uh opportunities moving forward thank

[26:31] you thank you any further

[26:34] discussion Mr Toro thank you president

[26:37] Porterfield so again um uh our job here

[26:41] is to represent the entire community so

[26:44] um roll calls can be made

[26:46] without yes thank you Mr Williams uh

[26:51] roll calls can be made um on any of the

[26:53] uh agenda items put forward um so again

[26:57] as I I as I mentioned that our committee

[27:00] meeting uh Miss Bradley has a most

[27:02] extensive and well-qualified

[27:04] resume uh

[27:05] unfortunately um no one else on the uh

[27:09] Council had a chance to submit a name um

[27:12] there was a letter issued to president

[27:13] Porterfield honor about January 8th um

[27:18] uh announcing that Mr anakal uh position

[27:23] expired on September 30th of 23 she had

[27:26] the letter in her possession

[27:28] um in January never sent it to any of

[27:31] the council members so again um nothing

[27:34] against Miss Bradley by any means uh but

[27:37] um I would have liked to have gotten the

[27:39] letter knowing of him not being able to

[27:42] fulfill his position and um had an

[27:45] opportunity to put someone forward thank

[27:48] you um just to clarify the letter the

[27:51] letter stated that Mr they were going to

[27:52] reappoint him but we did not know until

[27:55] he responded to the entire Council that

[27:57] he had moved out of the city so everyone

[27:59] was privy to

[28:01] that at this time maybe have the roll

[28:04] call Mr Toro no Mr Farley

[28:08] yes Mr Mancini yes Mr Mutan yes Miss Patrick is not here Mr Williams yes

[28:17] Miss Porterfield yes motion passes 5 to

[28:24] one this time uh this time we have

[28:26] privilege of the floor regarding General

[28:28] City business I have 45 people signed up

[28:32] to speak so I just want to lay little

[28:35] ground rules because I see many people

[28:37] signed up to speak are not necessarily

[28:38] from our jurisdiction and therefore you

[28:40] may not know the rules of how this works

[28:42] uh you have three minutes you will hear

[28:44] a timer when your time goes off and we I

[28:46] ask respectfully ask that you if your

[28:48] mid-sentence complete your sentence and

[28:50] then leave the podium we have 45 people

[28:52] signed up to speak uh if you read what

[28:56] was before you in terms of signing up

[28:58] there are no direct comments to other

[28:59] groups or the other individuals allowed

[29:02] and we ask all of your comments may be

[29:05] made directly to the um to the

[29:13] chair is this

[29:15] one okay this is the first one

[29:19] okay uh the first person I have signed

[29:23] up to speak these submissions were

[29:24] online is Susan Rosenberg is Susan

[29:26] Rosenberg present

[29:29] yes come right up

[29:32] ma'am thank you uh my name is Susie

[29:35] Rosenberg I'm a retired emergency

[29:37] Psychiatry physician having served in my

[29:40] career as medical director of Crisis

[29:42] services that included support for

[29:45] citizens of Albany skincity and rensler

[29:47] counties my specialty included the

[29:50] assessment of individuals posing danger

[29:52] to

[29:53] themselves or others a big influence on

[29:57] my clinical practice practice was the

[29:58] work of a French sociologist named Emil

[30:00] durkheim he lived between 1858 and

[30:04] 1917 his major contribution was to

[30:07] conclusively demonstrate that when Ties

[30:09] That Bind Society together unravel both

[30:12] violence and suicide rates spiral

[30:15] upwards further destabilizing

[30:17] communities so I learned to highly value

[30:20] the impact of a healthy Society on the

[30:22] mental health of individuals and the

[30:23] communities around them and the impact

[30:25] of an unhealthy society as well

[30:30] I open my remarks with these thoughts as

[30:32] a way of understanding the profound

[30:34] negative impact of the proposed

[30:36] resolution on the communities you serve

[30:38] first it increases Discord in an already

[30:41] uncivil Civic Square second it puts your

[30:45] Jewish constituents in danger on the

[30:47] streets in their houses of worship and

[30:49] on college campuses acts of hatred

[30:52] towards Jews are on a rocket trajectory

[30:55] and these anti-israel resolutions and

[30:58] municipalities fuel those acts what to

[31:01] do with all this energy swirling around

[31:03] this hot hot issue in the town of

[31:05] Bethlehem where I'm from members of the

[31:07] Muslim and Jewish Community have begun

[31:09] gathering on an informal basis to build

[31:12] bridges of understanding and friendship

[31:15] and having hard conversations in an

[31:17] atmosphere of mutual

[31:21] respect I would recommend that you do

[31:24] not pass this resolution you do not put

[31:26] your Jewish constituents in danger and

[31:29] you do not burn Bridges you build them

[31:32] thank you so

[31:35] [Applause]

[31:38] much I just want to make a point of

[31:40] clarification at this time there is no

[31:42] current resolution before this Council

[31:44] so just so everyone is clear on that

[31:46] thank

[31:48] you Eric Cooper

[31:52] Ginsburg is Eric Cooper Ginsburg

[31:56] present

[31:59] gay

[32:12] Griffith I am here to voice my opinion

[32:14] to the to the position proposing a

[32:18] resolution for a ceasefire between Kamas

[32:21] a recognized terrorist organization by

[32:23] the United States and a multitude of

[32:24] countries worldwide and the state of

[32:27] Israel

[32:28] as of yesterday Israel agreed to the

[32:30] terms of the

[32:31] ceasefire Hamas has rejected it it

[32:35] should also be remembered that Kamas it

[32:36] was Kamas who reneged on the last

[32:38] ceasefire agreement by not returning the

[32:40] last agreed upon groups of hostages thus

[32:42] resuming the fighting 134 hostages

[32:45] remain inhumane and cruel conditions for

[32:49] 172 days now Kamas has refused to also

[32:52] provide a list of the living hostages

[32:54] the resolution that they are petitioning

[32:57] barely mentions October the 7th when

[32:59] 5,000 Hamas terrorists breached the

[33:01] border and proceeded to commit

[33:02] atrocities leading to the largest

[33:04] one-day loss of Jewish life since the

[33:06] Holocaust if Hamas had not attacked

[33:08] Israel on October the 7th Israel would

[33:11] not have attacked Gaza the resolution

[33:14] will do nothing to help residents of

[33:16] Gaza but cause more divisiveness among

[33:18] constituents fuel more acts of

[33:21] anti-Semitism against Jewish

[33:22] constituents here in the greater Capital

[33:24] District anti-Semitism has spilled into

[33:27] schol school from high schools all the

[33:29] way to elementary schools some of which

[33:31] have been physical attacks Jewish

[33:33] children do not feel safe and their

[33:34] parents are afraid for them no child

[33:37] should feel unsafe at school the only

[33:39] thing that can help the residents of

[33:41] Gaza is to rid them of all terrorist

[33:43] organizations especially Hamas which was

[33:46] elected in 2007 and has remained in

[33:48] power as a dictator-like regime since

[33:50] then Hamas has no interest in any kind

[33:53] of Peace negotiations with Israel in

[33:55] fact in its May 2017 Charter it

[33:58] advocates for the complete liberation of

[34:00] Palestine from the river to the sea in

[34:03] plain English their stated goal is to

[34:06] destroy Israel not to live in peace not

[34:09] for a two-state solution they simply

[34:11] want to eradicate Israel Israel on the

[34:13] other hand has demonstrated its desire

[34:15] for peace with the peace treaties with

[34:17] Egypt and Jordan the Oslo Accords the

[34:19] Abraham Accords and the multiple peace

[34:22] negotiations with fatak over the decades

[34:25] the responsibility of this council is to

[34:27] ensure for the safety and unity of the

[34:29] cons constituents of this community as a

[34:32] Jew I do not feel safe as many other

[34:36] Jewish institutions our synagogue now

[34:38] has armed security during Services

[34:40] religious school and events every

[34:43] citizen in the United States has the

[34:45] right to feel safe practicing their

[34:46] religion right now that is not true for

[34:49] American Jews a permanent ceasefire is

[34:53] not a bilateral ceasefire as it only

[34:55] calls on Israel to cease without putting

[34:57] any pressure on Kamas it leaves the

[34:59] remaining hostages in the hands of Kamas

[35:01] and leaves Hamas in power to commit more

[35:03] attacks Kamas has vowed to repeat the

[35:05] atrocities of October 7th over and over

[35:08] again kamama should surrender a

[35:10] ceasefire will follow immediately this

[35:12] is the only acceptable outcome for

[35:13] Israelis and the larger Jewish Community

[35:16] anything else will continue this cycle

[35:18] of violence and therefore the

[35:19] existential threat to our

[35:21] people the leadership of the mainstream

[35:23] Jewish Community was not contact

[35:25] regarding this propos proposed

[35:27] resolution

[35:28] the Jewish group that is included in

[35:30] this p in this petition does not

[35:32] represent or speak for the mainstream

[35:34] Jewish community and they especially

[35:36] don't resp represent or speak for me

[35:40] thank

[35:41] [Applause]

[35:46] you Jonathan

[35:56] Rubin good good evening Mr Mayor

[35:58] president Porterfield members of the

[36:00] city council I'm Jonathan Rubin

[36:01] president of congregation Gates of

[36:03] Heaven here in SKC I want to thank you

[36:05] for the opportunity to have this

[36:07] conversation tonight uh we anticipate

[36:10] that there will probably be a petition

[36:11] brought forward to you tonight seeking a

[36:13] ceasefire uh between Israel and Hamas uh

[36:17] we are here tonight to ask number one as

[36:21] we saw tonight there's a lot of

[36:23] important business that comes before

[36:24] this connected east city council as

[36:26] comes before all of local government is the form of

[36:29] government that is closest to the people

[36:31] we deal with infrastructure we deal with

[36:34] Industrial Development we deal with

[36:35] transportation we deal with housing we

[36:37] deal with all of the things that make a

[36:39] city and a community click and issues

[36:42] such as the one that's before you that

[36:44] is likely going to be before you tonight

[36:46] are ones that are respectfully outside

[36:49] the purview of local governments which

[36:51] is something handled by the federal

[36:53] government and to a lesser extent to

[36:55] state governments as well and we would

[36:57] ask that we not interfere with the

[36:59] really important work that is done here

[37:01] in the city of skincity to the extent

[37:04] however that the council does decide

[37:06] that it wants to entertain such a

[37:08] position and get into issues of

[37:10] international relations we would ask

[37:12] that you consider that the resolution

[37:14] coming before you is one that calls for

[37:17] a permanent ceasefire as you've as

[37:19] you've already heard from others already

[37:21] tonight and I'm sure you'll hear from

[37:22] others as well the ability to have a

[37:25] permanent ceasefire is not something that is achievable as long as

[37:30] the terrorist organization Hamas remains

[37:33] in operational power on October 7th they

[37:36] crossed the border engaged in a massacre

[37:39] of over a thousand innocent Israelis

[37:41] children women adults seniors even pets

[37:45] and animals those who they did not kill

[37:48] they've maintained as hostages some have

[37:50] been released over a 100 remain we share

[37:54] in a position of thoughtfulness and

[37:56] compassion and Care those who are going

[37:59] to bring a resolution should they do so

[38:01] tonight we are not questioning their

[38:03] desire to want to see peace we are not

[38:06] questioning their desire to want to see

[38:07] an end to suffering we share in that

[38:10] stated goal and we would imagine

[38:13] everybody wants to see that to happen

[38:16] but we're not going to be able to

[38:17] achieve that as long as the as the Gaza

[38:22] Strip is under the control of a

[38:24] terrorist organization I thank you for

[38:27] your time tonight and I hope that you

[38:28] take this these words into consideration

[38:30] thank

[38:32] [Applause]

