Greenfield City Council to consider cease-fire resolution Monday

Activists will meet outside Baystate Franklin Medical Center from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on Monday, March 18, to rally in support of a cease-fire resolution coming before Greenfield’s City Council and in protest of the war in Gaza, particularly the bombing of hospitals. They are shown during a previous demonstration outside Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

Activists will meet outside Baystate Franklin Medical Center from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on Monday, March 18, to rally in support of a cease-fire resolution coming before Greenfield’s City Council and in protest of the war in Gaza, particularly the bombing of hospitals. They are shown during a previous demonstration outside Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

Staff Writer

Published: 03-17-2024 8:18 AM

GREENFIELD — City Council will hold a special meeting on Monday amid activists’ growing push for the council to pass a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

The single-topic meeting, which comes after numerous residents carrying signs and banners pushed for the resolution during public comment at the council’s Feb. 21 meeting, will run from 6 to 8 p.m. There will be 30 minutes for public comment, with a limited speaking time of two minutes per Greenfield resident.

Ismail Asaad, a Leyden resident who owns the Mohawk Shawarma Grill food truck, opened discussions at the last City Council meeting, advocating for a cease-fire resolution by reminding the council of the Israel-Palestine war’s surmountable longevity and human cost.

“What’s [happening] in Gaza now, it’s not new. Since 2007 until before Oct. 7, 2023, 16,800 Palestinians got killed in Gaza, 6,800 children,” said Asaad, who emigrated from Palestine to escape the violence there. “People, if they don’t die from rockets or tanks … they die from hunger, or from not having enough water.”

While most residents who spoke at the Feb. 21 meeting expressed support for the resolution, resident Devorah Rose said she respected those calling for a cease-fire, but that Hamas broke the previously standing cease-fire during their attacks on Oct. 7.

“Do you realize what Hamas did to the hostages? Do you know that on the news everyday…” Rose said, before she was interrupted by yells in the crowd claiming she was citing “propaganda” and “lies.” “There was a cease-fire. On Oct. 7, terrorists, not Palestinians, the terrorists of Hamas, attacked.”

The roughly one-hour-long public comment period corresponded with a petition on change.com, now signed by more than 370 people, urging the city to sign a cease-fire resolution with the hope that a local action will push the needle toward peace in Gaza on the federal level.

City Council President John Bottomley, who extended Rose’s time after her speech was interrupted, said the intensity of last meeting’s discussions have made him unsure whether the city should take a stance on foreign affairs.

“The aggressiveness of some of those seeking the resolution along with the ugly tone of much of the correspondence makes me seriously question the benefits of City Council debating national issues,” Bottomley said. “We have many local issues that need addressing, which impact our residents, but part of our process is to respond to what constituents want. Several councilors sponsored this resolution, so we will take it up.”

Councilors Rachel Gordon and Marianne Bullock sponsored the resolution.

In an interview Friday, Bullock said she supported the resolution when she heard from Greenfield residents that there was a growing petition for a cease-fire. She said she also personally supports a cease-fire simply to show local support for peace in Israel and Gaza.

“My support for this is really rooted in humanity and a human rights framework,” Bullock said. “I know it’s something that’s so far away, but it’s also something that’s so immediate. Most of us can’t end the war, we can’t create peace on our own. But what I have the power to do, as an elected official, is acknowledge my full dissent for the loss of life, the destruction, the violation of human rights, both on Oct. 7 and since.”

Bullock noted her stance against war developed from stories about her grandfather’s service in World War II, which she said taught her about the importance of “fighting fascism” and the belief that “war and occupation is good for no one, except for businesses and arms dealers.”

Several local activist groups, including Western Mass. Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ), Jewish Voice for Peace Western Mass. and Massachusetts Peace Action, among others, are rallying behind the cease-fire resolution.

From 7:30 to 9 a.m. on Monday, activists will meet outside Baystate Franklin Medical Center to rally in support of the resolution and in protest of the war in Gaza, particularly the bombing of hospitals.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.