[0:28] e

[11:43] welcome vice mayor and council members I

[11:45] call the special meeting of the Albany

[11:47] city council for March 25th 2024 to

[11:52] order the city of Albany recognizes that

[11:54] we occupy the land originally protected

[11:56] by The confederated Villages of lesan we

[11:59] acknowledge the genocide that took place

[12:00] on these lands and must make strides to

[12:03] repay the moral debt that is owed to

[12:04] this indigenous people specifically the

[12:07] aloney

[12:08] tribe we thank them for their

[12:10] contributions which have transformed our

[12:12] community and will continue to bring

[12:13] forth growth and unity the city of

[12:15] Albany commits to sustaining ongoing

[12:17] relationships with the tribe and

[12:19] together build a better future for all

[12:21] that now make this their

[12:23] home city clerk will you please call

[12:27] Ro council member canel Romero is absent

[12:31] um council member Jordan here council

[12:33] member tman here vice mayor Lopez here

[12:37] mayor Micky

[12:39] here apologies I will be

[12:42] um taking off and putting on a mask uh

[12:45] today I'm getting over a little bit of a

[12:48] cold um wanted to start off with u some

[12:52] Quorum guidelines for the meeting today

[12:55] uh we understand today's agenda is of

[12:56] particular concern to members of Albany

[12:58] and the largest Community we live in the

[13:01] council shares this concern with you we

[13:02] are pleased that you've joined us this

[13:04] evening to comment on this matter in

[13:06] order to work collaboratively we ask

[13:07] that all community members be respectful

[13:09] time lotted to the public comment will

[13:11] be based on the number of people wishing

[13:13] to speak and time limited for each

[13:15] speaker will be

[13:17] maintained please note disruptions to

[13:19] the meeting will not be

[13:20] tolerated moving on to the sole item on

[13:23] our agenda today item 3-1 resolution

[13:25] calling for a bilateral ceasefire in

[13:28] Gaza

[13:30] um for those who have not seen there's

[13:32] uh in the back of the room there's the

[13:33] agenda an attached memorandum and the

[13:36] actual uh ceasefire resolution as

[13:38] brought forward by the ad hoc committee

[13:40] I want to thank uh council member tan

[13:42] for working with me and meeting with

[13:44] various conses over the past few weeks

[13:47] through our meetings with Community

[13:48] groups leaders and interested

[13:51] residents um we have gotten to really um

[13:54] learn uh each person's lived experience

[13:57] um and really truly appreciate the time

[13:59] that you have spent with us um in all

[14:02] the committee held over a dozen meetings

[14:03] with interested parties from all sides

[14:05] of the

[14:08] issue um and with that I'll hand it over

[14:12] to our council member tan sure thank you

[14:14] mayor uh I'll just Echo some of what the

[14:17] mayor said and first thank him for his

[14:20] cooperation and working with me on this

[14:22] this process would have been uh much

[14:24] more difficult without his cooperation

[14:26] and is a credit to our city council um

[14:30] also I want to reiterate his thanks to

[14:32] everyone we met with uh the vast

[14:35] majority of those meetings were

[14:36] instigated by people Conta contacting us

[14:39] because they were interested and wanted

[14:40] to talk to and the vast majority were

[14:42] also Albany residents so I appreciate

[14:44] everybody taking the time to meet with

[14:46] us we took something valuable away from

[14:48] nearly every one of those meetings

[14:51] um if you have not read the resolution

[14:54] or the memo I encourage everybody to

[14:56] take a look uh the I uh in the memo we

[15:00] try and spell out the goals that uh the

[15:03] mayor and I agreed on in wanting to do

[15:05] this and what we were trying to address

[15:07] and I think those inform a lot of what

[15:09] we chose to focus on and and how we

[15:12] chose to do it um for the council and

[15:14] everyone else I'd say there's no perfect

[15:17] language to express what we're trying to

[15:18] do uh I'm not uh So Vain as to say what

[15:21] we have written is perfect um but I will

[15:24] say we've thought about just about every

[15:26] word long and hard so as I normally do

[15:29] as everyone on the council knows I will

[15:32] say amending uh writing new language

[15:34] from the Das often is very tricky um so

[15:37] I'd caution us about it uh tonight

[15:40] especially given that comparatively

[15:42] small changes in this uh for for this

[15:45] item can have big impacts as we learned

[15:48] throughout this drafting process um and

[15:51] with that I think I will leave the rest

[15:53] my comments for a

[15:57] discussion

[16:03] I'll turn to um Council and it open up

[16:06] for any questions from Council

[16:11] Members not seeing any questions from

[16:13] Council um I will open up for public

[16:16] comment um I would ask those in the

[16:18] council chair member who would like to

[16:19] speak to make sure that you filled out a

[16:21] speaker form and also just so I have a

[16:24] sense of the number of speakers if you

[16:25] could raise your

[16:27] hands okay

[16:29] and has everyone had an opportunity to

[16:31] fill out a speaker card perfect uh and

[16:34] uh city clerk how many

[16:37] online um currently six hands currently

[16:40] six hands okay um we will um we're going

[16:43] to do slightly modified process than

[16:45] we've done in the past uh we are going

[16:47] to start in the council chambers and uh

[16:49] the city clerk will call up five people

[16:51] at a time to uh speak at the at the

[16:54] podium uh and then uh on the fourth

[16:57] person uh she will call the next five so

[16:59] that we can people can remain seated as

[17:01] long as as as uh until their their group

[17:04] of five is called up um with that uh

[17:07] city clerk if we could have the first

[17:08] five

[17:10] people

[17:11] Marty Rober B Allan

[17:15] M Jonathan M and Susan

[17:23] M as uh the first speakers line up line

[17:27] up behind the podium please uh I do want

[17:29] to also remind everyone that we ask uh

[17:33] that all comments be addressed to the

[17:35] council and that you refrain from um

[17:39] apologies um that you refrain from

[17:43] showing your support or dissent uh for

[17:45] the current Speaker uh the council wants

[17:48] everyone to hear the comments of the

[17:50] speaker and for all to feel comfortable

[17:51] speaking and not feel intimidated by

[17:54] others comments or

[17:56] reactions so let me repeat that it's

[17:58] Mark last name initial T Robert B Alan M

[18:04] Jonathan M and Susan

[18:07] M go ahead and approach this

[18:11] Podium

[18:13] um um the Israelis after many

[18:18] unsuccessful attempts to create

[18:22] reconciliation gave the Palestinians

[18:27] Gaza Hamas

[18:29] used a billion dollars to turn that into

[18:32] a modernday holocaust

[18:35] machine they invaded Israel murdered

[18:39] people raped women

[18:42] tied people together with wire strings

[18:46] and burn them put babies in microwave

[18:52] ovens I think any resolution should call

[18:56] for the immediate elimination of of

[18:59] Hamas a ceasefire resolution endangers

[19:03] the existence of Israel and endangers

[19:07] the Jewish people and encourages

[19:11] anti-Semitism which I see growing in

[19:14] Albany finally the war can be over if

[19:18] Hamas surrenders releases the hostages

[19:22] please

[19:23] com thank you thank you for your

[19:27] comments let go

[19:30] ahead I thank you for letting me address

[19:33] you my name is Susan Meyers I've been a

[19:36] citizen uh Berkeley Albany resident for

[19:39] 45 years um my kids went through the

[19:42] school system I've been involved in

[19:44] committees that benefited schools and

[19:47] also my resident my neighborhood and the

[19:50] city and of Albany as well I am so today

[19:54] I am here to address you in order to

[19:57] achieve a true peace between Israelis

[20:00] and gazans there must be a complete

[20:02] dismantling and removal of Hamas a US

[20:06] designated terrorist organization the

[20:10] government of Hamas has vowed to carry

[20:12] out barbaric

[20:14] atrocities again and again as they

[20:16] committed on October 7th murdering men

[20:20] women and children beheading babies

[20:22] raping women and taking hostages if you

[20:26] care about Israelis and Palestinians you

[20:29] will include the removal of Hamas from

[20:31] power in the resolution let the Israelis

[20:35] and Palestinians work together to

[20:38] develop Gaza into a thriving region

[20:42] Hamas thank you for your

[20:44] comments time my time's over yes oh

[20:46] sorry thank you

[20:52] good good afternoon my name is Jonathan

[20:54] minser I'm honored to serve as the

[20:56] Director of external relations at the

[20:57] Jewish community relations Council the

[20:59] largest Collective voice of Bay Area

[21:00] Jews representing over 50 synagogues and

[21:03] organizations including hundreds of

[21:04] Albany residents we have consistently

[21:06] advice for local boards to avoid

[21:07] resolutions about Foreign Affairs

[21:09] because these ex um these efforts

[21:10] exacerbate tensions among traumatized

[21:12] communities as you will soon see here

[21:14] today with the language before you we

[21:16] are asking you to amend the resolution

[21:17] and make the uncontroversial

[21:18] clarification that Hamas must be removed

[21:20] from power for a lasting peace for this

[21:22] war last month I was in Israel and I

[21:25] directly saw the aftermath of hamas's

[21:27] barbaric attacks and I also had the hon

[21:28] of speaking with residents of all

[21:30] background Israeli Jews Arabs

[21:31] Palestinians and others they don't agree

[21:33] on much but one thing stood out they all

[21:36] said that peace is not possible with

[21:37] Hamas and Power in fact a new survey

[21:39] shows that support for Hamas as a

[21:41] political party in Gaza is at its lowest

[21:43] levels 34% I'm asking you to align

[21:46] Albany with the United States EU UK and

[21:48] recognize that true peace is only

[21:49] available if Hamas is removed from power

[21:51] thank you thank you for your

[21:57] comments hello my name is Rob uh I've

[22:01] been to the Region 20 times and I want

[22:03] to say it's far more complicated and

[22:05] different than what the Press portrays

[22:07] it as I am opposed to any resolution but

[22:11] I want to thank you for all the hard

[22:13] work you've done in creating the

[22:14] resolution you have I pray every day for

[22:17] the well-being of Israelis and also the

[22:20] innocent people in Gaza I'm requesting

[22:23] that the statement you've made be

[22:24] amended to call for the removal of Hamas

[22:27] from Power Hamas is a terror

[22:29] organization that was behind October 7th

[22:32] behind many similar attacks in the past

[22:35] and has said it will attack Israel again

[22:37] in the future experts in the field

[22:39] including former secretaries of State

[22:42] condalisa rice and Hillary Clinton has

[22:45] said there can be no peace until Hamas

[22:48] is removed from Power I would also ask

[22:50] that you amend the title of the

[22:52] resolution calling for long-term peace

[22:54] and security rather than just for a

[22:56] ceasefire thank you very much

[22:59] thank you for your comments and after

[23:02] Alan M it would be Larry H Helen

[23:06] F uh

[23:08] dorothia and Faith M and relle

[23:13] N I'm a resident of Kensington and I

[23:16] first want to thank the council for the

[23:17] time and effort it has devoted to this

[23:19] issue I respectfully want to point out

[23:22] that the title of this resolution is

[23:23] currently formulated does a disservice

[23:26] to it the title by highlighting only one

[23:30] of the multiple goals in the resolution

[23:32] in effect says that the other goals are

[23:34] only

[23:35] secondary it leaves the impression that

[23:38] the council would accept a ceasefire

[23:39] without the release of hostages it

[23:42] similarly relegates the call for peace

[23:44] and tolerance within our community to

[23:46] the

[23:47] Shadows this is the local about which

[23:49] local government should be concerned

[23:51] first and foremost given the violence

[23:53] and ranor we have seen in the East Bay

[23:55] towards Jews in summary please

[23:58] reconsider the title and make it more

[24:00] General so that it is consistent with

[24:02] the multiple goals laid out in the text

[24:05] and so that it does not distort the

[24:07] contents of the resolution thank you

[24:09] again for listening and for all your

[24:11] work thank you for your

[24:14] comments hi I'm darthia Duren we do not

[24:17] want you to pass a ceasefire resolution

[24:19] of any

[24:21] sort uh but since mayor Mickey and Mr

[24:24] Tidman decided to present one to the

[24:25] city council and the public we wanted to

[24:27] present our resolution which I presented

[24:29] to you this evening and by email in

[24:32] Prior times there are 109 people who

[24:34] signed this

[24:36] resolution therefore the end of it says

[24:39] therefore it be resolved that because

[24:40] the city council of Albany is elected by

[24:42] all the people of Albany whose interest

[24:44] they are required to represent and

[24:46] because their Proclamation supporting

[24:48] peace and concern for all parties was

[24:50] submitted to the public by them we

[24:52] demand that they deal with the running

[24:54] of the city of Albany for the benefit of

[24:56] all of its residents and we demand that

[24:58] the city council places undivided

[25:00] attention on matters that directly

[25:02] impact the city of Albany going forward

[25:04] and not utilize any City Suns for

[25:06] international matters as you are

[25:07] currently doing today we do not think

[25:11] that you should omit the removal of

[25:13] Kamas and the return of all the hostages

[25:15] from this resolution it is you could

[25:18] call it a peace resolution instead of a

[25:22] cease fire resolution thank you Hamas

[25:24] doesn't want

[25:27] one thank you for your

[25:30] comments thank you my name is Larry

[25:32] hendle I'm a member of Jewish voice for

[25:33] peace but I'm just speaking as an

[25:35] individual uh I support this resolution

[25:38] I think it's about as evenhanded in this

[25:40] in this world in this context that

[25:41] people could have come up with and I

[25:43] support the goal of ceasefire nothing

[25:45] will happen without a ceasefire yes the

[25:48] 1,200 people killed October 7th was

[25:50] terrible the 30,000 people that have

[25:53] been killed since then is also extremely

[25:55] terrible you know so much of this debate

[25:57] comes to down to people saying who did

[25:59] what to whom and who is suffering the

[26:02] most that can be a little bit relevant I

[26:04] mean history is relevant but history is

[26:07] not determinative we are human beings we

[26:09] can overcome history that is what how we

[26:11] got the progress that we have

[26:14] made and suffering is not a zero sum

[26:17] game I heard someone say that a rabbi

[26:19] actually and I totally believe it I

[26:22] support the resolution only with the

[26:24] ceasefire will there be enough dialogue

[26:26] to bring Justice to the region and to

[26:28] stop The Killing thank

[26:30] you thank you for your

[26:33] comments hi my name is Helen finlin and

[26:36] I am Jewish I support this the

[26:38] resolution as um this is not our concern

[26:42] is not about Hamas or about peace or

[26:44] about who did what to whom uh the

[26:47] concern here is about a genocide and we

[26:50] heard the resolution about our moral

[26:54] debt uh to the aloney people because of

[26:56] the genocide that happened

[26:58] here and this moral debt obligates us to

[27:03] be opposed to any genocide and not to

[27:06] turn a blind eye to it and so this

[27:09] that's what this resolution is

[27:10] attempting to do this resolution is to

[27:13] intending to stop a genocide that is

[27:15] taking place and we have a moral

[27:17] obligation to heat to heat it that's why

[27:20] I support