[38:36] you Michelle

[38:38] greenblat is Michelle green blat

[38:49] present good evening

[38:53] and thank you for giving me the

[38:55] opportunity to speak

[38:57] um I know that the ceasefire resolution

[39:01] has not yet been brought before the the

[39:04] council um I know that there is a

[39:06] petition to bring such a resolution I

[39:09] ask you as a proud member of the Jewish

[39:13] Community to not entertain um the

[39:17] possibility of a ceasefire resolution in

[39:19] your town it is very divisive it causes

[39:24] members of your community and connect

[39:27] and elsewhere to be pitted against one

[39:29] another we all don't none of us want to

[39:33] have people dying um

[39:36] over um these uh these threats by a

[39:41] terrorist

[39:42] organization um for 75 years Hamas which

[39:46] is a terrorist

[39:47] organization has been planting the seeds

[39:50] and manipulating the Palestinian people

[39:54] in the Gaza Strip to believe that

[39:56] they're value um is greater dead than

[40:01] alive Jews value life and we want life

[40:07] for everyone even people that we are at

[40:10] odds with we who have different um

[40:14] theological

[40:16] differences

[40:20] um

[40:22] anti-Semitism

[40:24] is uh rampant these days AC across

[40:27] communities and college campuses and in

[40:31] our

[40:32] schools

[40:33] um having passing such a resolution um

[40:39] increases the the rate of anti-Semitism

[40:42] making your constituents feel unsafe and

[40:48] unheard the ceasefire

[40:50] resolution um is an

[40:53] international issue and not one that

[40:56] affects

[40:57] um local politics and I would really

[41:01] hope that you consider the concerns of

[41:04] your

[41:05] constituents a ceasefire resolution in

[41:08] Gaza and between Hamas and Israel will

[41:12] not help the Palestinian people the

[41:14] Palestinian people have no regard for

[41:18] their lives as they have

[41:20] built miles upon

[41:23] miles of cement tunnels under Gaza not

[41:27] for the safety of their um civilians who

[41:31] are not allowed into the tunnels during

[41:33] bombing it is only for the Hamas members

[41:37] and to keep their stores of food which

[41:40] they also do not allow um their

[41:43] civilians to have even though

[41:46] humanitarian Aid is free and should be

[41:49] given to the Palestinians they are

[41:51] selling

[41:53] it um so I really hope that um we can

[41:58] come together and help support one

[42:01] another in our efforts to make the

[42:03] situation better for the Palestinian

[42:05] people thank you thank

[42:11] you suzan

[42:18] 11 well thank you for allowing me to

[42:21] speak I'm Susanna lvin from Albany um as

[42:24] a member of the Jewish community of the

[42:25] greater capital region I implore that

[42:28] this connected common Council refrain

[42:30] from taking up this or any ceasefire

[42:33] legislation we je are a family a family

[42:36] that stretches around the world and

[42:38] across 4,000 years of history in every

[42:41] generation we've been singled out as a

[42:43] nation apart scapegoated with dangerous

[42:45] rhetoric this rhetoric always leads to

[42:48] actual Danger from the Crusades and

[42:51] pogroms to the Nazi Holocaust to the

[42:53] horrific massacres rape torture and

[42:55] kidnapping of October 7

[42:57] we take seriously the words of our

[42:59] detractors how D poog groms against Jews

[43:02] even happen who allows such a thing

[43:05] first there are those who want to kill

[43:06] Jews and they do in this case Hamas

[43:10] terrorists who murdered Innocents and

[43:11] promised 10 times more October 7s and

[43:14] then there are the supporters those who

[43:16] will provide rationale for those acts of

[43:18] violence in the name of the greater good

[43:21] these are groups that promote

[43:22] legislation like the one that you may be

[43:24] petitioned a resolution that outlines

[43:26] freedom and dignity for anyone but

[43:28] Israel anyone but

[43:30] Jews and finally there are the

[43:33] indifferent those who would enable

[43:35] violence against my people simply by not

[43:38] opposing

[43:39] it a call for a ceasefire is a call for

[43:42] violence against Jews council members

[43:45] please do not feel the pressure to join

[43:48] the historic ranks of the indifferent do

[43:50] not allow this legislation to cast a

[43:52] shadow on your good work and your good

[43:54] names calling for ceasefire is a call

[43:57] for Jews to surrender their National

[43:59] Defense there is no reasonable

[44:00] compromise to this demand as it's a

[44:02] demand for National Suicide calling for

[44:05] ceasefire does not bring the

[44:06] Palestinians closer to nationhood

[44:09] unfortunately it prolongs their

[44:10] suffering under the oppressive Hamas

[44:12] regime which neither protects nor

[44:14] provides for them calling for ceasefire

[44:17] does not bring peace this call for

[44:19] ceasefire does not call for an end to

[44:21] Hamas aggression it does not guarantee

[44:23] the return of the innocent hostages

[44:25] without hamas's defeat or Surrender the

[44:28] war will continue because Hamas doesn't

[44:30] follow rules of War they don't engage in

[44:32] diplomacy they will keep fighting

[44:35] finally a call for ceasefire results in

[44:37] the scapegoating of Jews Everywhere by

[44:39] gaslighting self-defense as aggression a

[44:42] local legislation that promotes this

[44:44] language is bringing Prejudice and

[44:46] threat of violence to their constituents

[44:48] here at home to Jews Israel is not a

[44:51] farway place not a speck on the map it

[44:54] is where our family lives it is our

[44:56] homeland and what happens there affects

[44:58] us deeply here I pray that your family

[45:01] should never be in danger while the

[45:03] world demands that you cease fighting

[45:05] for them please oppose this or any

[45:08] ceasefire legislation that comes before

[45:10] you thank

[45:12] [Applause]

[45:15] you jury

[45:24] Stillman I'm a Jewish American I'm

[45:27] Israeli I'm a two-time survivor of the

[45:29] suicide bombings during the second inata

[45:31] in 2001 I have dear family and friends

[45:35] in Israel and myself and every Jew from

[45:37] left to right want peace for all the

[45:39] Jews Israeli Arabs and Palestinians who

[45:42] seek to live side by side in true peace

[45:45] and mutual recognition of each other

[45:47] tonight I intend to shed light on Jewish

[45:50] voices for peace since they're likely

[45:52] speaking here jvp is an organization

[45:55] that despite its name is neither NE

[45:57] necessarily Jewish nor peaceful and has

[45:59] garnered significant critique for its

[46:01] actions and stated vociferously

[46:03] anti-zionist objectives in the surface

[46:06] on the surface jvp might seem to

[46:08] epitomize the values of love and a

[46:10] desire for peace however it's crucial to

[46:13] examine the substance behind this this

[46:16] perspective is echoed by Allison summer

[46:19] in the far-left Israeli publication

[46:21] haret who

[46:22] noted to many mainstream moderate and

[46:25] even left-wing groups and and certainly

[46:27] for the Israeli government jvp is beyond

[46:29] the pale aiding and abetting those who

[46:32] would harm or even eliminate Israel if

[46:34] it were possible jvp's Focus agenda is

[46:37] to dismantle the state of Israel this

[46:39] Miss mission of delegitimization

[46:41] diverges sharply from the Jewish

[46:43] community's diverse but generally United

[46:46] support for Israel's right to exist as a

[46:49] Jewish State and for Jewish

[46:51] self-determination jvp has been linked

[46:53] to global terrorist regimes including

[46:55] the Islamic Republic of Iran

[46:57] and groups like sidun associated with

[46:59] the popular front for the liberation of

[47:01] Palestine on a specific note the

[47:04] glorification of terrorists who

[47:05] committed heinous acts against civilians

[47:08] including children under the guise of

[47:10] decolonization is abhorent such actions

[47:13] do not align with the principles of

[47:14] peace and Justice they embolden and

[47:16] legitimize violence under the misleading

[47:18] Banner of activ

[47:20] activism jvp's messaging firr promoting

[47:23] peace SS Division and misrepresents the

[47:25] rich diversity of Jewish thought thought

[47:27] in closing I urge us to approach such

[47:29] discussions with a commitment to truth

[47:31] dialogue and the pursuit of genuine

[47:33] peace let us be wary of those who would

[47:35] co-opt the language of peace and Justice

[47:38] to advance divisive agendas our

[47:40] Collective future depends on Building

[47:42] Bridges of understanding not walls of

[47:44] Separation thank you for your time and

[47:48] [Applause]

[47:51] attention Jil Gail

[47:55] sackle is G ale sacko

[48:11] present hi my name is Gail sacko I've

[48:14] been part of the Capitol region Jewish

[48:16] Community for over 40 years can you hear

[48:19] me louder louder okay I just want to say

[48:23] in our services we have something called

[48:26] the morning CSH and we stand to honor

[48:30] the dead and The Grieving I'm grieving

[48:33] for all of the innocent

[48:35] Palestinians I am grieving for all the

[48:37] innoc innocent Israelis I am grieving

[48:40] for all the innocent

[48:42] Americans because I stand at every

[48:45] service for that um I want to wish the

[48:48] Muslim people I hope it's appropriate Ed

[48:50] Mubarak you say it in the middle as well

[48:52] as at the beginning because I know

[48:53] you're in the middle of ma'am can you

[48:55] need to please address I wish you

[48:57] no ma'am ma'am you need to address the

[48:58] chair sorry um ID mabarak because I know

[49:01] they're in the middle of

[49:03] Ramadan I wanted to talk I had a a

[49:06] chance to look at the resolution that

[49:09] you're being asked to take a look at and

[49:11] I wanted to talk about the local the

[49:15] Jewish the established Jewish Community

[49:18] leaders in connecti we not consulted

[49:21] we're not part of part of putting this

[49:24] together there is no mention mention in

[49:27] it of except for a mention of

[49:29] anti-Semitism there is no mention in it

[49:32] of either Kamas or israelies or the

[49:35] hostages except for the hostages who are

[49:38] released it's it's divisive in the

[49:41] community um there have been incidents

[49:44] there has been an incident in the SKC

[49:46] City School District where teacher where

[49:49] a group put out an email suggesting that

[49:53] um Israelis be called Ethnic cleansers

[49:57] and genocide people there has been a

[49:59] middle schooler who was told that he

[50:02] could not go to school because he was

[50:04] Israeli and in fact his family had to

[50:07] leave the community and this is a family

[50:09] that lost someone October 7th there was

[50:13] it encourages somebody who wants to

[50:15] shoot at a synagogue which has happened

[50:18] in the capol

[50:19] region it's it's it's divisive to a

[50:23] community that needs to be coming

[50:25] together um today is

[50:28] 171 of the hostages the youngest hostage

[50:32] is one year old the oldest hostage is 80

[50:37] many of them went to a music festival

[50:40] when Kamas was asked to identify them

[50:42] they were unable to identify them or

[50:44] unable to tell where they are it's it

[50:48] what this resolution does not reflect

[50:51] all of the constituency of this

[50:53] community and it adds to the amount of

[50:57] anti-Semitism that we are already seeing

[50:59] thank you thank

[51:01] [Applause]

[51:05] you Bonnie

[51:14] Eisenberg hi um thank you for letting me

[51:17] come and speak I've been a lifelong

[51:19] resident of the Capitol region and am a

[51:22] proud Jew and a proud Zionist um

[51:27] my direct connection as somebody prior

[51:29] to me said this what happened on October

[51:32] 7th isn't something that happened far

[51:35] away to other people for the Jewish

[51:37] Community for me personally my family

[51:40] grew up in kabut raim which is the

[51:42] Cabots that was right near the was the

[51:45] closest Kuts to the music festival that

[51:47] was um attacked and kabut re was

[51:51] destroyed this is very personal it's

[51:54] very painful and

[51:57] as others have also said we don't just

[52:00] cry for the Israelis we cry for the

[52:03] Palestinian suffering as well we want

[52:06] peace but you can't have peace with an

[52:09] organization that promotes the idea that

[52:13] it's better to die than to live

[52:16] peacefully with your Israeli and

[52:17] Egyptian

[52:19] neighbors

[52:21] um your proposed resolution shows that

[52:26] or the proposed resolution that you will

[52:28] be seeing soon shows that it does not

[52:32] blame the aggressor Hamas but instead

[52:34] blames the country who wants peace but

[52:37] will defend its citizens against

[52:43] annihilation in I don't know if you've

[52:45] seen it before but in that um proposed

[52:48] resolution the words are some of the

[52:50] words are um you're calling for peaceful

[52:53] diplomacy that protects the security of

[52:55] all innocent civilians I call for that

[52:58] too but there's only one party that's

[53:01] interested in living in peace with their

[53:03] neighbors in Gaza with their Palestinian

[53:05] neighbors and that's Israel Hamas has

[53:07] made it incredibly clear they will

[53:10] prefer the death of all

[53:13] Palestinians before they would be

[53:15] willing to live peacefully with Israel

[53:17] so um so if you take on this proposal

[53:23] and you decide to approve it what you're

[53:25] doing is not helping Palestinians the

[53:28] only way to help Palestinians and

[53:30] Israelis and everyone in the area is to

[53:34] hold Hamas accountable and this cease

[53:38] and any ceasefire would do exactly the

[53:40] opposite it would be empowering Hamas so

[53:44] I I just wanted to mention that what's

[53:47] personally painful is that my social

[53:51] justice partners are supporting Hamas

[53:53] war criminals instead of holding them

[53:56] accountable in demanding their Swift

[53:57] removal and replacement with a

[53:59] Palestinian government that wants to

[54:02] live in peace with Israeli and Egyptian

[54:05] neighbors

[54:08] um and that's pretty much what I wanted

[54:11] to say thank

[54:12] [Applause]

