[0:00] a

[0:05] [Music]

[1:50] [Applause]

[1:51] [Music]

[3:52] I'd like to call the city Caucus meeting

[3:54] to order for Monday June 10th

[3:57] 2024 we have one public public hearing

[4:00] this evening if the clerk would please

[4:01] read public hearing number one to extend

[4:04] the temporary moratorium on the

[4:06] submission and processing of building

[4:08] permits certificates of occupancy

[4:10] certificates of use and land use

[4:11] approvals for smoke shops vape shops

[4:13] hooka lounges and vape consumption

[4:16] businesses as the city council considers

[4:18] changes to the city code chapter 264

[4:21] thank you we have nine items for

[4:22] original consideration and one item for

[4:25] unanimous consent if the clerk could

[4:27] please read the item for unanimous

[4:28] consent

[4:30] under unanimous consent an ordin

[4:32] ordinance pursuant to section 101 of the

[4:35] second class cities law abandoning a

[4:37] portion of Amelia

[4:39] Street I need a motion to have this

[4:41] placed on the floor so move I need a

[4:43] second second second all in favor

[4:48] I since there's no objection to this

[4:50] motion it's going to be moved on uh may

[4:52] I have a motion to move on to the

[4:54] consent agenda

[4:56] so all in favor I thank you

[5:02] item number one item number one for

[5:04] original consideration an ordinance

[5:06] authorizing a supplemental bond for an

[5:08] increase in the cost of the construction

[5:10] reconstruction and installation of

[5:12] improvements at and in connection with

[5:15] the Rice Road water treatment plan Phase

[5:17] One by

[5:19] 5,964

[5:21] 73 discussed in committee without

[5:24] objection and on consent item number two for original

[5:27] consideration an ordinance author izing

[5:30] a supplemental bond for an increase in

[5:32] the cost of the construction

[5:34] reconstruction and installation of

[5:35] improvement at and in connection with

[5:38] the Rice Road water treatment plan phase

[5:40] two by

[5:43] $2,489 60 discussed in committee without

[5:47] objection on consent item number three for original

[5:51] consideration an ordinance extending the

[5:53] temporary moratorium on the submission

[5:55] and processing of building permits

[5:57] certificates of occupancy certificates

[5:59] of use and land use approval for smoke

[6:01] shop vape shops hooka lounges and vape

[6:04] consumption businesses as the city

[6:06] council considers changes to the

[6:08] connected city code chapter 264

[6:10] discussed in committee without objection

[6:12] on consent item number four item number

[6:14] four for original consideration a

[6:16] resolution calling for a public hearing

[6:17] for amendments to the SKC city code on

[6:20] proposed changes to the historic

[6:22] district ordinance and related historic

[6:23] district and zoning ordinances discuss

[6:26] in committee without objection on

[6:27] consent item number five item number

[6:30] five for original consideration a

[6:32] resolution transmitting to the SKC City

[6:34] Planning Commission proposed changes to

[6:36] the city of SKC historic commission

[6:37] ordinance and related historic district

[6:40] and zoning ordinances discuss in

[6:42] committee with objection and on consent

[6:44] item number six item number six for

[6:46] original consideration a resolution

[6:48] authorizing the sale of a vacant lot on

[6:50] aelia Street identified as sbl number

[6:54] 49.77

[6:55] d137 for

[6:57] $465 discussed in committee without

[7:00] objection on consent item number seven for original

[7:03] consideration a resolution authorizing

[7:05] the sale of a vacant lot on a milon

[7:07] street identified as number

[7:10] 49.77

[7:12] d138 for

[7:14] $465 discussed in committee with

[7:16] objection on consent item number eight for original

[7:20] consideration a resolution authorizing

[7:22] the sale of 10:30 Park Avenue for

[7:25] $127,500

[7:27] discussed in committee without objection

[7:29] and consent item number nine item number

[7:31] nine for original consideration a

[7:33] resolution recognizing juneth 2024

[7:36] discussed in committee with objection on

[7:37] consent this item will be presented on

[7:40] June

[7:41] 22nd if there's nothing more to come

[7:43] before the city council caucus I ask for

[7:45] motion to adjourn move by Miss Patrick

[7:47] second by Mr Farley all those in favor

[7:51] we are adjourned I'd like to call the

[7:53] city council meeting uh to order for

[7:55] Monday June 10th 2024

[7:59] and uh this evening we don't have anyone

[8:02] to do the invocation so I invite you all

[8:04] to rise take a moment to

[8:09] reflect and with the god um and and

[8:12] commune with the god of your

[8:13] understanding

[8:32] thank you I'd like to call on Chief

[8:34] Marino for the Pledge of

[8:40] Allegiance flag United States of America

[8:44] to the for it stands one nation God

[8:50] indivisible withy and justice for all

[8:54] thank you

[9:00] if the clerk could please complete the

[9:02] roll

[9:04] call Mr Toro Mr Farley here Mr manini

[9:10] here Mr

[9:11] muon Miss Patrick here Mr Williams M

[9:16] Porterfield

[9:19] here we have one public hearing this

[9:21] evening and just a reminder we've

[9:23] extended the public comment for the

[9:24] public hearing to 4 minutes and I

[9:27] respectfully ask that there's anyone

[9:28] that signs up only comment on the

[9:30] subject relative to the public hearing

[9:33] itself public hearing number one is to

[9:36] extend the temporary moratorium on the

[9:37] submission and processing of building

[9:39] permits certif certificates of occupancy

[9:42] certificates of use and land use

[9:44] approvals for smoke shops vape shops

[9:46] hookah lounges and vape consumption

[9:48] businesses as the city council considers

[9:50] changes to city code chapter

[9:54] 264 I have no one signs up for this

[9:57] public hearing so I declare the public hearing

[10:01] closed i' ask for approval of the

[10:03] minutes for May 28th

[10:05] 2024 mve by Mr Williams second by Mr

[10:09] Mancini all those in favor I if the

[10:13] clerk would please read any

[10:14] Communications and

[10:16] petitions Communications presented to

[10:18] the city council for Monday June 10th

[10:20] 2024 under official there were none

[10:22] under General there were none and under

[10:24] petitions there were

[10:26] none i' ask uh any city councilman

[10:29] members for committee

[10:31] reports any committee

[10:34] reports if not at this time we'll take

[10:36] any comments related to the legislative

[10:40] agenda I have no one signed up to speak

[10:42] so I declare the comment public comment

[10:44] on the leg legislative agenda

[10:49] closed I ask for approval of the

[10:52] legislative consent of the consent

[10:55] agenda second please second by Mr

[10:57] Williams all in favor

[11:00] this time we will ask I will ask for

[11:02] privil of privilege of the floor

[11:04] regarding um City

[11:07] business I do want to state that we have

[11:10] a number of people signed up we're at 40

[11:13] I think we're at 42 by now and so what

[11:16] I'm and I know that many of you are here

[11:17] to speak on a particular subject what

[11:20] has happened in the past is that people

[11:22] have come and wanted to speak on City

[11:26] business other than that particular

[11:27] topic so what I'm going to do is to ask

[11:30] individuals who are here to speak on a

[11:33] topic other than the conflict or the

[11:37] discussion regarding the resolution

[11:38] around Gaza if there's anyone here that

[11:41] other here to other than to speak on

[11:42] that I will give you opportunity to

[11:44] place you to the front of the agenda

[11:47] because I know that some of you would

[11:48] come before and left I've received

[11:50] emails regarding that so I want to give

[11:52] those individuals

[11:53] consideration uh is there anyone

[11:55] here okay Mr Serrano

[12:08] um so good evening my name is Ron Serano

[12:11] and I'm a longtime resident and property

[12:13] owner of the soon to be multiple

[12:14] business owners here in

[12:16] downtown I own a salon and I'm soon to

[12:19] be opening up the

[12:20] deli I have had several longstanding

[12:23] issues that have been repeatedly

[12:24] presented to you the city council and to

[12:27] other various appropriate parties the

[12:29] biggest thing that I present the issues

[12:31] offer to assist and resolve the issues

[12:34] and get nowhere I may be wasting my

[12:36] breath again tonight but I'm going to do

[12:39] it one more try first the downtown area

[12:43] is really filthy with trash all over the

[12:45] streets I've been told this is the

[12:47] general downtown problem but I've lived

[12:50] and visited much larger cities as

[12:52] Atlanta Fort laudale Austin Chicago and

[12:54] many European cities and nothing

[12:56] compares to the filth that we see in

[12:58] this connected streets I see more and

[13:01] more dog feces rotting

[13:03] Foods um vendors from the farmers market

[13:06] piling the the trash cans and they're

[13:09] overflowing it doesn't make it for a

[13:11] very presentable City when people are

[13:13] coming in from Union College parents

[13:15] everything else people coming in and

[13:17] patronizing our downtown businesses

[13:19] especially my salon people travel from

[13:21] hours just to come and see me and for

[13:24] them to have to witness our city looking

[13:25] like a trap sheep um I was told that you

[13:30] know from somebody that you know they

[13:32] weren't going to pay anybody to do it on

[13:34] a Sunday but the other day I noticed six

[13:37] employees pressure washing the staircase

[13:39] that's no longer in use so let's talk

[13:43] about where some of the funds are going

[13:45] and

[13:46] wasted um Also regarding state in

[13:49] Clinton the apartment building the

[13:50] parking needs to be addressed I am sure

[13:54] that you have the minutes from the city

[13:55] planning meeting where Redburn presented

[13:57] information for for approval before the

[14:00] building could be constructed Redbird

[14:02] said they would have designated

[14:04] parking well it's not the case so

[14:08] basically all the tenants Park on

[14:10] Barrett Street they Park on Clinton

[14:11] Street and they know that they can park

[14:13] for free after 4:00 in the public

[14:17] parking lot they stay overnight they

[14:20] some leave in the morning on the

[14:21] weekends I have documentation with um

[14:25] cars that are parked there for the

[14:27] entire weekend about 10% of that parking

[14:30] lot are are is usable for the public to

[14:34] patronize our local businesses so if you

[14:37] want our local businesses to stay here

[14:39] then we need to address the residential

[14:42] parking because this was not agreed upon

[14:46] that they needed to have designated

[14:47] parking they all have tabs on their cars

[14:51] so why if they don't have parking that

[14:54] they're using and I'm tired of them

[14:56] saying or people saying it's public

[14:58] parking they could park there once you

[15:00] live in a city you become a resident you

[15:02] become a tenant you not become the

[15:04] public and that's what we need to

[15:06] address this parking

[15:08] issue so I'm really hoping that um

[15:11] something could be really done uh with

[15:14] everything that's going on

[15:17] and lastly I'm just hoping that I can

[15:20] get some sort of commitment from

[15:22] somebody even if we get different

[15:25] meetings something that we can talk

[15:27] about with the parking and now there is

[15:29] going to be a dispensary on the corner

[15:31] of state and Clinton and again no

[15:35] parking setup so those are people that

[15:37] are going to be coming and going that's

[15:39] what the parking lots are there for

[15:40] they're not there for people to stay

[15:42] there for 10 hours thank you thank

[15:47] you okay so I know that um based on the

[15:52] list that some of you many of you have

[15:54] probably never been to our meeting

[15:55] before so I just want to go over a

[15:56] couple of things first of all there's a

[15:59] three minute time um you heard the timer

[16:01] just now for this gentleman when that timer goes off your time has

[16:05] expired if you're in the middle of a

[16:06] sentence please finish your sentence but

[16:08] we have a number of speakers tonight so

[16:10] we'd ask that you not continue beyond

[16:12] that I I have to ask you to um to leave

[16:16] the mic so um we I'm going to be doing

[16:19] you now in order since there's no one

[16:21] else to speak besides this and um we

[16:24] won't not will not be adding anyone else

[16:26] to the meeting now that the meeting's

[16:27] begun um and all your comments should be

[16:30] directed to me as the presiding officer

[16:33] and there will be no disparaging remarks

[16:36] towards the council towards other

[16:38] members of the of the audience if

[16:40] someone's saying something that you

[16:41] don't necessarily agree with there will

[16:43] be no booing we are here to listen to

[16:45] what every person has to

[16:47] say so um and this happened before so

[16:51] let me just say it I'm going to ask that

[16:53] you refrain from profane V vulgar and

[16:56] inflammatory language um disparaging any

[16:59] other individual whether it's racial

[17:02] ethnic or homophobic and no disruptive

[17:05] Outburst so with that I'm going to call

[17:09] the first person and we have a total of

[17:10] actually 38 there were some duplicates

[17:12] on here and the first person is j a

[17:15] miles

[17:44] [Music]

[17:55] I guess we're not in order by which time

[17:57] we signed up

[17:59] it's not

[18:10] possible we live in a global society and

[18:13] decisions that this body makes for our

[18:14] local community is intrinsically tied to

[18:17] the global Community even so the call

[18:19] for a ceasefire resolution has local

[18:21] Global and historical relevance Each of

[18:24] which is being recorded it is impossible

[18:27] for this not to be a local issue simply

[18:29] for the fact that hundreds I'm sorry

[18:31] we're now at over a thousand residents

[18:33] have come to you and said that it is an

[18:35] issue for them and they call for you to

[18:37] be leaders they ask that you stand on

[18:39] the side of Justice they ask that you

[18:41] advocate for the resources or Community

[18:42] needs we have an expectation that our

[18:45] elected officials are going to advocate

[18:46] for our needs at local state and federal

[18:49] levels funding that could have been

[18:50] spent right here in our city for

[18:53] infrastructure Education Health Care

[18:55] housing and more has been used to kill

[18:57] civilians in another country zionists

[19:00] and their supporters said that the city

[19:02] council should not be involved in quote

[19:04] international issues then we hear City

[19:07] Council Members parting the same talking

[19:09] points we shouldn't be involved in

[19:11] international issues some of you have

[19:13] said you are not taking aide you did you

[19:15] chose a side if international issues are

[19:18] a Hardline for any council member why

[19:20] not International Investment will you

[19:23] refuse your pension that is invested in

[19:24] Israeli bonds will you divest connected

[19:27] city worker pension plans from from

[19:28] Israeli bonds or are any of you fighting

[19:31] a ceasefire resolution in order to

[19:33] protect your own investment by accepting

[19:35] the genocide of a people for your own

[19:37] retirement sken County and the City of

[19:39] skinc are participating employers what

[19:42] happens to the Israeli bonds when the

[19:44] genocide can no longer be denied then

[19:47] the willingness of anyone who says that

[19:49] they stand Against Racism to be the tone

[19:52] police of black and brown folks to use

[19:53] white tears to delegitimize black and

[19:55] brown folks and centor themselves shows

[19:58] their lack of

[19:59] sincerity regarding support for

[20:01] marginalized people the symbolic black

[20:03] lives matter on J Street is to be a

[20:05] recognition of the city's commitment to

[20:07] end systemic and institutional racism if

[20:09] symbolic gestures mean nothing such as a

[20:12] resolution then we are very clear about

[20:14] what black lives matter on J Street

[20:15] means too to some of you on a personal

[20:18] note yesterday my six-year-old was at

[20:20] the park and he banged his head on a

[20:22] metal pipe at a playground it split his

[20:24] head open blood gushed over his face I

[20:27] rushed to him picked him up in my arms

[20:29] put him in the car and was lucky that

[20:31] the hospital was less than 5 minutes

[20:32] away his 12-year-old sister sitting in

[20:34] the car next to him both of them crying

[20:36] and hysterical as I rushed to the

[20:37] emergency room I carried him out of the

[20:39] car him still bleeding over me over

[20:42] himself rushed into the hospital praying

[20:44] that he's going to get efficient

[20:46] effective and quick medical attention

[20:48] this is just one moment One Moment In

[20:50] Time and I was absolutely hysterical and

[20:52] worried for the life of my child and

[20:54] this is something that anyone would have

[20:56] sympathy for the utter disregard for

[20:58] Humanity when you can sit idly by and

[21:01] accept that children are being murdered

[21:03] every single day because I know in my

[21:05] heart what it felt like for my son who I

[21:07] had the privilege to take home my son

[21:09] who is okay today but I could not sleep

[21:12] last night and that was just one day so

[21:14] I cannot nearly imagine what it feels

[21:16] like for the families in Palestine every

[21:18] single day to see the Bloodshed in the

[21:20] bodies and the limbs all over palese but

[21:23] we sit here arguing about whether or not

[21:25] we need to talk about it thank you

[21:33] Mindy

[21:34] Holland Mindy

[21:48] Holland Madame President esteemed

[21:51] council

[21:51] members Mr Mayor my name is Mindy

[21:54] Holland I live in the county of sken

[21:57] tonight I come to speak to you about

[22:00] Israel The ancestral homeland of the

[22:03] Jewish people and Zionism the movement

[22:06] for National self-determination and the

[22:08] Jewish people in that ancestral Homeland

[22:11] Abraham left his home to travel to the

[22:13] land of Israel not be to become a great

[22:16] religion but to become a great nation a

[22:18] people in that land and the Jews have

[22:20] lived there continuously for more than

[22:22] 3,000 years twice in Antiquity the

[22:25] Jewish people built Nations and

[22:26] exercised self-rule and self

[22:28] determination in the land of Israel for

[22:30] hundreds of years though some Jews

[22:32] remained most were exiled in 70 CE by

[22:35] the Romans the bond between the Jewish

[22:38] people in the land of Israel is historic

[22:40] and also deeply embedded in the Jewish

[22:42] culture literature and religion

[22:44] Jerusalem is mentioned 600 times in the

[22:46] Hebrew Bible and Israel Zion and

[22:48] Jerusalem are focal points of daily and

[22:51] holiday prayers the Jewish traditions

[22:53] and holidays are intimately tied to the

[22:55] land's agricultural cycles and our

[22:57] synagogues face to Jem given our

[22:59] people's history with and connection to

[23:01] the land of Israel many Jews understand

[23:04] themselves to be indigenous indigenous

[23:06] to the land of Israel Zionism is the

[23:09] movement for The Liberation and National

[23:11] self-determination of the Jewish people

[23:12] in our ancestral Homeland while we had a

[23:16] constant desire for return following our

[23:18] Exile from the Romans the modern

[23:20] political movement was born in the late

[23:21] 1800s to address two existential threats

[23:25] facing the Jewish Jewish people

[23:27] anti-Semitism and

[23:29] dissimilation those threats still exist

[23:31] but would be far worse if it was not for

[23:34] Israel Zionism is an inherit and

[23:36] Inseparable part of the Jewish identity

[23:38] for the vast majority of the Jews on

[23:40] Earth in the late 1940s when the British

[23:43] Empire the actual imperialistic

[23:45] colonizer of the land between the Jordan

[23:47] and the Mediterranean Sea planned to end

[23:49] its Colonial mandate and leave a un

[23:52] special committee rep recommended a

[23:54] partition to establish two separate

[23:56] nation states Israel Jewish and Arab so that each would have

[24:00] self-determination on November 29 1947

[24:03] the UN General Assembly voted in favor

[24:05] of the partition plan the Jewish side

[24:08] accepted the UN plan for the

[24:09] establishment of two states and Israel

[24:11] was born a recognition that Jews had a

[24:13] right to return to their long Exile and

[24:15] ceaseless persecution around the world I

[24:18] am a Zionist because I support the right

[24:21] of Jewish people to self-determination

[24:23] and nationhood as a means for Liberation

[24:26] and empowerment in our homeland thank

[24:28] you for the

[24:37] time Paula

[24:40] [Applause]