[27:22] it thank you for your

[27:27] comments my name is Rochelle n and um I

[27:31] do not support uh the passing of any

[27:34] resolution although I would like to say

[27:36] I think this is uh significantly

[27:39] improved from an earlier uh version that

[27:42] that was seen particularly appreciate

[27:44] the uh support for self-determination

[27:47] for both peoples that and a negotiated

[27:50] piece between those self-determined

[27:52] determined peoples uh is appreciated

[27:56] there are aspects of the resolution such

[27:58] as the casualty figures and the passive

[28:01] voice used to describe those that are

[28:04] deeply hurtful and cruel to uh survivors

[28:08] of of these attacks um saying that uh

[28:12] people lost their lives uh uh when they

[28:17] were in fact attacked and murdered is uh

[28:20] is a cruelty that is not really uh

[28:23] necessary in this context um in any

[28:27] event my time time is up and thank you

[28:30] thank you for your comments um after

[28:33] faith it would be

[28:35] Hagan uh Peter uh last initial b Barry p

[28:41] and Francesco p and Sandra

[28:47] R ideally Aly should not be making

[28:50] foreign policy statements however the

[28:52] city seems determined on doing just that

[28:55] I appreciate the city council's Earnest

[28:57] attempt at creating a resolution that

[29:00] acknowledges the pain of both its

[29:01] Israeli and Jewish constituency and its

[29:04] Palestinian Arab constituency a few

[29:07] suggestions to the

[29:09] wording on the seventh whereas Israeli

[29:12] deaths have continued since October 7th

[29:15] this number needs to be updated the

[29:17] second be it resolved calls for an

[29:19] unconditional release of all civilian

[29:21] hostages and would allow the Palestinian

[29:24] perpetrators and criminals of October

[29:26] 7th to go un punish

[29:28] this wording also must be changed the

[29:31] title of the resolution also needs to be

[29:33] modified just yesterday over 50 Rockets

[29:36] were launched by Hezbollah into Northern

[29:39] Israel hundreds have been launched in

[29:41] recent weeks calling for a bilateral

[29:43] ceasefire is insufficient please call

[29:46] for a real and sustainable peace

[29:48] throughout the entire region rather than

[29:51] a bilateral ceasefire in Gaza thank you

[29:53] for your hard work and the effort you

[29:55] have put into this

[29:57] issue

[30:02] thank you for your

[30:04] comments hi there my name is Peter

[30:06] burnhard um thank you for meeting with

[30:08] me in my group about this um you have my

[30:11] email comments um it could be improved

[30:14] but I appreciate the work you did and

[30:16] this and the stress you're under to do

[30:17] something right so I support it um and

[30:20] the time I have left I'm just going to

[30:22] read a quote here from if Stone

[30:24] investigative journalist um who most

[30:26] people should know the only kinds of

[30:28] fights worth fighting for are those

[30:30] you're going to lose because somebody

[30:32] has to fight them and lose and lose and

[30:35] lose until someday somebody who believes

[30:38] as you do

[30:40] wins that famous code applies to uh the

[30:44] extent we keep protesting keep lobbying

[30:47] our Representatives keep supporting with

[30:49] whatever you can spare to those groups

[30:51] that are taking direct action together

[30:54] and in our numbers it's worth everything

[30:56] even if you can only point to a sing

[30:57] sing Le Victory achieved in this fight

[30:59] for peace and Justice thank you thank

[31:02] you for your

[31:05] comments I too thank the council for the

[31:07] many hours and meetings we've had uh

[31:10] over this time and understood exactly

[31:13] what you're dealing with in coming up

[31:15] with a difficult

[31:16] decision uh the resolution that I read

[31:19] that you came forward with it talks

[31:21] about people's pain people's feelings of

[31:24] fear and so forth entirely appropriate

[31:26] for all of the issues was involved but

[31:29] what uh if I can make a critical point

[31:32] since I argued it uh many times uh there

[31:35] is a fact at the basis of all of this

[31:38] and it's really the central fact and it

[31:40] was left out and that is uh basically

[31:43] that we're dealing with a genocide and a

[31:46] genocide that is ongoing and people are

[31:49] dying and it is not just name calling it

[31:52] is of course the Judgment of the

[31:54] international court of justice that made

[31:57] an unambiguous

[31:58] uh designation of what Israel is doing

[32:01] is an ongoing genocide so uh that's what

[32:04] we are opposed to that's what we'd like

[32:06] to see end and all the other issues can

[32:09] go after that

[32:13] yes thank you for your

[32:17] comments um as a long as as a longtime

[32:20] resident of Aly I'm very proud of our

[32:23] city for always standing up speaking

[32:26] against violence and Injustice by

[32:28] passing resolutions such as the one

[32:31] passed in 2021 asking our leaders to act

[32:34] immediately to help the Afghan people or

[32:37] passing declarations such as the one

[32:40] read at the beginning of every city

[32:41] council meeting acknowledging the

[32:43] genocide against the indigenous people

[32:46] and not shying away from the word

[32:48] genocide as uncomfortable and painful

[32:51] that might be today we need to stand up

[32:54] one more time and pass a resolution for

[32:56] an immediate unconditional and permanent

[32:59] ceasefire we need to stand for what is

[33:02] the truth we need to face the truth even

[33:05] if it will be uncomfortable some for

[33:07] some and the truth according to

[33:09] International courts of justice and

[33:11] almost all the world is that Israel is

[33:14] committing plausible

[33:22] genocide thank you for your comments

[33:24] your Proclamation has no mention of of

[33:27] Hama

[33:28] the terrorist aggressor who started this

[33:31] war with their rampage that included the

[33:33] murder of Innocence kidnappings and

[33:36] sexual assaults this weekend a terrorist

[33:39] attack in Russia by ISIS murdered 130

[33:43] defensless Russians at a music venue

[33:46] just like hamas's cowardly attack on

[33:50] Israel in October 7th you have crafted a

[33:53] document that did not require the

[33:55] surrender of Hamas who started this

[33:57] conflict any ceasefire should include

[34:00] the unconditional surrender of the Hamas

[34:03] leadership leaving Hamas out of this is

[34:06] like talking about World War II and

[34:08] admitting any reference to the Nazi

[34:11] party this glaring Omission shows a lack

[34:14] of moral courage Albany deserves

[34:19] better thank you for your comments after

[34:22] the speaker it would be itamar L noga A

[34:27] Zan

[34:28] M and

[34:31] Yuko and Amber and for those who just

[34:34] arrived if you like to speak tonight

[34:36] please fill out public comment card

[34:39] speaker card and turn them into me

[34:40] please thank

[34:42] you okay I'm a 39-year resident of

[34:45] Albany and I'm here to speak for the

[34:48] over 25,000 women and children who have

[34:51] been massacred by the indiscriminate

[34:54] bombing of

[34:56] Gins and

[34:58] I'm here to support a ceased fire so

[35:01] that this will end and there can be some

[35:03] resolution to this conflict thank you

[35:06] thank you for your

[35:12] comments hi my name is itamar Lando I'm

[35:15] speaking on behalf of the Jewish

[35:16] Coalition of Berkeley uh just founded in

[35:18] December now have over 350 members at

[35:20] least 30 of whom are Albany residents um

[35:23] we do thank the subcommittee for a

[35:26] heartfelt effort to have people be heard

[35:28] um and for an attempt at a balance

[35:31] resolution there's a lot of differences

[35:32] of opinion as you're hearing tonight

[35:33] about who's to blame um as you

[35:36] yourselves pointed out maybe the one and

[35:38] only key point of agreement is that we

[35:39] all really pray for a long-term peace

[35:42] and security for all peoples in the

[35:43] region so I urge you to put that

[35:45] squarely in the title A sear is nothing

[35:48] but a tech a tactical aim where both

[35:50] sides at this point would clearly claim

[35:53] to exploit it to adjust further battle

[35:56] um in the best position that they they

[35:58] can so a truly uh value of the our

[36:01] community is long-term peace and

[36:03] security finally I urge you to also

[36:05] clearly condemn the local hate and hat

[36:09] incidents and violence against the

[36:10] Jewish community and Israeli Community

[36:12] here in Albany and ELO thank

[36:16] you thank you for your

[36:19] comments hello thank you for your time

[36:22] now and for meeting with me before I am

[36:24] an Albany resident homeowner and parent

[36:27] it is my preference that this city

[36:29] council not pass any resolution on this

[36:31] matter unless it is going to likewise

[36:33] engage on the Ukraine Russia War Haiti

[36:36] or Syria however if you insist on

[36:39] passing something I ask like other

[36:42] people have spoken before that you

[36:43] changed the title and remov the word

[36:46] ceasefire we have discussed with you and

[36:48] you understood why the word ceasefire is

[36:51] particularly triggering for our

[36:52] community there was a ceasefire on

[36:55] October 6th and Hamas broke with an

[36:58] unimaginable Massacre please call it a

[37:01] path to long-term peace and security

[37:03] also please don't compare innocent

[37:06] Israeli hostages like f and his

[37:09] four-year-old brother to convicted

[37:10] murderers who are sitting in prison for

[37:12] their crimes their releases are not the

[37:16] same thank

[37:18] you thank you for your

[37:23] comments okay yeah so thank you again

[37:25] for this resolution I appreciate the

[37:27] overall intent of it that there be a

[37:29] ceasefire and that all human lives are

[37:31] precious but I do want to point out how

[37:33] the perpetrator is hardly mentioned it

[37:35] says whereas over 30,000 Palestinians

[37:38] have perished how did they perish what

[37:40] happened who is the agent of them

[37:42] perishing did they just perish in thin

[37:44] air who is the evildoer who took away

[37:46] the lives of so many innocent people so

[37:49] many innocent children who is

[37:50] deliberately letting 1 million people

[37:52] half of whom are children starve to

[37:54] death this resolution needs to do more

[37:56] and explicitly stating who is

[37:58] responsible for these repulsive crimes

[38:00] it's the state of Israel founded on its

[38:02] racist ideology of Zionism who is the

[38:04] evil perpetrator it is Israel who is

[38:07] committing this genocide it is Israel

[38:09] who who does not view the life of a

[38:10] Palestinian as worth living and this

[38:12] view didn't just formed suddenly after

[38:14] October 7th and our very own government

[38:16] here is backing it backing Israel so may

[38:19] we see a future in which racist leaders

[38:21] governments and ideologies cease to

[38:23] exist may we see a free Palestine thank

[38:26] you

[38:28] please refrain from

[38:30] clapping thank you could you includ

[38:33] hissing Jing in that can you stop the

[38:36] time please sorry um ple please as I

[38:39] mentioned at the beginning of the

[38:40] meeting refrain from showing any

[38:42] supports of support or

[38:46] um sorry

[38:50] I'm pleas please those in the audience

[38:53] please remain silent in all forms I'll

[38:56] leave it at that

[39:00] good evening I'm a resident of elero and

[39:03] I came out here tonight to support or be

[39:07] here in support and in solidarity with

[39:09] the many and diverse residents of this

[39:11] city of Albany who have been calling for

[39:13] a permanent

[39:15] ceasefire um and I really urge you to

[39:18] pass this resolution despite it being so

[39:21] little so late um for one it doesn't

[39:24] name the genocide of Palestinians um it

[39:28] doesn't call for a permanent ceasefire a

[39:30] lasting

[39:31] ceasefire uh it also does not name

[39:34] Israel as an occupying Force um that has

[39:37] been oppressing Palestinians for many

[39:39] decades long before October nonetheless

[39:43] this resolution must pass we must save

[39:46] lives um even the UN Security Council

[39:49] finally passed some sort of ceasefire

[39:52] resolution this morning seiz fire now

[39:55] thank you thank you for your comments

[39:59] um after

[40:00] Amber would

[40:03] be Tamiko P Linda W so s o m a i

[40:10] a um number three and Sherry

[40:15] D council members thank you for your

[40:18] time there can be no peace until there

[40:21] is a free

[40:23] Palestine there can be no free Palestine

[40:26] until there is an end of the

[40:28] occupation there can be no free

[40:30] Palestine until there's an end of The

[40:34] Siege and all of these must start with a

[40:37] ceasefire keep ceasefire in the

[40:40] title over the

[40:43] weekend Faith leaders from

[40:46] around the Bay Area joined for a

[40:49] pilgrimage and one of the quotes that I

[40:51] heard that really stuck with my heart is

[40:53] that hope is like a bird singing about

[40:56] the dawn while it's still dark and that

[40:58] was in reference to dreaming about a

[41:01] free South Africa which at one point

[41:03] seemed

[41:04] unimaginable and so now I invite those

[41:08] who care about free uh Peace and Freedom

[41:10] to imagine and work for and fight for a

[41:13] free

[41:16] Palestine thank you for your

[41:19] comments hello I'm T Panela I'm Albany

[41:22] resident um I think in this resolution

[41:25] there are some words that I don't love

[41:26] and there some words that are U missing

[41:29] but um overall I do think we should pass

[41:32] it I think it's right there in the title

[41:34] ceasefire Stop The Killing um and I hope

[41:37] that you can all shut out all this noise

[41:39] and focus on that we just want the

[41:41] killing to

[41:42] stop thank you for your

[41:46] comments hi good evening uh thank you

[41:49] for putting the ceire resolution on your

[41:50] agenda I do order you to call for a

[41:52] permanent ceasefire an end to the

[41:53] illegal Israeli occupation and an end to

[41:55] the genocide today's UN resolution is a

[41:58] joke it's a twoe pause on on bombing

[42:00] just so like people can like starve to

[42:02] death instead um there is an imminent

[42:04] risk of famine the intentional

[42:05] starvation of two million people half of

[42:07] whom are children the Israeli

[42:09] government's genocidal intent has been

[42:10] proven by their words and their actions

[42:12] for the past six months fear of a

[42:14] hypothetical genocide cannot and does

[42:16] not will never uh justify an actual

[42:18] genocide Palestinians are live streaming

[42:20] their own ethnic cleansing cleansing um

[42:23] and for every atrocity zionists like to

[42:26] talk about their thousands of atrocities

[42:28] being committed by the iof uh forces

[42:31] they're bragging about their atrocities

[42:32] on social media and they're able to do

[42:34] so with complete imp impunity because

[42:36] our government does nothing but reward

[42:38] them with more of our tax dollars I

[42:40] don't want to be of a generation where

[42:42] Grand our grandchildren look back with

[42:45] with puzzlement and shame because we

[42:46] fail to do what is so obviously right

[42:48] help our governments um help end our

[42:51] government's fueling of this inhumane

[42:52] war on children thank you thank you for

[42:55] your's your first name suaya okay so I

[42:59] need Linda um someone that just put the

[43:02] number three and

[43:04] Sher please line

[43:09] up Linda

[43:12] W number three and Sherry D otherwise we

[43:16] go to the next

[43:20] group okay next Group K uh Karen

[43:25] P um um a Amy

[43:30] new um s p

[43:33] d Toby B and Y a a please line up thank

[43:40] you go ahead first of all I ask the uh

[43:44] Council to

[43:45] actively um keep to your res keep to

[43:49] your instructions I am intimidated by

[43:52] people jering in the corner and I find

[43:54] that while I can hear that perhaps the

[43:56] council cannot I ask that you do not