[54:19] you um Laura

[54:25] wisl

[54:28] hi please bear with me because I lost my

[54:30] voice my name is Laura Weiss spot and I

[54:33] am a local resident I am an active

[54:35] member of the Jewish Community here in

[54:37] the greater Capital Region I am Gravely

[54:39] concerned about the petition for a

[54:41] proposed ceasefire resolution pertaining

[54:44] to the Israeli Palestinian conflict that

[54:46] is going to come before you

[54:48] today such resolutions are one-sided and

[54:51] place the blame for this war solely on

[54:55] Israel which is misguided at best and at

[54:58] worst it is dangerous to Jews globally

[55:00] and

[55:01] locally the proposed resolution is

[55:04] extremely

[55:05] divisive and misinformed it parrots the

[55:08] anti-israel propaganda machine that is

[55:11] unfortunately driving much of the

[55:13] current mainstream

[55:14] media as Jewish constituents reading

[55:17] this resolution I'll tell you how we

[55:20] feel threatened isolated intimidated

[55:24] alienated 95 5% of the global Jewish

[55:28] Community it loves Israel we consider it

[55:31] to be our Jewish homeland it is a safe

[55:34] haven for Jews from all over the world

[55:36] to come and be safe when we can't be

[55:39] safe in other countries that have

[55:40] expelled us or actually ethnically

[55:42] cleansed us which has happen many many

[55:45] times in our

[55:46] history the demon demonization of Israel

[55:50] and of the Jewish people is exactly what

[55:52] fuels the hatred against us and it makes

[55:55] violence against us palatable the

[55:57] external pressure that we feel to divest

[56:00] ourselves from our love of Israel and

[56:02] our belief in its right to exist is

[56:04] terrifying and

[56:06] heartbreaking as some of us said we're

[56:08] proud zionists it's not a bad word it

[56:11] just means that we believe in our right

[56:13] to self-determine in our ancestral

[56:15] Homeland that we have had a presence

[56:17] continuous presence in for 4,000 years

[56:20] my husband and my three-year-old son

[56:22] were inside Temple Israel in Albany when

[56:25] a man came and fired a shotgun several

[56:28] times outside the temple he yelled

[56:31] threatening

[56:33] statements my husband had to hide in a

[56:35] storage closet with my son for two hours

[56:38] on lockdown in fear of their lives for

[56:41] what was

[56:42] happening We Are Forever traumatized by

[56:45] that event and my family an event that

[56:48] happened right here in Albany for the

[56:50] sole reason that we are Jewish and

[56:52] therefore targets of hate crimes and

[56:54] Terror

[56:55] attacks at a time of heightened tensions

[56:58] I ask that this resolution not be

[57:00] considered at all the attacks of October

[57:03] 7th perpetrated against the Jewish

[57:04] people of Israel by Hamas terrorists

[57:08] continue to affect our daily life right

[57:11] here in our local schools our children

[57:12] have been experiencing anti-semitic Acts

[57:15] including those who had family members

[57:17] murdered in those attacks whose children

[57:19] were told in a school in a middle school

[57:21] your family deserved what happened to

[57:23] them on October 7th it would be Beyond

[57:25] irres responsible of this Council to

[57:27] inflame these tensions anymore Israel is

[57:30] in an existential war against Hamas an

[57:32] enemy sworn to its destruction this is

[57:35] not a war against Palestinians or other

[57:37] Muslims Jews and supporters here in

[57:40] concy and around the capital region and

[57:42] in the world want peace between

[57:44] Palestinians and Israelis and you just

[57:45] summarize ma'am such a peace can begin

[57:48] right here in skincity by our city

[57:50] council members refusing to engage with

[57:52] a ceasefire resolution thank you thank

[57:55] you

[58:00] Rabbi Rafi

[58:08] Spitzer good evening Madam president

[58:11] thank you for hearing me I just want to

[58:13] thank you for listening to speaker after

[58:15] speaker I represent congregation aod one

[58:18] of the largest Jewish communities in SKC

[58:21] County uh with many members in the city

[58:24] of SKC uh and I'm here to support the

[58:28] Jewish Community as they come uh to

[58:30] share their deep concerns and their

[58:33] fears with you um I just wanted to say a

[58:36] little bit about what Zionism is Zionism

[58:40] is the pro Progressive Movement for

[58:42] Liberation and National

[58:43] self-determination of the Jewish people

[58:46] in our ancestral Homeland the land of

[58:48] Israel a movement that not only

[58:50] guarantees Jewish sovereignty but also

[58:52] Jewish security Zionism is the

[58:54] embodiment of the incredible racial and

[58:56] cultural diversity of the Jewish people

[58:59] the physical and spiritual descendants

[59:01] of the Jews of antiquity who were driven

[59:03] from Israel otherwise known as Zion or

[59:07] Judea into Exile and Scattered across

[59:10] the globe yet remained United generation

[59:13] after generation in custom peoplehood

[59:16] and prayer directed toward Jerusalem

[59:19] Zionism is an inherent and Inseparable

[59:22] part of Jewish identity for the vast

[59:25] majority of Jews on Earth and for my

[59:28] Jewish community and the Jewish

[59:30] community of the city of

[59:32] SKC once again thank you so much for

[59:35] being here and listening and making

[59:37] space for everybody to be able to share

[59:39] their perspective and point of view and

[59:42] uh good

[59:44] evening thank

[59:48] you Jeffrey

[59:55] Handelman

[59:56] good evening Madame President and mayor

[59:58] McCarthy and members of the council my

[1:00:00] name is Jeffrey Handelman I'm chair of

[1:00:02] the board of Jewish Federation of

[1:00:04] Northeastern New York I'm not an

[1:00:06] activist being here is uh really outside

[1:00:09] my comfort zone but I felt compelled to

[1:00:11] speak tonight because I hate to see the

[1:00:13] division in our community I see it

[1:00:15] online I see it in the comments I see it

[1:00:18] in the newspaper and I do not understand

[1:00:21] why this uh elected body is being asked

[1:00:24] to debate uh intern National Affairs

[1:00:27] beyond your scope of

[1:00:28] control I just want to tell a story

[1:00:30] about Esh Esh Cole is a region it's a

[1:00:33] sister region for uh the Jewish

[1:00:35] Federation of the Capitol District it's

[1:00:38] an agricultural community that borders

[1:00:40] Gaza uh filled with the most

[1:00:44] left-leaning liberal Jews in in Israel

[1:00:48] peace-seeking innocent people um my wife

[1:00:52] and children have been there I've been

[1:00:54] there my children actually spent a few

[1:00:56] weeks there of making friends we've

[1:00:58] hosted uh students from Esh Cole um one

[1:01:03] beautiful woman young woman who stayed

[1:01:04] with us on October 7th both her parents

[1:01:08] and her younger brother Sagi were

[1:01:10] murdered by Hamas so this is really

[1:01:12] close to home uh it's just a horrible

[1:01:14] situation what's going on in Gaza is

[1:01:17] beyond indescribably horrible I

[1:01:20] understand that my point in speaking is

[1:01:22] to remind everybody that it's a complex

[1:01:25] nuance moned difficult situation it

[1:01:28] can't be simplified by a one-sided

[1:01:31] resolution that is uh more complex than

[1:01:34] most people really understand there are

[1:01:37] many innocent Palestinians who have

[1:01:38] suffered and it's horrible um but the

[1:01:41] problem in this is comes down to Hamas is a terrorist organization that

[1:01:46] can't be allowed to exist because that

[1:01:48] means no security for Israel no security

[1:01:50] for Palestinians I've taken up enough of

[1:01:53] your time it's going to be a long night

[1:01:54] I want to thank all of you for your time

[1:01:56] I'm sorry that you're in this position

[1:01:59] um please do whatever you can to bring

[1:02:01] healing and peace to our community

[1:02:03] because that is something that is in

[1:02:04] with your your purview thank you thank

[1:02:11] you Ed

[1:02:23] Leighton I thank you I'm here to oppose

[1:02:26] any resolution uh regarding the

[1:02:28] ceasefire and I'd like to bring my

[1:02:31] perspective to this debate um my wife

[1:02:35] and I have our oldest child his wife and

[1:02:38] our three grandkids live in a town

[1:02:41] called

[1:02:41] natana and in their apartment building

[1:02:44] they have a safe room the safe room is a room made of concrete extra inch of