[24:43] mler Paula mner Paula

[24:57] mner m president esteemed council

[25:00] members and Mr Mayor my name is Paula

[25:02] mner I live in sken County I've come to

[25:06] speak to you about our Jewish Community

[25:10] those of us who have signed up to speak

[25:12] tonight wearing yellow ribbons are all

[25:14] residents of the city of sken and sken

[25:18] County the ribbons remind us all of the

[25:21] hostages who are now in their

[25:23] 247th day of being held captive in Gaza

[25:27] we are here to speak in one voice

[25:29] against a ceas fire resolution we plan

[25:33] to use our time largely to educate the

[25:35] council and the public about the Jewish

[25:38] people our connection to Israel

[25:41] anti-Semitism in general and the

[25:44] problematic words pictures and behaviors

[25:47] we've seen here in these Chambers and in

[25:49] our community so who are we scenc county

[25:54] is blessed to have three thriving

[25:56] synagogues a Jewish community Center and

[25:59] approximately 300 3,500 Jewish residents

[26:03] you members of the city council and Mr

[26:06] Mayor represent Jewish residents who are

[26:10] diverse in many ways including their

[26:12] religious practices so given that

[26:15] diversity of expression what makes a

[26:18] person Jewish Judaism is not only a set

[26:22] of beliefs about the origin and meaning

[26:24] of life and the values one should lead

[26:27] that life by in other words Judaism is

[26:30] not only a religion Judaism is also an

[26:34] ethnicity a nation a people and a

[26:37] culture people can be culturally Jewish

[26:40] without believing in any parts of the

[26:42] Jewish faith I am Jewish which means

[26:45] that I am a member of the Jewish people

[26:48] like any marginalized minority group we

[26:51] get to say who we are and what defines

[26:55] us I am here tonight to share with you

[26:58] that Jewish peoplehood is a core part of

[27:02] the Jewish identity of the local Jewish

[27:04] Community thank you for your

[27:13] time Holly

[27:15] LOF Holly

[27:19] LOF

[27:21] hello I'm Jewish I live in skincity and

[27:25] I support a ceasefire resolution it has

[27:28] been proposed that city council simply

[27:30] stop considering resolutions about

[27:32] international issues no we all know that

[27:35] resolutions like this have no actual Le

[27:37] legal effect but they are a means by

[27:40] which a community can express its

[27:42] political opinion and the residents of

[27:44] this city have every right to ask our

[27:47] representatives to speak on our behalf

[27:49] about an issue that matters to us this

[27:52] issue matters to us lots of folks here

[27:56] tonight live elsewhere maybe in the

[27:58] county but not in the city but work here

[28:01] or worship here or come here because

[28:04] let's face it our restaurants are better

[28:06] than theirs um and those folks can weigh

[28:09] in of course but their opinions should

[28:11] not weigh as much as those of us who

[28:13] live here and vote here and pay taxes

[28:16] here skincity is not nkuna it's not

[28:20] Glenville it's not Clifton Park skincity

[28:23] is a city of immigrants including lots

[28:25] of new immigrants and refugees who

[28:28] understandable sympathies lie with the

[28:30] people of Gaza skincity is a city of

[28:33] diverse faiths and increasingly a city

[28:36] with a significant Muslim population

[28:38] whose sympathies also understandably lie

[28:41] with the PE people of Gaza and crucially

[28:44] skincity is a young City our median age

[28:47] is in the low3s young people feel

[28:50] passionately about this issue in a way

[28:53] that we Boomers and Exar and Millennials

[28:56] dismiss at our consider durble moral

[28:59] Peril when young people feel

[29:01] passionately about an issue of peace and

[29:03] Justice history shows us they are rarely

[29:07] wrong as a Jew I am not threatened by or

[29:11] frightened of neighbors who criticize

[29:13] the state of Israel or question the

[29:15] project of Zionism or who support the

[29:17] people of Gaza or the cause of

[29:19] Palestinian Liberation or who demand

[29:22] that our tax dollars not be used to bomb

[29:25] civilians under any circumstances ever

[29:29] I am not threatened by calls for a

[29:31] ceasefire but that doesn't mean that I

[29:33] am not threatened Jews are not crazy to

[29:36] be scared right now smashed headstones

[29:39] and swasa graffiti and dudes bringing

[29:41] guns to our community centers not to

[29:44] mention the murders in Pittsburgh and

[29:47] actual Nazis in the halls of power these

[29:50] are legitimately

[29:52] threatening as a Jew I support a

[29:55] ceasefire resolution and I also ask as

[29:58] part of another discussion for another

[30:00] day for a resolution against

[30:03] anti-Semitism recognizing it as a unique

[30:06] form of bigotry with its own history and

[30:09] mechanisms a resolution written in

[30:11] consultation with Jewish leadership

[30:14] informed by local experience and local

[30:17] incidents a resolution I have no doubt

[30:20] will be supported by our neighbors of

[30:22] all faiths and our allies in the fight

[30:25] for peace and Justice thank you thank

[30:29] [Applause]

[30:40] um we having a little technical

[30:41] difficulty he needs to switch out the

[30:50] mic

[30:52] you are we

[30:55] done I guess we're done okay uh Stacy

[31:11] Farber hi thank you council members for

[31:14] agreeing to listen to my statement my

[31:17] name is Stacy Farber and I'm a resident

[31:19] of the city of

[31:20] sken I was also here on the first day of

[31:23] testimonies regarding the resolution and

[31:26] I listened intently to everyone one for

[31:29] those who spoke I want to convey I heard

[31:32] you I heard your pain and grief and my

[31:36] heart was with

[31:38] yours a little background on me my

[31:41] grandparents fled Austria following that

[31:44] country's Embrace of the Hitler Nazi

[31:46] regime and the followon persecution of

[31:49] Jews my father was born and occupied

[31:52] France I am first generation American on

[31:55] my father's side and I'm a proud Jew

[32:00] I have lived a safe life privileged in

[32:02] many ways albe punctuated by incidents

[32:05] of

[32:07] anti-Semitism why do I say this I want

[32:10] to

[32:11] ceasefire I want full surrender of Hamas

[32:14] for all it has done to Israel as well as

[32:17] the Palestinian people I want the

[32:20] release of the Israeli

[32:21] hostages I want Israel to stop bombing

[32:24] Gaza and I don't want us weapons to be

[32:27] used if they should

[32:29] continue I want the release of

[32:31] Palestinian detainees among them young

[32:34] women and children who have been in

[32:37] Israeli detention for weeks months years

[32:40] without due

[32:42] process I want the violence to end in

[32:44] the West Bank where extremists are

[32:47] violently pushing Palestinians off their

[32:49] generational lands and I want violence

[32:52] to end in Northern Israel where the land

[32:54] is on fire from Hezbollah Rockets and

[32:58] incendiary

[32:59] devices I want peace in the streets of

[33:02] East Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount I

[33:06] want a recognized Palestinian state with

[33:10] full rights like Israel that is peaceful

[33:14] and meets the needs of its people I want

[33:17] Israel to have a long secure positive

[33:21] future in which all its people enjoy

[33:24] equality and freedom of thought

[33:27] regardless of religion race or sex

[33:30] extremism should be addressed and

[33:32] assuaged no matter where it might exist

[33:35] Gaza Israel Russia the United

[33:40] States for all these Reasons I'm an

[33:43] active member of J Street a pro-israel

[33:46] pro Palestine pro peace and democracy

[33:50] National Organization that advocates for

[33:53] diplomacy first we Lobby our members of

[33:56] Congress and the White House

[33:58] Administration to effect change in US

[34:01] policy regarding Israel the Palestinian

[34:04] people and a Palestinian

[34:06] state representative Paul tono of the

[34:09] 20th District represents the city of

[34:11] skty and the surrounding

[34:15] area finally as children of ishmail and

[34:19] Isaac with a common father of Abraham I

[34:22] want all of us to see Humanity in each

[34:25] other and see neither as better or more

[34:28] privileged than the other we are cousins

[34:30] we are siblings and we should treat each

[34:33] other with love and respect thank

[34:41] you

[34:50] Andrew it's going to be difficult for

[34:52] you to hear me to call the next person

[34:54] so I understand the Applause but I need

[34:56] to be able to call this a week we have

[34:58] quite a few people and we'll be here for

[34:59] a

[35:00] while Andrew

[35:14] Gavin Madame President esteemed council

[35:17] members and Mr Mayor my name is Andrew

[35:21] gab I live in the county of SKC tonight

[35:24] I've come to speak to you about the the

[35:28] legitimacy of Israel as a state and its

[35:31] relationship with its

[35:33] neighbors Israel's origin story is to

[35:37] Pakistan the British denounced their

[35:39] intention to end their colonial mandate

[35:42] over what was then British India around

[35:44] the same time as Israel and a partition

[35:47] plan was created the primary goal was to

[35:50] give Muslims a majority in a new country

[35:52] and therefore

[35:54] self-determination there too were bloody

[35:56] conflicts Al along with mass migration

[35:59] much of which was forced yet the world

[36:02] has never questioned the the legitimacy

[36:05] of Pakistan and they should not question

[36:07] the legitimacy of

[36:09] Israel one of the key differences

[36:12] between Pakistan and Israel is that for

[36:14] Israel the leaders of the Arab states

[36:17] rejected the plan to divide the land and

[36:20] allow both populations

[36:23] self-determination they refus to see

[36:25] Jews as having a historical religious or

[36:28] legal claim to the land and refus to

[36:31] consider sharing the land so as has as

[36:35] has happened all over the world

[36:37] throughout time Wars ensued and the

[36:40] borders

[36:41] changed six Arab states have now made

[36:44] peace with Israel Israel is a modern

[36:47] country built by Pioneers now a leader

[36:51] in Industries like technology

[36:54] agriculture Water Reclamation and

[36:57] conservation

[36:58] fashion entertainment and Medicine

[37:01] especially mental health trauma

[37:03] treatment and injuries from Burns and

[37:06] explosives from their years of

[37:08] experience with terrorist attacks even

[37:11] during

[37:12] ceasefires thank you for your time thank

[37:16] [Applause]