[44:00] have any resolution at all I think this

[44:03] is to be honest not really your business

[44:07] your business is Alban's

[44:09] business my last point is that a lie

[44:13] spoken a million times is still a lie

[44:16] for example claiming from this Podium

[44:19] that the international court of justice

[44:22] declared that Israel is committing a

[44:24] genocide is a lie all you need to do is

[44:26] Google it it's not true genocide and its

[44:30] definition certainly is well known by

[44:32] Jews is the intentional eradication of

[44:35] an entire people either the gazin are

[44:38] part of the Palestinians or they not you

[44:40] can't have it both ways thank you very

[44:46] much hi I'm Sherry um I'm a resident of

[44:50] el Sero so I applaud you for grappling

[44:52] with this they won't do it in elero they

[44:54] don't have the courage at this point um

[44:57] I support this resolution of course with

[44:59] some reservations and I've been tracking

[45:02] resolutions in other cities around the

[45:04] country and you know noticing here

[45:07] tonight the messaging um it might be

[45:10] possible that you want to just do a

[45:11] separate Hamas resolution and strengthen

[45:14] the resolution you have so that you

[45:16] really do consider issues of genocide

[45:18] issues of starvation issues of

[45:20] occupation issues of accountability

[45:23] issues of Israeli complicity so um

[45:27] because sometimes if you try to put too

[45:29] much together in one thing you actually

[45:32] it gets pretty watered down but if you

[45:34] don't want to consider that just pass

[45:37] this and keep the title thank

[45:39] you thank you for your

[45:43] comments my name is Karen plat I've

[45:46] lived in Albany for more than 40 years I

[45:48] was a teacher at Albany Middle School in

[45:50] the 80s and I'm Jewish and I strongly

[45:53] support this resolution I think it's

[45:57] horrible to watch a genocide in progress

[46:00] right before our eyes and the strongest

[46:02] thing that I can say is it's Collective

[46:05] punishment which is a war crime

[46:06] according to article 33 of the Fourth

[46:10] Geneva

[46:12] Convention thank you for your

[46:16] comments hi my name is Sapa I am

[46:19] actually an el2 resident and I just want

[46:22] to say I support this resolution I have

[46:25] some reservation but wholeheartedly I

[46:28] think too little too late because today

[46:31] 14 countries voted for ceasefire in

[46:35] United Nation and even us abstained so

[46:39] you should consider that when you

[46:41] consider this resolution no matter what

[46:43] these people are saying the truth of the

[46:46] matter is you're too late the whole

[46:49] world is saying enough is enough raping

[46:53] anything that you see in the news I

[46:55] don't want to rip it again what is

[46:57] happening in Palestine in Kaz and in

[47:00] West Bank they keep having

[47:02] Hamas why West Bank they're killing

[47:05] people why in the West Bank they

[47:08] arresting people West Bank there is no

[47:10] Hamas is the Palestinian Authority so is

[47:13] a lie is about Hamas don't fall for it

[47:17] ask them why thank you thank you for

[47:20] your

[47:22] comments hi uh I'm a resident here in

[47:25] Albany and I'm originally from Egypt

[47:28] which is neighbor for Palestine Israel

[47:31] and Lebanon and I want to point out that

[47:34] Hamas was not there in 1967 when Israel

[47:37] occupied Hamas occupied Palestine in

[47:40] 1974 when Sinai in Egypt was occupied

[47:43] and part of Lebanon seeing the dead

[47:45] children every day break my heart some

[47:48] women are wed from just couple of days

[47:51] finally I want everyone to ask himself

[47:53] that what if it was your kid your wife

[47:56] or your mother I ask for ceasefire and

[47:58] peace in the whole region thank you are

[48:01] you Toby

[48:03] or so I'm

[48:07] missing Toby and a

[48:14] Amy and um mayor after these we no more

[48:18] speaker cards my name is Toby blame I'm

[48:21] a resident of elero I've attended one of

[48:23] your meetings before when I was much

[48:25] better attended for supporting ceasefire

[48:28] I'm here today to beg of you you city

[48:30] council it's it's not the perfect

[48:32] resolution it's by far but we need to

[48:35] get as many cities passing resolutions

[48:37] as fast as we can I bring to all of you

[48:40] today the words of Aaron Bushnell who is

[48:44] the

[48:44] 25-year-old American active duty Airman

[48:48] who set fire to himself because he

[48:50] couldn't stand the US complicity and us

[48:53] and genocide in Gaza and think of this

[48:56] gentleman

[48:57] 25 years old who sacrificed his life to

[49:00] bring attention expose the crime I beg

[49:03] of you his last words he posted on

[49:06] social media were I'm paraphrasing it

[49:09] many people ask themselves what would we

[49:11] do in the time of slavery what would we

[49:13] do it in the time of Jim Crow what would

[49:15] we do in the time of

[49:17] apartheid you don't need to ask yourself

[49:19] Americans or city council now because

[49:22] what you're doing today and every day

[49:25] answers that question thank you thank

[49:26] you thank you thank you for your

[49:36] comments that's all the speaker cards I

[49:38] have uh if anyone in the room has not

[49:42] spoken uh if you could fill out a

[49:43] speaker card and

[49:47] um I have an Amy is that

[49:54] you I really have no words when I'm

[49:58] hearing that the word ceasefire is

[50:00] triggering in the history of humankind

[50:02] when has calling for a ceasefire been

[50:04] triggering when has been calling to not

[50:07] starve children been a problem I am

[50:11] fasting I look forward to breaking my

[50:13] fast the people in Gaza are fasting and

[50:16] they have to break their fast with grass

[50:17] or nothing and this is not a famine that

[50:20] was you know somehow this a man-made

[50:22] famine the Israelis are going to the

[50:24] border and stopping the food from going

[50:27] through they now said that Ana cannot go

[50:29] into Northern uh into Gaza at all and we

[50:32] have pulled our funding from ANA so we

[50:35] are starving children and the people

[50:38] that are worried about Hamas how do you

[50:40] think those kids are going to grow up

[50:41] and feel towards not only Israel but

[50:43] towards America how shortsighted are we

[50:46] what kind of humanity do we have when we

[50:48] can starve children and send our tax

[50:50] dollars to starve more children and bomb

[50:52] more mosques and houses and

[50:54] hospitals please refrain from

[51:01] Jay hi uh Jay Aly resident um please

[51:06] pass this uh resolution it's not

[51:09] perfect um but and it's late but please

[51:13] pass it don't listen to those who seem

[51:15] to think that we shouldn't have a

[51:17] ceasefire they're in some kind of

[51:19] genocide or Mania they shouldn't be

[51:21] listened to um cooler heads need to

[51:24] Prevail uh hopefully the US is starting

[51:27] to come around they abstained

[51:29] today they should have voted yes but

[51:32] they abstained uh the international

[51:35] pressure is building and people are

[51:38] starving and dying every day so pass the

[51:40] resolution don't listen to those who

[51:43] would uh have you tell have who would

[51:45] tell you that this is somehow wrong um

[51:49] yeah cease fire

[51:55] now thank you everyone in the council

[51:57] chamber we're going to move to online

[52:06] speakers my name is pmer an Israeli

[52:09] American living in the East Bay the son

[52:11] of indigenous Jewish people of Israel

[52:14] Israel and the majority of the Jewish

[52:15] community of the Bay Area want peace the

[52:18] fact that you're not calling for peace

[52:19] is alarming there are two combatants

[52:21] here in this war one of which your

[52:23] resolution conspicuously omits Hamas

[52:26] Israel is fighting Hamas Gaza is ruled

[52:29] by Hamas full stop the ceasefire

[52:32] language only helps Hamas will help the

[52:34] people of Gaza and Israel will be

[52:35] calling for peace which can only be

[52:37] achieved by removing Hamas an extremist

[52:40] totalitarian regime that says that that

[52:43] condones using rape as a weapon of war

[52:45] that calls for all women to go back into

[52:47] the kitchen and wants to kill all Jews

[52:49] around the world not just in Israel just

[52:52] as the International Coalition came

[52:53] together to destroy Isis the same must

[52:55] be done to Hamas you're whitewashing

[52:57] Hamas by leaving them out of the

[52:59] resolutions just as bad as whitewashing

[53:01] the crimes of Isis thank you thank you

[53:04] for your

[53:12] comments hi I'm mus K the Council on

[53:14] American Islamic relations wishing

[53:16] everybody a blessed Ramadan in the

[53:18] spirit of the holy month of Ramadan the

[53:19] Israeli Heritage Minister recently said

[53:21] that the so-called month of Ramadan must

[53:23] be wiped out over 31,000 Palestinian

[53:25] civilians have been killed Israeli

[53:26] attacks on Gaza since October 7th that

[53:29] includes 25,000 women and children which

[53:31] is 80% of the death toll this is not a

[53:33] war on Hamas but a war on the people of

[53:35] Gaza Governor gav Gavin Newsome recently

[53:37] called for a ceasefire in an open letter

[53:38] to California Muslims and Arabs today

[53:40] the UN Security Council resolution

[53:42] calling for an immediate and Lasting

[53:44] ceasefire 14 to Zer joining the global

[53:46] call for ceasefire are those in Albany

[53:47] who have sounded the alarm on social

[53:49] media written letters spoken to the

[53:50] representatives all too often to

[53:52] deafening silence this is an opportunity

[53:54] for this Council to amplify your

[53:55] community's call for a ceas

[53:57] right now amidst Israel's brutal Siege

[53:58] on El shfa Hospital there have been

[53:59] reports of executions detentions and

[54:01] sexual violence it's critical for you to

[54:03] Cate ceasefire now it's a he for he the

[54:05] call of the people of Albany and the

[54:06] world thank you thank you for your

[54:16] comments everyone I do not see the need

[54:19] for Albany to pass a resolution on this

[54:21] complex matter especially given that the

[54:24] city has already made a statement on

[54:27] this

[54:28] topic however if you insist to pass one

[54:31] please make the following

[54:32] changes one condemn Hamas the terror

[54:36] organization and call for its removal

[54:38] from Power two please rename the

[54:41] resolution for a call for peace versus a

[54:44] one-sided

[54:46] ceasefire three denounced anti-semitic

[54:49] and hateful acts that have occurred in

[54:51] our

[54:52] community four do not make a comparison

[54:56] between between Israeli hostages and

[54:58] prisoners who have committed crimes I

[55:01] wish everyone a Happy Po and hope the

[55:03] Jews will win evil again thank

[55:06] you thank you for your

[55:17] comments hi my name is Lee and I'm an

[55:19] Albany resident uh first I care about

[55:22] Jewish lives and Palestinian lives I

[55:25] have never cheered about the death of

[55:26] any innocent life 30,000 Palestinians

[55:29] would still be alive if Hamas did not

[55:32] start this war that is why it is so

[55:35] important to add removing Hamas from

[55:37] power in the resolution and yes I would

[55:39] love a permanent ceasefire not a

[55:40] temporary one that only benefits

[55:42] terrorists as they regroup and rearm

[55:44] before they attack Israel over and over

[55:46] again as they have so proudly vowed to

[55:48] do as long as there is Hamas no

[55:50] ceasefire will last I'm also shocked

[55:52] that the resolution calls for the

[55:54] unconditional release of Civilian

[55:55] prisoners how can you compare

[55:57] one-year-old hostage K bius to

[56:00] 22-year-old Ahmed manasra who was 14

[56:03] years old when he went to Israeli prison

[56:04] for stabbing and attempting to murder

[56:06] two Israeli teens in 2016 there should

[56:09] be no strings attached to bring back

[56:11] people who were

[56:13] kidnapped thank you thank you for your

[56:24] comments hi my my name is n and I am

[56:27] Israeli and Albany resident for a long

[56:30] time I want you to remember October 7th

[56:33] remember the children SW elderly and

[56:35] everyone who was kidnapped or brutally

[56:38] murdered and also today they are raped

[56:40] in the in Gaza they were not killed

[56:43] during time of War they were killed just

[56:46] for being is in Israel there was ceas

[56:49] fire in October 6 Hamas broke it in

[56:51] early morning of the 7th clearly any

[56:54] cire with Hamas does not like last more

[56:56] than two years Hamas has it in their

[57:00] Charter that they will destroy Israel

[57:02] and will call all kill all Jewish

[57:04] wherever they are if an October 7 attack

[57:06] happen in the US would you calling for

[57:09] SE fire you know we would blow the crap

[57:11] out of the terrorist who started it and

[57:14] it would be justified because it's War

[57:16] please include removing Hamas as part of

[57:18] the resolution that's the only hope for

[57:21] lasting and practice in region okay

[57:24] Israel did not occupy AA for the last 20

[57:29] years thank you for your

[57:37] comments hello my name is David and I'm

[57:39] a long time very long time Alber WR

[57:42] firstly I am disappointed this is

[57:45] something our local Council spent so

[57:47] much time on though it does make me

[57:49] curious if SE subf Fires for other

[57:51] conflicts with many more casualties are

[57:54] coming next I would think that

[57:56] addressing other major Wars is much more

[57:59] unifying than focusing on only Israel

[58:01] and Gaza I'm sure Albany has many

[58:04] ukrainians Russians syrians Yemen

[58:07] Haitians that are equally distressed as

[58:10] gazans and Israelis why aren't they

[58:12] being mentioned and while I recognize

[58:15] that you all are being pressured to pass

[58:18] this resolution I agree with the notion

[58:20] of changing its tile if your goal is

[58:23] long-term peace and security in the

[58:26] region say it say it how it is change

[58:29] the title to be a reflective of that

[58:31] instead of a call for a temporary

[58:33] ceasefire make it a call for lasting

[58:35] peace really

[58:40] simple thank you for your

[58:51] comments elain please unmute

[58:55] yourself

[58:59] um I'm at 45 seconds could I start at a

[59:02] minute please

[59:05] hello go ahead and speak I'm at 37

[59:09] seconds can go ahead and make your

[59:12] comment okay Hamas broke the ceasefire

[59:16] in 2012 again in 2016 and again on

[59:20] October 6 they have vowed to keep

[59:24] attacking Israel a ceasefire will be

[59:27] used to rearm Hamas which will mean more

[59:32] dead people you should change the name

[59:36] of this resolution to path path to peace

[59:40] which is a much more realistic title

[59:44] since Hamas does not want

[59:55] peace if you have a little bit more you

[59:57] have a little bit more

[1:00:02] time thank you for your

[1:00:20] comment

[1:00:23] Fresca please unmute yourself

[1:00:27] can you hear me yes can I have my time

[1:00:31] back

[1:00:31] please thank you uh I just want to say

[1:00:35] that uh 127 children were killed per day

[1:00:39] in awit it was about 220,000 children

[1:00:41] over 5 years in Gaza the average is 139

[1:00:45] per day right now and these statistics

[1:00:47] do not diminish the severity and evil of

[1:00:50] what happened to the Jews during the

[1:00:51] Holocaust they're simply bringing to

[1:00:53] light the grave situation in Gaza the

[1:00:56] hostages that people are mentioning make

[1:00:57] up 3% of the people in Gaza right now

[1:01:02] that's not even 1% that's less than a

[1:01:04] half of 1% what is fueling anti-Semitism

[1:01:07] is the murdering of Civilian men women

[1:01:10] and children by the thousands under the

[1:01:12] banner of the Star of David and then

[1:01:14] adamantly insisting that that is the

[1:01:16] totality of Judaism and thus Inseparable

[1:01:20] from all Jews Zionism is Terrorism

[1:01:23] Jewish safety and Palestinian liberation

[1:01:26] are intertwined please pass this

[1:01:29] ceasefire resolution thank