[1:02:52] concrete steel door on the outside steel

[1:02:56] Shutters on the exterior window and

[1:03:00] ventilation system that can be shut off

[1:03:02] in the event of a gas attack this is the

[1:03:05] life in Israel is Israelis are

[1:03:08] constantly under pressure from terrorist

[1:03:12] organizations Hamas in Gaza Hezbollah in

[1:03:17] Lebanon the Islamic Jihad in in other

[1:03:20] parts of of other countries and to have

[1:03:25] a resolution

[1:03:27] asking Israel to stop to not protect

[1:03:29] themselves is an injustice to the Jewish

[1:03:33] Community um my wife and I were just

[1:03:36] there for the entire month of February

[1:03:37] we were on a solidarity Mission with

[1:03:39] some members here from from the Jewish

[1:03:42] Community we were down in the eso region

[1:03:46] we saw the terror attacks that had

[1:03:48] occurred in the kutes where the um the

[1:03:53] terrorists came in and attacked women

[1:03:56] children men and uh horrific events that

[1:04:00] had happened um what we learned on this

[1:04:04] trip is that we we had a tour guide and

[1:04:08] he explained that in

[1:04:11] Egypt um the the Egyptians celebrate

[1:04:16] October 6th as a holiday to represent

[1:04:21] their terror attack which was the six

[1:04:23] day yam Kapur war in 19

[1:04:26] 73 Egypt still celebrates that and what

[1:04:30] happens over in the Middle East and

[1:04:32] Israel being the only democracy

[1:04:34] terrorist organizations try to one up

[1:04:37] each other and Israel's goal at this

[1:04:40] point in time is to completely eliminate

[1:04:43] the terrorist organization so that they

[1:04:45] have no Bragging Rights going forward

[1:04:48] and they can live in peace and even to

[1:04:50] this day Rockets are still being fired

[1:04:52] from the North in Lebanon and that's

[1:04:55] going to be the confrontation area so as

[1:04:58] much as you want to cease fire from Gaza

[1:05:01] there's going to be other conflicts in

[1:05:02] the north uh out of

[1:05:04] Lebanon um and with with that

[1:05:09] um the Israeli people um the ceasefire

[1:05:13] is is really um an injustice to them

[1:05:16] they are looking to defend themselves

[1:05:18] against the terror organization they

[1:05:20] want to live safe lives uh like everyone

[1:05:23] else um in in in uh Democratic societies

[1:05:27] so I Rise that you um do not entertain

[1:05:31] any ceasefire resolution thank

[1:05:36] you Eileen

[1:05:49] handlan mayor

[1:05:51] McCarthy

[1:05:53] honor uh city council members and

[1:05:56] residents of

[1:05:57] skincity I'm standing here before you

[1:06:00] tonight not just sharing concerns as a

[1:06:04] resident of SKC but as someone whose

[1:06:07] family history and personal Journey are

[1:06:10] deeply intertwin with the very issues

[1:06:14] unexpectedly surfacing in our local

[1:06:17] discourse the inter in the introduction

[1:06:20] of the divisive symbols the

[1:06:24] rhetoric from the River to the

[1:06:27] Sea being here tonight with this

[1:06:30] possible

[1:06:34] proposal particularly those linked to

[1:06:37] the tragic events of October 7th and the

[1:06:39] actions of Hamas has not only reopened

[1:06:42] Old Wounds but has starkly reminded me

[1:06:45] of the personal battles that I fought to

[1:06:48] overcome a legacy of trauma a legacy I

[1:06:51] painstakingly worked to not pass down to

[1:06:54] my own children

[1:06:56] my family's story is one of resilience

[1:06:58] in the face of adversity marked by a

[1:07:00] history of violence and survival my

[1:07:03] mother who worked at the Y here in skinc

[1:07:06] for many many years was basically an

[1:07:09] orphan at 12 and she ended up a fighter

[1:07:13] amidst The Siege in of Jerusalem at 17

[1:07:16] serving in the palmach under

[1:07:18] rabine when that war broke up my father

[1:07:21] was shot on the front line during that

[1:07:23] war and remained in a for more than a

[1:07:26] week surviving the first surgery of its

[1:07:28] kind on a battlefield the subsequent

[1:07:31] Shadow PTSD that has followed our family

[1:07:34] to connecti in 1972 we got here has been

[1:07:38] a constant reminder of this cost of

[1:07:41] conflict I've lived a life grappling

[1:07:44] with this

[1:07:45] inherited trauma navigating through a

[1:07:48] childhood I can only describe as

[1:07:51] tumultuous at Best Yet through sheer

[1:07:54] determination I've made managed to

[1:07:55] Shield my children through this from

[1:07:58] this Legacy striving to provide them

[1:08:01] with a sense of peace and stability that

[1:08:03] I never had but here we are today I'm

[1:08:06] confronted with a painful

[1:08:09] irony the symbols the slogans the

[1:08:12] echoing the violence and Cher from a

[1:08:14] region thousands of miles away have

[1:08:16] infiltrated our community discourse

[1:08:20] challenging the very peace I've fought

[1:08:22] so hard to secure for my family it's a

[1:08:26] stark reminder that the work of

[1:08:28] overcoming trauma is never truly done

[1:08:32] especially when the Echoes of trauma are

[1:08:34] come are Amplified by the actions of our

[1:08:37] own Community this isn't merely about

[1:08:40] International politics or distant

[1:08:42] conflicts it's about the impact right

[1:08:44] here right now on our community's fabric

[1:08:47] on individuals like me who've worked

[1:08:50] tirelessly not just to contribute to the

[1:08:52] betterment of

[1:08:53] skincity but to over come personal

[1:08:56] histories of violence and

[1:08:58] Trauma thank you thank you for giving me

[1:09:00] the opportunity to share my story but I

[1:09:03] need you to remember these things as we

[1:09:05] sit here in these Chambers conducting

[1:09:08] the business of skincity not the Middle

[1:09:10] East thank

[1:09:14] you Susan

[1:09:24] unman hi hello

[1:09:30] um this is very hard for me um I just

[1:09:34] want the room to go back to applauding

[1:09:36] for Pearl and feel that unite

[1:09:39] unification because that's that is

[1:09:42] possible

[1:09:45] um I have a really long history of

[1:09:48] Israel I I'm a resident of the Capital

[1:09:51] District and since I was a child uh my

[1:09:55] grand parents came from Russia I we're

[1:09:57] all

[1:09:58] interconnected um but since I was a

[1:10:01] child I was always felt and was brought

[1:10:04] up that Israel out of anywhere was a

[1:10:07] safe haven for any Jew from anywhere we

[1:10:11] have a home after thousand 4,000 years

[1:10:13] of being forced out of anywhere we lived

[1:10:17] I learned about the Holocaust and was

[1:10:19] grateful that my people survived again

[1:10:24] we've been hated literally from the

[1:10:26] beginning of time

[1:10:30] why I've been to Israel eight times the

[1:10:33] first time I was 12 my bus our bus our

[1:10:37] tour bus broke down in GA the Gaza Strip

[1:10:40] and one of my Fondest Memories of my

[1:10:42] life was playing for three hours with an

[1:10:44] Arab girl my age 12 years old we played

[1:10:48] ball I we fell in love with each other

[1:10:51] we became friends that was the beauty of

[1:10:53] Innocence um I lived on and worked on a

[1:10:56] kibutz for four Summers and I've been to

[1:10:58] Israel seven times I have many many

[1:11:01] friends and many many family members who

[1:11:04] live there served in the IDF and um

[1:11:08] thank God most of them are okay the last

[1:11:11] time I was there was February 11th I was

[1:11:14] there from the 11th to the 18th and I

[1:11:16] was on the solidarity Mission with the

[1:11:18] Jewish

[1:11:19] Federation I also am a product of trauma

[1:11:24] um but I felt it was my duty to Bear

[1:11:27] witness to the events of

[1:11:29] 107 and no matter how prepared I was and

[1:11:32] I watched it all I was not prepared for

[1:11:35] what I

[1:11:36] experienced there was so much pain so

[1:11:39] much shock so much suffering because

[1:11:44] since my first visit I have been very

[1:11:47] passionate about the plight of the

[1:11:48] residents of Gaza that is with my soul I

[1:11:52] am a social justice Warrior and I am

[1:11:54] vocal about injustices no one can shut

[1:11:57] me up that is the truth I stand to the

[1:12:00] best of my ability claiming that I am

[1:12:03] known in this area for confronting

[1:12:05] racism and I have had the rudest

[1:12:08] Awakening as those who I have supported

[1:12:10] and stood up against intentionally and

[1:12:13] wholeheartedly have turned their backs

[1:12:15] on the Jewish

[1:12:16] population I was at the site of Nova my

[1:12:20] heart was torn open looking at the site

[1:12:22] seeing this seeing these beautiful faces

[1:12:24] of these

[1:12:26] kids that were dancing and and playing

[1:12:28] and listening to music knowing that they

[1:12:30] were raped and tortured and kidnapped is

[1:12:34] that my time that is your time man' okay

[1:12:36] um I thank you all and I wish I could go

[1:12:38] on we want peace and we want to work

[1:12:40] with the go people of Goda we really do thank

[1:12:45] [Applause]