[37:23] you Ann Deber

[37:40] Madam President Steve council members

[37:42] and Mr Mayor my name is Annie bber and I

[37:45] live in

[37:46] S I want to speak to you about Israel's

[37:49] relationship with MTH many Jews now

[37:52] recognize the the legitimate connection

[37:55] of Palestinians to this land with

[37:58] our own Hamas however has never today

[38:01] accepted the Jewish people's

[38:02] relationship to the land or recognized

[38:04] the state of isra Hamas a designated

[38:07] terrorist organization by the US EU and

[38:11] other states was founded in

[38:13] 1987 as an offsuit of the Muslim

[38:15] Brotherhood a movement dedicated to

[38:18] promoting islamist extremism worldwide

[38:22] their goals are outlined in their

[38:23] founding Charter which combines

[38:25] anti-semitic conspiracy theories and

[38:27] explicitly calls for the death of all

[38:29] Jews Nation worldwide they are

[38:32] responsible for decades of violent

[38:34] Terror attacks against Israeli civilians

[38:37] including suicide bombings stabbings and

[38:39] shootings they have governed Gaza since

[38:42] 2007 after they were elected and then

[38:45] violent and they violently ousted the

[38:48] Palestinian Authority Hamas its funding

[38:51] and support from Iran which regularly

[38:53] threatens Israel with Annihilation Hamas

[38:56] then leader isma Pia said in 2020 we

[39:01] cannot in exchange for money or projects

[39:03] give up Palestine and our weapons we

[39:06] will not give up the resistance we will

[39:08] not recognize Israel Palestine must

[39:11] stretch from The River To The Sea where

[39:13] recently gazi Hamad and hamas's official

[39:17] said the October 7th Massacre is just

[39:21] the first time and there will be a

[39:24] second a third a fourth because we have

[39:27] determination the resolve and the

[39:29] capabilities to fight the existence of

[39:32] Israel is

[39:33] illogical if Islam is a religion of

[39:36] Peace like Judaism Hamas extreme hatred

[39:39] of Jews and of Israel is not consistent

[39:41] with mainstream Islam every world

[39:44] religion has extremist who use a

[39:46] perversion of its teaching for power and

[39:49] control thank you for your time thank

[39:51] you

[39:57] Alan

[39:58] Goldman Alan

[40:12] Goldman Madame President esteemed

[40:15] council members and Mr Mayor my name is

[40:17] Alan Goldman I live in skincity County

[40:21] I've come to speak to you about

[40:24] anti-Semitism many people have a hard

[40:26] time recognizing Jew hatred because of

[40:29] specific content the language and

[40:31] behavior can change over time there are

[40:34] several well-recognized definitions of

[40:38] anti-Semitism but we think the easiest

[40:40] to use is the

[40:42] 3DS a set of criteria formulated by

[40:45] human rights Advocate Natan shansi in

[40:48] order to distinguish legitimate

[40:50] criticism of Israel from

[40:53] anti-Semitism the 3DS stand for d

[40:56] legitim

[40:57] ization demonization and double

[41:01] standards delegitimization refers to the

[41:04] denial of the Jewish people's right to

[41:07] self-determination for example claiming

[41:10] that the existence of the state of

[41:11] Israel is a racist Endeavor using

[41:14] narratives to imply Jews sto the land

[41:17] that is Israel or that the Jewish people

[41:20] have no connection to their Homeland are

[41:22] assertions intended to deny Israel's

[41:25] right to exist and the right of Jewish

[41:28] people to self-determination in their

[41:30] Homeland

[41:32] demonization refers to the portrayal of

[41:35] certain groups as evil demonic or

[41:38] satanic this is usually seen as claims

[41:40] that Jews are conspiring to harm

[41:43] Humanity or blame Jews for why things go

[41:46] wrong it includes referring to the power

[41:49] of Jews as a collective such as the myth

[41:52] about the world Jewish conspiracy or of

[41:56] Jews controlling the media economy

[41:59] government or other societal

[42:02] institutions double standards refers to

[42:05] the application of different sets of

[42:07] principles in similar situations if a

[42:11] person criticizes Israel and only Israel

[42:14] on certain issues but chooses to ignore

[42:17] similar situations conducted by other

[42:20] countries they are performing a double

[42:22] standard against Israel Israel should

[42:25] most certainly be held account

[42:27] accountable for its actions but no more

[42:29] or less than other countries I believe

[42:33] that the project of asking the council

[42:35] to support a ceasefire resolution has

[42:38] crossed the line from legitimate

[42:39] criticism of the state of Israel into

[42:43] anti-Semitism the activist group that

[42:45] you've been hearing from over the last

[42:47] weeks and months has not made any

[42:49] attempt to hide their Jew hatred and has

[42:52] been allowed to share their hate speech

[42:54] with impunity before this coun

[42:58] others will explore their statements in

[43:00] detail but I can attest to the fact that

[43:03] those offensive words spoken in its

[43:05] chamber have increased the isolation and

[43:08] apprehension felt by the Jewish

[43:10] residents of our city and county thank

[43:13] you for your time thank

[43:21] you Mary Matthews Mary Matthews

[43:38] Madame President esteemed council

[43:41] members and Mr Mayor my name is Mary

[43:44] Matthews and I am a 37-year resident of

[43:47] the city of

[43:48] skincity tonight I have come here to

[43:51] speak about the claim that Israel is a

[43:53] colonialist state from its Inception and

[43:57] a project of European

[44:00] imperialism the words colonialism

[44:02] colonizers and imperialists were said

[44:06] over a total of 10 times on March 25th

[44:09] April 8th April 22nd and May

[44:13] 13th these words invoke a reference to

[44:16] the time when European empir sent

[44:18] Europeans to far off lands to build

[44:20] colonies and settle there the

[44:23] colonialists were there to control local

[44:26] resources a process that involved

[44:28] marginalizing the indigenous

[44:31] populations time and time again

[44:33] activists have incorrectly called Jews

[44:36] in the Holy Land colonialist as if from

[44:40] Europe This is not at all based in

[44:43] factual history first the slogan denies

[44:46] that Jews have any historical ties to

[44:48] the land of Israel the reality is that

[44:52] there is an ancient Jewish history in

[44:54] the land of Israel and there is a well

[44:56] documented consistent presence of Jews

[44:59] in the area dating back thousands of

[45:01] years second slogans that cast Israel's

[45:06] as white European imperialist colonizers

[45:10] ignores and denies that over 50% of isra

[45:13] Israeli Jews are not white or european

[45:17] but are people of color includ including

[45:20] Mahi yemenite Indian and Ethiopian Jews

[45:24] moreover Jewish Israelis didn't come

[45:27] from a single home country as journalist

[45:30] javiv gur points out 90% of Israeli Jews

[45:34] came as refugees from nowhere else to go

[45:38] there is no other country we are coming

[45:41] from the state of Israel is not an

[45:43] example of colonization Zionism is not a

[45:46] European imperialist project and the

[45:49] Jewish people have nowhere to return

[45:51] home to except to their ancient

[45:54] historical Homeland the land of is

[45:57] Israel Jews were exterminated and

[46:00] expelled from Europe expelled from North

[46:03] Africa and expelled from the countries

[46:05] of the Middle East using words like

[46:08] colonialism colonizers imperialists is

[46:11] factually incorrect an example of Jew

[46:14] hatred because both legitimizes

[46:18] delegitimizes Israel and demonizes Jews

[46:21] by labeling us with the worst words in

[46:24] today's political discourse thank you

[46:27] for your time thank

[46:34] you Bruce

[46:36] Feldman Bruce

[46:52] Feldman Madame President esteemed

[46:54] council members and Mr Mayor

[46:57] my name is Bruce Feldman I live in sken

[47:00] county and tonight I have come to speak

[47:03] to you about hate

[47:05] speech like all bias discrimination and

[47:09] stereotyping we must ask the

[47:10] marginalized group to Define and express

[47:14] how speech harms them understanding how

[47:17] stereotypes and tropes have infused

[47:19] themselves into our psyches and how we

[47:22] hold Prejudice and bias against

[47:24] marginalized groups is learning process

[47:28] unfortunately we have found that folks

[47:30] ignore this framework when applied to

[47:33] anti-Semitism and the Jews despite the

[47:36] long history of violence hatred

[47:39] discrimination stereotyping and bias

[47:43] against our people spanning thousands of

[47:46] years so it is important to us in the

[47:49] Jewish Community to explain and express

[47:52] why certain phrases and terms are

[47:55] anti-semitic and how they they harm us

[47:58] right here in our

[48:00] community one of the most commonly used

[48:02] phrases quote River to the Sea close

[48:05] quote was said at least three times

[48:08] during public comment here in fact quote

[48:11] from The River To The Sea Palestine will

[48:13] be free close quote is one of the oldest

[48:17] and most common chants heard at Pro

[48:19] Palestinian protests today it refers to

[48:23] the Jordan River and the Mediterranean

[48:25] Sea encompassing the entire state of

[48:28] Israel the slogan first appeared in the

[48:30] 1960s with the Palestine Liberation

[48:33] Organization known as the PLO a militant

[48:36] group formed by Palestinians aimed at

[48:38] destroying Israel and replacing it with

[48:41] a Palestinian State Jews living in the

[48:45] land under such a scenario would face

[48:48] expulsion or

[48:49] violence in its quote rally toolkit

[48:53] close quote the pro Palestinian group in

[48:56] our

[48:57] lifetime includes this phrase along with

[49:00] SE several other slogans calling for the

[49:03] complete destruction of the state of

[49:05] Israel and any Jews living there because

[49:08] of the origins of this slogan and its

[49:11] association with calling for the

[49:12] destruction of Jews when I hear it I

[49:16] hear from the rivet to the Sea Palestine

[49:19] will be jew free or youen fry to use the

[49:23] Nazi term whether or not the people

[49:26] chant in this slogan know its history

[49:28] and origins or whether they know what

[49:30] river and what sea are irrelevant to the

[49:33] experience of the Jewish Community when

[49:36] we hear these words I and many people in

[49:40] the Jewish community of skincity

[49:41] experienced the slogan from the rivet to

[49:44] the Sea Palestine will be free as

[49:47] profoundly and deeply threatening as an

[49:51] example of Jew hatred thank you for your

[49:54] time

[50:02] gay Griffith gay

[50:09] Griffith

[50:22] no Madam

[50:24] president esteemed council member Mr

[50:27] Mayor my name is gay Griffith I live in

[50:30] sken County tonight I've come to speak

[50:32] to you about the use of the the terms

[50:36] genocide and ethnic

[50:38] cleansing being applied to Israel at

[50:41] City Council

[50:43] meetings genocide and ethnic cleansing

[50:46] were said over a whopping total of 52

[50:50] times during public comment and in

[50:53] today's Facebook post the activist group

[50:57] use the hashtag no pride in genocide

[51:00] implying both the false claim that

[51:02] Israel has committed genocide and the

[51:04] more locally hateful claim that the

[51:06] Jewish Community takes pride in murder

[51:08] of Palestinians John Spencer the chair

[51:11] of urban welfare studies at Modern War

[51:14] Institute of West Point Research Center

[51:16] dedicated to the study of war and Warf

[51:18] Warfare has said in fact Israel has

[51:21] implemented more measures to prevent

[51:23] civilian casualties in urban Warfare

[51:25] than any other military in the history

[51:27] of War genocide is a legal term and in

[51:30] no way do Israeli policies and actions

[51:32] meet this legal threshold the

[51:34] sensationalist use of the term genocide

[51:37] in relation to the Israeli Palestinian

[51:39] conflict is not only inaccurate and

[51:41] misleading but it serves to demonize the

[51:43] state of Israel and to diminish

[51:45] recognized acts of

[51:47] genocide in this war the suffering of

[51:50] the population in Gaza is heartbreaking

[51:53] and

[51:54] horrific but as detailed in a CNN

[51:57] article by Freda giddis the leap to

[52:01] Brand its military campaign as genocide

[52:04] the depth of Humanity's depravity is

[52:08] unconscionable this is not an unprovoked

[52:10] War like Russia's war against Ukraine

[52:13] it's not civil war between rival

[52:15] militias like the one in Sudan accusing

[52:19] Israel of genocide and putting the

[52:20] entire onus of stopping the war putting

[52:23] all the blame for the death on the

[52:24] Jewish state is even more astound ing

[52:26] because Hamas designated a terrorist

[52:29] organization by the US the European

[52:32] Union and many other countries is a

[52:34] group whose explicit goal according to

[52:37] its founding Charter is not just to

[52:39] destroy Israel but to kill

[52:43] Jews this is the Dem this is the

[52:46] definition of

[52:47] genocide I find it deeply concerning

[52:50] that Israel is often the only country in

[52:52] the world accused of contemp of

[52:55] contemporaneously engaging in genocide

[52:58] not only is this false as a matter of

[53:01] both law and fact but it also applies a

[53:04] singularly demonizing double standard to

[53:07] Israel and this war worse yet accusing

[53:11] Israel of genocide has the collateral

[53:13] effect diminishing real acts of genocide

[53:17] such as those that occurred in the

[53:19] Holocaust against Americans and in

[53:22] Rwanda thank you

[53:31] Laura

[53:32] soer Laura

[53:48] soer Madame President esteemed council

[53:52] members and mayor my name is Laura soer

[53:56] I live in SKC County tonight I've come

[54:00] to speak to you about the double

[54:02] standard involved in requesting that

[54:04] conected city council pass a resolution

[54:07] about this particular International

[54:09] matter but no others how many times has

[54:13] the city council weighed in on Foreign

[54:17] Affairs as council member m ver pointed

[54:22] out at last week's committee meeting it

[54:25] hasn't happened in his memory why choose

[54:28] this one to

[54:30] start the city council has been silent

[54:33] on the attrocities in Syria committed by

[54:36] the government of Bashir Assad which

[54:39] resulted in the deaths of over 100,000

[54:42] children and 400,000

[54:45] adults that is a far more bloody and

[54:48] destructive conflict than the events in

[54:52] Gaza the city council has been silent on

[54:55] the Russian inv of Ukraine a conflict

[54:58] which has cost so far the lives of over

[55:01] half a million again far more deadly War

[55:05] than the conflict in

[55:07] Gaza the city council has been silent on

[55:10] the ongoing crisis in

[55:12] Sudan where 2.3 million are refugees and

[55:16] nearly 7 million people currently

[55:18] require International Aid to prevent

[55:20] their

[55:21] starvation the city council has been

[55:24] silent about the 600,000 civilian

[55:26] massacred in the Tigra war in Ethiopia

[55:31] sorry about my

[55:33] pronunciation the city council has been

[55:35] silent about the

[55:37] 700,000

[55:40] rajia placed in Myanmar which the United

[55:44] Nations declared was a textbook example

[55:47] of ethnic

[55:49] cleansing the city council has been

[55:51] silent about Venezuela's escalating

[55:53] military threats to seize the ESO region

[55:57] from Guyana where

[56:00] 125,000 people

[56:02] 15.8% of the total population of Guyana

[56:06] live I could go on and about the wars

[56:09] the Slaughters the starvation and death

[56:12] and this Council has not taken official

[56:14] action to

[56:15] condemn the second Congo War genocide in

[56:18] Rwanda Massacre of the serbs and

[56:21] Kosovo the city council has been silent

[56:24] about the plight of the syrians and the

[56:25] UK ukrainians and the sudin and all the

[56:29] rest not because you are bad

[56:32] people not because you are

[56:35] hard-hearted but because these events

[56:38] are out of your

[56:40] mandate beyond your control and consist

[56:43] of details unknown to you you rightfully

[56:47] remained silent and you did the local

[56:49] work you were elected to

[56:52] do now you are being asked to weigh in

[56:55] on a war between between Israel and

[56:56] Hamas terrorists in Gaza even being

[56:59] asked to do so is a double standard

[57:02] motivated by Jew

[57:03] hatred please do not risk normalizing

[57:07] the double

[57:08] standard thanks for your time thank

[57:16] you

[57:18] Joshua Joshua Cooper Ginsburg

[57:29] good evening Madam president esteemed

[57:30] council members and Mr Mayor my name is

[57:32] Joshua Cooper Ginsburg I live in the

[57:34] city of skty and tonight I've come to

[57:36] speak to you about the false accusation

[57:39] that Israel is an apartheid state the

[57:41] word aparti was set over five times in

[57:43] meetings here on March 25th April 8th

[57:45] April 22nd and May 13th aparti is

[57:49] defined by the international criminal

[57:51] court as an institutionalized regime of

[57:53] systematic oppression and Domination by

[57:55] one IAL group over another apartheid

[57:58] laws in South Africa made it illegal for

[58:00] black people to marry live in the same

[58:02] areas or conduct business with white

[58:03] people black South Africans were barred

[58:05] from certain professions and educational

[58:07] opportunities could not participate in

[58:09] government and had to carry

[58:10] documentation compare opportunities I'm

[58:13] sorry compare that with the state of

[58:14] Israel whose 1 million Arab citizens are represented in all branches of

[58:19] government a government founded on the

[58:21] promise to uphold the full social and

[58:23] political equality of all of its

[58:25] citizens with without distinction of

[58:26] race Creed or sex within Israel the

[58:29] racial comparison to a part tide doesn't

[58:31] hold up for more than half of Israel's

[58:33] Jews are from a middle eastern and North

[58:36] African background known as MIM they are

[58:39] black and brown not white European

[58:42] moreover within Israel Palestinians and

[58:44] Arabs comprise about 20% of the

[58:46] population and enjoy full rights as

[58:48] Citizens Israel's legislator the

[58:51] legislature the

[58:52] keset includes representatives from four

[58:55] different Arab politic IC parties Arab

[58:57] citizens take part in every corner of

[58:59] Israeli Society Arab citizens serve as

[59:01] Supreme Court judges Governor government

[59:04] ministers Military Officers and Business

[59:06] Leaders while there are indeed economic

[59:09] disparities between the two communities

[59:10] Israel's government is addressing these

[59:12] issues by investing 10.3 billion over

[59:15] the next five years back into the

[59:16] community Israeli author Micah Goodman

[59:19] has made the case for why Israel with

[59:21] regard to Gaza and the West Bank is not

[59:23] an apartheid state Goodman argued that

[59:25] the struggles of the Palestinian

[59:26] national movement and the African

[59:28] National Congress are fundamentally

[59:29] different while black South Africans

[59:32] demanded to be equal citizens of their

[59:33] country the Palestinian national

[59:35] movement is demanding an independent

[59:37] state separate from or instead of Israel

[59:40] what is clear is that falsely accusing

[59:42] Israel of being an apartheid state is

[59:44] yet another Act of demonization and Del

[59:47] delegitimization another example of Jew

[59:50] hatred at work please recognize the

[59:52] divisive Jew hatred embedded in this

[59:54] embedded in asking for this resolution

[59:56] tion and show leadership by telling the

[59:58] whole city that such hate speech has no

[1:00:00] place in skincity thank you for your

[1:00:03] [Applause]

[1:00:09] time herb re herb Reich

[1:00:32] [Music]