[1:01:31] you thank you for your

[1:01:45] comments please unmute yourself when you

[1:01:47] see the

[1:01:50] message hi uh my name is and I um

[1:01:56] I want uh I am supporting this

[1:01:59] resolution uh we are already too late

[1:02:03] the horrific crimes that are being

[1:02:05] committed against the people of

[1:02:07] Palestine especially the people of Gaza

[1:02:10] uh are just too much uh if you guys care

[1:02:14] to really find The Truth Listen to the

[1:02:17] accounts of the people who are in who

[1:02:20] are being evacuated from the hospital

[1:02:23] and the homes they family members are

[1:02:26] being murdered in front of them and uh

[1:02:30] they are starving they have no food and

[1:02:32] no water pleas passes these fire

[1:02:34] resolution it's already relate we're the

[1:02:36] ones funding it and we should be

[1:02:38] stopping

[1:02:42] it thank you for your

[1:02:48] comments hello my name is Walla oricat

[1:02:51] and I am a Palestinian American resident

[1:02:54] of el cero

[1:02:56] I support a resolution to call for an

[1:02:58] immediate and permanent ceasefire the

[1:03:01] suffering endured by innocent civilians

[1:03:03] on both sides is immeasurable and the

[1:03:06] cycle of violence only perpetrates more

[1:03:08] pain and loss millions of people all

[1:03:12] over the world are calling for a

[1:03:13] ceasefire and today 14 countries voted

[1:03:16] in favor at the UN Security

[1:03:20] Council however this call is a little

[1:03:24] too late we've seen over we've seen

[1:03:27] Israel kill over 32,000 Palestinians

[1:03:31] injure over 74,000 Palestinians they're

[1:03:35] starving to death over a million people

[1:03:37] including 27 children who have already

[1:03:40] died

[1:03:41] uh we cannot continue to watch this

[1:03:46] please vote for the

[1:03:50] resolution thank you for your

[1:03:54] comments

[1:04:02] hi my name is Lake and Sheldon I'm a

[1:04:04] resident of Albany and I'm here to

[1:04:05] advocate for a permanent ceasefire I

[1:04:08] think he should pass this resolution

[1:04:10] I've had numerous friends and family

[1:04:12] who've been directly affected by this

[1:04:14] genocide but you don't have to know

[1:04:16] anybody personally to know that the

[1:04:19] slaughter of innocent children and

[1:04:21] civilians is absolutely wrong you know

[1:04:24] we have uh zionists here arguing about

[1:04:27] the technicality of this word and that

[1:04:29] word but nobody in their right mind

[1:04:31] should declare that our tax SC dollars

[1:04:34] be sent overseas to continue this

[1:04:37] massive Slaughter it's just ridiculous

[1:04:39] and I while their history is is way off

[1:04:43] all you have to do is Google knock by

[1:04:45] it's it's all there it's so easy to find

[1:04:47] out so these zionists with their

[1:04:49] arguments which have been debunked over

[1:04:50] and over you got to pass this resolution

[1:04:52] we can't keep killing

[1:04:54] people

[1:04:57] thank you for your

[1:05:08] comments hi everybody my name is Russell

[1:05:11] Bates I'm a Berkeley resident I've been

[1:05:14] following and supporting the Palestine

[1:05:17] cause for the last 30 years I'd like to

[1:05:20] see an unconditional worldwide ceasefire

[1:05:24] one the Israeli m does not control like

[1:05:27] they're controlling the president the

[1:05:28] house the Senate it's a cult it's a cult

[1:05:32] of death and it needs to be stopped

[1:05:37] immediately it's wrong and it's hurting

[1:05:42] the world Zionism is on its way out the

[1:05:45] Ted offensive in 68 the Gaza offensive

[1:05:48] in 23 the Americans were rout 7 years

[1:05:51] later the zist will be out sooner or

[1:05:53] later pass this resolution and please

[1:05:56] stop the killing thank

[1:06:00] you thank you for your

[1:06:08] comments hello my name is Risa I am a

[1:06:11] Berkeley resident and I'm here um in

[1:06:15] support of a ceasefire resolution um in

[1:06:19] Albany I personally have no familiar

[1:06:24] ties within like is Israel or Gaza but

[1:06:27] as someone who has seen the videos of

[1:06:32] starving children the killings of men

[1:06:36] women pregnant women elderly in Gaza

[1:06:39] over the last 6 months I know this isn't

[1:06:42] a complicated situation I know anyone

[1:06:46] can see that this is a genocide and um

[1:06:51] calling for a ceasefire

[1:06:53] isn't isn't a call for division or uh

[1:06:58] hatred it is a call for Humanity so

[1:07:01] please City Council Members please pass

[1:07:03] the ceas fire resolution thank

[1:07:07] you thank you for your

[1:07:11] comments mayor that's all from online we

[1:07:14] do have two public speakers in the

[1:07:16] audience ahead Dalia and next is elen or

[1:07:20] e thank you so much Council for this

[1:07:23] opportunity I know there there is a lot

[1:07:25] of pressure to pass a ceasefire as much

[1:07:27] as I wish I could ask you to stay

[1:07:29] focused on local business so I will say

[1:07:32] speaking for myself and anybody else in

[1:07:34] this room the the humanitarian cost is

[1:07:37] awful nobody wants this this is abor in

[1:07:40] anybody's

[1:07:44] book it's tragic it's absolutely

[1:07:49] tragic the call for a ceasefire on the

[1:07:52] surface seems completely legitimate and

[1:07:54] reasonable who wouldn't want that I

[1:07:56] would ask you to please understand the

[1:07:58] Nuance here that it has to be a

[1:08:00] ceasefire that protects safety on both

[1:08:03] sides on all sides that it has to be a

[1:08:06] ceasefire that removes Hamas and

[1:08:08] endorses Israel's right to exist as a

[1:08:10] nation at the same time thank you thank

[1:08:14] you for your

[1:08:15] comments e or

[1:08:22] El um my name is eileene Lee I work in

[1:08:26] Albany Hamas must be disarmed and

[1:08:29] removed from power for a lasting peace

[1:08:33] if not they will do what they promised

[1:08:36] on October 7th and continue slaughtering

[1:08:39] Jews today they shot 11 Rockets not at

[1:08:43] soldiers in Gaza but at civilians in

[1:08:47] Israel please add that to your

[1:08:50] resolution secondly please call this a

[1:08:53] path to long-term peace and security

[1:08:56] that's what we all

[1:08:58] want and um number three do not equate

[1:09:03] the innocent Israeli hostages who were

[1:09:07] kidnapped from their homes on October

[1:09:09] 7th don't equate them to convicted

[1:09:11] terrorists that are held in Israeli

[1:09:14] prisoners thank you thank you for your

[1:09:24] comments

[1:09:26] hi can you hear me all right yes we can

[1:09:29] hear you perfect my name is Henry uh I'm

[1:09:31] an anti Zionist you I'm not going to all

[1:09:34] Liv matter of this BS uh for the last

[1:09:36] 160 days we've seen the unadulterated

[1:09:38] Slaughter an unequivocal Slaughter of

[1:09:41] men women and children um for those

[1:09:44] claiming that there was a ceasefire on

[1:09:45] October 6th uh let me remind you that

[1:09:47] 97% of water in Gaza was

[1:09:50] undrinkable undrinkable Gaza has been

[1:09:53] declared the largest concentration camp

[1:09:56] for Palestinians

[1:09:58] worldwide uh we have to put an end to

[1:10:00] this killing we have to put a stop to it

[1:10:02] the calls that a ceasefire is divisive

[1:10:05] uh on the surface level level or even

[1:10:07] under it um are just calls to continue

[1:10:11] violence you must put a stop to it uh my

[1:10:13] Jewish history tells me that I should be

[1:10:16] more apt to see the signs of

[1:10:17] dehumanization the signs of genocide of

[1:10:19] which are very apparent ceas fire

[1:10:23] nowk for your comment

[1:10:32] hi there um my name is Talia I'm a

[1:10:34] resident of Albany um I understand that

[1:10:38] you feel that this resolution is

[1:10:39] balanced and that IT addresses the hurts

[1:10:41] of many in a community at least that's

[1:10:42] what you told me when we met in person I

[1:10:44] also understand that hard work did and

[1:10:47] was put into drafting this resolution

[1:10:48] and as upet and as many have said it is

[1:10:51] not perfect while many here and

[1:10:53] everywhere have claimed that they want

[1:10:55] peace they still spew hateful sentiments

[1:10:57] toward Israel and Jews it is those

[1:10:59] Voices That should be silenced I have

[1:11:01] yet to hear anyone speak disply about

[1:11:03] any citizen of Gaza all decent and

[1:11:06] reasonable people want a ceasefire but

[1:11:08] that cannot be done without eliminating

[1:11:10] Kamas and releasing the hostages the

[1:11:13] resolution's omission of any reference

[1:11:15] to Hamas the terrorist group who began

[1:11:16] this conflict is shocking if peace is

[1:11:20] truly what everyone wants and everyone

[1:11:22] has claimed it then the title of this

[1:11:24] resolution should absolutely include

[1:11:26] that thank you for your

[1:11:28] time thank you for your

[1:11:31] comments that's it oh I'm

[1:11:40] sorry um I appreciate the resolution um

[1:11:46] um my my request is would it be I would

[1:11:49] like to see added to it that the US

[1:11:52] government no longer Pro is stops

[1:11:54] providing weapons and money for weapons

[1:11:57] um that Israel is using to kill

[1:11:59] Palestinians as a Jew I am embarrassed

[1:12:03] and actually horrified by what is

[1:12:05] happening right now thank you thank you

[1:12:08] for your

[1:12:13] comments that's

[1:12:15] all and with that we will close public

[1:12:18] comments I want to thank everyone who

[1:12:20] has provided comments today both online

[1:12:22] and in person uh and in the past over

[1:12:25] the past few months um I recognize that

[1:12:29] for many of you in the room this may not

[1:12:31] have been a comfortable conversation uh

[1:12:34] but I applaud the civility by which this

[1:12:37] meeting has occurred um I also recognize

[1:12:40] that there

[1:12:42] were uh moments in which Applause or um

[1:12:47] dissent was voiced and but I appreciate

[1:12:50] that those who are doing that were able

[1:12:52] to uh come back to our are um requested

[1:12:57] standards of kind of how we would run

[1:12:59] this in in our

[1:13:01] deorum um I have often looked to this

[1:13:05] Council and often said that uh as the

[1:13:08] one presiding over the meeting that I

[1:13:10] would prefer to go last in discussing

[1:13:12] things I do have a few things that I

[1:13:14] would like to say before we get into

[1:13:18] conversation

[1:13:22] um uh I would like to address some of

[1:13:25] the comments are raised by members of

[1:13:27] the public uh and Aaron please feel free

[1:13:29] to to interject as as you see fit um in

[1:13:33] particular um sorry I'm I'm going

[1:13:36] through my notes here um there was been

[1:13:39] a lot of call for a permanent ceasefire

[1:13:43] and I think that is something that that

[1:13:45] that we in discussions with many people

[1:13:47] and between ourselves um we thought

[1:13:49] about as well our primary concern about

[1:13:52] including permanent with ceasefire as

[1:13:55] suppos to in the language that we have

[1:13:56] which calls for an immediate bilateral

[1:13:58] ceasefire and um let me read the exact

[1:14:02] phrasing uh let me see in the resolution

[1:14:06] it says um and negotiation of a

[1:14:09] permanent just solution to the conflict

[1:14:11] that results in lasting prosperity for

[1:14:13] all by affirming all parties right to

[1:14:15] self-determination and peaceful

[1:14:17] coexistence our our recognition is that

[1:14:21] a ceasefire is needed now hostility

[1:14:23] needs to end now um without it

[1:14:26] necessarily

[1:14:28] being um reliant on the long-term

[1:14:32] ceasefire or peaceful existence of the

[1:14:36] Palestinians and the Israelis um in Gaza

[1:14:40] and in the West Bank uh we did not want

[1:14:43] to

[1:14:46] um we did not want to make that a

[1:14:48] condition of getting to the point where

[1:14:50] an end of the hostilities as they are

[1:14:52] going on now and that the humanitarian

[1:14:54] Aid a can begin to flow and that through

[1:14:57] a process we are

[1:14:59] not we are not experts in this field but

[1:15:02] just understanding that a process would

[1:15:04] would be had that we would hope that

[1:15:06] there would be

[1:15:07] self-determination and two governments

[1:15:09] working together to find a peaceful

[1:15:11] long-term

[1:15:13] solution um so that was uh one of the

[1:15:17] items I wanted to raise just explanation

[1:15:19] of of the language uh just because I

[1:15:21] recognize that uh for the other council

[1:15:24] members up here

[1:15:25] um just why we didn't include the word

[1:15:29] permanent um let's see um and then the

[1:15:32] other one I would say is I think there

[1:15:34] was a lot of debate on the title the

[1:15:36] title of the resolution um and in the

[1:15:39] end we chose to bring forth to this

[1:15:42] Council uh the phrasing is there but I

[1:15:44] believe that that is an area which um I

[1:15:48] know Aaron Aon and I both share the uh

[1:15:52] the opinion that at the dice it's very

[1:15:54] hard to carefully craft language um but

[1:15:57] that was one point where we had quite a

[1:16:00] few

[1:16:01] conversations um Aon are there any

[1:16:04] things that you might want to convey to

[1:16:06] the other council members in terms of

[1:16:07] things that the members of the public

[1:16:09] raised about language or

[1:16:11] terminology um uh a couple um and and

[1:16:16] thank you for addressing some of that uh

[1:16:18] I

[1:16:19] think like you mentioned we we did

[1:16:22] discuss you know what do we call this

[1:16:26] which all gets at what are we trying to

[1:16:28] say and how are we trying to say it and

[1:16:31] I think that

[1:16:34] the it was it was my opinion that we had

[1:16:36] to keep it calling as a as a resolution

[1:16:39] calling for Seas far as that was our

[1:16:41] intention uh that we

[1:16:43] were that was the understood phrase that

[1:16:47] I think is was clear to us as saying

[1:16:49] that there is something very wrong

[1:16:52] happening now and it needs to stop and

[1:16:54] too many people are dying and there

[1:16:57] needs to be a halt to that and and

[1:16:59] that's what I think ceire means and

[1:17:03] that's why it's in the title of that I

[1:17:04] would also say that you know just as

[1:17:09] there are many things that in the many

[1:17:12] hours John and I discuss this that

[1:17:16] we think about this issue not all of

[1:17:18] which we put in this resolution just as

[1:17:21] this resolution does not include

[1:17:22] everything that I or John or anyone in

[1:17:26] the city wants to say about this our

[1:17:28] title doesn't include everything that

[1:17:30] happens in the resolution and in fact

[1:17:32] I'd say if we're if anyone's just

[1:17:34] focusing on the title it's important to

[1:17:36] read the entire thing that's why we

[1:17:37] wrote it uh that's why we put so much

[1:17:40] effort into every one of those words and

[1:17:43] why I spent so long in front of my

[1:17:45] computer looking at them uh the all of

[1:17:48] them are important and I think they do

[1:17:51] address a lot of the things people said

[1:17:52] and including that want for a Perman

[1:17:55] piece which we do have in that Clause it

[1:17:58] I think uh as as some of the other

[1:18:01] council members know uh I am very

[1:18:04] obsessive about writing things well and

[1:18:07] that was a consistent difficulty here

[1:18:10] because there is a the simplest and

[1:18:13] easiest and best expressed way to write

[1:18:15] things was not always the way that we

[1:18:17] had to express it to

[1:18:18] be over clear about what we were trying

[1:18:21] to say and and that's where we ended up

[1:18:24] and I

[1:18:25] sincerely believe we got to the points

[1:18:27] we needed to and express the intention

[1:18:29] that we expressed and for more detail

[1:18:31] you know the the memo does is exist to

[1:18:34] elucidate some of that and spell out

[1:18:36] those intents uh

[1:18:43] clearly um I will uh take an opportunity

[1:18:46] now to go more into again I normally

[1:18:49] choose to go at the end but I I would

[1:18:53] prefer if I may to uh take use the

[1:18:56] mayor's discretion to make a statement

