Local Palestine group sought Quincy council's support. The response was unexpected
QUINCY ‒ About 50 supporters of Palestinian rights gathered to mourn the estimated 37,200 Palestinian lives lost in Israel's seven-month siege and bombardment of Gaza following the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023. Many of the advocates held small bundles of white cloth representing the thousands of children killed in the violence.
Speakers at the June 13 vigil outside city hall called on the Quincy City Council to pass a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and the return of all Israeli and Palestinian hostages and detainees.
Drafted by the local advocacy organization Quincy for a Free Palestine, the resolution calls for an end to unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel, the removal of restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza and a formal expression of support to Quincy residents affected by the crisis.
Sue Doherty, a lead organizer, said the group attended city council meetings since March with hopes of getting their resolution on the agenda. Almost 400 Quincy residents have signed an online petition supporting the resolution, Doherty said.
The group's efforts have not moved any of the nine councilors, who wrapped up the last meeting of the session Monday, June 17, without discussing the resolution. To get on the agenda, the resolution would have required one councilor to sponsor it.
The vigil took place a day after a United Nations commission released a report outlining alleged crimes against humanity committed by Israeli military forces, including extermination of Palestinian civilians. The report also alleges that Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups committed war crimes, including the targeting of civilians and the taking of hostages.
Why the city council would not put a ceasefire resolution on the agenda
Ward 6 Councilor Bill Harris said in a telephone interview that the council is not the proper venue for such a resolution.
"I'm confused," he said. "They should be at the State House or down in Washington doing this. It's a little above my pay grade."
Harris said he read the group's emails and sympathizes with its cause. However, he said he only received two emails from Ward 6 residents and has to consider the "silent majority" in an issue which has "two sides."
"It's better to stay neutral," Harris said, adding that the group has the right to protest and attend the council meetings.
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Like Harris, Ward 4 Councilor James Devine told The Patriot Ledger that he chose not to sponsor the resolution because no one in his district asked him to and he lacks expertise in international relations.
"I'm not the State Department," he said.
Devine said he's more comfortable addressing residents' concerns about parking issues, potholes and maintaining a level budget. He said he listens to Quincy for a Free Palestine and has read a book the group recommended to him called "On Palestine" by linguist Noam Chomsky and Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, both critics of Israeli policy toward Palestinians.
"I tell them to keep coming (to the council meetings)," Devine said. "It's their right."
Councilors-at-large Nina Liang, Noel DiBona and Scott Campbell did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Ward 5 Councilor Dan Minton or Ward 2 Councilor Richard Ash, whose district hosts the city's only mosque.
Council President Ian Cain did not answer when asked why he hasn't sponsored the resolution, instead forwarding an email he sent Quincy for a Free Palestine explaining how citizen resolutions need a sponsor on the council.
Cain, who is running for U.S. Senate, has attacked Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren for "placating the far-left, anti-Israel base of her party" through her criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
Quincy advocates voice disappointment in city council's silence
At the vigil, Quincy for a Free Palestine member Madeline Errishi told The Patriot Ledger that the council has shown a lack of courage.
"They are not listening to their constituents," she said.
Errishi said the council has failed to live up to Quincy's "long, rich history" of standing against oppression, injustice and inequality, not just for Americans, but for the wider human community.
George Hallak, a Palestinian who came to the United States in 1972, said a number of cities and towns across the state and nation have passed similar resolutions.
Statewide, nine communities have voted on ceasefire resolutions, seven of which adopted one, according to a Boston.com report.
"This is a local issue," Hallak said, noting that U.S. tax dollars fund Israeli military operations while towns in the region struggle to pay their teachers.
Fay Strigler, who is Jewish and was born in a German refugee camp for Holocaust survivors, said at the vigil that she was raised to be a Zionist.
As a child, she was recruited to Palestine to plant trees, she said, only to find out later that they were planting on top of villages stolen from the Palestinians.
"I didn't know that," Strigler told those assembled for the vigil. "I was just a little kid. We were taught that Israel was ours. I found out that was not true."
Strigler said emails, phone calls and demonstrations by pro-Palestinian advocates, including anti-Zionist Jews, have thus far failed to influence national leaders including President Joe Biden, whom she accused of complicity in genocide.
"And it hasn't prompted Quincy City Council to adopt a ceasefire resolution," Strigler said.
Peter Blandino covers Quincy for The Patriot Ledger. Contact him at pblandino@patriotledger.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy City Council rejects call for vote on Gaza ceasefire resolution