[1:00:36] Madam president esteemed council members

[1:00:38] and Mr Mayor my name is Dr Herb R and I

[1:00:41] live in the county of scnc I come to you

[1:00:43] tonight to speak about the red hands

[1:00:46] seen on many ceasefire pins and on the

[1:00:48] LA least two graphics on on at least two

[1:00:51] Graphics put out by the anti-israel

[1:00:53] activists that you've been hearing from

[1:00:56] in this chamber advertising the press

[1:00:58] conference at City Hall on May 13th and

[1:01:00] what they've called tonight ceasefire

[1:01:02] speak out at the city council meeting

[1:01:04] these Graphics will remain posted on the

[1:01:06] organizer's Facebook page please let me

[1:01:09] tell you about the origin of the symbol

[1:01:10] the red hand it describes the gruesome

[1:01:13] mob killing of yosf abrahami and Vadim

[1:01:16] norik two Israelis who made a wrong turn

[1:01:18] into ramala a city in the West Bank in

[1:01:20] 2000 they were beaten stabbed had their

[1:01:24] eyes gouged out and were dis embowed by

[1:01:26] a mob inside the rala police station the

[1:01:30] photograph that ran alongside the news

[1:01:32] story of this event was one of the men

[1:01:34] who perpetrated the horrific act of

[1:01:36] violence as he waved to the cheering

[1:01:38] crowd below the police station here's

[1:01:40] the

[1:01:42] photo in

[1:01:53] pass it depicts aiz Sala one of the

[1:01:57] attackers waving his bloody stained

[1:01:58] hands from the police station's window

[1:02:01] in the picture Salah holds up his hands

[1:02:03] for a crowd below smiling with pride and

[1:02:05] excitement salah's hands were covered in

[1:02:07] the blood of a Jew a Jew like me a Jew

[1:02:10] that he had just disemboweled the crowd

[1:02:12] clapped and cheered as one of the

[1:02:14] lifeless bodies was then thrown out of

[1:02:15] the window and stamped and beaten by the

[1:02:17] frenzied crowd the others were shot and

[1:02:20] set on fire and his head was beaten to a

[1:02:22] pulp this is the origin of the red hand

[1:02:24] as a symbol of pal in resistance when I

[1:02:27] see the red hand I experience it

[1:02:29] viscerally the way I would also

[1:02:31] experience the image of a burning cross

[1:02:32] on my front yard or a white hood or a

[1:02:35] swastika or a h it says to me as a Jew

[1:02:38] you are not safe here we are coming for

[1:02:40] Jews here we are ready to murder Jewish

[1:02:42] people here when I see the red hand my

[1:02:45] thoughts immediately go back to the rala

[1:02:46] murders I experience the red hand is a

[1:02:49] threat of more violence I experience the

[1:02:51] red hand as an example of Jew hatred in

[1:02:53] the most violent sorts and it is

[1:02:55] terrifying ing the inclusion of the red

[1:02:57] hand on advertisements organizing the

[1:02:59] ceasefire resolution activists show that

[1:03:02] the entire project of asking for the

[1:03:03] ceasefire cannot be disentangled from

[1:03:05] its origin and Jew hatred activists who

[1:03:08] are asking for this are willing to

[1:03:10] terrify the Jewish neighbors with the

[1:03:11] threat of violence please show your

[1:03:13] leadership by denouncing the Jews hatred

[1:03:16] and anti-semitic speech intertwined with

[1:03:18] the project of asking for this

[1:03:20] resolution such hate has no place in our

[1:03:22] city at all thank you for your time

[1:03:25] thank you

[1:03:31] Kim

[1:03:32] Mara Kim

[1:03:43] mosa Madame President esteemed council

[1:03:46] members and Mr Mayor my name is Kim Musa

[1:03:49] I live in the county of skincity and

[1:03:52] tonight I've come to speak to you about

[1:03:55] how the anti-israel activists have

[1:03:57] equated Zionism and racism on social

[1:04:00] media when they wrote quote if we manage

[1:04:03] to defeat Zionism we will be able to

[1:04:06] defeat racism

[1:04:08] everywhere thank you and a speaker at

[1:04:11] public comment here also used the term

[1:04:13] racist on May 13th the false claim that

[1:04:17] Zionism is racism is not new but the

[1:04:20] history of that claim must be understood

[1:04:22] in the context of broader broader geopol

[1:04:25] politics and the weakening of the Soviet

[1:04:27] Union in

[1:04:29] 1975 the UN passed resolution

[1:04:33] 3379 which essentially equated Zionism

[1:04:36] with racism in response to the deepening

[1:04:39] relationship between the US and Israel

[1:04:42] in the 1960s Soviet Russia began to

[1:04:45] spread propaganda about both Judaism and

[1:04:48] Zionism claiming that we are the cause

[1:04:51] of the world's evils in an attempt to

[1:04:53] gain power and influence with Arab

[1:04:56] states in addition to equating Zionism

[1:04:59] with racism the Soviet propaganda

[1:05:01] machine explicitly used the word

[1:05:04] Jew and the word Zionist

[1:05:07] interchangeably this kind of language

[1:05:10] delegitimizes Israel and demonizes

[1:05:13] Jewish people and is profoundly and

[1:05:15] unquestionably an example of Jew

[1:05:18] hatred when the resolution passed in the

[1:05:21] UN American citizens Jew and non-jew

[1:05:24] were beside themselves at the

[1:05:26] Ridiculousness of the resolution and

[1:05:28] flooded the streets decrying the United

[1:05:31] Nations in 1991 the resolution was

[1:05:34] repealed with even many Arab countries

[1:05:37] abstaining showing that the world does

[1:05:39] not in fact think that Zionism can be

[1:05:42] equated with

[1:05:44] racism I'm deeply upset and hurt to see

[1:05:47] that here in skincity activists and

[1:05:49] agitators are willing to write and post

[1:05:52] on social media that quote if we manage

[1:05:54] to defeat Zionism we will be able to

[1:05:57] defeat racism everywhere unquote I'm

[1:06:00] deeply upset that activists refer to

[1:06:03] Zionist as racist this

[1:06:07] accusation is baseless coming from a

[1:06:10] history of anti-American Cold War

[1:06:12] propaganda is an example of demonization

[1:06:15] and Jew hatred and has the potential to

[1:06:18] materially harm Jewish people in skty it

[1:06:22] is time for leadership incity to say

[1:06:25] that this this kind of hate speech has

[1:06:27] no place in our town thank you for your

[1:06:34] time Deborah Chapman ging Deborah

[1:06:38] Chapman

[1:06:52] ging Madam president esteemed Council

[1:06:55] members and Mr Mayor my name is Deborah

[1:06:58] trapman Goldstein and I live in the

[1:07:00] county of skincity tonight I've come to

[1:07:02] speak to you about the blood liel as a

[1:07:04] clear example of Jew hatred and the way

[1:07:07] that blood liel remains a lens that has

[1:07:09] been used to tell the story of the

[1:07:10] current conflict what is blood Bible it

[1:07:14] refers to a centuries old false

[1:07:16] allegation that Jews murder Jewish

[1:07:18] children to use their blood for ritual

[1:07:21] purposes such an as an ingredient in the

[1:07:23] baking of Passover matah unle and bread

[1:07:26] blood lials have frequently led to mob

[1:07:28] violence and have occasionally led to

[1:07:30] the decimation of entire Jewish

[1:07:32] communities I could give many examples

[1:07:35] of this historically but let me share

[1:07:37] one from close to home a blood liel

[1:07:40] occurred in massina New York in

[1:07:43] 1928 when a four-year-old girl went

[1:07:45] missing from her home a rumor spread

[1:07:47] that local Jews had kidnapped and killed

[1:07:49] her crowds gathered outside ms's police

[1:07:53] station where a state troop requested

[1:07:55] the town's Rabbi and asked him whether

[1:07:57] Jews offered human sacrifices or used

[1:08:00] blood in rituals the girl eventually was

[1:08:03] found alive and unharmed there is a long

[1:08:06] tradition of using blood lials and

[1:08:07] propaganda and cartoons designed to

[1:08:09] demonize and dehumanize the Jewish

[1:08:11] people Adolf Hitler and his followers

[1:08:13] frequently used the blood liel as

[1:08:15] propaganda more recently a 2003 TV

[1:08:19] series broadcast in Syria and Lebanon

[1:08:22] shows that the Jewish people is engaging

[1:08:23] in a Conspiracy to Rule the world and

[1:08:26] presents Jews as a people who murder

[1:08:28] Christian children and drain their blood

[1:08:30] to bake

[1:08:32] matah just this spring congresswoman

[1:08:35] Elon Omar described some of the Jewish

[1:08:37] students at Colombia University as being

[1:08:40] PR genocide ADL CEO Jonathan greenblat

[1:08:44] responded saying it's patently false in

[1:08:47] a blood liel to suggest that any Jewish

[1:08:50] students appr Pro genocide he like many

[1:08:53] in the Jewish Community experienced the false accusation of genocide and the

[1:08:57] implication that supporters of Israel

[1:08:59] are supporters of genocide as yet

[1:09:01] another example of blood liel an

[1:09:03] allegation of the Jewish people's intent

[1:09:05] to murder non-jewish

[1:09:07] children When leaders of a country or a

[1:09:10] community want to make the Jewish people

[1:09:11] seem particularly heinous or evil they

[1:09:14] often use language or images associated

[1:09:16] with or referencing the centuries old

[1:09:18] tradition of blood liel this is one of

[1:09:21] the three DS of anti-semitism

[1:09:24] demonization

[1:09:25] it is so common that people don't even

[1:09:28] realize that that is what they are

[1:09:30] seeing we fear that people are more

[1:09:33] likely to believe this kind of

[1:09:35] accusation about Jewish people because

[1:09:37] they've heard or seen it before this is

[1:09:40] a part of Jew hatred that is deeply

[1:09:43] embedded in our

[1:09:51] culture William Gilbert

[1:10:17] my name is William Gilbert I prefer

[1:10:20] Bill Madame

[1:10:23] President esteemed council member Mr

[1:10:27] Mayor I am a proud resident of the city

[1:10:29] of

[1:10:31] scenc tonight I've come to speak to you

[1:10:36] about uh the blood

[1:10:39] label we just did that one oh no this is

[1:10:43] the right one yeah oh I'm sorry I keep

[1:10:45] hearing blood liel and it keeps me going

[1:10:48] man so I can't even tell what I'm

[1:10:51] doing the blood liel and the other

[1:10:54] grotesque evidence of the organizers

[1:10:56] anti-Semitism showing in our

[1:10:59] community over 12 Gastly references to

[1:11:02] Israel killing children and babies were

[1:11:05] made during public comments at previous

[1:11:07] City Council meetings and then there's a

[1:11:10] social media one of the organizers of a

[1:11:13] group calling for a ceasefire resolution

[1:11:16] posts public memes on their Facebook

[1:11:19] account that depicts Jews and Israelis

[1:11:22] killing pal Palestinians especially

[1:11:26] Palestinian children I'm going to pass a

[1:11:30] copy of some examples to you along with

[1:11:34] another demonizing post of a

[1:11:39] picture of Jews in prayer with the words

[1:11:43] white supremacy is the root of Zionism

[1:11:49] lynching followed by four red to orange

[1:11:52] matad face

[1:11:54] emojis I have to issue a Content warning

[1:11:57] these pictures are deeply upsetting to

[1:11:59] look at they are profoundly anti-semitic

[1:12:02] some of them are also

[1:12:07] anti-American several of these memes are

[1:12:09] highly reminiscent of Nazi propaganda

[1:12:12] blood Lial cartoons denigrating Jewish

[1:12:16] people which help to create the

[1:12:18] conditions necessary to be able to

[1:12:20] perpetrate the Holocaust the murder of 6

[1:12:24] million Jew

[1:12:26] and I might add 6 million

[1:12:30] others the memes are problematic because

[1:12:32] they are not merely a commentary on the

[1:12:34] fact of dead children but they imagine a

[1:12:37] bloodthirsty Israel reving in the deaths

[1:12:41] of children that is the blood

[1:12:43] liel as for the other posts with the

[1:12:46] pictures of Jews praying I'm not sure I

[1:12:48] need to explain how incredibly offensive

[1:12:51] it is simply by associating all Jews

[1:12:56] with the most evil things in today's

[1:13:00] lexicon the fact that one of the leaders

[1:13:02] of the call for a ceasefire resolution

[1:13:05] proudly and publicly uses blood liel to

[1:13:09] denigrate Israel shows that the entire

[1:13:12] project of asking for the ceasefire

[1:13:15] resolution cannot be

[1:13:18] disentangled from or Origins and Jew

[1:13:21] hatred the activists who are asking for

[1:13:24] a ceasefire resolution are doing so

[1:13:27] because of their conscious or

[1:13:29] unconscious Jew hatred accepting their

[1:13:33] request would have the city council

[1:13:34] condone and perpetrate the hate speech

[1:13:37] of this group of activists which have

[1:13:40] made and continues to make the Jewish

[1:13:42] community of skty materially less

[1:13:47] safe please recognize the device of Jew

[1:13:51] hatred embedded in asking for this

[1:13:53] resolution and show leadership Ship by

[1:13:55] telling the whole city that such hate

[1:13:57] speech has no place in connecti thank

[1:14:01] you for your

[1:14:07] time Eileen

[1:14:10] handlan Eileen

[1:14:18] [Music]

[1:14:19] handlan thank you

[1:14:51] Madam president esteem council members

[1:14:56] Mr Mayor my name is s Handelman and I I

[1:15:00] live in SC

[1:15:02] County tonight I've come to speak to

[1:15:05] you about how the proposed cease fire

[1:15:10] resolution distributed at the June 3

[1:15:12] council meeting is anti-Semitic because

[1:15:16] what it fails to

[1:15:19] say while the draft ceased fire

[1:15:21] resolution mentions the violent attack

[1:15:23] by the armed body of on Israeli citizens

[1:15:27] there is no accounting for hamas's

[1:15:29] behavior before that attack or since

[1:15:33] October 8th and no mention of hamas's

[1:15:36] complicity in the suffering of people in

[1:15:39] Gaza by that Omission the proposed

[1:15:42] ceasefire resolution holds Israeli SI

[1:15:47] isra Israel solely responsible for the

[1:15:49] suffering of Palestinians in Gaza the

[1:15:53] loss of life and suffering in Gaza is

[1:15:56] horrific rarely reported however is

[1:15:59] hamas's role in their suffering and the

[1:16:01] lengths at which Israel has gone to

[1:16:04] protect civilians the Israeli military

[1:16:07] consistently issues warning before

[1:16:10] military engagement in an area telling

[1:16:12] people to leave and helping them to

[1:16:15] relocate text alerts public

[1:16:17] announcements and thousands of leaflets

[1:16:21] are dropped by the

[1:16:23] IDF Hamas on the other hand has

[1:16:26] discouraged civilians from leaving the

[1:16:29] areas and blocked the exit

[1:16:33] routes Hamas has taken billions of

[1:16:36] dollars of humanitarian Aid and has used

[1:16:38] it to build assets for war this includes

[1:16:42] hundreds of miles of tunnels throughout

[1:16:44] Gaza where Hamas Fighters hide in order

[1:16:48] to purposely put the civilian population

[1:16:52] In Harm's Way the tunnels are not

[1:16:55] offered to civilians for

[1:16:58] safety nor is Hamas making efforts to

[1:17:01] protect

[1:17:02] civilians to the contrary Hamas created

[1:17:06] military targets out of schools

[1:17:08] universities mosques and hospitals by

[1:17:12] purposefully building War rooms

[1:17:14] ammunition factories and weapon storage

[1:17:17] in tunnels underneath the ground even

[1:17:20] above ground Hamas soldiers hide among

[1:17:23] civilians terrorizing their own people

[1:17:25] instead of protecting them Hamas has

[1:17:28] been caught stealing the humanitarian

[1:17:31] Aid provided by the International

[1:17:34] Community Hamas fires Rockets from

[1:17:36] civilian locations like school

[1:17:39] campuses inside Gaza killing and

[1:17:42] injuring their own civilians deaths

[1:17:45] which are then included in the death

[1:17:47] toll reporting as if Israel has caused

[1:17:49] them a resolution holding Israel solely

[1:17:53] responsible for the suffering of

[1:17:54] Palestinians in Gaza is an example of

[1:17:58] demonization holding Israel to double

[1:18:00] standard please please show your

[1:18:02] leadership by denouncing this Jew hatred

[1:18:06] and anti-Semitism speech intertwined

[1:18:09] with the project of asking for a

[1:18:12] resolution such hate has no place in our

[1:18:15] city I thank you for your time thank you

[1:18:29] for the young ladies that are holding

[1:18:30] the signs the sign cannot impair the the

[1:18:32] view of the people behind you thank

[1:18:37] you I beg your pardon want to make sure

[1:18:40] you okay then then you need to go to the

[1:18:42] side because they cannot impair the vi

[1:18:44] the view of the people behind

[1:18:47] you Jeffrey handlan

[1:19:01] good evening Madame President esteemed

[1:19:03] council members and mayor McCarthy my

[1:19:05] name is Jeffrey Handelman and I live in

[1:19:07] sken County fourth generation uh area

[1:19:11] resident I'm here to speak to you about

[1:19:14] uh how the proposed ceasefire resolution

[1:19:16] distributed at the June 3rd council

[1:19:18] meeting is anti-Semitic because of what

[1:19:20] it says explicitly first the proposed

[1:19:23] resolution calls Upon Our leaders in

[1:19:25] Albany and Washington to demand an

[1:19:27] immediate and permanent ceasefire which

[1:19:29] treats Israel unlike any other country

[1:19:31] involved in a conflict it's a very

[1:19:33] definitive double standard as council

[1:19:36] member m verin pointed out last week's

[1:19:38] committee meeting this is something the

[1:19:39] city council has never done before in

[1:19:41] all of the suffering and conflicts

[1:19:43] around the world going on right now conc

[1:19:45] singling out the only Jewish State on

[1:19:47] the planet is holding them to a massive

[1:19:49] double standard a unilateral

[1:19:52] unnegotiable

[1:19:54] m in just the last week in Rafa 700

[1:19:57] tunnel entrances were found 50 leading

[1:19:59] across the Egyptian border some big

[1:20:02] enough to drive large vehicles through

[1:20:04] remember how the world discouraged

[1:20:05] Israel from entering Rafa these tunnels

[1:20:07] have been used to smuggle explosives

[1:20:09] guns rockets and drones into Gaza amas

[1:20:12] has used the tunnels into and out of

[1:20:14] Gaza in order to train in Iran and other

[1:20:16] countries Rafa is one of the last

[1:20:18] strongholds of Hamas and is believed

[1:20:21] that many of its senior commanders incl

[1:20:23] including Hamas yaha sinoa are located

[1:20:26] there with its leadership still largely

[1:20:28] intact in Rafa Hamas could easily use

[1:20:31] Rafa as a base to reassert control over

[1:20:33] the Gaza Strip if the war were to end

[1:20:36] prematurely with the immediate ceasefire

[1:20:38] demonstr uh demanded by anti-israel

[1:20:40] activists Israel's stated Mission has

[1:20:43] been to eliminate hamas's military

[1:20:45] capabilities which is a reasonable goal

[1:20:47] since Hamas has broken ceasefire

[1:20:49] agreements time and time again after all

[1:20:51] there was a ceasefire agreement in place

[1:20:53] before October 7th and in the Years

[1:20:55] leading up to that vicious attack during

[1:20:57] that ceasefire hamash launched rockets

[1:21:00] and sent kites lit on fire to Israel to

[1:21:02] burn homes and crops calling for an

[1:21:04] immediate ceasefire in a resolution

[1:21:06] ignores that this situation is

[1:21:08] constantly in flux it's unfair to ask

[1:21:10] this city council to formulate a message

[1:21:12] telling other countries what they should

[1:21:13] do thank you very much for your time

[1:21:15] thank

[1:21:16] [Music]

[1:21:21] you

[1:21:22] swaan sellan

[1:21:34] good evening my name is San I'm a

[1:21:37] lifelong resident of skincity and I take

[1:21:39] no pleasure in coming here again for the

[1:21:41] fifth week but as a student of political

[1:21:43] science and as someone who's worked in

[1:21:45] the New York State Assembly for two

[1:21:46] years I have an issue with democracy as

[1:21:49] it's being threatened when essential

[1:21:51] local government isn't representing the

[1:21:53] will of the people or even whisper a

[1:21:55] word against genocide I am no longer

[1:21:58] going to appeal to your hearts even

[1:22:00] though since we were last here we've

[1:22:03] seen the heinous violence caused by the

[1:22:05] Zionist entity headless children tents

[1:22:08] with people in them burned alive and

[1:22:11] actual documented concentration camps

[1:22:14] that are torturing sexually abusing and

[1:22:17] killing

[1:22:18] Palestinians I can't appeal to your

[1:22:20] Humanity because when councilman Farley

[1:22:22] asked last week to consider his in

[1:22:24] councilman Williams ceasefire resolution

[1:22:26] he said he was assuming we're all for

[1:22:28] peace and a councilwoman then said well

[1:22:30] I'm not sure if we all are everyone

[1:22:33] you've heard from today can agree they

[1:22:34] want peace councilman Farley and

[1:22:36] Williams are not straying from their

[1:22:38] duties for coming forward with the

[1:22:40] ceasefire resolutions that this body

[1:22:42] thinks it's too good to consider they

[1:22:44] are doing the job that they swore in

[1:22:46] front of God and the American flag to

[1:22:49] represent the will of the people and

[1:22:51] their tax dollars we need more policy

[1:22:53] makers like you to those who say this

[1:22:56] resolution is a waste of time are saying

[1:22:58] that you think the Palestinian people

[1:23:00] and the 40,000 lost human lives are a

[1:23:03] waste of your time that the count that

[1:23:05] your counterparts in Albany wasted their

[1:23:07] time that working for your constituents

[1:23:10] is wasting your time you work for your

[1:23:14] constituents I also briefly before I

[1:23:16] conclude wanted to address safety

[1:23:18] because a councilwoman here claimed to

[1:23:20] feel unsafe the last time we were here

[1:23:22] I'm very sorry that you felt unsafe it

[1:23:25] is not a feeling that I would wish on

[1:23:26] anyone and it is just a fraction of the

[1:23:30] feeling of the Palestinian men women and

[1:23:33] children who don't know which bomb paid

[1:23:36] for by our taxpayer money is going to

[1:23:39] fall and kill them I did not consent to

[1:23:42] kill

[1:23:43] them this coalation for ceasefire do not

[1:23:46] come bearing weapons in fact what we're

[1:23:48] calling for is less weapons but this

[1:23:51] coal Coalition who has been here week

[1:23:53] after week is diverse including many

[1:23:56] black and brown faces advocating for the

[1:23:58] life and dignity of other Brown faces I

[1:24:02] wonder if that contributed to your

[1:24:04] stated feelings of unsafety

[1:24:08] councilwoman I'm here to assure you that

[1:24:11] the only thing that is unsafe is your

[1:24:13] elected seats if you're not representing

[1:24:15] the people actively begging you to do

[1:24:17] our part to end an active genocide of

[1:24:20] the Palestinian people you will not win

[1:24:22] the next time your name is on any ballot

[1:24:25] once again the young will not forget not

[1:24:28] cowardly silence not outright hate and

[1:24:31] certainly not palestin I want to thank

[1:24:34] again councilman Farley and Williams for

[1:24:37] representing us because I know how

[1:24:40] infuriating it must be to sit in this

[1:24:42] room hearing the apathy and hatred of

[1:24:44] your colleagues and their supporters but

[1:24:46] if they are not supporting your efforts

[1:24:47] to bring about a ceasefire resolution I

[1:24:49] will invoke the ever relevant words of

[1:24:51] Kendrick Lamar these are not your

[1:24:53] colleagues they are colonizers free

[1:24:56] Palestine

[1:25:01] thank Imam Jamal

[1:25:03] [Applause]