[1:12:48] you Amy

[1:12:54] bloom

[1:12:58] thank you so much for having us here you

[1:13:00] might wonder why so many of us have come

[1:13:02] out from Albany to skincity the reason

[1:13:05] is like of course I do the reason is

[1:13:08] because we lost the fight in Albany in

[1:13:10] alony in November Mo ped was brought to

[1:13:14] speak in our local library Mo presents

[1:13:18] himself as a Jew and instead he is a man

[1:13:20] of hate pure hatred we begged our local

[1:13:23] library to please not bring him into our

[1:13:27] space and instead he came and at that

[1:13:31] moment hatred between Jews and Muslims

[1:13:33] in the town of Bethlehem began hatred

[1:13:37] that we now need to work very hard to

[1:13:39] find a partnership to overcome then the

[1:13:42] Albany city council was meeting we were

[1:13:45] promised there would not be a vote on a

[1:13:47] resolution and instead the vote happened

[1:13:51] and the resolution passed and we're here

[1:13:53] today to say to you please do not make

[1:13:57] skincity Albany please do better than

[1:14:01] Albany did you can't really have an

[1:14:04] impact on anything by voting yes to the

[1:14:07] potential resolution that's going to

[1:14:08] come before you the only thing that will

[1:14:10] impact is negative your children the

[1:14:13] Jewish children in this conected County

[1:14:15] will suffer there will be hatred that

[1:14:18] will re upon them for no good reason I

[1:14:20] was the past preschool director at

[1:14:22] Temple Israel nursery school until

[1:14:24] August

[1:14:26] students 100 students 40 staff of mine

[1:14:30] spent a day of sheer Terror locked in a

[1:14:34] building eight children one teacher

[1:14:37] locked in a building while a gun man ran

[1:14:39] loose and why simply because of hate

[1:14:42] against Jews those children will never

[1:14:44] be the same and I can tell you my staff

[1:14:48] will never ever be the same we were a

[1:14:51] solid staff that had been there quite a

[1:14:52] long time together they're now down to

[1:14:56] eight remaining staff eight simply due

[1:14:59] to trauma of Jew hatred please we can

[1:15:04] make peace together you guys have an

[1:15:06] opportunity to allow your Jewish

[1:15:08] constituents to feel loved supported and

[1:15:10] cared about but simply passing a

[1:15:13] resolution that sken county is in favor

[1:15:16] of a a peace in this Middle East has no

[1:15:21] true impact it just serves to pit

[1:15:24] Muslims against choose and we don't need

[1:15:26] to do that there's already enough hate

[1:15:28] in the world please help bring

[1:15:30] peace thank

[1:15:37] you Valerie T

[1:15:46] Toriano good evening council members I'm

[1:15:49] here tonight in support of a ceasefire

[1:15:52] resolution to call for a permanent

[1:15:54] ceasefire an end to the Israeli

[1:15:57] occupation of historic Palestine I felt

[1:16:00] guilty knowing that Palestinians blood

[1:16:03] are on my hands from a federal New York

[1:16:05] State and connected taxes funding

[1:16:07] Israel's weapons and genocide against

[1:16:10] Palestinians an estimate of

[1:16:23] $962,500 starvation of Palestinian men

[1:16:27] women and children imagine with that

[1:16:53] $962,500 it's an ethnic cleansing and

[1:16:56] genocide of Palestinians that has been

[1:16:58] going on for over 75 years Palestinians

[1:17:02] haven't known Freedom or peace in over a

[1:17:04] century between both the British and

[1:17:06] Israel occupying Palestine this isn't a

[1:17:10] Judaism versus Islam conflict either as

[1:17:12] Israeli military have also been killing

[1:17:14] Palestinian Christians and Jews too as

[1:17:16] well if this was about Israel defending

[1:17:19] themselves from the October 7th 2024

[1:17:21] attack then why did the flower Massacre

[1:17:24] happen where Israeli military shot

[1:17:26] starving Palestinians rushing to the

[1:17:28] food Aid trucks why are they bombing

[1:17:31] hospitals why is Israel bombing Rafa

[1:17:33] refugee camps after forcing gazin to

[1:17:36] leave Gaza and into Rafa this is not a

[1:17:39] defense conflict or a war on Gaza this

[1:17:42] is an ethnic cleansing and genocide of

[1:17:44] Palestinians to conclude I'd like to

[1:17:47] remind those who are followers of Christ

[1:17:49] that Jesus was born in Bethlehem which

[1:17:51] is in historic Palestine which makes

[1:17:54] Jesus a Palestinian Jew and he's

[1:17:56] heartbroken watching his people being

[1:17:58] bombed shot and starved we are all human

[1:18:01] beings who who believe the same and

[1:18:03] deserve basic human rights decency

[1:18:06] respect love connection and to feel safe

[1:18:10] I have hope we'll see a free secular

[1:18:12] Democratic Palestine in our lifetime

[1:18:15] thank you council members for your time

[1:18:16] to listen to my

[1:18:23] words

[1:18:29] thank you Michelle

[1:18:38] Sanders thank

[1:18:41] you okay I got a chance to look at the

[1:18:44] proposal and in this in the proposal it

[1:18:48] the Cesar resolution saying

[1:18:51] anti-Semitism is

[1:18:53] unacceptable that's complet completely

[1:18:55] disingenuous these statements only serve

[1:18:58] to promote divisiveness in our

[1:18:59] communities and misrepresent what is

[1:19:02] actually

[1:19:03] happening Hamas attacked the state of

[1:19:05] Israel in the most brutal of ways

[1:19:08] attacking people in their homes killing

[1:19:10] parents in front of children microwaving

[1:19:13] babies shoving guns into women's vaginas

[1:19:17] and discharging them gang rapes of women

[1:19:20] and the kidnapping of babies young

[1:19:22] children and infirm elderly

[1:19:25] victims Hamas started a war with

[1:19:29] Israel the leaders of Hamas who live in

[1:19:32] luxury in Qatar are not interested in

[1:19:35] peace with Israel not interested in a

[1:19:37] two-state solution or living alongside

[1:19:41] Jews at

[1:19:42] all their goal is to erase the Jewish

[1:19:46] people from existence by making it

[1:19:49] impossible for us to defend

[1:19:52] ourselves World War II and the current

[1:19:54] events

[1:19:55] globally have taught us that without the

[1:19:59] ability to fight back Jews would again

[1:20:02] become the scapegoats for all the ills

[1:20:05] in society in my life I never thought I

[1:20:08] would see far-left progressives side

[1:20:11] with an organization that uses their

[1:20:14] most vulnerable population as human

[1:20:16] Shields citing the belief that madom is

[1:20:20] to be

[1:20:21] exalted uses the humanitarian Aid that

[1:20:24] is sent to Gaza as a means to make money

[1:20:26] in the open

[1:20:28] market glorify the rape and

[1:20:31] brutalization of innocent

[1:20:33] civilians supports the immutable Refugee

[1:20:37] status for three generations of a

[1:20:40] portion of their population and blames

[1:20:42] it on

[1:20:43] Israel supporting resolutions like these

[1:20:46] incites the anti-jewish rhetoric which

[1:20:48] can lead to violence against Jews it

[1:20:51] does nothing to actually help

[1:20:54] Palestinian Ians but proves that our

[1:20:56] concerns for safety fall on deaf

[1:21:00] ears thank you thank

[1:21:08] you Andre

[1:21:12] Gerard Andre

[1:21:14] [Music]

[1:21:16] Gerard Ramy

[1:21:21] Salah Ria we have people outside

[1:21:26] there's people in the

[1:21:28] hallway

[1:21:43] okay I believe it's

[1:21:53] romea

[1:21:59] Peter

[1:22:16] [Music]