[1:18:58] um you know I think through the

[1:19:00] formation of this ad hoc committee and

[1:19:02] and apologize to everyone in the room I

[1:19:04] am going to read from some text that I

[1:19:06] wrote because

[1:19:09] um uh I am recovering still from a cold

[1:19:12] and even in my best times I will forget

[1:19:14] points that I mean to say so um through

[1:19:17] the formation of the at committee I've

[1:19:18] learned and grown so much um many have

[1:19:21] shared truly personal lived experiences

[1:19:24] that have given me a deeper

[1:19:25] understanding and apprecia of the pain

[1:19:27] fear anxiety and grief each of you has

[1:19:30] and I think you know those who ask us

[1:19:33] why do we why is why we as the council

[1:19:35] taking this on it's because that is such

[1:19:38] a visceral thing in our community um

[1:19:42] that is occurring and I'll go back to my

[1:19:43] script now um and you've opened up about

[1:19:47] your hopes and dreams and I appreciate

[1:19:49] that as well um as this process started

[1:19:52] I did not see a b bilateral ceasefire

[1:19:55] something that would divide our

[1:19:56] community because I felt we were already

[1:19:59] a divided Community one in which civil

[1:20:02] discourse could not occur one in which

[1:20:04] peaceful marches and rallies and

[1:20:06] protests could not occur without

[1:20:08] violence one in which city council

[1:20:11] meetings across the bay area have either

[1:20:14] ended early or ended

[1:20:18] in in I would not none have gone to the

[1:20:21] extent of violence but have not um have

[1:20:23] not been a meeting that people felt

[1:20:26] comfortable being in or felt safe being

[1:20:30] in we a community where again and

[1:20:32] January 6th our rally a peaceful rally

[1:20:35] the organizers who intended to have a

[1:20:37] peaceful rally did not end

[1:20:42] peacefully where UC Berkeley

[1:20:44] continuously has protests that turn

[1:20:49] violent these are all

[1:20:51] events that are not you know that are

[1:20:54] part of us we as part of Albany we as

[1:20:57] part of the East Bay Region we as the

[1:20:59] San Francisco Bay area we are

[1:21:03] experiencing and I say this because as

[1:21:05] council members he did

[1:21:09] discussions part of what happens when

[1:21:11] you have a contentious item that's on a

[1:21:13] docket sorry on an

[1:21:16] agenda heated discussions about tangible

[1:21:19] things that our community can help shape

[1:21:22] and control can lead to compromise

[1:21:24] understanding and a better City the

[1:21:26] wounds from those heated discussions

[1:21:29] will heal over time but that is for

[1:21:32] tangible things that we as a city

[1:21:34] control and so for those of you in the

[1:21:36] room who say we as the council should

[1:21:39] stay focused on things that are

[1:21:42] local I agree and we me we said this or

[1:21:47] I said this on March 4th when we when I

[1:21:50] brought the question to the council

[1:21:51] about forming an ad hoc

[1:21:53] committee and I mentioned then that we

[1:21:56] as a council are not prone to doing this

[1:21:58] we are not prone to taking on things

[1:22:02] that are outside of our borders and more

[1:22:05] importantly are not something that we

[1:22:07] have a tangible effect

[1:22:11] upon and I say that because when we take

[1:22:13] on topics like this we take on topics

[1:22:16] where we can form a resolution and that

[1:22:19] resolution has no tangible

[1:22:23] impact

[1:22:25] I say all of that and yet I brought

[1:22:28] forth the request to form an ad hoc

[1:22:30] committee and I brought forth with Aaron

[1:22:33] many thanks to Aaron sorry council

[1:22:35] member tedan this resolution because I

[1:22:39] believe while this resolution does not

[1:22:43] have the tangible effect of frankly

[1:22:45] influencing anyone in the US government

[1:22:48] anyone in Israel or anyone in Hamas it

[1:22:52] does raise the common voice that we have

[1:22:54] heard consistently in our

[1:22:57] community that we want

[1:22:59] peace we want a long-term peace and I

[1:23:03] understand in many

[1:23:05] ways the word

[1:23:07] ceasefire has is a charged

[1:23:11] word as many have said there was a

[1:23:13] ceasefire on October 6th and it wasn't

[1:23:16] the first of many ceas of of of

[1:23:19] ceasefires so you know one of the

[1:23:22] phrases that I use that that that I

[1:23:24] believe in is that you know

[1:23:26] professionally in my work and in my work

[1:23:29] on a council is you can only move at the

[1:23:31] speed of

[1:23:32] trust and that trust is really in the

[1:23:35] understanding that we as a

[1:23:37] community can come together and have

[1:23:40] conversations and I want to applaud

[1:23:42] everyone who attended today and everyone

[1:23:44] who attended online

[1:23:46] today while it wasn't a comfortable

[1:23:48] conversation and while there are maybe

[1:23:51] things that some that some said that you

[1:23:53] don't agree with or you you do not

[1:23:55] believe we were able to have people were

[1:23:59] able to voice their vantage point and

[1:24:02] their lived experiences and to me that

[1:24:05] was one of my major purposes for

[1:24:08] bringing forth the potential of having

[1:24:09] an ad how committee to have the

[1:24:11] conversations that Aaron and I had with

[1:24:13] the community to have the ability to

[1:24:16] start to build some bridges in this

[1:24:18] community I say this because I also

[1:24:21] recognize that

[1:24:23] um

[1:24:25] that passing of this resolution has the

[1:24:28] ability of breaking some of those bonds

[1:24:31] but I hope we as a community are strong

[1:24:33] enough to recognize in each other that

[1:24:36] we have all a desire for peace I really

[1:24:41] appreciate those who came forward saying

[1:24:43] a clear path to peace or a path to peace

[1:24:47] I think that is very accurate in the

[1:24:49] sentiment that I've heard from everyone

[1:24:52] that I have talked with um and so with

[1:24:55] that um I will say um I will open that

[1:24:58] up to conversation with other council

[1:25:00] members um if they if they would like to

[1:25:04] comment on anything uh you do not have

[1:25:06] to but um I will open that

[1:25:11] up I'll take my traditional poll

[1:25:14] position

[1:25:15] um thank you mayor thank you council

[1:25:18] member tan I'm very grateful that you

[1:25:20] wrote this that you took the time and

[1:25:22] did the work um I think that that the uh

[1:25:25] the goals that you set are right on um

[1:25:29] so but I appreciate the explication of

[1:25:31] that uh once I read the memo that was

[1:25:34] strongly in line with my goals um like

[1:25:36] yourself I have some things I want to

[1:25:39] read um two factors incline me to the

[1:25:43] resolution uh one is the insufficient

[1:25:45] food supply that is occurring um and has

[1:25:49] been occurring and the other is that the

[1:25:51] United States is the main supplier of

[1:25:53] weapons to Israel and the main um source

[1:25:57] of diplomatic support and so unlike many

[1:26:01] other wars in the

[1:26:02] world that gives us a particular

[1:26:04] responsibility in this

[1:26:07] situation um in its brief regarding its

[1:26:10] most recent analysis of the situation in

[1:26:12] Gaza issued March 18th the International

[1:26:15] Food security phase classification the

[1:26:17] IPC found almost 700,000 people

[1:26:20] experiencing catastrophic food

[1:26:22] insecurity IT projects the will rise to

[1:26:25] 1.1 million which is half the population

[1:26:28] in the next few months catastrophe is

[1:26:30] defined as even when using all of their

[1:26:32] coping strategies people have almost no

[1:26:34] food and cannot support their basic

[1:26:37] needs starvation death destitution and

[1:26:40] extremely critical acute malnutrition

[1:26:42] levels are evident the brief States the

[1:26:46] IPC acute food insecurity analysis

[1:26:48] conducted in December 2023 warned of a

[1:26:51] risk the famine may occur by the end of

[1:26:53] May 2024

[1:26:54] if an immediate cessation of hostilities

[1:26:56] and sustained access for the provision

[1:26:58] of essential supplies and services to

[1:27:00] the population did not take place since

[1:27:03] then the conditions necessary to prevent

[1:27:04] famine have not been met and the latest

[1:27:07] evidence confirms that famine is

[1:27:08] imminent in the Northern governorates

[1:27:10] and projected to occur any time between

[1:27:12] mid-march and may of

[1:27:14] 2024 the southern governance which is

[1:27:17] the rest of Gaza are classified in IPC

[1:27:19] phase 4 emergency however in a worst

[1:27:22] case scenario these government its face

[1:27:24] a risk of famine through July

[1:27:28] 2024 this means without a ceasefire it

[1:27:30] is not possible to get sufficient food

[1:27:32] to people in Gaza to prevent

[1:27:38] famine there were choices made that

[1:27:40] created this

[1:27:42] situation the IPC divides defines famine

[1:27:46] as at least 20% of households in an area

[1:27:48] are experiencing catastrophic food

[1:27:49] insecurity IPC 5 meaning these

[1:27:52] households are facing an extreme lack of

[1:27:54] food at least 30% of children are

[1:27:57] suffering from acute

[1:27:58] malnutrition and at least two per 10,000

[1:28:01] people are dying each

[1:28:03] day ipc's population tracking tool

[1:28:06] indicates the only people on the planet

[1:28:08] experiencing catastrophic food in

[1:28:10] security currently are in

[1:28:12] Gaza majority in the northern area about

[1:28:14] a third in the center um and a quarter

[1:28:17] in the

[1:28:18] South the IPC system a famine occurs

[1:28:21] when at least 70% of the people in an

[1:28:23] area are are experiencing catastrophic

[1:28:25] food

[1:28:26] insecurity that is what is projected for

[1:28:28] the nor Northern

[1:28:30] government as reported by a number of

[1:28:32] mainstream news organizations including

[1:28:34] Reuters and NPR various entities such as

[1:28:37] the world BL bank and the UN have

[1:28:39] independently estimated from satellite

[1:28:40] imagery that the number of buildings

[1:28:42] destroyed or damaging is approaching

[1:28:45] 100,000 or scale there are around 5,000

[1:28:48] buildings in

[1:28:50] Albany the area of Gaza is equal to that

[1:28:52] of the Cities from Albany through San

[1:28:54] Leandro except three times as many

[1:28:57] people live

[1:28:59] there imagine if none of us can leave

[1:29:01] this area food supply has been cut below

[1:29:04] sustenance levels and buildings are

[1:29:05] being progressively destroyed in all

[1:29:08] parts report that more than 30,000

[1:29:10] people have been killed in Gaza is

[1:29:11] unverified but given the destruction

[1:29:13] that number seems

[1:29:16] reasonable the situation has elicited

[1:29:18] hate crimes against people in our area

[1:29:21] most dramatically the felonies with hate

[1:29:23] crime allegations against a pro uh

[1:29:25] against a pro-israeli counter protester

[1:29:29] by a pro Palestinian protester in Elo at

[1:29:32] a protest that commenced in

[1:29:35] Albany I do have some adjustments I

[1:29:37] would like to request to the resolution

[1:29:40] um I have provided that file to the city

[1:29:42] clerk I hope that she's able to bring it

[1:29:45] up so that we can go through it I don't

[1:29:47] believe that they're

[1:29:53] dramatic

[1:29:55] or if you want to go

[1:29:56] ahead yeah well without getting uh fired

[1:29:59] up

[1:30:00] um thank you mayor Mickey council member

[1:30:03] tman for your efforts uh thank you

[1:30:06] council member Jordan for your prepared

[1:30:10] statement

[1:30:12] uh just say on my end right now I'm not

[1:30:17] too particularly interested and get into

[1:30:18] the nuances of language or altering

[1:30:21] language

[1:30:22] um

[1:30:25] I I've been very clear from the jump

[1:30:28] that

[1:30:30] uh we we do have individual agency using

[1:30:34] our positionality and our influence and

[1:30:36] our connectedness to other and local

[1:30:39] power and state and federal power to

[1:30:43] communicate directly with them and to

[1:30:45] encourage our constituents to also reach

[1:30:46] out but I've also made it very clear

[1:30:49] that um though I like it wouldn't be the

[1:30:52] one to bring a resolution to the

[1:30:54] table I would still fully support a

[1:30:57] resolution nonetheless

[1:31:00] um I don't want to make this about our

[1:31:04] feelings and you know what we think what

[1:31:07] we observe and our opinion uh around the

[1:31:10] matter because as mayor Mickey alluded

[1:31:12] to and as I've also unequivocally stated

[1:31:16] uh numerous times we are not the

[1:31:18] Arbiters of Peace negotiation but we do

[1:31:21] have the opportunity to raise uh

[1:31:24] to the surface the necessity to call out

[1:31:27] what is happening and what has happened

[1:31:31] um and that it is inclusive of the

[1:31:34] atrocity that happened on October 7th

[1:31:36] and the atrocities that have happened

[1:31:38] since then but that's also inclusive of

[1:31:41] the various atrocities that have

[1:31:42] happened predated to October

[1:31:45] 7th um and again

[1:31:48] that not uh that's not a particular

[1:31:52] thing that I think we need to get

[1:31:55] detailed about when we are considering a

[1:31:59] resolution

[1:32:00] um and so I'll leave it there in terms

[1:32:04] of what I would like to say in term uh

[1:32:07] with respect

[1:32:08] to uh our positionality on Council but I

[1:32:11] do want to reframe it and um acknowledge

[1:32:15] everyone that is here today that has

[1:32:18] been coming to our meeting that have

[1:32:20] been emailing us um that

[1:32:24] this does speak to the necessity of our

[1:32:27] community needing to find ways to uh

[1:32:30] come together to find ways in which we

[1:32:34] can also uh have coexistence of uh lived

[1:32:38] and valid truth

[1:32:40] um as mayor Mickey also highlighted you

[1:32:43] know this is a local issue but I don't

[1:32:46] think it stopped at just passing a

[1:32:48] resolution I think this maybe have speak

[1:32:51] speaks to an opportunity to uh

[1:32:54] uh have events activities in our our

[1:32:58] local spaces our community center where

[1:33:00] we highlight and showcase and center the

[1:33:03] identities that we see right here in

[1:33:05] this room right now that that what we're

[1:33:09] hearing what we're experiencing right

[1:33:10] now definitely calls out the uh

[1:33:13] unfortunate issue of lack of

[1:33:15] accountability of maybe those in uh

[1:33:17] leadership in the past who haven't

[1:33:19] recognized this that we have a beautiful

[1:33:23] and diverse Community here in Albany and

[1:33:25] we have an opportunity to Center those

[1:33:28] uh many identities through different

[1:33:29] cultural events different opportunities

[1:33:32] uh whatever they might that may look

[1:33:34] like and I think that's an opportunity

[1:33:36] for us as Council us as your elected to

[1:33:40] further listen to you beyond just this

[1:33:42] meeting and so I would highly encourage

[1:33:45] folks to keep doing so um I also just

[1:33:48] want to acknowledge that I've been

[1:33:49] hearing like a little tiny human uh

[1:33:52] Babble out there in the hallway

[1:33:54] and uh I just want to say I think that's

[1:33:56] hella dope that you know folks are

[1:33:59] getting uh people in their family

[1:34:02] involved in local politics being aware

[1:34:05] um no matter what side of the issue or

[1:34:08] uh where uh along the spectrum of a

[1:34:10] stakeholder you are in this I think this

[1:34:13] also Paramount Paramount speaks to uh

[1:34:17] the absolutely absolute need of our

[1:34:20] households in this community to be more

[1:34:22] civically engaged and to do our part to

[1:34:26] you know hold city council accountable

[1:34:28] to the things you want to see and the

[1:34:30] things that we need in this community um

[1:34:32] and I would hope that many of you

[1:34:34] continue to come to our future meetings

[1:34:36] and see how we're holding ourselves

[1:34:37] accountable to local issues local uh

[1:34:42] concerns um may have heard uh in the