[1:25:08] Shaw good evening

[1:25:10] everyone uh before I get started I do

[1:25:13] want to hand overs well this is about a

[1:25:15] 100 more signatures we just collected

[1:25:17] yesterday um like I told you guys if we

[1:25:19] keep this going I mean we're going to

[1:25:21] have the whole city covered

[1:25:26] so I hear the chatter thank you so much

[1:25:29] um first of all we've heard a lot

[1:25:32] tonight lot of historical inaccuracies

[1:25:35] trying to paint pictures speaking about

[1:25:38] Pakistan speaking about

[1:25:40] Sudan it's unfortunate what's going on

[1:25:43] in the world what has happened in the

[1:25:44] world but we're here to talk about the

[1:25:45] ceasefire

[1:25:47] resolution I believe the resolution that

[1:25:49] was proposed by us at a time when there

[1:25:52] was no resolution from anyone

[1:25:55] else was not anti-semitic how do I know

[1:25:58] this I sat in front of Rabbi Matt Cutler

[1:26:01] and I said show me what's anti-semitic

[1:26:03] here I have

[1:26:05] witnesses he said don't say Israel say

[1:26:08] the government of

[1:26:09] Israel which is what I changed it to

[1:26:13] tonight we have people here from the

[1:26:16] other side that continuously say Israel

[1:26:19] so forgive me for that I apologize

[1:26:21] however what is unacceptable in any sort

[1:26:24] of resolution whether it be from any

[1:26:27] side is to minimize the suffering that's

[1:26:29] actually happening which is why the

[1:26:31] resolution that we proposed specifies

[1:26:34] the 1100 Israelis that were murdered on

[1:26:37] October 7th which is why it specifies

[1:26:40] now 12 actually 118 hostages that remain

[1:26:44] three were killed in the crossfire this

[1:26:46] past Saturday which is why it specifies

[1:26:49] the suffering of the Palestinian people

[1:26:51] because a resolution that's truly

[1:26:53] equitable for everyone will acknowledge

[1:26:56] everyone's pain it seems to me that

[1:26:58] there are people here who want to be

[1:27:01] heard which we've heard them which is

[1:27:03] why the resolution speaks to that pain

[1:27:05] but Palestinian pain is somehow

[1:27:07] anti-semitic that's what I'm getting

[1:27:09] from it the word Palestinian seems to be

[1:27:12] very problematic for some people they

[1:27:15] can't utter the phrase they cannot

[1:27:17] understand that the West Bank which is

[1:27:19] Palestinian land technically speaking

[1:27:21] according to United Nations according to

[1:27:23] the United States of America according

[1:27:25] to every major government in the world

[1:27:27] belongs to the Palestinians it happens

[1:27:29] to border the Jordan River Gaza borders

[1:27:32] the Mediterranean Sea these places are

[1:27:35] inhabited by Palestinians we want them

[1:27:38] to have the right to

[1:27:40] self-determination within those borders

[1:27:42] that's what from The River To The Sea

[1:27:44] means there

[1:27:47] is now in the chamber please I asked the

[1:27:51] beginning I'm going to simplify this a

[1:27:54] person that looks like

[1:27:56] me can never

[1:27:58] be viewed as a person who brings

[1:28:00] something forth that actually is

[1:28:04] Equitable and actually represents peace

[1:28:06] simply because I look like me I have my

[1:28:09] religion that's the perspective that

[1:28:11] you're hearing from the other side and

[1:28:13] that's the reality because I didn't

[1:28:15] stand here and defend Hamas that's not

[1:28:18] my job I don't care about them I care

[1:28:20] about the people the civilians and

[1:28:22] that's all I've been asking you guys to

[1:28:24] acknowledge and recognize it's not that

[1:28:27] difficult people are saying if you call

[1:28:29] for the release of Israeli hostages

[1:28:31] which is mentioned in our resolution

[1:28:33] very explicitly you're somehow a Jew

[1:28:36] hater doesn't make any sense I

[1:28:39] respectfully ask you all to understand

[1:28:42] what the context of us being here is

[1:28:44] Cease Fire resolution we can have our

[1:28:46] history lessons in our debates at

[1:28:47] another time trust me I'm more than

[1:28:49] happy to have that thank you so much

[1:28:51] thank you

[1:28:57] Megan

[1:28:58] Levine Megan

[1:29:16] [Music]

[1:29:19] Levine good evening Madame President

[1:29:22] honorable members of the council Mr

[1:29:24] Mayor my name is Meg Levine I live in

[1:29:27] Nuna and work in skincity on early

[1:29:29] literacy initiatives that support the

[1:29:31] city's Children and Families I've

[1:29:34] addressed you previously and spoken

[1:29:36] against your passing a ceasefire

[1:29:39] resolution it is not that I don't want

[1:29:41] it the war to end I do as members of the

[1:29:45] council have acknowledged the council

[1:29:47] has no jurisdiction over International

[1:29:50] Affairs and we have experienced the

[1:29:53] difficulties that result when it wads

[1:29:55] into these

[1:29:57] issues first words matter words travel

[1:30:02] they are not restricted by city lines or

[1:30:04] election District

[1:30:06] boundaries second the terms of ceasefire

[1:30:10] resolutions are not typically found in

[1:30:12] City documents some have complex

[1:30:15] definitions in international law some

[1:30:18] bear the weight of history with

[1:30:19] different people understanding them in

[1:30:20] different ways some are ambiguous

[1:30:23] leading to confusion as to their intent

[1:30:26] and some are

[1:30:27] inflammatory third the words used by

[1:30:30] those advocating the resolution are

[1:30:32] borrowed from slogans and chants

[1:30:34] coursing through social media marches

[1:30:37] rallies and college campuses let's not

[1:30:40] contribute to this unproductive

[1:30:42] polarizing discourse we have however

[1:30:45] heard common concerns these months from

[1:30:48] all concerns of this room members of our

[1:30:51] community have expressed concerns about

[1:30:53] the ongoing horrific suffering endured

[1:30:56] by the people in Gaza and Israel

[1:30:59] Palestinians and Israelis due to hamas's

[1:31:03] terrorist attack on Israel and the

[1:31:05] resulting War we have heard voices of

[1:31:08] Anguish apprehension anger rage fear and

[1:31:11] sorrow we have heard support for the

[1:31:13] release of the hostages and the need for

[1:31:15] humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza

[1:31:18] within the council members have

[1:31:20] expressed a desire to respond to their

[1:31:22] constituents who have appeared here on

[1:31:24] these issues should the council decide

[1:31:27] to comment on the ongoing War let the

[1:31:31] words let the words of a statement not a

[1:31:35] resolution reflect our Common Ground

[1:31:37] speak to the humanity expressed here for

[1:31:40] a lasting peace and Security in the

[1:31:42] Middle East that all peoples be able to

[1:31:44] go to sleep without fear further urge

[1:31:47] folks to raise these concerns to our

[1:31:49] national leaders and international

[1:31:51] mediators as they work towards peace and

[1:31:54] Security in the Middle East please do

[1:31:56] not get tangled in the words that part

[1:31:57] of a larger inflammatory dialogue let

[1:32:00] the statement be silent on the

[1:32:02] strategies to achieve and Implement

[1:32:04] peace no one in this room has insight

[1:32:06] into diplomatic discussions and the

[1:32:08] everchanging conditions on the ground

[1:32:10] let this statement reflect your

[1:32:12] continuing encouragement that

[1:32:14] individuals engage and talk to one

[1:32:16] another their privilege of the floor has

[1:32:18] allowed us to express our views yet we

[1:32:21] have seen misinformation magnifi and

[1:32:24] hatred spread Madam president if we were

[1:32:27] to abandon the slogans take conscious

[1:32:30] steps to stop the spread of

[1:32:31] misinformation and hate in our community

[1:32:34] once again work hard over time to

[1:32:37] understand and engage the other those

[1:32:39] words and actions would be our own and

[1:32:41] would' be focused on our community this

[1:32:44] course of action would create the

[1:32:47] possibility of uniting us in concy that

[1:32:50] is my hope thank you thank you

[1:32:56] shamal

[1:32:58] Davis chamelle

[1:33:01] Davis chemal Davis third

[1:33:04] time

[1:33:07] no Gordon Zuckerman

[1:33:26] we'll just hold it

[1:33:29] okay Madame

[1:33:31] President Este steem council members and

[1:33:35] Mr

[1:33:36] Mayor I am Gordon Zuckerman I currently

[1:33:40] live in Nuna but over 82 years ago I was

[1:33:44] born here in SKC I am a proud product of

[1:33:48] the SKC City

[1:33:51] Schools I currently own a building on ER

[1:33:53] Boulevard where my office has been for

[1:33:56] many many

[1:33:58] years a number of council members and I

[1:34:01] have worked together on building the

[1:34:04] fabric of the safety nets here in SKC

[1:34:08] for those less

[1:34:10] fortunate and personally I think that

[1:34:13] we're spending a lot of time where we

[1:34:15] should be working to help those less

[1:34:19] fortunate but tonight I'm here to talk

[1:34:22] about anti-semitism

[1:34:24] the language in the proposed ceasefire

[1:34:27] resolution because it calls for the

[1:34:30] release of all

[1:34:33] hostages and political prisoners as if

[1:34:36] they were morally

[1:34:38] equivalent who are those political

[1:34:42] partners and

[1:34:44] prisoners well yeah had

[1:34:47] shirar was

[1:34:49] one serving four consecutive lives

[1:34:54] sentences for abducting and murdering

[1:34:58] two

[1:34:59] Israelis in

[1:35:01] 1989 so war was released in

[1:35:05] 2011 as part of the prisoner

[1:35:09] exchange of 1,000 Palestinian militant

[1:35:13] prisoners for one IDF

[1:35:18] Soldier soar later became Hamas leader

[1:35:24] Gaza and the architect of the October

[1:35:27] 7th

[1:35:34] massacres AAR

[1:35:38] shalena whose picture you've seen

[1:35:40] holding up the Blood Stained

[1:35:47] hands he was the one you heard that

[1:35:50] helped murder the two Palace two

[1:35:54] Israelis in

[1:35:56] the police

[1:35:59] station in the West

[1:36:02] Bank these political

[1:36:05] prisoners are often

[1:36:08] terrorists and violent

[1:36:12] combatants they were arrested for

[1:36:15] violent

[1:36:17] crimes even prisoners held for minor

[1:36:20] acts of violence are in no way the

[1:36:23] equivalent of the hostages

[1:36:26] themselves and by the way the hostages

[1:36:31] that were

[1:36:34] taken are from over

[1:36:37] 25 different countries many of them with

[1:36:42] dual passports and citizenship and many

[1:36:45] of them not they're from

[1:36:48] Thailand Argentina Germany and the US

[1:36:53] and as I said over 25

[1:36:55] countries the proposed ceas fire

[1:36:58] resolution calls for the Swift an

[1:37:02] unrestricted entry of

[1:37:05] humanitarian assistance into

[1:37:08] Gaza this sounds like a

[1:37:10] non-controversial

[1:37:12] statement but it's not I need you to

[1:37:14] summarize please sir I need you to

[1:37:17] summarize I beg

[1:37:21] pardon time all right all right I thank

[1:37:24] you for your time it was a pleasure

[1:37:28] talking to you thank

[1:37:33] you Amy

[1:37:36] pner Amy pner

[1:37:54] [Music]

[1:37:57] Madame President esteemed council

[1:37:59] members and Mr Mayor my name is Amy

[1:38:02] Posner I live in the city of SKC I am

[1:38:05] one of your

[1:38:07] constituents tonight I've come to speak

[1:38:09] to you about anti- cinematic language in

[1:38:11] the proposed ceasefire resolution

[1:38:14] because it calls for the release oh I

[1:38:16] that

[1:38:21] was okay

[1:38:24] hordon just read that one but I'm here

[1:38:27] also to talk about that because the

[1:38:29] proposed ceasefire resolution calls for

[1:38:32] the Swift and unrestricted entry of

[1:38:34] humanitarian assistance into Gaza this

[1:38:37] sounds like a non-controversial

[1:38:39] statement and I certainly would love to

[1:38:42] see there be humanitarian um assistance

[1:38:46] into Gaza but it's not a

[1:38:48] non-controversial statement there are

[1:38:50] actually many players involved in the

[1:38:52] lack of sist efficient humanitarian

[1:38:54] assistance getting to civilians in Gaza

[1:38:58] Egypt has refused to deliver

[1:39:00] humanitarian Aid to the border crossing

[1:39:02] Hamas has been stealing the aid instead

[1:39:04] of Distributing it privateers and

[1:39:07] Smugglers hide firearms in non-military

[1:39:10] transportation which then requires

[1:39:12] painstaking search of everything that

[1:39:14] travels above ground into

[1:39:16] Gaza I say to you that this glaring

[1:39:20] omission and the use of other specific

[1:39:22] phrases in the proposed

[1:39:23] ceasefire resolution does create a

[1:39:26] double standard and demonizes Israel

[1:39:30] some of what are what uh what our our

[1:39:34] um our citizens here tonight have said

[1:39:37] demonizes Israel if we add more context

[1:39:40] and consider the statements made by the

[1:39:42] anti-israel activists In This Very

[1:39:44] chamber at four previous public comments

[1:39:48] and virent anti-Semitism social media

[1:39:51] posts by the organizers and so if you

[1:39:54] say it's not anti-semitic but you're

[1:39:56] posting anti-semitic memes and you're

[1:39:58] posting pictures of violent people with

[1:40:00] their bloodstained hands and you're

[1:40:02] using that Blood Stained hand as a stamp

[1:40:05] on your flyer to encourage people to

[1:40:07] come and participate in your activism

[1:40:10] that is complicit in the

[1:40:14] violence so I say to you this entire

[1:40:17] exercise of asking city council to pass

[1:40:20] a ceasefire is an resolution is anti

[1:40:23] anetic put it all together I feel a very

[1:40:27] clear sense that this theater has put me

[1:40:30] definitely me I don't sleep well at

[1:40:32] night because of this kind of thing my

[1:40:35] family and other Jewish residents at

[1:40:38] Great harm anti-Semitism has

[1:40:41] consequences it's the canary and the

[1:40:43] coal mine for social ills many

[1:40:47] cases whether intended or not it

[1:40:49] prejudices people and it reinforces

[1:40:52] stereotypes and biases and I will say

[1:40:55] that anti-Semitism has been weaponized

[1:40:58] in this particular

[1:41:01] context and that the Jewish perspective

[1:41:05] of what anti-Semitism is matters we get

[1:41:09] to say what is anti-Semitism just like

[1:41:11] other people get to say what other

[1:41:13] prejudices are when they feel

[1:41:16] Prejudice please recognize that this is

[1:41:19] divisive it's Jew hatred and it's

[1:41:22] embedded in asking for this resolution

[1:41:25] please show leadership by telling the

[1:41:27] whole city that such hate speech has no

[1:41:29] place in skty I loves connecti and I

[1:41:33] hope that we can all find a way to live

[1:41:34] together in peace thank you

[1:41:37] [Applause]