[1:22:18] Cook thank you madam

[1:22:20] speaker my name is Peter Cook I'm ser

[1:22:24] serve as executive director of the New

[1:22:27] York State Council of churches which

[1:22:30] represents nine

[1:22:32] denominations and

[1:22:34] 7500 churches including some in

[1:22:39] skty in a spirit of openness I'm here to

[1:22:43] call on this body to consider all

[1:22:48] sides debate and amend the resolution

[1:22:52] and not just take it cart blun

[1:22:56] and also just to acknowledge The Bravery

[1:23:00] of the people who have brought this

[1:23:02] resolution before

[1:23:04] you for many years now our denominations

[1:23:07] have advocated for the rights of both

[1:23:09] Palestinians and

[1:23:11] Israelis my wife was born in East

[1:23:13] Jerusalem to a father who devoted his

[1:23:17] life to resettling Palestinian refugees

[1:23:20] she had to leave in 1968 during the

[1:23:23] war we have friends in the West Bank who

[1:23:26] are incarcerated in Israeli prisons for

[1:23:29] speaking out in my family and my church

[1:23:33] we have been at this a very very long

[1:23:37] time most recently the National Council

[1:23:40] churches and our denominations have

[1:23:42] called for a

[1:23:43] ceasefire joining Senator Schumer and

[1:23:47] also who was also called for a

[1:23:49] ceasefire while condemning the actions

[1:23:52] of Hamas on October 7th and calling for

[1:23:55] the release of all hostages and

[1:23:57] political prisoners as a condition of

[1:24:00] the ceasefire our executive committee

[1:24:03] made such a statement a few weeks after

[1:24:05] October 7th with many hostages captured

[1:24:09] by Hamas and many more prisoners in

[1:24:11] Israeli jails still not returned and the

[1:24:14] death of over 31,000 Palestinians not to

[1:24:17] mention countless injuries and death by

[1:24:20] starvation the foot dragging and

[1:24:22] equivocation to stop the

[1:24:25] violence to not stop the violence is

[1:24:30] unconscionable as long as avoidance

[1:24:32] continues it will be impossible to heal

[1:24:34] wounds and reopen a

[1:24:37] conversation for a new future for

[1:24:39] Christians Jews and Muslims in this land

[1:24:43] who have struggled with

[1:24:45] Injustice so I'm just going to ask this

[1:24:49] body not to just take this resolution

[1:24:53] but support an open open process by

[1:24:56] which the language is discussed amended

[1:24:59] and debated and do that in a most open

[1:25:03] and

[1:25:04] transparent um way possible and we

[1:25:07] cannot be chilled by a PA of

[1:25:10] intimidation and we must be gathered

[1:25:13] together as a body that seeks the truth

[1:25:16] and that only happens through robust

[1:25:19] public conversation thank

[1:25:23] you

[1:25:36] has anyone entered the room Ria

[1:25:40] Salah

[1:25:44] no okay Ed Leen

[1:25:51] Jr sorry I'm not

[1:25:53] Jewish

[1:25:54] sir comments up here please may God

[1:25:56] bless and protect the Jewish people give

[1:25:58] them peace of heart and mind Mr Mayor

[1:26:01] it's time to ask if any voters who had

[1:26:03] voted for you speaking to the microphone

[1:26:07] please thank

[1:26:10] you it's time to ask if any voters would

[1:26:14] have voted for you had they known that

[1:26:15] you were covering up the crimes of

[1:26:17] corrupt judges Frost and

[1:26:19] falo please tell me how it is ethical to

[1:26:22] not meet with a taxpaying citizen that

[1:26:24] had the crime of conspiracy to deprive

[1:26:26] you of my constitutional rights of due

[1:26:28] process and a fair hearing perpetrated

[1:26:30] by the two corrupt judges you appointed

[1:26:32] to their

[1:26:33] positions Andrew Cen must have must have

[1:26:36] some morals and Scruples you didn't

[1:26:38] reappoint him good for him don't worry

[1:26:41] you still have your corrupt da and

[1:26:43] County attorney Gardner to pull my ethic

[1:26:45] complaint I have a copy of his nonsense

[1:26:48] for you and council members I guess

[1:26:50] there is no Ethics in skincity it goes

[1:26:52] along with government transp parency

[1:26:55] missing police chief wouldn't meet with

[1:26:58] me Sheriff also Clifford's wife was your

[1:27:00] secretary when you refused to meet with

[1:27:02] me in your office John de Augustine is

[1:27:05] on your smart City advisory

[1:27:07] committee of course you have

[1:27:10] uh nothing about salary or meeting

[1:27:13] scheduled I guess that's why I'm not in

[1:27:15] the Gazette pho's wife works in the

[1:27:17] finance department I'm not the only

[1:27:19] person deprived of help by you ask with

[1:27:23] the hum girls relatives think of you no

[1:27:26] Amber Alert didn't meet the criteria

[1:27:29] really how about the 1100 St cla's

[1:27:32] pensioners that you went to bat for oh

[1:27:35] that's right you didn't do jack for

[1:27:37] them either continue to cover up for the

[1:27:40] criminals to hell with the victims I am

[1:27:42] not going away sir no no swearing please

[1:27:45] no

[1:27:46] swearing there

[1:27:50] is I'm not there is no time limits on

[1:27:52] the crime of conspiracy a private

[1:27:54] citizen of their constitutional rights

[1:27:57] and since you are doing nothing but

[1:27:58] covering up for Frost and falo I guess

[1:28:01] you are part of the

[1:28:02] conspiracy I will start sending my proof

[1:28:04] to neighboring states and news stations

[1:28:06] I found one honest state policeman to

[1:28:08] take my complaint us attorney would not

[1:28:11] accept it da Carney says there was no

[1:28:13] crime which he is now guilty of

[1:28:15] obstruction of governmental

[1:28:17] Administration and will be back outside

[1:28:19] of City Hall what these judges did is so

[1:28:21] egregious for a judge to do that is a

[1:28:24] mandatory jail

[1:28:26] sentence that's why no one is willing to

[1:28:28] do

[1:28:30] anything I have the proof here for all

[1:28:32] the council members the mayor and

[1:28:36] chairman thank

[1:28:40] you Assad

[1:28:49] Ali hey everyone thank you for giving me

[1:28:53] time to speak um as being a US citizen

[1:28:57] honestly speaking I'm just a regular US

[1:28:59] citizen who came um who got a message

[1:29:03] and was deeply saddened to see what is

[1:29:05] what was going on in Gaza for past few

[1:29:08] months little children get died like

[1:29:10] every day and you know like we can I can

[1:29:13] make up stories over here that you know

[1:29:15] things happen and you know like I was

[1:29:17] attacked by several people which is not

[1:29:19] the case social media in today's era

[1:29:22] speaks a lot it is there are videos of

[1:29:25] young five year six year old children

[1:29:28] getting died getting like hurt you know

[1:29:30] so I suggest like a ceasefire and when

[1:29:34] we do the ceasefire we need to

[1:29:36] understand the history of Palestine and

[1:29:39] Israel 80 years ago how was the map of

[1:29:43] Palestine look versus it looks now

[1:29:46] Palestine people were forced out slowly

[1:29:49] by slowly out of their land and it's a

[1:29:51] natural instinct that if someone enters

[1:29:53] my house and start taking control over

[1:29:55] that you know I will raise my voice as

[1:29:58] much as I can to get the justice and uh

[1:30:02] for all sake Justice for Palestine

[1:30:05] people whose land it was 80 years ago

[1:30:08] and what is the picture of the map right

[1:30:10] now in in the

[1:30:12] world's map I suggest a ceasefire and

[1:30:15] immediate stopping of killing of small

[1:30:17] children ladies on both hands on Israel

[1:30:20] and Palestine so that's all I have

[1:30:24] thank

[1:30:33] you Susan

[1:30:38] Rosenberg Susan

[1:30:41] Rosenberg I beg your pardon she spoke

[1:30:44] that was oh oh yes she was the very

[1:30:47] first one thank you signed up

[1:30:49] twice okay um let's see we're down to

[1:30:53] Matt

[1:30:54] I'm not sure how to pronounce your last

[1:30:56] name it looks like oil it is oil

[1:30:58] okay oil kind of oil the US wants to

[1:31:01] steal for

[1:31:04] democracy all right as my last comment

[1:31:07] might indicate I'm here to support voice

[1:31:09] my support for a ceasefire resolution uh

[1:31:13] as of this weekend approximately 32,000

[1:31:16] people mostly women and children have

[1:31:18] been killed in Gaza since October and

[1:31:20] about 74,000 have been injured and this

[1:31:22] is only what's been Rec recorded the

[1:31:24] real casualty rate is probably even

[1:31:26] higher with not only the continuous

[1:31:28] bombing of the region but also the mass

[1:31:30] starvation due to the blockading of Aid

[1:31:32] by the IDF not to mention bombardment of

[1:31:35] the West Bank something that on its own

[1:31:37] should dispel the notion that this is

[1:31:39] purely about stopping Hamas as Hamas has

[1:31:42] no presence in the West Bank despite

[1:31:45] this President Biden continues to

[1:31:47] provide the Netanyahu regime with

[1:31:49] unconditional military aid making making

[1:31:52] ceasefire resolutions such as those that

[1:31:54] have been passed in numerous cities

[1:31:55] across the country including Seattle San

[1:31:58] Francisco Chicago and even Albany

[1:32:00] important and thus I urge the city of

[1:32:02] sken to follow in their lead and while a

[1:32:05] ceasefire resolution will be critical

[1:32:08] for the current situation it is the bare

[1:32:10] minimum of what must be done no

[1:32:12] ceasefire will truly last as long as the

[1:32:14] occupation of Palestine Land by the

[1:32:17] Israeli State remains this occupation in

[1:32:20] Siege has displaced and brutalized the

[1:32:22] Palestinian people for 70 5 years and

[1:32:25] only seeks to benefit the capitalist

[1:32:26] system via War profits by the ruling

[1:32:29] class working people in the US and

[1:32:31] around the world including the including

[1:32:33] in Israel itself have nothing to gain

[1:32:36] from this occupation and the funds are

[1:32:39] only and the funds going towards the

[1:32:41] military aid could easily be used for

[1:32:43] funding services for communities around

[1:32:45] housing and healthare Etc and therefore

[1:32:48] I would like to urge that a ceasefire

[1:32:50] resolution also include language around

[1:32:52] ending US military AR Aid and ending the

[1:32:55] occupation and Siege thank you thank

[1:33:08] you deal

[1:33:15] sha thank you all for giving us this

[1:33:19] time and space uh before I get started I

[1:33:21] do have 98 C5 signatures here that I

[1:33:25] would like to share with you if that's

[1:33:27] okay this is nine days worth of work so

[1:33:30] 100 people per day uh I'm not going to

[1:33:33] go

[1:33:34] into 100 plus years of History we're not

[1:33:36] here for a history lesson but I will say

[1:33:40] uh as the Imam of the SKC Islamic Center

[1:33:42] the biggest uh Muslim organization in

[1:33:45] the city of SKC and really representing

[1:33:48] a lot more than just Muslims in for this

[1:33:50] particular

[1:33:52] issue what we're calling for in that

[1:33:55] resolution is an end to violence it's an

[1:33:58] end to the murder of children on both

[1:34:00] sides it's an end to the blockage of Aid

[1:34:04] diapers insulin things that every human

[1:34:08] being every family need that we take for

[1:34:10] granted but that those Palestinians in

[1:34:13] Gaza right now wish they could have we

[1:34:16] can walk to the grocery store get what

[1:34:18] we need and walk right out they don't

[1:34:20] have that

[1:34:22] option they a a trucks are being blocked

[1:34:25] by families of settlers Zionist settlers

[1:34:29] who block those a trucks with smiles on

[1:34:30] their faces and they've been on

[1:34:34] record as wanting to introduce death

[1:34:37] upon all the citizens of Gaza because

[1:34:39] there's this infatuation that every

[1:34:41] Palestinian happens to be a Hamas

[1:34:44] terrorist I don't need to remind you how

[1:34:47] hateful and how dangerous racist

[1:34:50] rhetoric can be we know that firsthand

[1:34:53] as the Muslims in America you know that

[1:34:55] firsthand being an African-American

[1:34:57] woman of color and we all know that in

[1:34:59] our own capacity have had experience

[1:35:01] with

[1:35:02] that I think the most pertinent thing

[1:35:05] today to take away from is that the

[1:35:07] ceasefire resolution that's being

[1:35:09] introduced here that we're asking you to

[1:35:11] uphold simply as a gesture of elected

[1:35:14] officials on behalf of the people you

[1:35:16] represent is one of inclusion a

[1:35:19] ceasefire accomplishes an exchange of

[1:35:22] hostages under the guise of safy and

[1:35:24] security for both sides not just for one

[1:35:26] side we are not here to talk about Hamas

[1:35:30] unlike some others who have come here

[1:35:32] and apparently are obsessed with Hamas

[1:35:35] we're here simply to talk about the fact

[1:35:37] that the Israeli Defense Forces are not

[1:35:40] only bombing indiscriminately not only

[1:35:42] shooting

[1:35:43] indiscriminately but after they bomb and

[1:35:46] they shoot they will then go and pillage

[1:35:48] the homes that they've just destroyed

[1:35:50] riding a dead kids bicycle on Tik tock

[1:35:53] and laughing about it stealing the

[1:35:55] lingerie of women that they just

[1:35:57] murdered for the world to see and they

[1:35:59] have no shame whatsoever about it and

[1:36:02] for anyone to say that they

[1:36:04] support the most moral army in the world

[1:36:07] quote unquote goes to show you what

[1:36:09] their version of morality is what their

[1:36:11] definition of morality is for us again

[1:36:15] Beyond just

[1:36:17] Muslims we see something happening

[1:36:20] Against Humanity a crime against

[1:36:22] humanity and I look at this side of the

[1:36:24] room and I see more than just Muslims I

[1:36:26] see more than just one color of people I

[1:36:28] see people that recognize Truth for what

[1:36:30] it is and want to speak out against the

[1:36:33] Injustice that suppresses that truth

[1:36:35] which is that violence Upon A group of

[1:36:38] people simply because they happen to be

[1:36:40] from a certain part of the world simply

[1:36:41] because their nationality happens to be

[1:36:43] Palestinian simply because their their

[1:36:45] language happens to be Arabic is

[1:36:47] completely wrong there is no room for

[1:36:49] this in 2024 there's no room for it ever

[1:36:51] in the world but since need you

[1:36:53] summarize please sir thank you very much

[1:36:56] I will end with

[1:36:58] this if you guys pass this resolution

[1:37:02] you will do a great thing for the

[1:37:04] constituents that you represent I

[1:37:07] understand some people may be upset but

[1:37:08] at the end of the day the city of skty

[1:37:11] you as elected

[1:37:12] officials all we want you to do is just

[1:37:14] say there has to be a stop to the

[1:37:17] violence a stop to the genocide that's

[1:37:19] all thank you very much thank

[1:37:20] [Applause]