[1:34:45] previous meeting some of the things I

[1:34:47] have suggested for uh future agenda item

[1:34:50] ranging from a pay or equal pay

[1:34:52] ordinance to uh ways in which we can

[1:34:55] acknowledge our uh superintendent who

[1:34:58] had recently passed away

[1:35:00] so we need you here constantly uh we

[1:35:03] need you here to keep telling us what

[1:35:05] you want and what you expect and again I

[1:35:08] think this is a way in which we could

[1:35:11] still look past uh what happens today um

[1:35:14] whether folks agree or don't agree with

[1:35:18] uh the ultimate language of the

[1:35:20] resolution um and I know Preston just

[1:35:23] dying to to let us know and uh and uh

[1:35:27] run that run that down on us but I

[1:35:30] really do hope I sincerely hope that

[1:35:33] many of you who have been emailing and

[1:35:35] have been coming to the meeting continue

[1:35:36] to do so and uh as some of you in the

[1:35:39] space today uh are aware like I have

[1:35:43] been trying my best to email everyone

[1:35:45] back whether you you agree with me or

[1:35:47] not I've been trying to be very uh

[1:35:50] intentful about that because I do

[1:35:53] appreciate people's feedback and I

[1:35:54] appreciate the level of Civic engagement

[1:35:57] that we all are having um again I just

[1:36:02] wanted to take that opportunity to frame

[1:36:03] it for the folks that are here in this

[1:36:05] space right now and that you're still

[1:36:07] here you gave your public comments but

[1:36:08] you're still here still civically

[1:36:10] engaged and I do highly encourage that

[1:36:13] after this you you post about it you

[1:36:16] share your thoughts you share your

[1:36:17] opinions because that's part of the

[1:36:19] democratic process that's part of uh

[1:36:22] seeing what the outcome can be um that's

[1:36:26] part of challenging the status quo

[1:36:27] that's part of challenging uh how your

[1:36:30] elected representative uh choose to

[1:36:32] represent you um and I just want to say

[1:36:36] I thoroughly do appreciate everyone

[1:36:37] being here

[1:36:40] um

[1:36:42] lastly I just want to

[1:36:45] also highlight and acknowledge though

[1:36:48] that um since October 7th uh

[1:36:52] particularly I know history in itself is

[1:36:56] quite complex and challenging to uh

[1:36:59] unpack especially if you're not a

[1:37:01] someone who's directly uh involved in

[1:37:04] those spaces similarly how I don't

[1:37:06] expect people to understand um the

[1:37:09] complexity of my own indigeny connected

[1:37:12] to

[1:37:13] Mexico um but I do want to take moment

[1:37:18] to acknowledge that specifically since

[1:37:20] October 7th there has been um

[1:37:25] a clear concern in presence of uh folks

[1:37:29] voicing their

[1:37:32] um their hurts and their their pain

[1:37:35] around anything centered anything that

[1:37:38] pertains to anti-muslim anti- Arab

[1:37:41] anti-jewish

[1:37:43] anti-semitic uh rhetoric and behavior

[1:37:46] and action and I think that's something

[1:37:48] that needs to be addressed and

[1:37:50] unequivocally stated by everyone on

[1:37:52] councel that

[1:37:54] those are acts that uh need to be uh

[1:37:58] fully uh acknowledged as something we

[1:38:02] don't condone and should never condone

[1:38:04] and that uh any form of that especially

[1:38:07] uh when folks feel like they are under

[1:38:11] uh direct uh danger or intimidation of

[1:38:17] violence that that be addressed um and

[1:38:20] again that's a way for us to move

[1:38:22] forward and look Beyond just a ceasefire

[1:38:25] resolution but what can we do in our own

[1:38:27] Community what do you want us to see us

[1:38:29] do what do you want city council to do

[1:38:32] to leverage our power to do so um so

[1:38:36] just close it out with saying thank you

[1:38:37] everyone for being here and uh providing

[1:38:40] your public comments and your opinions

[1:38:41] and uh see how we take that into account

[1:38:44] as we move forward but would' love to

[1:38:46] hear what council member Jordan has to

[1:38:52] say I don't don't have an email from you

[1:38:55] you don't have it uh oh that's not good

[1:38:59] um does somebody have a

[1:39:03] drive all right well I it's simple

[1:39:06] enough I think I can explain

[1:39:09] so I can't if somebody gives me the

[1:39:11] Wi-Fi password I keep Wi-Fi off so that

[1:39:14] I

[1:39:15] know mayor while we troubles shoot this

[1:39:17] can I make some comments yes thank you

[1:39:22] um so so thank you to the rest of the

[1:39:24] council um for engaging on this and uh

[1:39:28] for all of your thoughts and especially

[1:39:31] thank you

[1:39:32] to everybody here for the discussion and

[1:39:37] the civility I know as the mayor

[1:39:39] mentioned it has been difficult it's

[1:39:41] tense but I want to acknowledge that

[1:39:43] there are many communities that could

[1:39:45] not have gotten through this sort of

[1:39:46] meeting or this sort of conversation

[1:39:49] without much much much more hostility uh

[1:39:52] and with there are many who couldn't

[1:39:54] really get through the meeting um and

[1:39:56] especially I've I've shared this with

[1:39:58] members of other elected offices and

[1:40:00] other cities that at the meeting when we

[1:40:02] established the ad hoc we bookended our

[1:40:04] meeting with two items that had to do

[1:40:06] with this and were able to have a robust

[1:40:09] discussion about sidewalks in between

[1:40:11] there are many city councils that could

[1:40:13] not do that uh and I very proud of our

[1:40:16] community that we have not boiled over

[1:40:18] in a way that makes it impossible for us

[1:40:20] to have those discussions or or even

[1:40:22] this discussion uh I think there are

[1:40:24] also councils that would struggle to be

[1:40:26] even

[1:40:28] always uh 100% respectful and have a

[1:40:32] good discussion with each other on the

[1:40:33] dis so I am as I am always very

[1:40:37] appreciative that we have a council that

[1:40:38] speaks its conscience and works together

[1:40:40] and has a tremendous amount of respect

[1:40:42] for one another even if we do have

[1:40:44] differences of opinion on many things um

[1:40:47] to Echo something that uh the other

[1:40:50] council members and the mayor have

[1:40:52] said this issue be has become a local

[1:40:55] one I think it's obvious to anyone who's

[1:40:58] been attending our meetings or the

[1:40:59] meetings of any neighboring cities uh

[1:41:02] this is a an issue that is present in

[1:41:04] our community that is causing harm and

[1:41:07] it was simply put not working to have it

[1:41:12] be only something that we could be

[1:41:15] spoken at about and could not respond to

[1:41:19] uh that is all that was happening before

[1:41:22] this because it was not on our agenda

[1:41:23] and we cannot discuss things uh

[1:41:26] substantively when it is not on our

[1:41:29] agenda so this was a way for us to

[1:41:32] actually meet at head-on and talk about

[1:41:34] what was happening in the community in

[1:41:35] the divisions and try and take some

[1:41:38] steps to uh recognize and heal

[1:41:42] that

[1:41:48] um I think that as we've stated there

[1:41:52] are a lot of issues we can't solve uh

[1:41:56] and I would say no one is more aware of

[1:41:58] the limits of their power than a local

[1:42:00] elected and a city council person we

[1:42:03] know exactly what we can and cannot do

[1:42:05] uh and we are not going to

[1:42:07] single-handedly solve this crisis as the

[1:42:10] mayor said it may have little impact on

[1:42:11] even our own higher elected officials as

[1:42:13] much as I wish it would um and even on

[1:42:17] the local level it won't do everything

[1:42:19] to address everything our community is

[1:42:22] feeling uh but instead it's it's taking

[1:42:25] the first or one of the first steps and

[1:42:29] the subsequent steps are not wholly ones

[1:42:32] that the city government can or even

[1:42:34] should always lead uh there is work in

[1:42:37] our community and work to address

[1:42:39] everything that's been brought up as

[1:42:40] part of this that we simply cannot do as

[1:42:44] the city council or as the city it is it

[1:42:46] is a a social issue that we will all

[1:42:48] have to deal with uh and I think a big

[1:42:51] part of that is addressing the hostility

[1:42:53] we feel for one another and the the ways

[1:42:55] we paint each other uh you know as I've

[1:42:58] mentioned to the mayor in our

[1:43:00] meetings uh this has been a difficult

[1:43:04] issue to deal with and and a saddening

[1:43:07] and a frustrating one for a lot of

[1:43:09] reasons I think one of those is

[1:43:12] that the experience of painting each

[1:43:15] other in the least flattering light we

[1:43:17] can uh you know even before we were

[1:43:20] talking about this resolution I have

[1:43:22] been called not a real Jew because of

[1:43:25] positions I've taken on it and even more

[1:43:28] disturbing was in previous discussions

[1:43:29] we've had about this in the council I've

[1:43:31] heard uh

[1:43:33] people heckling uh uh commenters uh

[1:43:38] dismissing their lived experience of of

[1:43:41] uh what they've experienced uh as as

[1:43:46] Jews who've experienced anti-Semitism as

[1:43:49] Palestinians and Arabs or uh Muslims of

[1:43:52] what they've experienced and the uh

[1:43:54] hatred theyve

[1:43:55] experienced and I think that that is

[1:44:00] that's one of the most sading parts of

[1:44:01] this process and thing something will we

[1:44:04] have to address and something that this

[1:44:06] resolution alone W won't address and uh

[1:44:10] that it can't we we've tried and we've

[1:44:13] put language in there that tries to go

[1:44:14] some of that way but as I mentioned in

[1:44:18] the

[1:44:19] memo we have to do more to deal with

[1:44:23] hostility we feel towards each other

[1:44:24] especially on painting each other with

[1:44:29] uh these broad brushes my experience of

[1:44:31] my religion is not everyone else's

[1:44:33] experience um just as what some of my

[1:44:39] opponents on some issues may say is not

[1:44:41] representative of all of them we cannot

[1:44:44] paint members of our own group as all

[1:44:47] the same and we cannot paint members of

[1:44:49] groups we disagree with as 100% the same

[1:44:52] I think it does a dis service to all of

[1:44:53] us and lowers the level of our

[1:44:56] discussion on important issues like this

[1:44:59] so I think this resolution goes a long

[1:45:01] way to to doing something about all of

[1:45:04] that it does not go all the way it it

[1:45:06] cannot it cannot solve these issues but

[1:45:09] it can be a step towards it and I

[1:45:11] appreciate the council and I appreciate

[1:45:13] everybody who had a part in giving us

[1:45:15] feedback on that and who came to speak

[1:45:17] to us about it here in meetings or in

[1:45:19] past

[1:45:20] meetings with that I think I'm done

[1:45:28] thank

[1:45:30] you

[1:45:32] um so the the first change I'm

[1:45:34] suggesting is that two of the findings

[1:45:36] really seem like resolves to me um that

[1:45:40] Albany condemns prejudice against people

[1:45:44] who are perceived as being members

[1:45:47] of um groups that have ancestry in the

[1:45:50] region one way or the other uh and that

[1:45:52] ALB reaffirms right to peacefully gather

[1:45:55] um so I'm merely suggesting moving those

[1:45:57] to the resolve from the

[1:46:00] findings um and then I I heard the

[1:46:05] comments

[1:46:06] about switching over to active voice to

[1:46:10] identify um those entities that are

[1:46:12] doing The

[1:46:13] Killing and to update the death toll so

[1:46:17] in the first case it specifically

[1:46:18] replaces says that 1200 citizens of

[1:46:22] Israel

[1:46:23] um and others were killed by Hamas and

[1:46:25] over 200 more have been killed since

[1:46:27] then and that the killing is continuing

[1:46:30] and then does the same um for the

[1:46:32] Palestinians and gazin who've been

[1:46:37] killed and um it recognized that our

[1:46:41] nation is the main supplier of weapons

[1:46:42] and detic support for

[1:46:45] Israel which to me is as I said one of

[1:46:48] the two reasons I am I am motivated to

[1:46:50] this um

[1:46:54] and I added one finding which motivates

[1:46:58] the resolves against Prejudice

[1:47:01] condemning Prejudice and reaffirming the

[1:47:03] right to peacefully protest which

[1:47:06] regards the attack on pro-israel

[1:47:10] counter-protesters that occurred in

[1:47:11] elrio on January 6th and specifically

[1:47:15] notes that that one uh Pro Palestine

[1:47:19] protester um perpetrated the attack and

[1:47:22] is now charged with felonies with

[1:47:23] special special hate crime allegations

[1:47:26] which

[1:47:27] is the more most formal and

[1:47:31] recognized is the most formal

[1:47:35] please please allow Council to have

[1:47:38] conversation which is the most formal

[1:47:42] um matter of prejudice that has occurred

[1:47:44] in the areas of my knowledge uh this

[1:47:47] this language is from the cost County um

[1:47:50] Sheriff's Department press release

[1:47:52] regarding what what the charges

[1:47:55] are and so in the green is the the

[1:47:58] findings that have been brought down

[1:47:59] from above and made

[1:48:01] resolves and I don't recall if there's

[1:48:03] any further

[1:48:04] changes city clerk if you scroll to the

[1:48:07] scroll to the bottom oh yes um I'm not

[1:48:11] in support of sending this resolution

[1:48:13] outside of this country for me the the

[1:48:16] target of this resolution is our leaders

[1:48:19] in the United States um given our nation

[1:48:22] support

[1:48:23] Israel in the ways that I've

[1:48:26] described I don't think it's in the

[1:48:29] Constitutional Spirit based on decisions

[1:48:32] been made by the courts for us to be

[1:48:34] sending resolutions to leaders of other

[1:48:39] countries on any of that I welcome

[1:48:47] uh on any of this I welcome your

[1:48:50] thoughts as to

[1:48:51] why

[1:49:01] I think the movement of the where two

[1:49:02] whereas statements uh to being uh be it

[1:49:05] further resolved

[1:49:09] um I will I don't necessarily have a

[1:49:11] problem with that as one of the authors

[1:49:13] I I will say

[1:49:14] that Ain has been super helpful in me

[1:49:17] understanding where usually you put

[1:49:18] whereases and where you put

[1:49:21] therefore

[1:49:24] statements um on moving those to the

[1:49:27] more active clauses I see the argument

[1:49:33] um I think they were in the were ases

[1:49:37] versus the be therefore be it resolved

[1:49:40] Clauses as they

[1:49:43] were less the active thing that we were

[1:49:45] calling for and more the sort of

[1:49:48] background

[1:49:49] or things that would be if not obvious

[1:49:54] sort of already settled fact to some

[1:49:56] extent um that you know we stand against

[1:49:59] Prejudice in many forms um I I see the

[1:50:04] argument um and

[1:50:09] I yeah I see the

[1:50:20] argument I will add one item which is um

[1:50:24] in both your languages to the city the

[1:50:27] two where where which killings continue

[1:50:30] to increase um we um we there is a

[1:50:34] whereas a few statements below that says

[1:50:35] whereas millions of lives are at IM

[1:50:38] immin risk for continued

[1:50:42] hostilities and due to a lack of food

[1:50:45] and medical care we felt that that kind

[1:50:46] of covered the fact so we in one Essence

[1:50:49] we were trying to State what happened on

[1:50:51] October 7th what has occurred since um I

[1:50:55] do think that there is the ability to

[1:50:57] add in language uh to the effect that

[1:51:00] two and 200 more since uh since you know

[1:51:03] October 7th was one event and then the

[1:51:04] events that have happened since there

[1:51:06] have been a quantifiable number of

[1:51:08] people who have been killed in Israel as

[1:51:11] well so I think that that I I could see

[1:51:15] um if I could add on that

[1:51:18] I I yes I would Echo what the mayor said

[1:51:21] I think that that Clause down there was

[1:51:23] trying to get at that um and I'll note

[1:51:26] that I I think one of

[1:51:27] [Music]