[1:41:42] for David Posner David Posner

[1:42:01] Madame President esteemed members

[1:42:05] council members and Mr Mayor my name is

[1:42:08] David Posner I live and I'm a resident

[1:42:12] of the city of sken I work in sken

[1:42:16] County where I am the executive of the

[1:42:19] Jewish Community Center which works to

[1:42:22] make life better for the entire

[1:42:24] citizenry of the city and the

[1:42:27] county tonight I come to speak to you

[1:42:30] about a tax on council member Carmel

[1:42:33] Patrick at the council's committee

[1:42:36] meeting on June 3rd council member call

[1:42:40] Williams offered two statements for

[1:42:43] consideration each separately written by

[1:42:46] local pro-israel and pro Palestinian

[1:42:50] leaders when talking about the two

[1:42:53] statements Council me council member

[1:42:56] Patrick referenced that they will cause

[1:42:59] more

[1:43:00] divisiveness and that divisiveness has

[1:43:03] already happened I

[1:43:06] agree seeking this ceasefire resolution

[1:43:10] is divisive and in a way it has happened

[1:43:14] here it is anti-Semitic it is hurtful it

[1:43:18] is harmful for all the reasons that

[1:43:21] previous speakers have said the language

[1:43:24] being used by extremists in our

[1:43:26] community the words omitted and the

[1:43:29] words included in the proposed

[1:43:32] resolution the awful social media posts

[1:43:36] and the desecration of cemeteries while

[1:43:39] maybe not directly related have

[1:43:43] altogether made me feel

[1:43:45] unsafe this kind of divisiveness is

[1:43:49] dangerous our rabbis have told us of

[1:43:51] incidents of hate against Jewish middle

[1:43:54] school students here in our County they

[1:43:57] shared that an administrator told them

[1:44:00] incidents of hate are also increasing

[1:44:04] against Muslim Students and lb lgbtq

[1:44:08] plus kids they say it is not Muslim kids

[1:44:13] who are harassing Jewish kids or Jewish

[1:44:16] kids who are harassing Muslim kids it's

[1:44:19] other children who think it's now okay

[1:44:22] to harass both of them this entire

[1:44:25] exercise is more harmful than helpful

[1:44:28] because it will increase bigotry against

[1:44:31] both Muslims and Jews and the worst part

[1:44:35] we used to commune together we used to

[1:44:38] celebrate holidays together in the past

[1:44:42] where either of our communities faced

[1:44:45] atrocities like the Muslim

[1:44:48] ban and the Tree of Life Massacre regre

[1:44:53] belied with each other and considered

[1:44:55] each consoled each other but the

[1:44:57] extremism before this body has created a

[1:45:01] deep deep Division and I worry we won't

[1:45:04] have each other's backs for the next

[1:45:07] americanmade atrocity please show your

[1:45:10] leadership by denouncing the Jew hatred

[1:45:12] and anti-semitic speech intertwined with

[1:45:16] the project of asking for this

[1:45:18] resolution such hate has no place in our

[1:45:22] city thank you for your

[1:45:29] time Alison Matthews Alison Matthews

[1:45:45] okay hello um Madame President esteemed

[1:45:50] council members and Mr Mayor my name is

[1:45:52] Ali Matthews um and I am a resident of

[1:45:56] the city of sky for the last 33 years

[1:45:59] and tonight I've come to speak to you

[1:46:01] about how anti-Semitism is different

[1:46:04] from how others marginalized people

[1:46:07] experience

[1:46:08] discrimination silence usually doesn't

[1:46:10] end well for us so we've decided to

[1:46:12] speak out and call out what we are

[1:46:14] seeing and feeling with the hope that

[1:46:16] enough people understand why we are

[1:46:19] afraid anti-Semitism often starts with

[1:46:21] this societal internalization of

[1:46:24] stereotypes tropes and biases invented

[1:46:27] in previous

[1:46:28] generations AC accusations like the

[1:46:31] blood liel the myth about a world Jewish

[1:46:34] conspiracy and stereotypes about Jews

[1:46:36] and money are kept Alive by veiled or

[1:46:39] even blatant references in conversations

[1:46:42] and jokes left unchecked and

[1:46:44] unchallenged scapegoating begins people

[1:46:47] begin to use these negative stereotypes

[1:46:49] to blame Jews for bad things that they

[1:46:51] see or experience

[1:46:53] in the 14th century Jews were frequently

[1:46:56] used as scapegoats for the plague and

[1:46:58] accused of

[1:46:59] deliberately poisoning wells in 1930s

[1:47:03] Germany Jews were blamed for the

[1:47:04] downturn in the country's economy Jew

[1:47:07] hatred other often including includes

[1:47:10] accusations of whatever is culturally

[1:47:12] considered most despicable for example

[1:47:15] in 1950s America we were called

[1:47:18] socialists spies and traitors in 1960s

[1:47:21] Soviet Russia we were called capitalists

[1:47:24] spies and

[1:47:25] traitors when demonizing stereotypes and

[1:47:28] scapegoating are left unchallenged Jew

[1:47:31] hatred becomes active boycotts of Jewish

[1:47:33] businesses violence on Jewish property

[1:47:36] burning Jewish homes destroying crops

[1:47:39] looting Jewish stores vandalizing Jewish

[1:47:42] businesses and desecrating Jewish

[1:47:44] cemeteries which we saw in our own City

[1:47:48] if allowed to continue the Jew hatred

[1:47:50] can explode into physical violence

[1:47:52] harass harassment assault rape murder

[1:47:55] forced Exile and mass murder for example

[1:47:59] having been blamed for the plague whole

[1:48:01] populations of Jews were massacred in

[1:48:03] towns in France Spain Germany and

[1:48:06] Switzerland in just a few short years

[1:48:09] the Jew hatred we have experienced here

[1:48:11] at the City Council meetings makes life

[1:48:13] worse for the Jewish residents of

[1:48:15] skincity it increases the culture of

[1:48:18] hate it contributes to the division

[1:48:20] between communities and distrust between

[1:48:22] neighbors a ceasefire resolution will

[1:48:25] have no impact on Gaza choosing to stop

[1:48:28] the demonizing Del de legitimizing and

[1:48:32] double standards will have a huge impact

[1:48:34] on skincity please show your leadership

[1:48:37] by denouncing the Jew hatred and

[1:48:39] anti-semitic speech intertwined with the

[1:48:42] project of asking for this resolution

[1:48:45] such hate has no place in our city thank

[1:48:48] you for your time

[1:48:49] [Applause]

[1:48:54] Rabbi rafy Spitzer Rabbi

[1:49:02] Spitzer Madame

[1:49:04] President esteemed council members and

[1:49:07] Mr Mayor my name is Rabbi Rafi Spitzer I

[1:49:10] live in the county of SKC and tonight

[1:49:13] I've come to speak to

[1:49:16] you

[1:49:18] proudly and

[1:49:20] vulnerably about our fear

[1:49:23] of the 8 billion people in the world

[1:49:26] there are just 15.7 million Jews just.

[1:49:32] 2% of the worldwide population in

[1:49:35] America we are just 2.4% of the

[1:49:38] population in sken County we are about

[1:49:41] 2% of the population about 3,500 Jews

[1:49:45] out of the 160,000 people who live in

[1:49:48] this County there are so very few of us

[1:49:51] and we have been relatively quiet at

[1:49:54] these City Council

[1:49:56] meetings many Jewish people spoke

[1:49:59] against a ceasefire resolution on March

[1:50:01] 25th and we did not come to your

[1:50:03] meetings on April 8th or 22nd because we

[1:50:06] were celebrating Jewish holidays but

[1:50:09] make but make no mistake our absence and

[1:50:12] relative silence does not in any way

[1:50:14] indicate indifference to the anti-israel

[1:50:17] and Jew hating ceasefire resolution or

[1:50:19] to the activists Behavior we are

[1:50:22] disgusted by by their proud displays of

[1:50:24] Jew hatred both here and online it's

[1:50:28] hard to be here it's hard to hear their

[1:50:31] words to see their online rhetoric and

[1:50:34] their memes the activists deny Jewish

[1:50:38] peoplehood they deny Jewish

[1:50:41] history they minimize Jewish pain and

[1:50:45] Jewish death they demonize the Jewish

[1:50:48] people they apply a double standard in

[1:50:51] calling for a ceas fire resolution in

[1:50:53] this case but not in all the other world

[1:50:56] conflicts they even have the gall to say

[1:50:59] that our fear isn't legitimate but is

[1:51:01] only a tactic used to silence them while

[1:51:05] many of us hope for a negotiated end to

[1:51:08] this war and Pray for Peace we loathe

[1:51:11] the attempts to intimidate silence

[1:51:14] rewrite our history use tropes and

[1:51:16] stereotypes to fuel hate against Israel

[1:51:19] and the Jewish people here in connecti

[1:51:21] resolutions calling for a cease Fire

[1:51:23] have themselves become a term of art a

[1:51:25] dog whistle a code even a seemingly

[1:51:29] innocuous statement that can be held up

[1:51:31] as SKC supports a ceasefire is loaded

[1:51:35] with assumptions based on the Jew hating

[1:51:37] words and behavior of the activists it

[1:51:39] is a way of rallying people to the cause

[1:51:41] of delegitimizing the only Jewish

[1:51:43] country in the world

[1:51:46] please recognize the divisive Jew hatred

[1:51:49] embedded in asking for this resolution

[1:51:52] and show leadership by telling the whole

[1:51:55] city that such hate speech has no place

[1:51:58] in

[1:51:59] skincity thank you for your

[1:52:02] [Applause]

[1:52:08] time Rabbi Matt Cutler Rabbi

[1:52:17] Cutler I'm Rabbi Matt

[1:52:19] Cutler I live in the city of skincity

[1:52:22] and I I work in this city is connected

[1:52:23] my first request is to open a bathroom

[1:52:25] up here so I can go to the bathroom

[1:52:27] every once in a while during these

[1:52:28] meetings now tonight I speak to you

[1:52:30] about what legitimate criticism of

[1:52:33] Israel looks like Israel is an imperfect

[1:52:36] liberal democracy just like the United

[1:52:38] States Israel is a parliamentary

[1:52:40] democracy to form a government requires

[1:52:43] Coalition building and current coalition

[1:52:45] government has widely been criticized

[1:52:48] for giving outside voice to extremists

[1:52:51] legitimate criticism of Israel's

[1:52:53] policies can be made without

[1:52:56] delegitimizing or demonizing Israel we

[1:52:59] could hold Israel accountable without

[1:53:01] applying a double standard it takes care

[1:53:04] to consider how our words can use can

[1:53:08] cause harm by reinforcing stereotypes it

[1:53:11] takes

[1:53:13] self-examination to discover our

[1:53:15] internalized

[1:53:17] biases I hope that the city of connected

[1:53:22] Council

[1:53:23] and the rest of us have learned some

[1:53:25] history and context for the harm caused

[1:53:29] by some of the offensive remarks used by

[1:53:32] activists seeking a ceasefire

[1:53:34] resolution now I would like to thank

[1:53:37] council member Carl Williams along with

[1:53:40] council member deanii Farley for trying

[1:53:43] to get folks to come together to find

[1:53:46] Common Ground I thank you president

[1:53:49] Porterfield for encouraging a communal

[1:53:51] conversation

[1:53:53] which could have been a moment for

[1:53:55] recognition of mutual pain and led to a

[1:53:59] greater support and understanding

[1:54:01] instead of this ugly

[1:54:03] divisiveness I believe the city council

[1:54:06] should stop the harmful exercise in Jew

[1:54:09] hatred which is disrupting your meetings

[1:54:12] and preventing the normal functions of

[1:54:14] government the council needs to return

[1:54:17] to the work of taking care of the city

[1:54:20] itself although

[1:54:23] support the ongoing diplomatic efforts

[1:54:25] toward a peaceful resolution of this War

[1:54:28] I oppose a ceasefire resolution in SKC

[1:54:31] because of all the reasons you have

[1:54:34] already heard a resolution in SKC will

[1:54:38] not Advocate peace or Security in the

[1:54:40] Middle East and I particularly

[1:54:42] appreciate the words of council members

[1:54:44] Moon as well as council members Joe

[1:54:47] Mancini Carmel Patrick and dorine D

[1:54:49] vitro voicing a desire for the the city

[1:54:52] council to stay out of Foreign Affairs

[1:54:55] but this hate filled exercise has

[1:54:58] increased this strust between Muslims

[1:55:00] and Jewish communities and inflamed

[1:55:02] anti-Semitism and islamophobia here in

[1:55:05] skincity allowing this to continue any

[1:55:08] further is causing us a great deal of

[1:55:11] harm and it's not helping us at all

[1:55:14] let's make it stop thank you

[1:55:25] Robert

[1:55:26] Stern Robert

[1:55:31] Stern okay good

[1:55:34] evening uh like to say shalom to

[1:55:37] everyone and Salam

[1:55:39] alaykum my name is Bob Stern I'm a

[1:55:42] resident of the city of SKC for close to

[1:55:44] 40

[1:55:45] years I'm currently retired and I'm

[1:55:49] Jewish do I represent the Jewish

[1:55:51] community

[1:55:53] not really there's an old Jewish saying

[1:55:55] two Jews in a room three

[1:55:58] opinions so I'm not going to even

[1:56:01] attempt to to tell people that I'm

[1:56:03] representing all a diverse group of

[1:56:05] people like this uh but while I support

[1:56:08] the right of Israel to exist I don't

[1:56:10] support every action or policy of the

[1:56:12] government I do support um the right to

[1:56:15] defend themselves but I also hope as

[1:56:17] others have spoken that the killing of

[1:56:19] civilians will stop by both sides

[1:56:23] um and during my working years I worked

[1:56:25] on drafting I worked for the New York

[1:56:27] State Assembly like the other young

[1:56:28] woman who spoke I worked on drafting

[1:56:30] legislation and resolutions actually so

[1:56:34] I've had experience trying to do that

[1:56:36] it's a really difficult task and I'd

[1:56:38] like to say that um I I a lot of people

[1:56:42] had keep saying uh the social media

[1:56:45] content is abhorent and the resolution

[1:56:48] that the two members are trying to draft

[1:56:51] um is uh somehow Associated that I don't

[1:56:55] believe either one of you have made

[1:56:57] social media posts that are abhorent and

[1:56:59] if that occurs that's obviously should

[1:57:02] be criticized but if you're working in

[1:57:05] good faith to try to draft the

[1:57:07] resolution that would um address the

[1:57:10] concerns that people have brought to you

[1:57:12] without demonizing without hatred

[1:57:15] without uh blood liels or whatever else

[1:57:18] I'm assuming that's your goal and that's

[1:57:19] what you're trying to do um however

[1:57:22] I as I said that it's a difficult thing

[1:57:24] to do to try to draft something that

[1:57:26] would do that and I think that that's

[1:57:30] why I would agree that with a lot of

[1:57:32] people who say it's not something the

[1:57:34] council could do not because it's not

[1:57:36] right not because it's not just not

[1:57:39] because your attempts aren't

[1:57:40] good-hearted but it's just really

[1:57:42] difficult to do and I think that uh you

[1:57:46] could get bogged down as others have

[1:57:48] said about dealing with the other

[1:57:50] conflicts in the world that people may

[1:57:52] come to you with we have people who um

[1:57:56] represent or you have constituents who

[1:57:58] are from countries where there's other

[1:58:00] kinds of similar conflicts going on they

[1:58:02] may come to you ask now once you do this

[1:58:04] resolution asking for others and I think

[1:58:07] that um that would be a real the counter

[1:58:11] could get really bogged down trying to

[1:58:12] satisfy those needs um you have no

[1:58:15] obligation to do anything you aren't

[1:58:17] elected to to sort out uh complex

[1:58:20] disputes around the world just because

[1:58:22] someone asks you to do it it's not it's

[1:58:24] not part of your job you were elected to

[1:58:27] it is something you could do I'm not

[1:58:29] saying that it's out of I mean people

[1:58:30] have made good points here tonight about

[1:58:33] why they think the council should do

[1:58:34] that um but anyway nobody's really

[1:58:37] offered any other Solutions tonight I

[1:58:40] don't know that I have a solution but um

[1:58:43] I would think that the um if you decide

[1:58:46] you absolutely have to go on record with

[1:58:48] something that you might be able to

[1:58:50] limit it to asking the US government to

[1:58:52] support efforts to end armed conflicts

[1:58:54] and protect the rights of people around

[1:58:56] the world to live in peace something to

[1:58:58] that effect at least you will only have

[1:59:01] to do it once and then you won't have to

[1:59:02] do it again thank you for your time

[1:59:04] thank

[1:59:08] you Maxine George Maxine George

[1:59:25] no she's not going to speak okay um

[1:59:29] Valerie

[1:59:38] trano uh good evening City Council

[1:59:40] Members I'm here today in support for a

[1:59:43] call of a permanent ceasefire and an end

[1:59:46] to apartheid Israel's occupation of

[1:59:49] Palestine after listening to the

[1:59:51] committee meeting last week I wanted to

[1:59:53] thank councilman Farley Williams and

[1:59:57] president Porterfield for pushing for a

[1:59:59] Nuance discussion to be had as that's

[2:00:02] how you create change through hearing

[2:00:04] others lived experiences empathy active

[2:00:07] listening and critical

[2:00:11] thinking the statements from other

[2:00:13] members why are we even entertaining

[2:00:15] this

[2:00:17] is a callous way to think about this as

[2:00:21] there's SK residents who have family

[2:00:23] members who have died in Gaza and

[2:00:26] occupied West Bank or are worrying every

[2:00:28] day about their loved

[2:00:30] ones who've died in I mean every day

[2:00:33] about their loved ones safety who who

[2:00:36] live

[2:00:37] there I'd also like to point out the

[2:00:39] ways we are financially involved in this

[2:00:41] as our New York state and federal taxes

[2:00:44] are funding apartheid Israel's ethnic

[2:00:47] cleansing and genocide of Palestine Al

[2:00:51] also Alo for all of you on city council

[2:00:53] those who work for city of connecti and

[2:00:56] New York state employees who are members

[2:00:58] of the New York state and local

[2:00:59] retirement system your pension plan

[2:01:01] invests in Israel bonds and your

[2:01:03] retirement money is blood money in

[2:01:05] October 2023 Joseph deop bought an

[2:01:08] additional 20 million more in Israel

[2:01:11] bonds for the New York State Common

[2:01:12] retirement fund as a Civil Service

[2:01:15] employee myself I feel disgusted knowing

[2:01:17] that my pension is blood Money funding

[2:01:19] the deaths of 15,000 Palestinian

[2:01:21] children in just 247 days since October

[2:01:25] 7th I feel guilt-ridden knowing my

[2:01:27] federal taxes New York state taxes and

[2:01:29] my pension plan are all funding over

[2:01:32] 35,000 deaths of Palestinian men women

[2:01:34] and children it's important to

[2:01:36] acknowledge that we are financially

[2:01:38] complicit with aparte Israel's genocidal

[2:01:42] and ethnic cleansing actions and that

[2:01:45] does affect us as a SKC County

[2:01:47] especially those whose employers

[2:01:50] participate in night New York State

[2:01:52] local Retirement Systems pension

[2:01:54] plan I'd like to re share two quotes

[2:01:56] from mmud Darwish every word has the

[2:02:00] power to change the world and in silence

[2:02:03] we become

[2:02:04] accomplices it's also important to point

[2:02:06] out that this is not a Judaism versus

[2:02:08] Islam issue either as Israeli military

[2:02:11] have also been killing Christian and

[2:02:12] Jewish Palestinians as well there are

[2:02:15] Palestinian Jews Christians and Muslims

[2:02:17] and they've lived peacefully coexisting

[2:02:19] in Palestine before the creation of the

[2:02:21] state of is Israel I believe we will see

[2:02:24] a free Palestine within our lifetime

[2:02:25] where Jews Christians and Muslims will

[2:02:28] exist equally in peacefully amongst each

[2:02:30] other once again after those who

[2:02:32] committed atrocities are held

[2:02:34] accountable to conclude I'd like to

[2:02:36] remind everyone that we're all human

[2:02:37] beings who deserve basic human rights

[2:02:40] decency

[2:02:43] respect peace and to feel safe we need a

[2:02:46] permanent ceasefire as it's of the

[2:02:47] utmost importance and we are currently

[2:02:50] living in moments of history that will

[2:02:53] be analyzed in the future will you

[2:02:54] remain complicit with your silence thank

[2:03:03] you

[2:03:05] Baris Baris Amir

[2:03:13] FIS hello thank you all for giving me

[2:03:16] another opportunity to speak my name is

[2:03:18] Faris Amir I'm a Palestinian I was here

[2:03:20] a few weeks ago I spoke to all before

[2:03:23] I've lived in the West Bank I've gone to

[2:03:25] school in the West Bank I have family in

[2:03:27] the West Bank I've come to for I've come

[2:03:29] before you today to speak partly about

[2:03:32] my experiences in the West Bank and in

[2:03:34] the aparti that I have seen with my eyes

[2:03:38] where roads have been segregated by race

[2:03:41] where I've been been denied entry into

[2:03:43] Jerusalem because of my race where

[2:03:46] settler violence has burnt down the

[2:03:48] homes businesses and Farms of my family

[2:03:50] members in my Village

[2:03:52] we can talk about all the things we

[2:03:54] think it's like all all the ideas we

[2:03:57] have about the West Bank but I've been

[2:03:58] there and I'm telling you it isn't

[2:04:01] aparte but I didn't come here today just

[2:04:03] to talk about my past and my experiences

[2:04:05] what we came here today to talk about is

[2:04:07] this cifi

[2:04:09] resolution and I'd like to thank you for

[2:04:12] listening and hearing from me as a

[2:04:13] Palestinian because this is something

[2:04:15] that I'm not used to growing up that

[2:04:16] hasn't been the standard in my life as a

[2:04:19] Palestinian our voices are always

[2:04:21] marginalized

[2:04:22] ignored and just left on the side and I

[2:04:25] guess it took 37,000 dead Palestinians

[2:04:27] in Gaza to have our voices finally

[2:04:30] heard as a Palestinian all we've ever

[2:04:34] wanted was basic human rights the right

[2:04:37] to live freely and

[2:04:39] peace so let me ask you why is it that

[2:04:43] when the entire world calls for a

[2:04:44] ceasefire it's connected he wants to

[2:04:46] stay

[2:04:47] quiet why is it that the entire world

[2:04:49] has heard our voices connecti he turns a

[2:04:52] deaf ear over 100 American cities have

[2:04:55] called for a ceasefire 150 plus

[2:04:58] countries have called for a ceasefire

[2:05:01] today the UN Security Council adopted a

[2:05:04] ceasefire resolution proposed by the US

[2:05:07] so what are we waiting for what is

[2:05:09] connect waiting for we're asking for

[2:05:11] hostages to be released on both sides

[2:05:14] we're asking for CI civilian deaths to

[2:05:16] stop on both sides we're asking for

[2:05:20] peace and while the entire world again

[2:05:22] calls for a ceasefire we're just sitting

[2:05:25] here quietly not wanting to get

[2:05:27] involved show us that you're not okay

[2:05:30] with civilians dying on either side show

[2:05:33] us that you

[2:05:34] want hostages released on both sides

[2:05:37] peace on both sides that you're not okay

[2:05:39] with 15,000 children dying show us that

[2:05:42] our voices matter and that you care

[2:05:46] thank you

[2:05:51] [Applause]