[1:37:22] you

[1:37:37] uh so he I'm I'm I'm I might be not

[1:37:39] saying your name properly so he

[1:37:43] shakima if you could pronounce it

[1:37:45] correctly for me I'd appreciate

[1:37:52] it yeah it's so

[1:38:01] cha let it be said on record that all of

[1:38:04] us here are against the killing of all

[1:38:06] innocent

[1:38:07] lives it is imperative to put everything

[1:38:10] in perspective since the Zionist

[1:38:11] movement and his sympathizers always

[1:38:13] start from October 7th along with many

[1:38:16] debunked lies while all facts

[1:38:19] Palestinians have been checked and

[1:38:21] confirmed since this is the only live

[1:38:23] broadcasted genocide in the history of

[1:38:26] mankind I would like to mention a few

[1:38:28] facts we so we may have a clear

[1:38:31] understanding of situation in the

[1:38:32] occupied Palestine and our ask for the

[1:38:35] passing of the ceasefire resolution at

[1:38:37] hand the same British Empire that our

[1:38:41] founding fathers fought off this land

[1:38:43] decided to hand over another occupied

[1:38:45] land called Palestine to a group of

[1:38:47] terrorist zionists who killed and forced

[1:38:49] almost 1 million indigenous Palestinians

[1:38:51] out of their homes and land in 1948

[1:38:55] Muslims Christians and Jews have

[1:38:58] continued to suffer in their occupation

[1:39:00] the struggle has always been between the

[1:39:02] Zionist occupiers and the Palestinians

[1:39:04] occupied for anyone who states that

[1:39:07] Israel has a right to defend itself I

[1:39:09] say read up on the un's position in

[1:39:11] regards to the occupying entity and the

[1:39:14] occupied and who has the right to

[1:39:17] self-defense for anyone who says Hamas

[1:39:19] started this on the 7th of October I say

[1:39:22] read up on what happened to Palestinians

[1:39:25] between 1948 and the year Hamas was

[1:39:27] established in

[1:39:29] 1987 oh yeah also read up on what is

[1:39:32] happening to Palestinians in the West

[1:39:34] Bank where there is no Hamas for anyone

[1:39:37] who says Israel is eliminating Hamas I

[1:39:39] say look at the evidence widely

[1:39:41] available of Israeli leadership calling

[1:39:43] for the elimination of the entire

[1:39:45] population by all means why calling

[1:39:48] Palestinians animals and terrorists

[1:39:51] don't forget the zionists claim that

[1:39:53] occupied Palestine belongs to the

[1:39:55] zionists with no place for the

[1:39:58] indigenous Palestinians for anyone who

[1:40:00] says Israel has no choice but to keep

[1:40:03] killing and starving Gins simply because

[1:40:05] it will eliminate Hamas I ask the

[1:40:08] council members if they would accept

[1:40:09] that for our own skty residents do you

[1:40:12] accept the collective punishment of all

[1:40:14] the residents of skty including your own

[1:40:16] loved ones I will even pretend that you

[1:40:19] are not aware of the number of killed

[1:40:21] children mothers fathers elderly

[1:40:23] journalists Medics and NGO workers I

[1:40:26] will further pretend that you are not

[1:40:28] aware of the orchestrated starvation of

[1:40:30] gazin which is predicted to be the

[1:40:33] leading cause of the death of the death

[1:40:35] in Gaza what the heck I'll even pretend

[1:40:38] that you're not aware of the

[1:40:39] assassination of

[1:40:41] civilians as a father an activist an

[1:40:43] educator a school principal a counselor

[1:40:45] a police chaplain and a community leader

[1:40:48] but most importantly as a human being I

[1:40:50] know that we must call for an immediate

[1:40:52] and permanent cease f

[1:40:53] immediate delivery of unrestricted

[1:40:55] humanitarian Aid the ending of us

[1:40:57] funding of the genocide and

[1:40:59] reinstatement of the onra funding and

[1:41:01] the release of all hostages all hostages with this call I know you I

[1:41:08] know you are our representatives and I

[1:41:10] know that you will vote in favor of

[1:41:12] saving lives while both politicians may

[1:41:16] vote against it when I last checked I

[1:41:20] was told that we have more

[1:41:21] Representatives than politicians this

[1:41:23] resolution will tell thank

[1:41:38] you thank

[1:41:40] you Asar ATA ashar

[1:41:50] ATA good evening and uh thank you very

[1:41:53] much Council persons for giving me the

[1:41:56] opportunity to speak here so I speak

[1:41:59] here um as a Muslim as a citizen of

[1:42:03] United States as a citizen of New York

[1:42:06] State and as a community member here and

[1:42:09] I also speak here as a father

[1:42:12] professionally I a man of numbers I'm a

[1:42:14] statistician so I draw I like to draw

[1:42:17] your attention to some numbers some very

[1:42:20] small numbers and we for for for helping

[1:42:23] us understand the scale of the

[1:42:27] devastation that's going on in Gaza the

[1:42:30] Gaza Strip is 141 square miles skti

[1:42:35] county is 209 square miles so we can

[1:42:38] imagine that Gaza is within skincity it

[1:42:42] is a small part of skincity now imagine

[1:42:45] until December as of October to December

[1:42:48] 20 299,000 bombs coming over this 141

[1:42:54] square mile area just imagine around you

[1:42:58] over a period of 2 to 3 months

[1:43:01] 29,000 bombs this is why we are asking

[1:43:04] for a ceasefire all the rhetoric apart

[1:43:08] this is why it needs to stop the next

[1:43:10] number I'm going to talk to you about is

[1:43:12] a number that actually or incident that

[1:43:15] stopped entire

[1:43:17] America if it's a number that made the

[1:43:19] comedians stop their show and talk about

[1:43:22] it which was the Sandy Hook crisis

[1:43:26] everyone who is a father grandmother

[1:43:28] grandfather knows can feel the pain of

[1:43:31] loss of life of

[1:43:34] children the number of kids again as of

[1:43:38] December 13,000 kids over a period of

[1:43:43] about 150 days if you do the math it

[1:43:46] comes down to

[1:43:48] about 80 to 90 kids a day that's 3 to

[1:43:53] four Sandy Hooks every day three to four

[1:43:57] Sandy Hooks happening every day this is

[1:44:01] precisely the reason we want ceasefire

[1:44:04] and we want it now thank you very much

[1:44:06] for taking up the

[1:44:16] resolution thank you thank you Frank

[1:44:20] Wicks Frank wix

[1:44:34] okay start by noting I'm neither

[1:44:38] Palestinian nor Israeli I have no

[1:44:41] personal involvement with the either

[1:44:43] side if the Palestinians were doing to

[1:44:46] the Israelis what the Israelis are doing

[1:44:48] with the Palestinians I would be up here

[1:44:52] defending the uh the

[1:44:56] Israelis uh I I support the

[1:45:00] ceasefire and uh kind of the future

[1:45:03] dream of Einstein that a s a single

[1:45:06] state there with the Jews and uh

[1:45:10] Palestinians living together in in peace and cooperation but

[1:45:18] meanwhile

[1:45:21] uh see here

[1:45:26] again two weeks ago I was here I had my

[1:45:29] Jewish friend Larry on one side and my

[1:45:32] musim friend Muhammad on the other side

[1:45:35] and who we you know as humans we saw

[1:45:39] everything the same

[1:45:40] way now the

[1:45:45] uh okay the uh probably the uh the

[1:45:50] biggest lie is that uh Israel is only

[1:45:54] trying to defend

[1:45:55] itself a month

[1:45:57] before prime minister Netanyahu was the

[1:46:00] United Nations with is a map of the

[1:46:04] future of Israel showing no

[1:46:07] Palestine the only way that can happen

[1:46:10] is by killing every

[1:46:13] Palestinian or by displacing

[1:46:15] them this required United States weapons

[1:46:19] and

[1:46:20] support which we Prov provided

[1:46:24] uh now with second thoughts about it uh

[1:46:27] and we're providing it and we're getting

[1:46:28] told not there none of our business how

[1:46:31] it's getting

[1:46:32] used uh so where we stand right now is

[1:46:39] the best we can do is right now seize

[1:46:41] fire you know again that doesn't that

[1:46:45] doesn't address the force

[1:46:47] starvation uh that now the uh so so the

[1:46:53] seege fire ought to be the minimal right

[1:46:55] now stopping the weapons ought to come

[1:46:58] next

[1:47:00] uh and I guess the people of skti I

[1:47:03] think the good people of

[1:47:05] skti should have no problem supporting

[1:47:07] this and I guess you know sometime in

[1:47:10] the future I think the Israeli leaders

[1:47:15] and Israeli army forces they're

[1:47:19] committing know the war crimes ought to

[1:47:21] be tried in a International tribunal

[1:47:24] with the support of the United States

[1:47:26] and the good people of skti thank you

[1:47:30] thank

[1:47:41] you Leila

[1:47:45] kaaga great thank you you're

[1:47:49] welcome all right okay thank you for

[1:47:52] having us tonight you've listened to a

[1:47:54] lot of voices and I appreciate that um

[1:47:56] so my name is Leila kaaga I'm a resident

[1:47:58] and a local business owner I stand here

[1:48:00] a little confused how people can say

[1:48:03] they want peace but oppose a ceasefire

[1:48:06] when you oppose a ceasefire you're

[1:48:07] standing with the occupation you're

[1:48:09] standing with oppression and you stand

[1:48:11] with killing 32,000 individuals in 170

[1:48:15] days you stand with starving 2.2

[1:48:18] million uh citizens of Gaza half of

[1:48:21] which are children 50% our children you

[1:48:24] prioritize 100 hostages over 2.1 million

[1:48:28] lives and over 10,000 Palestinian

[1:48:30] hostages that no one has ever seemed to

[1:48:33] mention that Israel has captured within

[1:48:35] the past 170 days you stand with killing

[1:48:38] my family and my people I'm not going to

[1:48:41] stand here and give you guys a 75 year

[1:48:44] history lesson what I'm going to say is

[1:48:45] I'm sick to my stomach seeing my people

[1:48:48] carpet bomb daily starved to death and

[1:48:51] massacred in one of the the most modern

[1:48:54] live stream genocide that we've ever

[1:48:56] seen and the world leaders are just

[1:48:58] sitting back this is not just an

[1:49:01] international Affair I disagree with

[1:49:02] prior statements this is a local issue

[1:49:05] it starts local everything starts local

[1:49:07] because it is closest to the people

[1:49:09] unfortunately I can't stop my tax money

[1:49:11] from going and killing my own people so

[1:49:14] what I can do is stand here and share my

[1:49:16] story and share my community's voice my

[1:49:19] Palestinian Muslim community's voice

[1:49:21] that has been severely underrepresented

[1:49:24] in this area and frankly in this

[1:49:27] country I learned from Malcolm X you

[1:49:29] can't be so blinded by your patriotism

[1:49:34] and your religion and culture to see

[1:49:35] what is wrong is wrong and what is

[1:49:38] happening is wrong hurting my people

[1:49:41] across AA strip is wrong killing them

[1:49:45] carpet bombing everything is wrong

[1:49:48] stopping the humanitarian Aid going in

[1:49:50] and while on the other side they're

[1:49:53] celebrating and dancing while starving

[1:49:55] children they're on the verge of the

[1:49:57] worst famine in this Century that is

[1:50:00] wrong we unfortunately in Palestine do

[1:50:02] not have the luxury of special rooms

[1:50:04] that protect us from our oppressors

[1:50:07] aggressions my father did not have a

[1:50:10] safe shelter in 1967 when he was

[1:50:12] forcibly expelled and made a refugee my

[1:50:15] mother's family did not have a shelter

[1:50:18] and a safe room when her family was

[1:50:20] forcibly removed in the Great Neck of 19

[1:50:23] 48 I cannot remember and I'm sure many

[1:50:26] Muslims here also agree we can't

[1:50:28] remember a Friday prayer that a police

[1:50:31] officer was not present that is our norm

[1:50:34] since probably 2001 don't quote me on

[1:50:37] that but that's how it felt we don't

[1:50:40] know of Friday prayer without police

[1:50:44] presence Mrs Pearl said earlier no

[1:50:47] matter who is at my door you help them

[1:50:49] this body represents connecti the Deep

[1:50:52] diversity and resilience of this what

[1:50:54] this city stands for I am painfully used

[1:50:57] to my voice not being represented by

[1:50:59] elected officials and I hope this body

[1:51:02] will finally represent my people's voice

[1:51:04] and on the day that Albany common

[1:51:05] Council passed the ceasefire resolution

[1:51:07] we were there majority of us were there

[1:51:09] and a council member stood up and

[1:51:11] thanked us for opening his eyes to the

[1:51:13] other side of the story there's three

[1:51:15] sides to every story right there's

[1:51:17] always the truth you guys can use your

[1:51:20] eyes and go read on the history and read

[1:51:22] up on everything but as of right now a

[1:51:24] ceasefire tells us that you care about

[1:51:26] our community and you care about peace

[1:51:28] so please do not keep repeating history

[1:51:31] let's learn from history and do the

[1:51:33] right thing and giving the oppressed a

[1:51:35] voice thank you for your thank

[1:51:48] you Jamaica

[1:51:51] miles

[1:51:59] a lot going on

[1:52:02] here yeah we're just

[1:52:04] gonna okay we're gonna leave

[1:52:07] it Lila Watson said if you have come

[1:52:09] here to help me you are wasting your

[1:52:11] time but if you have come because your

[1:52:13] Liberation is bound up with mine then

[1:52:15] let's work

[1:52:16] together Doctors Without Borders Amnesty

[1:52:19] International the international court of

[1:52:21] justice which found in its initial

[1:52:22] ruling that the allegation by South

[1:52:24] Africa that Israel was engaged in

[1:52:25] genocidal actions in Gaza was plausible

[1:52:28] and that action had to be taken to avoid

[1:52:30] a genocide UNICEF euromed rights Human

[1:52:33] Rights Watch and unit United Nations

[1:52:35] human rights just some of the groups and

[1:52:37] organizations that call for a ceas fire

[1:52:39] someone said to me recently that they

[1:52:41] feel that if they do or do not say very

[1:52:43] specific things that they will be judged

[1:52:45] to be different than how they see

[1:52:47] themselves I've thought about this

[1:52:48] deeply who are we can be seen in our

[1:52:51] words and our actions

[1:52:53] Therefore your words or the absence of

[1:52:55] them do carry weight who are we if we

[1:52:57] are silent to Injustice who are we if we

[1:53:00] turn a blind eye we are complicit the

[1:53:03] loss of Israeli life on October 7th is

[1:53:05] heartbreaking to those who have been

[1:53:07] impacted by the death or kidnappings I

[1:53:09] humbly share my deepest condolences and

[1:53:11] a wish for the safe return of those

[1:53:13] still remaining that one day was a

[1:53:15] painful loss since that day we have seen

[1:53:18] the Relentless disproportionate and

[1:53:20] dehumanizing attack on the Palestinian

[1:53:22] people in Gaza thinly veiled as an

[1:53:24] operation to free the hostages when

[1:53:26] there was a temporary ceasefire both

[1:53:28] hostages held by Hamas and political

[1:53:31] prisoners held by Israel were released

[1:53:33] but not all What followed was the

[1:53:35] continuing bombardment by the state of

[1:53:36] Israel of schools hospitals churches MOS

[1:53:39] universities historical sites and

[1:53:41] residential areas as well as putting

[1:53:43] back in prison people they had

[1:53:44] previously released the death tollen

[1:53:47] Gaza currently stands at more than