[1:51:28] the difficult parts of writing this was

[1:51:31] numbers

[1:51:32] was that in our meetings there were

[1:51:36] people on all sides of the issue who

[1:51:39] wanted more numbers and there were

[1:51:40] people on all sides of the is who wanted

[1:51:41] fewer numbers um

[1:51:44] and also finding numbers that are agreed

[1:51:48] upon uh gets difficult quite fast um um

[1:51:54] is is what I found um so that was the

[1:51:58] thought for having these is it felt that

[1:52:01] something needed to be Quantified um and

[1:52:03] like mayor said one of those is

[1:52:05] specifying the the numbers on one day

[1:52:09] and one is specifying the numberers

[1:52:11] since and then another is saying that

[1:52:12] there are more lives at risk

[1:52:16] uh I would say I prefer how we wrote it

[1:52:19] um originally on

[1:52:21] that

[1:52:23] okay noting I added one just one number

[1:52:26] yes you know me I like numbers um I

[1:52:29] think sorry just yeah sure um I think

[1:52:32] one of the things that was conveyed to

[1:52:34] us through that conversation is that um

[1:52:38] one of the horrors of war is that you

[1:52:42] may never know the true number and so

[1:52:44] any number you list is always going to

[1:52:48] be who knows what the plus and minus on

[1:52:50] that is um not to say that we should

[1:52:53] include it but just that was one of the

[1:52:54] other conversations about trying to

[1:52:56] limit the number of numbers that we

[1:52:57] added but I do think the point that was

[1:52:59] made by some of the members of the

[1:53:00] public and the point that you're trying

[1:53:02] to make I believe is just that there

[1:53:04] were additional deaths after October 7th

[1:53:06] since we only list October 7th right I'm

[1:53:09] just trying to make it symmetric

[1:53:11] essentially um and thank you for the

[1:53:15] clarifications certainly for that

[1:53:16] additional language of the killings

[1:53:18] continue to increase to be to be

[1:53:20] removed probably the bigger issue is is

[1:53:22] the switch from passive to active voice

[1:53:26] so again having worked with you um and

[1:53:28] appreciate your skill and

[1:53:31] uh particularly going over my writing

[1:53:34] when we work together um I would imagine

[1:53:36] you thought about passive voice versus

[1:53:38] active voice on those and so there's

[1:53:39] probably maybe some thinking there um so

[1:53:43] I don't know if you've been willing

[1:53:44] to explicate on that or not sure and

[1:53:48] I'll say I I I get the frustration there

[1:53:52] as as I've probably given notes to you

[1:53:55] of we should always strive for the

[1:53:56] active voice in good writing

[1:54:01] um I think

[1:54:04] the overall idea there was there

[1:54:09] were a lot of things we don't

[1:54:12] necessarily address in this resolution

[1:54:14] um and I recognize that there's folks

[1:54:18] who want us to address more of them and

[1:54:19] folks that want us to address less of

[1:54:20] them uh

[1:54:24] I think the point one of the things that

[1:54:28] we talked about in writing is

[1:54:32] that there

[1:54:36] are issues that we can or cannot talk

[1:54:39] about here that open a long and sort of

[1:54:43] bottomless argument

[1:54:46] um

[1:54:48] that we could try and address or we

[1:54:52] focus on

[1:54:54] the pain and suffering that is being

[1:54:58] experienced uh rather than trying to

[1:55:01] spell out each part of that um and I I

[1:55:06] get that that does not uh fulfill the

[1:55:08] hopes of of everyone

[1:55:12] um but it it felt like the thing that

[1:55:15] got to our intent of of recognizing the

[1:55:18] crisis

[1:55:20] without focusing on

[1:55:24] every part of it that and how it could

[1:55:27] be expressed and how it could be

[1:55:29] disagreed with

[1:55:34] and who we wanted to identify or not

[1:55:39] um so I'll leave it at that unless the

[1:55:41] mayor wants to add anything on

[1:55:44] that I think you summ that up

[1:55:50] well yeah I mean I I heard among the

[1:55:52] comments

[1:55:54] from those who both support moving

[1:55:56] forward with this not

[1:55:59] that the the passive voice

[1:56:03] was opposed um and so I do prefer

[1:56:08] actually naming the parties because

[1:56:10] otherwise

[1:56:11] it it's into a natural disaster the way

[1:56:15] it reads currently um so that that would

[1:56:18] be my preference we'll see where it goes

[1:56:25] um city clerk if you could remove which

[1:56:28] killings continue to

[1:56:31] increase council member Lopez were you

[1:56:33] about

[1:56:34] to yeah in the section in which the uh

[1:56:39] January 6 uh protest was uh

[1:56:45] mentioned sorry uh public comment is

[1:56:48] closed at this

[1:56:49] point

[1:56:51] um

[1:56:52] I do have a couple concerns there uh one

[1:56:57] that it's framed as Pro Palestine

[1:56:59] protest when to my knowledge how it was

[1:57:01] publicized with the ceasefire rally um

[1:57:05] but two um I think we we as a council

[1:57:11] can absolutely condemn any acts of uh of

[1:57:15] hate towards any specific group what I

[1:57:18] do worry about is uh the rapid that that

[1:57:23] uh whereas statement could potentially

[1:57:24] drive us towards um just speaking as

[1:57:27] someone who has been system

[1:57:29] impacted and uh the potentiality of a

[1:57:33] whole city uh making a statement towards

[1:57:36] you uh I believe in innocent until

[1:57:40] proven guilty um I know

[1:57:44] the the videos that is your final

[1:57:47] warning I will ask you to be escorted

[1:57:50] out of the room if you cannot

[1:57:52] um maintain

[1:57:54] silence I do know there's video

[1:57:56] surfacing around that clearly does show

[1:57:58] um hateful act that did occur and I

[1:58:03] believe that's something we need to let

[1:58:04] our justice system handle accordingly

[1:58:07] and properly without City making uh any

[1:58:13] particular uh statement around that uh I

[1:58:17] don't know and I think this is where I

[1:58:19] also would defer to our City attorney um

[1:58:22] if including a statement like that would

[1:58:24] put us in any type of legal situation

[1:58:26] with the

[1:58:31] accused the there's no issue with

[1:58:33] including that statement it's a policy

[1:58:37] decision for the

[1:58:43] council

[1:58:47] um this I think this this this weas

[1:58:50] Clause that we're on right now I think

[1:58:51] falls into one of those categories

[1:58:54] where Aon and I had many discussions

[1:58:57] about um and I think the one thing that

[1:59:00] we came to realize in our conversations

[1:59:02] with members of the public was their

[1:59:05] lived experiences of that day's

[1:59:08] events were not always the

[1:59:11] same and I think there are things that

[1:59:14] we know and we can absolutely say um the

[1:59:19] police have arrested this person on

[1:59:20] charges of these things

[1:59:22] but I would I would say that based on

[1:59:25] the discussions that I heard and the

[1:59:27] Shar the lived experience of many people

[1:59:29] is that while the violence and the

[1:59:33] physical

[1:59:34] assault um one person has been arrested

[1:59:38] on those charges it was not only one

[1:59:41] person or one side that

[1:59:44] was

[1:59:46] um I don't want to say violent but I

[1:59:48] would say I would not say that that the

[1:59:51] disagreements that were were happening

[1:59:52] or that the conversations that were

[1:59:54] having or the animated discussions or

[1:59:56] however you want to describe we're

[1:59:57] having were solely one-sided or at least

[1:59:59] that they weren't perceived as solely

[2:00:01] one-sided and so I worry that the

[2:00:03] statement as written at least is very

[2:00:06] divisive versus saying something to the

[2:00:08] effect of what I mentioned earlier where

[2:00:10] what was intended to be a

[2:00:12] peaceful reality and protest turned

[2:00:14] violent because for some it was violent

[2:00:18] because they were verbally assaulted as

[2:00:20] they tried to leave a restroom while

[2:00:22] holding a sign they weren't physically

[2:00:25] assaulted but they were verbally

[2:00:26] assaulted and

[2:00:27] intimidated for others and the example

[2:00:30] has written

[2:00:31] here I do not know the entire story I

[2:00:33] have heard different sides of the story

[2:00:35] but in the end there was a person who

[2:00:38] took a flag

[2:00:40] someone was assaulted and that flag was

[2:00:42] attempted to be burned and so that one I

[2:00:45] think there's more documentation of but

[2:00:46] there are other stories and other lived

[2:00:49] experiences that I don't believe this

[2:00:50] encapsulates and that's why

[2:00:52] I have generally kept it to that there

[2:00:54] generally was a level of violence and

[2:00:56] intimidation that was occurring that day

[2:00:58] which is not in keeping with us as

[2:01:01] Albany and our goals and our strives and

[2:01:03] I understand as a community as a person

[2:01:06] you don't always meet those goals or

[2:01:08] morals that you try and set for yourself

[2:01:10] U but I felt that this was one that

[2:01:12] truly just went beyond um what what

[2:01:15] happened and and I think again this is

[2:01:17] why I think all those and I truly

[2:01:20] appreciate the time that people spent in

[2:01:22] talking with us because in hearing those

[2:01:24] shared experiences I've learned so much

[2:01:27] more and I recognize that I have so much

[2:01:29] more to learn but I recognize that that

[2:01:32] um we were super cautious in what we

[2:01:35] wrote in here because of

[2:01:39] that I'll just to briefly add to that I

[2:01:43] I think

[2:01:45] that gets

[2:01:47] to something I was saying earlier

[2:01:50] of

[2:01:53] I think one of the the things we ran

[2:01:55] into in writing is that there are things

[2:01:59] that could be in here that start to

[2:02:02] become a point of disagreement about the

[2:02:05] facts of the state of

[2:02:07] play um rather than what we're trying to

[2:02:11] say about a statement of our values

[2:02:14] um and what the mayor was mentioning is

[2:02:17] a good example of that of you know the

[2:02:21] what people are saying about what

[2:02:22] happened uh at that protest match up 80%

[2:02:27] and then there's divergences

[2:02:30] um and so I think we uh uh we made a lot

[2:02:32] of decisions in a lot of this language

[2:02:35] to try and focus it on the statement of

[2:02:39] values rather than the points that could

[2:02:41] individually then be a point of just

[2:02:45] going down the rabbit hole of I disagree

[2:02:47] about the statement of fact that the

[2:02:50] facts are disagreed on um and I think

[2:02:52] you know that's a problem in even our

[2:02:54] normal discussions about normal items we

[2:02:56] deal with and it's especially an issue

[2:02:58] in this one uh so I think that was a

[2:03:00] that was a big reason there and why we

[2:03:02] stuck with the sort of larger statement

[2:03:06] that you've moved down to an more active

[2:03:07] clause about that people should be able

[2:03:11] to say what they want and no one should

[2:03:12] be um attacked or experiened hatred or

[2:03:16] anything like

[2:03:18] that as a before

[2:03:20] you just just before you say anything

[2:03:23] just sure to um um that being said I'm

[2:03:27] not opposed to necessarily having awas

[2:03:29] acknowledging that January 6th happened

[2:03:32] right that is a fact it is and this is

[2:03:35] where we get into this whole how do we

[2:03:36] write the language but like um

[2:03:39] acknowledging the January 6 happened

[2:03:41] acknowledging you know I we mentioned we

[2:03:44] mentioned particularly the violence and

[2:03:47] intimidation that has been put upon

[2:03:49] elected officials and not even

[2:03:50] necessarily talking about our elect

[2:03:53] officials actually I think in our

[2:03:56] community I personally have not received

[2:03:58] any of that there have been heated

[2:04:00] discussions and there have been very

[2:04:02] pointed comments but that is different

[2:04:05] than going after someone personally or

[2:04:07] going after someone's family right so I

[2:04:11] I do want to acknowledge that so so

[2:04:13] having aware as that we acknowledge

[2:04:14] January 6 and we acknowledge the greater

[2:04:17] instability kind of to have these

[2:04:20] peaceful protests in the area I think

[2:04:22] I'm I would be comfortable with it would

[2:04:25] be much more explicit than than the

[2:04:26] whereas that you move to be further

[2:04:28] resolved I'm comfortable having that but

[2:04:31] it

[2:04:32] is it is about how you write that

[2:04:35] language to be sensitive to the fact

[2:04:38] that that we don't want it to be a

[2:04:40] debate

[2:04:41] about everyone's telling someone that

[2:04:43] their lived experience wasn't their

[2:04:45] lived experience

[2:04:47] say I appreciate your deliberation and

[2:04:50] thoughts and that would ask city clerk

[2:04:52] to remove that whereas if she

[2:04:57] would I appreciate your openness to

[2:04:59] including something but to the point

[2:05:04] of not trying to really write in detail

[2:05:07] here um I mean I'm obviously pushing the

[2:05:10] pushing the envelope with what I'm doing

[2:05:11] as it is

[2:05:15] um

[2:05:17] uh may I offer a change to your now

[2:05:19] therefore be it resolved sure yeah the

[2:05:22] city of Aly

[2:05:23] condemns the violence that occurred on

[2:05:26] January 6th of this

[2:05:32] year and we could uh yeah so we'd remove

[2:05:34] all that up to on January

[2:05:37] 6th uh in in elero I think we would add

[2:05:40] at the

[2:05:49] end yeah I guess

[2:05:54] enough no no no no I don't mind not I

[2:05:56] I'm trepidacious about I have

[2:05:59] trepidation about including an Elso

[2:06:02] because it's not clear to me that it was

[2:06:03] only an Elso y um because you you raised

[2:06:07] the point

[2:06:08] of various things happen that day and I

[2:06:11] would guess from what you've heard they

[2:06:13] didn't all happen in elero correct um

[2:06:16] so uh I think we do need to say on

[2:06:20] January 6th of this year

[2:06:22] something about occurred at the at the

[2:06:24] protesting counter protest on January 6

[2:06:26] otherwise there's no finding so nobody's

[2:06:29] G even know what we're talking about

[2:06:30] they're going to think we're talking

[2:06:30] about

[2:06:33] 2021 this year so it could just be

[2:06:36] occurred at the protest and counter

[2:06:38] protest on January

[2:06:41] 6th at the ceasefire at the ceasefire

[2:06:45] protest counter protest

[2:06:48] yeah might I also suggest the addition

[2:06:52] after violence to

[2:06:54] State the violence and hostilities

[2:06:57] because uh folks though they may not

[2:07:01] have felt uh or endured any specific

[2:07:04] type of physical violence um are verbal

[2:07:08] um we've have heard and we have seen

[2:07:11] many emails where folks have expressed

[2:07:13] that they've endured a certain level of

[2:07:16] hostility I think that's worth

[2:07:18] acknowledging uh in this statement

[2:07:30] thank

[2:07:32] you um and I think we already I think we

[2:07:36] already

[2:07:37] um reach consensus on those two findings

[2:07:41] being moved to where the to resolve um

[2:07:44] and so I think the last thing is whether

[2:07:47] or not this gets sent to leaders in

[2:07:50] other countries

[2:07:56] so this this again comes to um I'm

[2:08:01] sorry I'll also take off my mask I I

[2:08:04] think this hearkens back to

[2:08:07] um our attempt here was to ask really

[2:08:10] all sides to come to the table with a

[2:08:12] good faith effort and for this to be a

[2:08:15] document that was simply being sent to

[2:08:18] our US representatives meant that

[2:08:22] it could be inferred that our intent was

[2:08:24] only for it to be for the US to pressure

[2:08:27] Israel as opposed to um the us through

[2:08:30] the UN pressuring using pressure to get

[2:08:32] all the nations to work together to get

[2:08:35] everyone who is a party to this

[2:08:37] conversation about finding an end to the

[2:08:39] hostilities to the table in good faith

[2:08:42] um we understand

[2:08:45] that Israeli government doesn't have to

[2:08:48] listen to us and probably won't list us

[2:08:50] we understand that the the Hamas

[2:08:52] leadership well we're not I'm not even

[2:08:54] sure where we would mail that to but um

[2:08:57] but you know we list we list these other

[2:08:59] groups Qatar and Iran because Iran and

[2:09:02] Qatar are those are the groups are the

[2:09:04] two countries that are working are my

[2:09:07] understanding with Hamas on the other

[2:09:09] side of the table to come to some form

[2:09:11] of end to the hostilities and so we are

[2:09:13] trying to pretty much say we would like

[2:09:15] this resolution to be sent to everyone

[2:09:17] so that everyone understands the pain

[2:09:19] and suffering that our community is

[2:09:20] going through um that is really being

[2:09:22] enacted by the fact that U both sides

[2:09:25] are not coming to an agreement on an end

[2:09:27] to the

[2:09:30] hostilities I I totally understand your

[2:09:33] point though

[2:09:34] that they may not listen to anything

[2:09:36] that we right or or that it's not really

[2:09:38] an our perview but yeah it's more that

[2:09:40] it's not that they won't listen I mean I

[2:09:42] think

[2:09:43] that's the the probability they will

[2:09:45] listen is di Minimus is a word used in

[2:09:48] risk assessment in my world which means

[2:09:49] you know so negligible is not even one

[2:09:51] thing about um I I will also add one

[2:09:54] other thing that are um be further

[2:09:57] resolved we before we added yours so

[2:10:00] let's just we're put in kind of order of

[2:10:04] of what we saw as the most actionable

[2:10:08] items we as City Council Members we as a

[2:10:11] community can do so the

[2:10:14] first further resolved was what can we

[2:10:17] as a community do the next was kind of

[2:10:22] what we hope for and then who is Ascent

[2:10:26] to and I think who was Ascent to

[2:10:31] is the the one that that I would just

[2:10:34] say they were put in order of of um

[2:10:37] where we saw the mo we had the most

[2:10:39] impact local to remote yeah to reiterate

[2:10:44] and and Echo that point you know like

[2:10:48] like I've mentioned a couple times we

[2:10:50] had the the the two intents we were

[2:10:52] trying to get

[2:10:53] to

[2:10:56] and this Clause I don't think

[2:11:00] is 100% necessary to either of them it

[2:11:04] is a sort of standard it's you know the

[2:11:08] many of the other resolutions that other

[2:11:09] cities have passed have a list of uh

[2:11:12] usually American elected officials that

[2:11:14] also includes a lot of local ones that

[2:11:16] uh we thought you know there may not be

[2:11:19] a ton of utility sending it that um but

[2:11:23] was also the one

[2:11:26] that in the process of editing I had

[2:11:29] very little problem editing this Clause

[2:11:32] because the lot of what we were trying

[2:11:34] to do was recognize more what people are

[2:11:37] feeling get more that of what gets

[2:11:41] across the intent and nothing that we

[2:11:43] changed in this Clause to me really

[2:11:45] affected getting across the intent and

[2:11:47] making that core statement of values

[2:11:49] which was the goal

[2:11:55] yes but sending this outside of the

[2:11:57] country

[2:12:00] is is more than just about the feelings

[2:12:02] the intent it's an actual formal act um

[2:12:06] that I'm not I'm not comfortable with in

[2:12:09] terms of the role of the city I mean the

[2:12:12] reason I support this is because our

[2:12:15] nation's government is involved in one

[2:12:17] side of this and I want to pressure our

[2:12:19] nation's leaders to do something

[2:12:20] differently

[2:12:23] and to me that's the appropriate remit

[2:12:26] of this

[2:12:27] body

[2:12:29] um I I'm not in this to try to

[2:12:31] pressure from from my position here to

[2:12:34] pressure leaders of governments of other

[2:12:36] nations and other bodies to do something

[2:12:38] that is beyond for me that is beyond my

[2:12:50] remit

[2:12:54] I'm I I will just I inclined to leave

[2:12:57] leave leave that where that uh be it

[2:13:00] further resolved as

[2:13:05] is I think I would agree with that I I

[2:13:09] get the worry um I I very much do

[2:13:17] um but I'm I'm comfortable with it

[2:13:29] all right well I guess I'll make a

[2:13:31] motion we did not sorry we did not

[2:13:35] discuss

[2:13:37] um the additional language about