[2:05:54] soib

[2:05:55] shakima soib

[2:06:06] shakima it is funny because this

[2:06:08] afternoon I was just chatting with a

[2:06:09] Jewish friend of mine in an effort to

[2:06:11] mobilize and fight for tenant stes here

[2:06:14] in the cap region that sounds like the

[2:06:15] most anti-Semitic thing to do I guess so

[2:06:19] what I understood from the other group

[2:06:22] um is that the ongoing genocide makes

[2:06:24] them feel safe some also lose sleep uh

[2:06:28] just for the simple fact that we keep

[2:06:29] fighting for Palestinians not to lose

[2:06:31] their lives what I also can highlight is

[2:06:34] that if you cannot openly and boldly

[2:06:36] come out and support a live streaming

[2:06:38] genocide you have to distract with

[2:06:41] misinformation and eloquently compiled

[2:06:43] lies that can be easily debunked by

[2:06:46] simple Act of reading reliable sources

[2:06:48] of historical facts also please if you

[2:06:51] check in our social media accounts

[2:06:53] please hit like subscribe and follow and

[2:06:56] donate if you

[2:06:57] can it was interesting when the Jewish

[2:06:59] lady came up earlier and spoke in

[2:07:01] support of a ceasefire resolution and an

[2:07:03] anti-Semitism resolution those in

[2:07:05] support of ceasefire clapped while those

[2:07:07] against the ceasefire refrained let that

[2:07:10] sink in this whole thing has been

[2:07:13] wrongfully referred to by some of the

[2:07:15] council members who played into the

[2:07:17] hands of the Zionist in this room as the

[2:07:19] Muslims versus Jews fight the the

[2:07:21] language of the resolution itself and

[2:07:23] the diverse and very inclusive group

[2:07:24] calling for the ceasefire are the

[2:07:26] evidence for what this really is those

[2:07:28] of us calling for a ceasefire and

[2:07:31] release of all hostages are calling for

[2:07:33] the saving and preservation of Life

[2:07:35] while those on the other side are

[2:07:37] clearly against it let me tell you about

[2:07:39] the Zionist in this room they just

[2:07:41] showed you how Supremacy takes an

[2:07:43] ideology Zionism to hijack a history and

[2:07:45] religion Judaism while canceling the

[2:07:47] history of others including those two

[2:07:50] large religions in the world laming

[2:07:51] Christianity and Islam man they even

[2:07:54] hijacked a slogan by the lgbtq activists

[2:07:57] calling for a ceasefire lamely no pride

[2:08:00] in genocide I Al I also wonder for those

[2:08:02] zionists who claim that we are

[2:08:04] anti-semitic while stripping all Jews

[2:08:07] calling for a ceasefire of their Jewish

[2:08:09] identity where and well will your

[2:08:11] Supremacy and self-entitlement end this

[2:08:13] cowardly Supremacy came in a form of a

[2:08:15] letter addressed to me personally asking

[2:08:18] me and my congregation to go back home

[2:08:21] boy I was born in Albany and we are here

[2:08:24] to stay let me tell you the terrifying

[2:08:26] real reality to those zionists in this

[2:08:28] room these City Council meetings have

[2:08:31] raised more awareness and brought more

[2:08:33] people together to fight against the

[2:08:35] genocide the truth will prevail hey Mr

[2:08:38] John sarcastically you asked if you

[2:08:40] should hand deliver the resolution to

[2:08:42] till aiv while three other council

[2:08:44] members tried to hide behind the it is

[2:08:46] not our problem excuse this is local we

[2:08:50] are funding the Gen genocide and we now

[2:08:53] are even directly involved in this

[2:08:54] genocide in addition to our taxes

[2:08:56] retirement funds and investment bonds we

[2:08:58] now have reports of our own boots on the

[2:09:01] ground let me tell the council members

[2:09:04] these meetings have exposed the

[2:09:06] hypocrisy of some of the politicians in

[2:09:08] this room thank

[2:09:15] you Matt oil

[2:09:24] uh good evening uh here to join the uh

[2:09:27] voices calling for a ceasefire

[2:09:29] resolution uh so between Gaza and the

[2:09:31] West Bank the casualty count in

[2:09:33] Palestine as of May 21st is

[2:09:35] approximately

[2:09:37] 37,500 killed including 15,000 children

[2:09:40] nearly 990,000 injured and about 10,000

[2:09:43] missing that's only what's been recorded

[2:09:45] I shiver when wondering about what the

[2:09:47] actual casualty numbers are but

[2:09:49] regardless of the difference between the

[2:09:50] official count and the real count the

[2:09:52] casualties have undoubtedly increased

[2:09:54] since May 21st as the Israeli regime

[2:09:57] drops bombs on refugees in Rafa who were

[2:09:59] initially told to go there specifically

[2:10:01] to escape

[2:10:03] bombardment uh so despite President

[2:10:06] Biden claiming that bombing Rafa would

[2:10:08] be a hard Red Line the US ruling class

[2:10:10] continues to provide unwavering support

[2:10:13] to the Israeli regime as it wages and

[2:10:15] escalates genocidal violence against the

[2:10:17] Palestinian people to say nothing of the

[2:10:19] risk of a wider Regional War as tensions

[2:10:22] escalate between Israel and

[2:10:24] Iran despite what many claim us

[2:10:26] involvement in this conflict has

[2:10:28] absolutely nothing to do with protecting

[2:10:30] the Jewish community and has everything

[2:10:32] to do with maintaining us imperialist

[2:10:34] interests in the Middle East the working

[2:10:37] class here and everywhere including here

[2:10:39] in sken has absolutely nothing to gain

[2:10:44] from this Bloodshed every bomb dropped

[2:10:46] is a waste is wasted money that could be

[2:10:49] invested in education housing Healthcare

[2:10:52] infrastructure Etc so long story short a

[2:10:55] ceasefire is a critical first step in

[2:10:58] towards ending this Bloodshed and I hope

[2:11:00] the city council will play a part in

[2:11:02] moving Us in that direction by passing a

[2:11:03] ceasefire resolution thank

[2:11:10] you Assad

[2:11:13] Ali Assad

[2:11:18] Ali hey everyone uh this is my second

[2:11:21] time over here and I'm as an I work as

[2:11:24] an engineer in Horizon and I've been in

[2:11:27] United States for past 14 years and I

[2:11:30] come here because I see these messages

[2:11:32] you know like and I come here to support

[2:11:35] Palestine people I have one question

[2:11:37] like and you know everybody was talking

[2:11:39] about you know like Hamas did this

[2:11:41] Pakistan did this we're not over here to

[2:11:43] discuss those issues it's a good

[2:11:45] platform to discuss it but we are over

[2:11:48] here my house is burning on fire What

[2:11:50] would I do oh my elder daughter put the

[2:11:53] switch on my little daughter did this my

[2:11:56] we are not here to find the who did what

[2:11:58] we can find it later on but my first

[2:12:00] action is to stop the fire to put the

[2:12:03] water on the fire and let everything

[2:12:05] calm down so I suggest like put a

[2:12:08] ceasefire stop the killings of small

[2:12:11] kids it's nothing hidden it's on social

[2:12:13] media you can see kids dying buried on

[2:12:16] under the buildings as a US Government

[2:12:19] they can put a stop sign to that they

[2:12:21] can put a genocide to that my English is

[2:12:23] not very good I honestly don't even

[2:12:26] understand like what genocide means but

[2:12:28] stop the killing of innocent people over

[2:12:31] there small kids they should not be

[2:12:33] killed in the first place and then when

[2:12:35] we can figure it out like who's right

[2:12:36] and who's wrong so since I have time I

[2:12:39] will put some light who's right and

[2:12:41] who's wrong a fellow human being over

[2:12:43] here said that Pakistan was developed in

[2:12:45] that country I am a Pakistani guy

[2:12:48] Pakistan had a two-nation theory with

[2:12:50] India and and that was like something

[2:12:52] Muslim needs their own land to practice

[2:12:55] the religion instead of getting harassed

[2:12:57] from you know other religions or they

[2:12:59] harass other people they they need

[2:13:01] separate land to practice their

[2:13:03] religion since childhood I've heard

[2:13:07] Hitler you know like he had had a war

[2:13:10] against Jewish people they came out of

[2:13:13] Europe they came out of Africa they came

[2:13:15] out of like Middle Eastern countries

[2:13:16] they're refugees did Palestine people

[2:13:19] came out of like somewhere and took that

[2:13:21] land they they belong the land belonged

[2:13:23] to them and now the issue is like okay

[2:13:26] Jewish people want to empower the Muslim

[2:13:28] people and the Muslim people want to

[2:13:30] empower the Jewish people right we

[2:13:32] should have that sense that okay this

[2:13:35] land was belong to Palestine people not

[2:13:37] the refugees who came like 100 years ago

[2:13:39] and then now they want to empower the

[2:13:41] whole Palestine land it cannot happen

[2:13:44] that way you know like it should belong

[2:13:46] the land should belong to the people who

[2:13:48] lived there not the refugees who came

[2:13:50] from Europe Africa and other countries

[2:13:53] and and a lot of Jewish people know that

[2:13:55] too so so my my suggestion here is

[2:13:59] please put a stop sign for the killing

[2:14:02] of innocent people innocent kids who die

[2:14:05] every day over there and and and one

[2:14:07] last thing I will end up with is a lot

[2:14:09] of saying that Hamas did this Hamas did

[2:14:11] this someone comes in my home and and

[2:14:14] puts takes basic necessities out of my

[2:14:17] home I cannot get Electric City I cannot

[2:14:19] get water over there not think what

[2:14:21] would I do I would retaliate I would

[2:14:23] fight and and that's what Hamas does

[2:14:27] it's not one way thing like Hamas always

[2:14:29] does it because when the things are

[2:14:31] tighten up on that and these are the

[2:14:33] games that we should stop uh that's all

[2:14:35] I had thank you thank

[2:14:40] you Leila Leila I'm not going to try to

[2:14:44] say your last name because I'm really

[2:14:45] can't read it starts with a k

[2:14:51] leaa thank

[2:14:53] you I left my children in the tent to

[2:14:56] find them something to eat I hugged them

[2:14:58] as if I knew it would be the last time I

[2:15:00] ran back when I heard air strikes I

[2:15:02] found my six children burnt to a crisp I

[2:15:05] picked them up as piles of sand this is

[2:15:07] from a mother who last week lost her six

[2:15:11] children in an air strike from Israel

[2:15:15] and the army that they proudly claimed

[2:15:18] one of many that they have proudly

[2:15:19] claimed that our tax my tax dollars have

[2:15:23] funded I feel the need to clarify that

[2:15:26] I'm more a Semite than majority of this

[2:15:28] the people in this room as both sides of

[2:15:31] my family were from Palestine and are

[2:15:33] still waiting to return home I'm not

[2:15:36] anti myself I'm antiviolence I'm really

[2:15:39] struggling after nine months to

[2:15:41] understand how people want to continue

[2:15:44] killing innocent people I'm struggling

[2:15:46] to understand how someone could see a

[2:15:48] call for Freedom as their demise I'm

[2:15:51] struggling to figure out what hate

[2:15:53] speech we're using when we are using

[2:15:57] when we demand a stop to the genocide

[2:15:59] the only way I can make sense of this is

[2:16:01] that the same people who oppose a

[2:16:03] ceasefire are doing so because they

[2:16:06] don't consider my family and my people's

[2:16:08] lives valuable or worth saving we are

[2:16:11] lesser in their eyes we don't deserve

[2:16:14] freedom and safety our children don't

[2:16:16] deserve the same as their children it's

[2:16:18] okay if 200 days days ago or even 3 days

[2:16:22] ago you understood the story differently

[2:16:24] it's okay if you peel back the layers

[2:16:26] and you learned a little more and your

[2:16:27] opinion and your mind has changed that

[2:16:30] is okay what's not okay is to say my

[2:16:33] people don't deserve a

[2:16:35] ceasefire and to say we don't deserve

[2:16:37] Freedom just like everyone else in the

[2:16:39] world we teach our children violence

[2:16:42] doesn't solve anything how can we

[2:16:44] justify this when this city and the

[2:16:46] country continue to promote violence and

[2:16:48] cower at the word ceasefire I cannot

[2:16:51] comprehend this because where I stand

[2:16:53] anyone who opposes a ceasefire actively

[2:16:56] supports violence I said this before and

[2:16:59] I'm going to repeat myself when I spoke

[2:17:01] at Albany when I spoke at here prior we

[2:17:04] have to learn from our history this

[2:17:06] country already owes too many apologies

[2:17:08] around the world we have to stop

[2:17:10] repeating history and we all have to do

[2:17:13] better I'm going to appeal to your

[2:17:16] hearts I believe every elected official

[2:17:18] starts their career wanting to make a

[2:17:20] difference now is that time this is not

[2:17:23] a religious War this is not a religious

[2:17:25] issue this is a human caused problem

[2:17:29] nothing about this is complicated no

[2:17:32] child on Earth deserves to be bombed no

[2:17:34] human on earth deserves to be bombed

[2:17:37] nothing deserves to be

[2:17:42] [Applause]

[2:17:46] bombed Sean

[2:17:49] Young Sean

[2:18:08] Young so I've been sitting here with

[2:18:12] everyone and listening to what was been

[2:18:13] said and I've been taking a lot of notes

[2:18:17] and being prepared to kind of address

[2:18:20] each and every argument that I heard

[2:18:23] about why ceasefire resolution is not

[2:18:25] something that we should do collectively

[2:18:28] as a city I heard arguments that you

[2:18:31] know Israelis and Jews are rooted to the

[2:18:33] land I heard the definition of Judaism

[2:18:36] and legitimacy I heard the 3DS

[2:18:39] delegitimize demonize and double

[2:18:41] standard and just so many so many more

[2:18:44] um arguments or justifications about why

[2:18:48] a ceasefire resolution is speech and

[2:18:52] anti-semitic and uh rooted in something

[2:18:57] that I'm not even I'm not a part of or

[2:19:00] want to be about ever stood for since

[2:19:02] I've come disc connected he doing the

[2:19:03] work that I

[2:19:05] do we're calling for a ceasefire I I

[2:19:08] guess I want to personaliz this a little

[2:19:09] bit I think it's important to do so

[2:19:12] October 7th happened and it was a

[2:19:14] tragedy we all saw it we all witnessed

[2:19:16] it it was a tragedy to see it and hear

[2:19:18] about it every day after happened the

[2:19:20] bombing happened and the children were

[2:19:22] killed and the women were chilled and

[2:19:23] the other innocent civilians were

[2:19:25] chilled and I'm sure some homos Fighters

[2:19:27] were killed as well and all of the death

[2:19:28] in the gore and it's month after month and I'm watching our US

[2:19:35] military um Supply the weapons that are

[2:19:37] killing so many children 15,000 children

[2:19:40] are dead so many others are injured so

[2:19:43] many other casualties we're simply

[2:19:45] saying we want to ceasefire I'm not

[2:19:47] delegitimizing Israel's right to to

[2:19:50] exist I'm not hating Jewish people

[2:19:52] because I'm saying I want these bombings

[2:19:55] to stop and for children to be saved for

[2:19:57] both sides to exchange the hostages and for us to have peace in that country