[1:53:48] 30,000 31,000 32,000 because the number

[1:53:51] is bigger right now than it was when we

[1:53:53] started approximately 70% of them being

[1:53:55] women and children journalists murdered

[1:53:57] and arrested and a man-made famine that

[1:53:59] has consumed the lives of children and

[1:54:01] increases as we debate whether or not

[1:54:04] the Palestinian people are worthy of

[1:54:06] food Water Shelter electricity or

[1:54:08] medical care a ceasefire is necessary

[1:54:10] for all of those things to end the

[1:54:13] Bloodshed for everyone Dr King known for

[1:54:15] being quoted in these walls and in this

[1:54:17] country spoke out adamantly against War

[1:54:20] racism and capitalism he was highly

[1:54:22] criticized for his opposition to Vietnam

[1:54:24] War it didn't stop him but King knew

[1:54:26] what many of us claim yet not all of us

[1:54:28] stand up to do it is always the right

[1:54:31] thing to the right time to do what is

[1:54:32] right the right thing to do in this

[1:54:34] moment is to stand on the side of

[1:54:36] history that honors all life and speaks

[1:54:37] against the ongoing genocide which has

[1:54:40] been supported by US Dollars our

[1:54:42] resources have been used for the death

[1:54:43] and destruction of Palestinian people

[1:54:45] while right here there was a need for

[1:54:46] food shelter Healthcare and more instead

[1:54:48] of investing in helping people in need

[1:54:50] our resources have been used to create a

[1:54:52] wider Gap internationally of people in

[1:54:54] need people suffering people

[1:54:56] marginalized destroying instead of

[1:54:58] building making millions unsafe let us

[1:55:01] not be silent and complicit to a global

[1:55:03] Cry For Justice the Irish were honored

[1:55:05] in these very Halls two weeks ago let's

[1:55:07] stand with Ireland who for St Patrick's

[1:55:09] Day declared that Ireland will always

[1:55:11] stand with Palestine and called for an

[1:55:12] immediate ceasefire as a growing number

[1:55:14] of cities across the US do let us too

[1:55:17] send a clear message to Muslim Jewish

[1:55:19] and Palestinians that it is safety for

[1:55:21] all not just for some a cease fire

[1:55:23] resolution is connected he does that if

[1:55:25] this body does not believe the loss of

[1:55:27] life at this scale is on and the ongoing

[1:55:30] Siege is worthy of your attention then

[1:55:32] what is necessary for it to matter to

[1:55:34] you thank

[1:55:43] you

[1:55:46] Sean sha

[1:55:48] young sha

[1:55:51] Young

[1:55:59] no okay oh okay

[1:56:14] sea uh good evening everyone um I was

[1:56:17] outside watching this live

[1:56:20] um man I heard so much tonight I heard

[1:56:24] so much from so many and and clearly um

[1:56:28] to me this is not just an international

[1:56:30] issue um this is an this is an issue

[1:56:32] that impacts every single one of us in

[1:56:35] this community and everyone that showed

[1:56:36] up here to speak about their feelings

[1:56:38] about what's happening um in Palestine

[1:56:41] and Israel's um I feel that it's

[1:56:46] important for me to speak up and on

[1:56:47] behalf of a ceasefire um in Gaza we have

[1:56:51] seen

[1:56:52] day after day um indiscriminate boming

[1:56:55] of people of women of men of children I

[1:56:59] remember as many of us do October 7th

[1:57:01] and what happened um to Israelis and the

[1:57:04] slaughter by Hamas on that people and

[1:57:07] the kidnapping of so many back into Gaza

[1:57:10] and I watched day after day as Israel

[1:57:13] took Vengeance on Gaza and bombed and bombed that Community

[1:57:19] including the West Bank um to today

[1:57:22] where we're have tens of thousands of

[1:57:24] people that have been killed we are

[1:57:25] simply saying as I stand here that a

[1:57:29] ceasefire is necessary for all the

[1:57:32] things that we want for peace for people

[1:57:34] to have the things they need

[1:57:37] for the exchange of hostages for any

[1:57:41] kind of diplomatic I think moving

[1:57:43] forward of this issue Cesar ceire has to

[1:57:47] happen I'm not here to give a 75 year

[1:57:49] history as you've heard so many others

[1:57:50] speak about I'm looking look at the

[1:57:52] situation today we're in March and we

[1:57:56] have numbers reaching up to 30,000 plus

[1:57:59] people killed and I think that our

[1:58:01] community and this is like once again

[1:58:03] not just an international our community

[1:58:05] is responsible for our feelings and our

[1:58:07] thoughts and this is what we're doing

[1:58:08] today we've brought this to our we

[1:58:11] brought this to our our local leaders

[1:58:13] these are the issues that we have we

[1:58:14] wanted to share them with you and let

[1:58:16] you know this is where we stand we've

[1:58:18] heard it from both sides of this from so

[1:58:20] many people that are passionate and our

[1:58:22] are feeling a lot of pain you all

[1:58:24] represent the entire community and we

[1:58:26] hope that you're listening with open

[1:58:27] ears from every single person that spoke

[1:58:30] up tonight there's a lot of pain in our

[1:58:32] community the ceasefire is not going to

[1:58:34] cause division this discussion isn't

[1:58:37] causing division this is bringing us

[1:58:39] together how else are we going to come

[1:58:40] together unless we are communicating

[1:58:42] having open dialogue with one another we

[1:58:45] have to do this this is important and I

[1:58:47] appreciate your time thank you thank

[1:58:51] you

[1:58:59] Muhammad Rya

[1:59:07] Mohammad good evening everyone thank you

[1:59:10] Mayor Gary McCarthy Madame speaker and

[1:59:12] other council member for giving me the

[1:59:14] opportunity to speak here before I start

[1:59:17] I wanted to read a article posted on CNN

[1:59:19] on November 8 2023 an eyewitness to

[1:59:23] genocide this isn't a propaganda from

[1:59:26] hamus this isn't a statement from

[1:59:28] Palestinian Authority this this account

[1:59:30] cannot be spared by Israeli government

[1:59:32] and its collaborators this is an

[1:59:35] American nurse from medicine s fronti

[1:59:39] speaking of a firsthand experience of

[1:59:42] being in Gazza there's no place in

[1:59:45] there's no safe place in Gazza she says

[1:59:47] there there were children with just

[1:59:49] massive massive um burn down their faces

[1:59:53] down their necks all over the limbs they

[1:59:56] are being discharged of these camps with

[1:59:59] no running water there are 50,000 more

[2:00:02] than 50,000 people are at Camp right now

[2:00:05] and only four toilets and they are the

[2:00:09] children they have these Fresh open

[2:00:11] wounds and perial

[2:00:13] ambulations so I encourage I encourage

[2:00:16] everyone to watch this um interview in

[2:00:19] CNN it was posted on November 8

[2:00:26] 2023 my my name is Riyad and I'm a

[2:00:28] resident of his conect and I moved here

[2:00:30] about two two and a half years ago from

[2:00:32] uh Brooklyn New York City I used to live

[2:00:34] in borrow park in Brooklyn and which is

[2:00:36] a heavily Jewish uh Jewish neighborhood

[2:00:39] I can tell you most of my then Jewish

[2:00:42] neighbors don't support what is

[2:00:44] happening in gadza right now and they

[2:00:46] want to Cee fire I chose esan because it

[2:00:49] is peaceful people love peace and and a

[2:00:52] apart from many other great things a lot

[2:00:54] of families been moving here because

[2:00:58] people are very friendly they want peace

[2:01:00] so I don't want I I do not want my

[2:01:02] children to go up seeing and witnessing

[2:01:04] what is happening in gadza many of us

[2:01:06] might have a question how and why this

[2:01:09] war was started well we all know the

[2:01:12] answer but it's not about how it was

[2:01:14] started or whose fault it was this is a

[2:01:17] long debate Palestinian people have been

[2:01:20] suffering for many years and faced you

[2:01:22] know they are forced out of their home

[2:01:24] for 75 years to or close to 80 years so

[2:01:27] like I have mentioned earlier this is a

[2:01:29] long debate and we do not want to go to

[2:01:30] that debate what we want is very simple

[2:01:33] just a ceasefire so that Aid such as

[2:01:36] medical and food supplies can get into

[2:01:38] gadza I'm asking our fellow Jewish

[2:01:42] Community if it was other way around and

[2:01:44] Je would Jewish

[2:01:46] people wouldn't they want a ceas fire if

[2:01:49] they were the one that got killed by the

[2:01:50] other other side of course they would

[2:01:52] right so why I'm asking for a ceasefire

[2:01:54] in Gazza the innocent Gazza resident

[2:01:57] don't deserve to die and be killed like

[2:01:59] this why should they be suffering

[2:02:01] because of someone else we not we need

[2:02:03] to think about it I'm I'm fasting for

[2:02:06] about you know 11 and 13 years um today

[2:02:09] is the fifth fast that I have I was

[2:02:11] fasting and I just broke my first year

[2:02:13] with a with a date but those people in

[2:02:16] gadza the kid the CH children the

[2:02:18] women's they have been like fasting for

[2:02:20] months days months if not years you know

[2:02:25] especially since no October 7th they

[2:02:28] have been they have very very limited

[2:02:30] food there's no there's no a

[2:02:33] being got into gadza so I don't I do not

[2:02:37] want my children to suffer like this and

[2:02:39] to go through like this I don't think so

[2:02:41] any of us here would want to see our

[2:02:43] children go through this as well so if

[2:02:46] you don't I'm asking and requesting you

[2:02:48] your honorable chair to pass a

[2:02:50] resolution for a ceire in GZA this is

[2:02:52] the least we can do for our future

[2:02:54] generation and I'm sure none of us want

[2:02:56] to see and our future generation to see

[2:02:59] what is happening in gadza and by waking

[2:03:01] up every day to see the people the

[2:03:04] children the innocent children and women

[2:03:07] they are being killed in GZA for no

[2:03:09] reason I need you to summarize sir Alban

[2:03:12] County thank you Alban County and many

[2:03:13] other neighboring country um County have

[2:03:15] already passed a resolution for ceire

[2:03:17] and gadza so I'm asking you and

[2:03:19] requesting you our requesting our es

[2:03:22] city council to join them and pass this

[2:03:24] resolution for ceasefire thank you so

[2:03:26] much thank

[2:03:27] [Applause]

[2:03:35] you for the last time I'm going to call

[2:03:38] Ria Salah if you're

[2:03:42] here if

[2:03:45] not I have no one else signed up to

[2:03:47] speak for the public comment of City

[2:03:49] business so I declare this public

[2:03:51] comment

[2:03:55] closed this time any miscellaneous

[2:03:57] business of this Council miscellaneous

[2:04:00] business of the

[2:04:04] council

[2:04:08] mayor thank you madam president

[2:04:10] appreciate everyone coming out tonight

[2:04:12] and uh understand the level of emotion

[2:04:15] that's attached to that and uh again we

[2:04:17] all hope that uh things will be

[2:04:21] different different and that peace will

[2:04:23] prevail in the end thank you madam

[2:04:27] president

[2:04:29] okay was there a council member that

[2:04:31] wanted to speak

[2:04:33] okay what is your name

[2:04:37] sir oh oh Peter

[2:04:41] okay let's see it looked like Peter Cook

[2:04:44] who already

[2:04:50] spoke

[2:04:54] Peter look yes here you are cross out

[2:04:57] but here you are I apologize for that we

[2:05:00] had a lot of

[2:05:04] duplicates thank you

[2:05:06] um I just want to say that

[2:05:10] uh I speak from a personal moral

[2:05:14] practical human

[2:05:16] perspective um I was taught Thou shalt

[2:05:18] not kill when I was growing up and uh in

[2:05:23] church I took pece studies in

[2:05:26] college uh if I'm in a bar with two guys

[2:05:30] fighting

[2:05:31] um I will step in and say hey guys

[2:05:34] what's the matter and and try and break

[2:05:36] it up rarely to get anything seriously

[2:05:41] done there um I would not give them a KN

[2:05:44] one a knife and another one a

[2:05:46] gun

[2:05:49] um 55 years years ago I decried the

[2:05:52] killing of innocent people in in uh

[2:05:56] Vietnam and these hundreds of thousands

[2:05:59] of innocent

[2:06:00] Vietnamese died and um I don't think

[2:06:04] that brought peace to

[2:06:08] Vietnam I decried the September 11th

[2:06:10] attack I asked my

[2:06:13] Governor Schumer and Clinton at the time

[2:06:17] my Senators not to attack Iraq and

[2:06:20] Afghanistan and syri Syria and Yemen uh

[2:06:24] they ignored my

[2:06:26] request um and actually had me arrested

[2:06:29] for trying to talk to them and over a

[2:06:31] 100 people were killed for every one

[2:06:34] death on September 11th and peace is

[2:06:37] still not obtained

[2:06:39] there I decry the October 7th attack by

[2:06:43] Hamas I also decry the killing of 100

[2:06:46] innocent Palestinian children by Israeli

[2:06:50] military for every single one killed on

[2:06:53] SE on October 7th 100 to

[2:06:57] one

[2:06:59] um Gandhi said Peace is not the target

[2:07:01] peace is the way I ask that all moral

[2:07:05] and practical people call for permanent

[2:07:08] ceasefire now thank you thank

[2:07:11] [Applause]

[2:07:19] you thank you chuie is there anyone else

[2:07:21] that whose name I did not call that

[2:07:23] signed up to speak because we did have a

[2:07:24] lot of duplicates that we crossed out

[2:07:26] okay with that then I declare this

[2:07:28] public comment closed really

[2:07:32] closed uh we've had heard from There's

[2:07:35] No Business from the council members

[2:07:36] we've heard from the mayor um I just

[2:07:38] want to thank everyone for coming out

[2:07:39] tonight I know that everyone is very

[2:07:42] passionate about their particular

[2:07:43] position in this and uh we've heard a

[2:07:46] lot tonight from from everyone that came

[2:07:48] to speak so we appreciate you coming and

[2:07:50] uh coming out I know that we did receive

[2:07:53] an email council members from Dr shakima

[2:07:57] yes and I did respond and so my

[2:08:00] particular position is this is that if there's going to be a conversation

[2:08:04] then all voices need to be in the same

[2:08:05] room having a conversation on both sides

[2:08:08] of it as opposed to us just hearing

[2:08:10] individually and then um moving that

[2:08:13] forward so do the doctor asked us for a

[2:08:16] meeting I personally said that I am

[2:08:17] willing to have that meeting and attend

[2:08:19] that meeting I'm not willing to call

[2:08:21] that meeting I'm willing to attend that

[2:08:23] meeting provided both sides of the uh

[2:08:27] people on both sides of the issue are

[2:08:28] present because hearing a one-sided

[2:08:31] discussion is not helpful so that's

[2:08:33] where I am right now with that I again

[2:08:35] appreciate you all for coming out and again there is no resolution

[2:08:39] currently before this Council but thank

[2:08:41] you for call coming tonight and to for

[2:08:43] hearing your voices heard and with that

[2:08:46] i' ask for a motion to

[2:08:48] adjourn second okay motion by Mr Mudan

[2:08:52] second by Mr Mancini all those in favor

[2:08:54] I we are adjourned have a good night

[2:08:57] thank

[2:09:05] you I have

[2:09:12] a organizations I'm involved

[2:09:20] with

[2:09:23] [Music]

Schenectady City Council Meeting, March 25, 2024

Transcript