Advocates plead for Hampton Roads leaders to support Gaza cease-fire

Hampton Roads activists have joined a chorus of speakers turning up at city council meetings across the country to ask local government leaders to weigh in on a war half a world away.

More than a dozen U.S. cities, from Minneapolis to Detroit to Bridgeport, Conn., passed symbolic resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel ignited a war. But the movement has thus far shown little promise of gaining traction in Hampton Roads, where no local city councils have approved any such resolutions.

At local council meetings, the number of speakers waiting to advocate for a cease-fire resolution has ranged weekly from a handful to about a dozen. Council members listen to the comments, but do not often engage the speakers. However, those who do speak, do so with conviction that brings them back again and again.

Such resolutions would have no binding impact on U.S. foreign policy, but speakers have argued that a local government’s action would put more pressure on the federal government to stop using taxpayer dollars to fund Israel’s war on Gaza — that it would carry more weight than an individual citizen reaching out to Congress.

In Hampton, pro-Palestinian speakers have shown up routinely at council meetings.

One woman who declined to publicly identify herself said if council did not pass a resolution in support of a cease-fire, “it becomes clear you stand with genocide, ethnic cleansing, and collective punishment.”

Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck said that “there is no lack of empathy” among the council members for “what is occurring to the residents in Gaza nor for Israelis who were killed on Oct. 7.” However, he said the council’s position is “not to interject ourselves in international conflicts.”

Responding to another speaker, Sahian Nanez, who called for a cease-fire resolution, City Manager Mary Bunting said “we all up here have great empathy for any human suffering.”

“But what we as a staff and the council strive to do is put our energies into our city where we can make an immediate difference.”

Hamas, a group that the U.S. declared a terrorist organization in 1997, killed 1,100 Israelis in the Oct. 7 attack, including many women and children whose bodies reportedly showed signs of sexual assault and mutilation. The deadly assault and kidnapping of 240 people drew worldwide revulsion and condemnation and the Israeli Defense Forces launched an offensive into the Arab enclave of Gaza against Hamas. But activists argue the campaign has been marred by indiscriminate shelling and shooting. Since the war started, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 25,000, with more than 62,000 others wounded and most of the region’s residents displaced.

The speakers showing up at Hampton Roads city council meetings invoke the ever-rising number of Palestinian children and women slain in Israel’s offensive into Gaza and the American tax dollars and weapons involved. Some self-identifying Jewish speakers say criticizing Israel’s actions is not beyond the pale and cite nationwide Jewish groups that are opposed to the current campaign in Gaza. Activists say they are challenging city leaders to think beyond the region’s ties to the U.S. military, a key ally of Israel, to pass a resolution that would also be a show of moral will against the death of innocents.

Norfolk has also not passed any cease-fire resolution, though it has heard from about a dozen individual speakers since a December city council meeting.

At a January council meeting in Newport News, a local resident who identified herself by a pseudonym Frega Azza pointed out that after the attack on Israel, City Hall was lit up blue and white — the colors of the Israeli flag — for a week. During an Oct. 10 City Council meeting, Mayor Phillip Jones announced that a rally for Israel would be held the following day at the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula.

However, Azza noted there seemed to be an absence of similar support and solidarity shown toward Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians. She asked the council to stand against Islamophobia and demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity.

Jones said this month after several residents asked for a cease-fire resolution, that the council stands “against any form of injustice.”

“Our hearts and our prayers are always going to be extended to all lives impacted as a result of this conflict,” Jones said. “And while this may be happening across the world, we know this conflict affects the lives of residents in our local community. And it is our hope that there will be peace.”

Responding to another speaker, Councilwoman Pat Woodbury said, “What I think you have to realize is that we have to represent every side of a situation. We can’t just decide, personally, that we are for something or against something. But we do listen to you, the public, and try to be that voice of not being prejudiced in one way or the other.”

Elsewhere in the region, city leaders expressed sympathy and support for Israel and solidarity with Jewish residents in the wake of the attacks. Gov. Glenn Youngkin and other officials have also spoken out against antisemitism.

At an Oct. 17 Virginia Beach City Council meeting, Mayor Bobby Dyer brought forward a resolution in support of Israel and denouncing the attack. The resolution was signed by each member and presented to representatives of the United Federation of Tidewater, who spoke at the meeting.

At an Oct. 24 Chesapeake City Council meeting, resident Katherine Howell spoke about the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza as well as ongoing housing and mental health issues in America.

“Palestinians in Gaza have been subjected to a thousand bombs in the past week,” she said. “Our tax dollars are funding that. Instead of going to guaranteed income and guaranteed housing, health care and education here in America, it’s going by the billions to fund the genocide of the Palestinian people.”

Mayor Rick West cut off the speaker during her remarks at one point, later telling her that comments must be related to affairs of the city. The following month, at a Nov. 28 council meeting, West shared a statement condemning antisemitism and standing with Israel.

Virginian-Pilot reporters Natalie Anderson and Stacy Parker contributed to this report.

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com

Ian Munro, 757-447-4097, ian.munro@virginiamedia.com