[2:20:03] this is an issue that impacts people

[2:20:06] here in a city is SKC look at people

[2:20:09] behind me look at the people that have

[2:20:10] been here month after month talking to

[2:20:12] you this is certainly something that is

[2:20:14] impacting them and we're coming to you

[2:20:16] requesting a ceasefire because you can

[2:20:18] speak with a collective voice and a

[2:20:20] representation of the entire city and we

[2:20:23] think it matters to speak into the Ark

[2:20:25] of Justice to speak as many other

[2:20:27] communities have spoken to want the end

[2:20:30] to the devastation and the destruction

[2:20:32] it's right there for us to see we see it

[2:20:35] I heard all of the members of the Jewish

[2:20:38] Community who spoke and made all these

[2:20:41] uh arguments about why this is hateful

[2:20:43] and why it and SP it I'm not convinced

[2:20:47] that what I'm saying here as I stand

[2:20:48] here before all of you I'm not convinced

[2:20:51] that we're hating anyone we're just

[2:20:53] saying we want to see the children and

[2:20:55] the innocent people stop being killed

[2:20:57] that's it that's what we're here for

[2:21:00] period the rest of it is what I don't

[2:21:02] know where the rest of it is coming from

[2:21:04] We're want to see a ceasefire we want to

[2:21:06] see children to stop being killed we

[2:21:08] want to have a collective voice and a

[2:21:10] push into the Arc of Justice you are we

[2:21:12] represent Mar King on a regular basis he

[2:21:15] talked about the history he he talked

[2:21:18] about history and he talked about it end

[2:21:20] in to the Arc of Justice we B that by

[2:21:24] our Collective voice thank

[2:21:28] [Applause]

[2:21:33] you I have no one else signed up to

[2:21:36] speak so I declare the public comment of

[2:21:38] City business

[2:21:39] closed this time any miscellaneous

[2:21:42] business of the

[2:21:44] council miscellaneous business of the

[2:21:47] council Miss Patrick

[2:21:55] M Patrick are you going to be speaking I

[2:21:57] am yeah

[2:22:00] okay I can't hear

[2:22:02] you I was just asking them a

[2:22:07] question yes

[2:22:09] yeah thank

[2:22:11] you during our last Council committee

[2:22:14] meeting I said and I'm quoting from the

[2:22:16] transcript we have seen Damage Done in

[2:22:18] our community to a desecration of a sem

[2:22:20] AR in no way did I state or even imply

[2:22:24] that this crime was committed by Muslims

[2:22:25] or people of color however that evening

[2:22:28] I received an email from Imam Jamal in

[2:22:31] which he claimed that I had made

[2:22:32] explicit and appalling racist comments

[2:22:35] here are two quotes from the imam's

[2:22:37] email quote you referenced the

[2:22:39] desecration of a local Jewish cemetery

[2:22:41] as being tied to these calls for a

[2:22:43] ceasefire end of quote and quote a crime

[2:22:47] was committed in the desecration of

[2:22:48] those Graves and you thought it fitting

[2:22:50] to point the finger to us end of quote

[2:22:53] once again I never made those statements

[2:22:56] these are Fabrications and false

[2:22:58] accusations by the Imam which he also

[2:23:01] shared with other members of the city

[2:23:03] council subsequently on the all of us

[2:23:06] Facebook page this statement appeared

[2:23:09] quote we are we were witness to the

[2:23:11] racist xenophobic and islamophobic

[2:23:13] remarks of city council member Carmel

[2:23:15] Patrick end of quote I think it is plain

[2:23:19] to see that the all of us state

[2:23:20] statement which was signed by the Imam

[2:23:22] by Dr shakima by Jamaica miles and by

[2:23:24] Sha young was clearly built on the

[2:23:27] fabrication expressed in the imam's

[2:23:29] email to me and represents an escalation

[2:23:32] of hateful

[2:23:33] rhetoric these are slanderous remarks

[2:23:36] and they're dangerous but worse than

[2:23:39] that these are false accusations which

[2:23:41] malign my character and possibly Inspire

[2:23:44] someone to cause me and my family

[2:23:46] harm at the end of the May 13th council

[2:23:49] meeting I was verbally attacked and felt

[2:23:52] threatened in his email the Imam also

[2:23:54] stated that my claims of being afraid

[2:23:57] cemented my

[2:23:59] racism actually I was so shaken that for

[2:24:02] the first time since I've served on

[2:24:03] Council I asked one of the police

[2:24:05] officers who was present to escort me to

[2:24:08] my

[2:24:09] car do I need to remind people of the

[2:24:12] public officials who have been

[2:24:13] physically attacked by people who

[2:24:14] disagree with them the Imam by

[2:24:18] downplaying and subverting my feelings

[2:24:21] during this incident was choosing to

[2:24:22] misrepresent me in a dismissive and

[2:24:25] inappropriate

[2:24:26] fashion I get to say when I'm feeling

[2:24:30] afraid and fear of emotional

[2:24:34] terrorism fear of emotional terrorism

[2:24:37] does not brand me a racist I am not

[2:24:42] [Applause]

[2:24:46] a I am not a racist I have never been a

[2:24:50] racist I have spent all of my adult life

[2:24:54] working for social justice and my

[2:24:57] accusers are lying about me I will not

[2:25:01] be bullied into Silence by baseless

[2:25:04] accusations to summarize these

[2:25:06] accusations of racism and bigotry are

[2:25:09] deeply offensive and unfounded my

[2:25:12] comments were in no way intended to be

[2:25:15] racist or offensive but rather to

[2:25:17] highlight the broader implications of

[2:25:20] the resolutions being discussed and the

[2:25:23] divisive impact they could have on our

[2:25:25] community which I think we're

[2:25:27] seeing that's my job to represent the

[2:25:30] citizens of skincity and I take my job

[2:25:34] seriously I am open to constructive

[2:25:37] dialogue and finding common ground but I

[2:25:39] will not tolerate attempts to malign my

[2:25:43] character or undermine my position as an

[2:25:46] elected representative of this community

[2:25:49] if skincity presidents have legitimate

[2:25:51] concerns or grievances I am more than

[2:25:53] willing to discuss them in a respectful

[2:25:55] and constructive manner however if some

[2:25:58] people continue to attack and threaten I

[2:26:01] will not hesitate to take appropriate

[2:26:03] action to defend myself and my Integrity

[2:26:06] thank you

[2:26:07] [Applause]

[2:26:20] councilman Farley thank you so I would

[2:26:24] just like to start really quick with a a

[2:26:26] unifying statement I think we can all

[2:26:28] get behind and that is that this entire

[2:26:30] thing is Carl Williams

[2:26:35] fault councilman Williams um took the

[2:26:39] initiative to try to start um some

[2:26:41] dialogue which I was um felt compelled

[2:26:46] and honored to kind of take part in as

[2:26:48] well um and I just want to share a

[2:26:51] couple things this is obviously a very

[2:26:54] tense sensitive layered thing that we

[2:26:57] are trying to work through here in our

[2:26:59] official

[2:27:00] capacities um it would have been a lot

[2:27:03] easier for myself and my colleague to

[2:27:07] say that you know what let's not even um

[2:27:11] have any response whatsoever but we

[2:27:13] didn't feel that that was the right

[2:27:14] thing to

[2:27:15] do what I will tell you is that I I will

[2:27:18] hold on to some of what I heard in that

[2:27:21] conversation which have now through

[2:27:24] multiple other people's perspectives and

[2:27:26] point of views have kind of

[2:27:29] changed what I heard with people

[2:27:33] representing very different perspectives

[2:27:35] around this entire conflict there was

[2:27:37] some true

[2:27:39] alignment and some of the alignment was

[2:27:41] that people wanted

[2:27:47] peace people were talking about

[2:27:50] those gentlemen were talking about the

[2:27:53] different ways that um they understood

[2:27:55] this conflict to be um the history you

[2:27:58] know some of that was part of the

[2:28:00] conversation but the larger part of the

[2:28:01] conversation was what are we going to do

[2:28:03] now so what I want to tell everyone here

[2:28:06] is I appreciate you coming here and

[2:28:08] sharing your point of view and I think

[2:28:09] we all listen very

[2:28:11] intently however this isn't going to be

[2:28:14] just up to us I promise to do everything

[2:28:16] in my power to make sure that we are

[2:28:19] setting examples for peace and unity

[2:28:22] within our community but the reality is

[2:28:26] the larger question is what are you

[2:28:27] going to do now because when you leave

[2:28:30] here you go back to your respective

[2:28:31] Community there's going to be people

[2:28:33] saying yeah they said this they're all

[2:28:36] about this making General blanket

[2:28:38] statements and what it's going to take

[2:28:39] is courage from you that my colleague

[2:28:42] councilman uh Williams displayed you're

[2:28:45] going to have that same have to have the

[2:28:46] same courage to talk to those who are

[2:28:47] closest to you to say I heard some

[2:28:50] things I didn't like but if peace is

[2:28:52] what I'm about I'm willing to have a

[2:28:53] conversation with

[2:28:55] somebody I'm willing to reach out and

[2:28:57] talk to somebody and I think that if you

[2:29:00] do that in a constructive way then I

[2:29:03] think that what we all can end up doing

[2:29:05] is at least moving the needle whether

[2:29:08] whatever side of this conflict and there

[2:29:10] aren't there's multiple things and

[2:29:11] multiple truths can be true at the same

[2:29:13] time is that if we can just concentrate

[2:29:15] on the things that I keep hearing from

[2:29:19] people is that we want peace and we want

[2:29:21] people to feel safe but that's not going

[2:29:24] to be accomplished by anything that any

[2:29:26] action that we take solely that's going

[2:29:29] to take you that's going to take your

[2:29:31] neighbors that's going to take the

[2:29:32] people of your congregation to reach out

[2:29:34] to others and try to engage in a

[2:29:36] conversation and a dialogue that

[2:29:38] represents and in line with the things

[2:29:39] that you're so boldly coming here saying

[2:29:42] before us which is peace and Unity thank

[2:29:44] you

[2:29:53] May mayor

[2:29:55] McCarthy thank you Madame

[2:29:58] President clearly too much conflict and

[2:30:01] divisiveness in the world it goes beyond

[2:30:04] even the mid East and uh Mr Farley's

[2:30:08] pointed out that that one common thing

[2:30:10] is uh people do agree on peace uh it

[2:30:14] seems so simple but it's such an elusive

[2:30:17] and uh far-reaching goal far too many

[2:30:20] times so I appreciate your coming out I

[2:30:26] assume my colleagues here also

[2:30:28] appreciate it uh hopefully that again

[2:30:32] we'll come together and be able to have

[2:30:33] a message that uh reflects well on the

[2:30:36] city of skty and again uh has some

[2:30:40] incremental benefit for the world as a

[2:30:42] whole thank you madam president thank

[2:30:45] you mayor first of all I'd like to thank

[2:30:48] go ahead

[2:30:53] I'd like to thank everyone that came out

[2:30:55] um tonight and um you know we heard a

[2:30:58] lot we heard a lot of history we heard a

[2:30:59] lot of passion we heard a lot of

[2:31:01] opinions we heard some finger

[2:31:03] pointing um one thing I want to State it

[2:31:06] was kind of stated by one of the people

[2:31:08] there um in terms of our who we

[2:31:09] represent and I just want to State very

[2:31:11] clearly that those of those of us who

[2:31:14] are elected in the city of skincity

[2:31:16] represent everyone that lives in the

[2:31:18] city of skincity as nothing to do with

[2:31:20] your e ethnicity your um whether you're

[2:31:23] a male or female or whatever so I just

[2:31:25] want to make that very clear that we

[2:31:27] aren't here to represent any one certain

[2:31:29] group of people because that statement

[2:31:30] was kind of implied today in my

[2:31:35] opinion the Bible says that the tongue

[2:31:37] is a mighty weapon and so we have to

[2:31:39] remember that the words that we speak

[2:31:41] can be powerful and destructive or they

[2:31:43] can provide guidance and understanding

[2:31:47] today I heard some words that I felt

[2:31:49] were powerful and destructive and some

[2:31:51] words that I felt were um gave some

[2:31:54] level of under

[2:31:57] understanding you've been we have been

[2:31:58] asked to um pass the ceasefire

[2:32:01] resolution and for those for I'm going

[2:32:02] to give you a little bit of background

[2:32:04] I've been consistently saying that the

[2:32:07] two groups who are having the uh

[2:32:10] differences of opinions and I'm putting

[2:32:13] that nicely uh should talk and so what

[2:32:15] councilman Williams attempted to do was

[2:32:18] to bring the groups together to have

[2:32:20] those

[2:32:21] conversations so that we would get to a

[2:32:23] place where the two groups would be able

[2:32:25] to talk to each other and work towards a

[2:32:28] solution for

[2:32:30] the disagreement that is between the two

[2:32:33] groups and I'm talking about

[2:32:36] locally and in terms of the resolution

[2:32:38] that was brought forward both both uh

[2:32:41] leaders from both groups were given the

[2:32:43] opportunity to provide uh resolutions or

[2:32:47] statements to us and that is what

[2:32:49] happens so I don't want people to walk

[2:32:51] out of this room um with the

[2:32:53] misunderstanding that only there was

[2:32:54] only a resolution that was presented and

[2:32:57] there was no statement from from um the

[2:33:00] leadership of the Jewish Community

[2:33:01] because there was so just want to make

[2:33:04] sure that you know that there were both

[2:33:06] things that were present not just

[2:33:09] one I beg your

[2:33:13] pardon okay so you know I we have you've

[2:33:18] talked about you know having a ctive

[2:33:20] voice and asking the city council to

[2:33:21] pass this resolution as as you can see

[2:33:24] there is not there the consensus is not

[2:33:26] there and I also want to state that we

[2:33:28] have not doing the city's business

[2:33:30] although this has taken a lot of our

[2:33:31] time I can't disagree with that but we

[2:33:34] have continued to do that we've heard a

[2:33:36] lot about what hate speech is and what

[2:33:39] it what people interpret it to be and

[2:33:42] one thing that I always say is how you

[2:33:43] see it depends on where you

[2:33:45] sit so people some people may not see it

[2:33:49] as hate speech and you do see it as hate

[2:33:51] speech and I understand that but we have

[2:33:54] a lot of work to do in this community as

[2:33:57] far as I'm concerned because what this

[2:33:59] has brought forward in my opinion is not

[2:34:02] so much the conflict that's happening in

[2:34:05] Gaza but the Divi divisiveness The

[2:34:09] Divide in our community and did it exist

[2:34:12] prior to this or did this bring it to

[2:34:14] the surface that's a question we really

[2:34:16] have to ask

[2:34:18] ourselves the the um the UN Security

[2:34:23] Council passed their draft

[2:34:25] resolution um which is aimed at halting

[2:34:27] the the blood fighting and to me a

[2:34:30] ceasefire means to that both sides lay

[2:34:32] down their weapons and stop attacking

[2:34:34] each other the young lady who wanted me

[2:34:36] to see her sign and I did see your sign

[2:34:39] it said that peace peace takes both

[2:34:41] sides to do it and so that is my

[2:34:44] understanding of what this is about um

[2:34:46] ladies and gentlemen if you're look look for a resolution I'm going to tell

[2:34:51] you quite frankly I don't see that

[2:34:53] coming forward from this Council we have

[2:34:55] spent months working on it we have

[2:34:58] spent um

[2:35:00] meetings and we're trying to help

[2:35:03] resolve this and it we don't have there

[2:35:07] is no support quite frankly for a

[2:35:11] resolution coming forth from this

[2:35:12] Council it doesn't

[2:35:14] mean really the Applause I think really

[2:35:17] inappropriate right there because there

[2:35:20] are people who are walking away feeling

[2:35:21] that we've done some disservice to

[2:35:25] them but we in all of our conversations

[2:35:30] and varies to each other you know with

[2:35:32] all of you um don't see how we can come

[2:35:36] to that place quite frankly and so each

[2:35:38] of us as I said offer to people at the

[2:35:41] committee meeting can State what their

[2:35:43] positions are and support the resolution

[2:35:47] from from the UN if that's where their

[2:35:49] support is and we have to just accept

[2:35:54] where we are we try to get there we U

[2:35:57] one council member asked if we would

[2:35:59] just issue a statement that we wouldn't

[2:36:00] do anything we also did not entertain

[2:36:02] that because we're Beyond well beyond

[2:36:04] that in my

[2:36:05] opinion so you can continue to talk to

[2:36:08] us but um what trying to put forth a

[2:36:11] resolution quite honestly there are not

[2:36:14] the votes it takes votes to get a

[2:36:15] resolution passed and there are just not

[2:36:18] enough votes to do that um we'll

[2:36:21] continue work with the communities I

[2:36:22] tell you again I think that you there

[2:36:24] should be more

[2:36:25] conversations to have better

[2:36:28] understanding where each person stands

[2:36:30] and um I really really don't know what

[2:36:33] else to say we have just tried and tried

[2:36:35] for months on in in weeks and this is

[2:36:37] where we are at this point so thank you

[2:36:41] all again for coming and I hope you

[2:36:44] respect people's individ uh Li um

[2:36:47] positions and let me just say I don't

[2:36:49] feel uh I feel no threat from any of you

[2:36:52] coming here I think you know you have

[2:36:54] your right to say what it is you have to

[2:36:55] say and as long as we're not um saying

[2:36:59] things that are divisive

[2:37:01] or making other people feel

[2:37:03] uncomfortable so um uh the rabbi and I

[2:37:07] did have a conversation and we were

[2:37:09] talking you know again like he would he

[2:37:12] said some things were uh anti-semitic

[2:37:15] and some things were Jew hating and I

[2:37:16] told him that from what I'm from here I

[2:37:19] didn't understand that because I've not

[2:37:21] lived that I did don't have that lived

[2:37:23] experience so we really need to have a

[2:37:25] conversation to talk and try to get

[2:37:27] through this as a community because

[2:37:29] after it's all said and done we all

[2:37:32] still have to live here

[2:37:34] together um as brothers and sisters and

[2:37:37] I think some of the work that was done

[2:37:39] before this happened unfortunately I

[2:37:41] have seen undone in these past few

[2:37:45] months and weeks

[2:37:47] so I have nothing more to say say and um

[2:37:50] I'll just entertain a motion to adjourn

[2:37:53] move by Miss

[2:37:54] Patrick second by Mr Farley all those in

[2:37:57] favor I we adjourned

[2:38:22] love

[2:38:40] [Music]

[2:40:40] he

[2:40:41] [Music]

Schenectady City Council Meeting, June 10, 2024

Transcript