[2:13:41] um because the US provides weapons and

[2:13:45] as a statement uh so just want to make

[2:13:48] sure uh because that is a change in that

[2:13:53] um that is probably one of the whereases

[2:13:55] that went through many

[2:13:58] iterations

[2:14:02] um I'll I'll

[2:14:04] say this whereas in the language you've

[2:14:08] added is a great example

[2:14:10] of something I think I mentioned earlier

[2:14:14] around I would love to write everything

[2:14:17] as simply and clearly as possible often

[2:14:20] that was not possible with this

[2:14:22] resolution I think the simplest and

[2:14:25] clearest way in a lot of ways

[2:14:28] that is in the good resolution language

[2:14:32] to me was saying this clause and the the

[2:14:35] simple way of America is uniquely

[2:14:37] situated and that encapsulates a lot of

[2:14:40] things

[2:14:42] um it's a it's a choice of whether we

[2:14:45] spell it out or not but I think it is

[2:14:49] not to to have it still as saying that

[2:14:52] America is

[2:14:55] uniquely involved and able to affect

[2:14:58] things here is not saying that there's

[2:15:01] not this going on and I think

[2:15:03] acknowledges it in some way in that we

[2:15:05] are uniquely qualified because we are a

[2:15:07] very strong diplomatic link with Israel

[2:15:10] and because we are supplying a great

[2:15:12] deal of weapons and material support to

[2:15:15] them

[2:15:18] so the the goal is not to

[2:15:21] not acknowledge that it is to

[2:15:24] acknowledge that and much more by having

[2:15:27] it as we are uniquely qualified in many

[2:15:30] different

[2:15:32] ways and I just to maybe focus on that a

[2:15:36] little bit is that in in in the language

[2:15:39] as written you specifically call out is

[2:15:41] Israel but the reality is our nation has

[2:15:43] also relationships with other countries

[2:15:45] in the area who could be doing more to

[2:15:48] provide humanitarian they could be doing

[2:15:50] more to to allow Palestines a place to

[2:15:53] move to safety while the conflict is

[2:15:56] going on and so um really by not calling

[2:15:59] out Israel we're saying yes we have

[2:16:01] influence on Israel but we also have

[2:16:02] influence on other countries in the

[2:16:04] region uh and we have other methods of

[2:16:07] providing influence to try and secure an

[2:16:10] end to the hostilities and really the

[2:16:12] humanitarian crisis and so

[2:16:15] um again there

[2:16:18] was a lot of time spent on on when when

[2:16:22] and where we call out

[2:16:25] um Israel and Hamas essentially in in

[2:16:28] this

[2:16:30] resolution just chime in my two sense

[2:16:33] really quick here is um when I seen the

[2:16:35] original statement I think I had very

[2:16:37] similar concerns as you Preston or

[2:16:41] council member Jordan um but you know

[2:16:45] not just coming from the hyper

[2:16:47] Progressive in me uh wanting

[2:16:49] accountability

[2:16:51] but I think it's also important you know

[2:16:53] as an elected to like separate that um

[2:16:56] my personal bias and experience um and

[2:17:01] acknowledg and I think uh council member

[2:17:03] tman you hit the nail on the head there

[2:17:05] with you know looking for a statement

[2:17:07] that more or less encap encapsulates it

[2:17:09] all because as that I was going back and

[2:17:11] reading it on my own I was like I'm I'm

[2:17:14] struggling with this because it's not

[2:17:16] calling out what our country is being

[2:17:18] complicit with um but then it kind of

[2:17:22] took a step back you know took a

[2:17:23] breather and you know acknowledged

[2:17:26] internally

[2:17:27] that if we want to acknowledge what our

[2:17:29] country is doing what our country is

[2:17:31] complicit with um that would probably be

[2:17:34] a couple Pages worth of lifting out

[2:17:36] things and uh and so I have my

[2:17:40] reservation because this more or less

[2:17:41] Cherry picks what uh the US government

[2:17:46] is doing but I don't even I don't think

[2:17:49] it even scratches the surface of how how

[2:17:51] uh horribly complicit our US government

[2:17:54] and our federal leaders uh

[2:17:58] are uh behav in the situation uh which

[2:18:01] is why I'm I'm more or less uh in the

[2:18:04] camp of leaving the statement as it

[2:18:06] originally was because then again we

[2:18:09] risk going down this Rabbit Hole well we

[2:18:11] should mention this and this and this

[2:18:12] and this and then it just I think it

[2:18:15] become tiring because then it's going to

[2:18:17] reach a point where nobody's going to

[2:18:18] ever be satisfied or it's just GNA

[2:18:21] um induce a lot of anger and frustration

[2:18:24] as

[2:18:27] well thank you again for your

[2:18:28] deliberation I appreciate it

[2:18:32] um I think uh we can agree city clerk if

[2:18:35] you could remove the additions to the

[2:18:38] whereas after our nation which I know

[2:18:43] is a few different pieces

[2:18:46] there

[2:18:49] um

[2:19:01] I think it's well I think it's our

[2:19:03] nation and our

[2:19:05] nation's uh was it our nation and our

[2:19:07] nation's leaders was the original our

[2:19:10] nation and our leaders our nation and

[2:19:12] our leaders

[2:19:19] okay

[2:19:27] and then I think there was maybe

[2:19:29] another which killings continue up above

[2:19:34] and needed to be

[2:19:35] deleted further

[2:19:38] up there were two occurrences of that um

[2:19:42] yeah wish killings continued to increase

[2:19:44] so there's a a prior instance of that

[2:19:47] yeah that needs to be

[2:19:49] deleted

[2:19:56] okay I'll briefly just State thank you

[2:19:58] city clerk for doing this on the flight

[2:20:01] we appreciate it real

[2:20:04] time so I think I think we've reached

[2:20:08] agreement except on the last bit which

[2:20:11] is whether to Senate outside the country

[2:20:12] or not maybe I'm wrong could we scroll

[2:20:14] down so I can make sure I'm remembering

[2:20:16] everything that's in

[2:20:19] there

[2:20:25] I think under the last whereas if we

[2:20:28] could please strike the colon and and

[2:20:31] change that to period

[2:20:36] pleas thank you I double checked that I

[2:20:39] was doing that correctly in the original

[2:20:41] version so for the record I'd like to

[2:20:43] say that Preston added that and

[2:20:46] not it was in Red so yes thank you

[2:20:51] I'm related to too many lawyers to let

[2:20:54] that go unnoticed

[2:21:04] so this is a unique situation I wouldn't

[2:21:07] normally obsess about words so much but

[2:21:09] this is pretty much all about

[2:21:10] words yes I was very glad that Aaron

[2:21:13] joined me council member tedan joined

[2:21:19] me

[2:21:33] did not want us to end up editing

[2:21:35] language on the Das as I said but I I

[2:21:38] appreciate the discussion about it again

[2:21:40] I think there are't a lot of councils

[2:21:41] that could have this sort of discussion

[2:21:43] um so it I am appreciative um that we

[2:21:47] have and I

[2:21:48] think I'm always very attached my own

[2:21:51] language I can make my peace with this I

[2:21:55] I would still disagree with the the

[2:21:57] changes to the final Clause I I think it

[2:22:00] from my perspective it costs us nothing

[2:22:02] to

[2:22:03] include I'm happy to yield on

[2:22:06] that in the spirit of Comedy not comedy

[2:22:11] but comedy with a

[2:22:16] t so City Clerk in that case we would um

[2:22:19] unri uh um in the last Clause be it

[2:22:22] further resolved um un strike everything

[2:22:25] that's red I don't know if that's actual

[2:22:26] edits or if that's just a stri their

[2:22:28] edits okay but I mean I think is that a

[2:22:31] right she's not gonna be able to she's

[2:22:32] not gonna be able to un strike it I

[2:22:33] don't well maybe oh yeah right on okay

[2:22:37] this okay

[2:22:40] great city clerk if I may ask that if we

[2:22:42] could go to the top of the Proclamation

[2:22:44] just to verify that we've gone through

[2:22:46] all items um so I will ask and I know

[2:22:49] Aaron won't like this but I will ask um

[2:22:52] there is the naming of the resolution

[2:22:54] and um I this is absolutely the one that

[2:22:59] in all of our conversations and

[2:23:01] particularly in our conversations with

[2:23:02] Aaron and I we have gone back and forth

[2:23:04] quite a bit

[2:23:07] um I I will say that for the purposes of

[2:23:10] bringing it to the council I felt

[2:23:13] comfortable leaving it a

[2:23:15] ceire but I

[2:23:19] um I do agree with some of those that

[2:23:21] I've heard in the public about the title

[2:23:24] being ceasefire and the use of any

[2:23:27] resolution that we pass um having the

[2:23:30] term ceasefire in the title at least uh

[2:23:34] there

[2:23:35] is perhaps disagreement but there is um

[2:23:40] there are those who perhaps are not

[2:23:42] within our community who are using

[2:23:43] anything that passes with a with the

[2:23:45] term ceasefire simply a pointer to lay

[2:23:49] blame on one part

[2:23:51] so I would

[2:23:53] um I don't know how you all feel about

[2:23:55] the title but I I would be open to the

[2:23:57] title being changed to include and I'm

[2:24:00] going to pull this up uh both for myself

[2:24:02] and for the city clerk uh that it be

[2:24:05] changed to and I will read this but then

[2:24:06] I can get tell you the exact wording

[2:24:08] again a res a resolution of the Albany

[2:24:11] city council sporting efforts for a path

[2:24:13] to long-term peace and stability in

[2:24:19] Gaza uh so again we're supporting

[2:24:21] efforts we are you know we're not

[2:24:23] creating long-term peace but we're

[2:24:25] supporting efforts um and then I believe

[2:24:27] that our whereas Clauses really are or

[2:24:30] there therefore be it resolved list the

[2:24:33] ceasefire list the humanitarian and so

[2:24:35] it really is our goal is really all of

[2:24:38] that there were others in the community

[2:24:40] who had uh you know trying to make that

[2:24:43] that resolution be even more focused on

[2:24:45] us I do think um long I do think

[2:24:48] something in the effect of to long-term

[2:24:51] peace and stability in Gaza um uh is an

[2:24:55] option but

[2:24:56] I'm I'm also comfortable leaving a Cesar

[2:24:59] but I think I did think it was

[2:25:02] appropriate for us to have a

[2:25:03] conversation at least about the

[2:25:05] title uh you're right mayor

[2:25:09] um as as we discussed I

[2:25:12] I feel quite strongly that I think we

[2:25:14] should leave it as is uh I think that is

[2:25:17] the overarching point uh that is and if

[2:25:22] this is going to

[2:25:23] be used by others I think that will

[2:25:26] happen regardless of what we name it the

[2:25:29] title does not define everything that's

[2:25:31] in the resolution it also Define doesn't

[2:25:33] Define the meaning That Others May

[2:25:35] ascribe to it um but it is that is I

[2:25:39] feel the accurate title because it is

[2:25:41] the Top Line it it is not everything we

[2:25:43] want to say but a title by definition

[2:25:45] can't be everything we want to say

[2:25:47] that's why the rest of the resolution is

[2:25:48] there but it is the

[2:25:50] topof line issue and I think gets at

[2:25:55] the one of the biggest impetuses of why

[2:25:58] we're doing this and what we want to

[2:26:04] say I I would say uh personally I would

[2:26:07] prefer to leave the language ceasefire

[2:26:10] or leave as is um just because I think

[2:26:13] if we go back and forth with this we're

[2:26:15] going to spend way more time than we

[2:26:16] want to on debating on what a title

[2:26:19] should look like um

[2:26:21] especially if this end up becoming like

[2:26:22] a two verse two type of situation um I

[2:26:27] think uh at the end of the day similar

[2:26:31] to what council member tman had alluded

[2:26:34] to you know title to titles it's you

[2:26:37] know the content that matters but titles

[2:26:40] are what uh also more or less Define the

[2:26:44] whole the whole product

[2:26:48] um if if it going to be changed

[2:26:52] um would I would have a lot of

[2:26:56] reluctance towards that um but certainly

[2:26:59] wouldn't stop me from you know you know

[2:27:01] using my platform my positionality to

[2:27:04] still publicly call and refer to as a

[2:27:07] seire so Aon and I've had this

[2:27:10] conversation quite a few times so I will

[2:27:13] just say that I I am again I am

[2:27:15] comfortable keeping Cesar in in the

[2:27:16] language I just wanted to make sure that

[2:27:18] we had a conversation about it I will

[2:27:20] offer one other alternative and then if

[2:27:22] there's no support for it I'm fine with

[2:27:24] leaving the title as is but it would be

[2:27:25] changing it to a resolution of the Alban

[2:27:28] city council supporting an immediate

[2:27:29] bilateral ceasefire in

[2:27:32] Gaza um sorry bilateral

[2:27:34] ceasefire uh to support a path to to

[2:27:37] long-term peace and stability in Gaza so

[2:27:40] it would be adding in the long-term

[2:27:42] peace and

[2:27:45] stability so we have the word ceasefire

[2:27:47] but why do we want the ceasefire

[2:27:52] just throwing it out there yeah I I

[2:27:56] appreciate you raising it for discussion

[2:27:58] that's a lot of what I've done just to

[2:28:00] fully flesh it out um in the public

[2:28:02] record

[2:28:05] um I prefer the title The Way It Is

[2:28:09] proposed um because to me that the

[2:28:12] reason I'm supporting this is because of

[2:28:13] the the starvation that is occurring and

[2:28:16] the mass starvation that is that is

[2:28:18] imminent which is all about immediate

[2:28:20] bilateral ceasefire um it

[2:28:25] is to me I don't have

[2:28:31] particular judgment on anything beyond

[2:28:33] that I'll remove my okay all right

[2:28:35] thanks I I don't need to look to Aaron

[2:28:37] to know where landed this one um I did

[2:28:40] remember something else that that was

[2:28:43] commented upon which was civilian

[2:28:44] prisoners so I'm wondering if you could

[2:28:46] talk to that yes I meant to elaborate on

[2:28:49] that earlier so so

[2:28:51] um

[2:28:53] we again every word that we chose we

[2:28:57] chose

[2:28:59] cautiously um the term civilian prisoner

[2:29:03] to us and our understanding of what the

[2:29:06] Israeli government uses that to be is um

[2:29:10] in this case would be any Palestinian

[2:29:11] who was

[2:29:13] arrested but not charged with a crime

[2:29:16] and so those in in Palestine who were

[2:29:20] arrested so the example given of I

[2:29:23] believe it was 23-year-old who had done

[2:29:25] some killings that is not considered a

[2:29:28] civilian um

[2:29:30] prisoner um so so that was our

[2:29:33] distinction so those who have committed

[2:29:35] crimes are not included that

[2:29:38] um I'll I'll just add to that of saying

[2:29:41] that yes that that is one thing that I

[2:29:43] think came out of our meetings uh you

[2:29:45] know one we met with several uh

[2:29:48] Palestinian Arab business owners in in

[2:29:50] Albany who made the point of you know

[2:29:53] with with how the discourse has gone so

[2:29:57] far if you just say unconditional

[2:30:00] release of all hostages it doesn't

[2:30:02] necessarily read as saying that you also

[2:30:05] think that a great number of

[2:30:08] Palestinians who have committed no crime

[2:30:11] should also be freed um who who are

[2:30:14] currently detained um so that was an

[2:30:17] attempt to explicitly recognize that um

[2:30:19] again

[2:30:20] it's a good example of in a simpler

[2:30:22] world we could make a simpler statement

[2:30:25] that could be read to include all

[2:30:26] parties but that is not the world in

[2:30:28] which we exist in

[2:30:30] currently so if I'm understanding

[2:30:32] correctly CI civilian prisoner is the

[2:30:34] term that Israel uses to refer to

[2:30:38] prisoners who are not indicted

[2:30:41] essentially but they're in

[2:30:43] prison because it it doesn't because it

[2:30:46] doesn't it doesn't read it's like not

[2:30:48] obvious at all to me being steeped in

[2:30:52] this I will say also that you know

[2:30:57] it's it's a it it is an attempt to to

[2:31:01] acknowledge a greater variety of people

[2:31:03] who are prisoners and who should be

[2:31:05] released there's no perfect way to say

[2:31:07] that because again this is one of those

[2:31:09] doors that you can open that you get

[2:31:11] into a discussion of what constitutes a

[2:31:16] just prisoner of war uh who should be

[2:31:19] considered that and how do you say that

[2:31:23] in a succinct way that doesn't end up

[2:31:25] putting a research paper in the middle

[2:31:26] of our resolution right I I know it is

[2:31:30] not it is a it is a term of art that I

[2:31:33] am advocating for a reading of uh but I

[2:31:39] think it gets at the the point

[2:31:41] of we are saying that a large number of

[2:31:44] people need to be released and those are

[2:31:45] not just on one side of this conflict uh

[2:31:48] and that's what we were trying to get to

[2:31:50] and and came directly from discussing

[2:31:53] this with people in the

[2:31:55] community and and I would emphasize

[2:31:58] that in all conversations it was truly

[2:32:01] those who it was never intended to

[2:32:04] equate those who were taken as hostages

[2:32:06] and those who Israel has detained and

[2:32:09] put in prison for crimes that they will

[2:32:13] be charged with right so or have been

[2:32:16] charged with um so we weren't that was

[2:32:19] not what we intended when we said

[2:32:21] civilian

[2:32:23] prisoners actually I believe Israel

[2:32:25] calls anyone who's been

[2:32:29] imprisoned and is considered to be an

[2:32:31] Endy combatant to be different than a

[2:32:33] civilian prisoner sorry like there there

[2:32:36] there there is a different category wait

[2:32:38] so there three three categories we are

[2:32:40] not talking about anyone who has been

[2:32:42] involved in the war we're not talking

[2:32:43] about anyone who's been charged with a

[2:32:45] crime that maybe wasn't necessarily

[2:32:47] completely related with the war we but

[2:32:49] those who are being detained or

[2:32:50] imprisoned but not charged because it

[2:32:52] reads on his face in this context as all

[2:32:55] prisoners who are not combatants or in

[2:32:57] the

[2:32:58] military so it would be the equivalent

[2:33:00] of every prisoner in this country other

[2:33:02] than those in Quanto I guess those are

[2:33:06] all

[2:33:07] civilians um so that's how it read to me

[2:33:11] as a lay person if you will I mean it

[2:33:14] seems like the term that would generally

[2:33:15] be used would be political prisoner but

[2:33:17] that would introduce the doctoral thesis

[2:33:19] in the middle of the resolution so um I

[2:33:22] appreciate the discussion I don't think

[2:33:24] there's a whole lot that can be done

[2:33:26] around that um but I didn't want to let

[2:33:28] it go by without

[2:33:35] asking um since the resolves do now

[2:33:39] include the statement or resolves on the

[2:33:43] local situation I don't know if the

[2:33:45] title should include something in that

[2:33:48] regard

[2:33:51] I don't think we need to change it

[2:34:01] okay I look to the authors

[2:34:04] to I will move passage of the resolution

[2:34:07] with the changes that we have agreed

[2:34:10] on and that being resolution

[2:34:13] 20246 yes I'm just looking at you

[2:34:16] because that's what you do every time I

[2:34:17] make a motion and I forget to include

[2:34:19] the res resolution number I appreciate

[2:34:22] your commitment to Roberts Rules of

[2:34:23] Order uh yes I would move resolution

[2:34:28] 2024-the on uh in the council discussion

[2:34:38] second mayor Mickey yes council member

[2:34:42] Jordan yes council member tan yes vice

[2:34:46] mayor Lopez yes and the motion carries

[2:34:52] I want to thank everyone who

[2:34:53] participated today and in all past

[2:34:55] Council meetings upon this um about this

[2:34:59] topic again I please ask you to

[2:35:08] refrain I believe as as council member

[2:35:11] tman mentioned um while this has not

[2:35:14] always been a comfortable conversation

[2:35:15] for all in the room and

[2:35:18] online um I am very thankful to all the

[2:35:21] participated and all that kept this a

[2:35:22] very civil and um uh uh safe environment

[2:35:27] to have conversations and have a

[2:35:29] discussion um with that I will adjourn

[2:35:31] this special meeting of the Alban city

[2:35:32] council thank you very

[2:35:48] much

[2:36:18] e

Albany City Council Special Meeting - Mar. 25, 2024

Transcript