Baltimore City Council blocks resolution condemning Hamas attack following interruption by pro-Palestine group

The Baltimore City Council struck down a proposed resolution Monday that would have condemned the October attack on Israel by Hamas and expressed solidarity with the Jewish people.

The resolution, which was sponsored by Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, was introduced less than an hour after pro-Palestinian protestors disrupted the council’s meeting. The legislation was not listed on the council’s agenda Monday nor was it discussed at the group’s lunch session earlier that day. Schleifer, one of two Jewish members on the council, insisted he had planned to introduce the bill and was unaware that a pro-Palestinian demonstration was planned.

The pro-Palestinian group interrupted Monday’s meeting as it began. Supporters unfurled a banner and chanted “free, free Palestine.” They were quickly escorted from the council chamber by Baltimore Police who were present in larger than usual numbers inside and around City Hall. Chanting could be heard outside the chamber and eventually from outside City Hall as the meeting continued.

Nine members of the council supported Schleifer’s resolution, however four abstained and two were absent. Council President Nick Mosby said the measure required 12 votes to pass. Mosby gave members the chance to alter their votes, but none did.

Schleifer condemned his colleagues during and after the meeting for rejecting the resolution, likening the situation to that faced by his grandparents in Nazi-controlled Germany “when people just sat on the sidelines and didn’t want to speak up.” He noted that the council has in the past passed resolutions condemning terrorist attacks.

“I’m really disappointed,” he said after the meeting, wearing a lapel pin bearing the flags of the United States and Israel. “Now I have even more clarity about what my grandparents faced.”

The text of Schleifer’s proposed resolution stated that the Baltimore City Council stands in solidarity with the Jewish community of Baltimore and around the world following the “horrific Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.”

On Oct. 7, Hamas, operating from Palestine, launched a surprise attack on neighboring Israel, breaching border security and killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Israel has since begun a bombing campaign on Palestine and launched a ground invasion.

“This type of shameful violence is a consequence of dangerous rhetoric and policies perpetuated by reactionary ideologues,” the resolution stated. “Whether it’s by separating families through the Muslim Ban, taking children away from their families at America’s border, or by dehumanizing refugees in Europe, individuals who amplify these messages and implement these policies are only enabling hate and future attacks in hate’s name.”

Schleifer and Mosby voted in favor of the resolution as did Council Members Zeke Cohen, Mark Conway, Sharon Green Middleton, Eric Costello, Antonio Glover, John Bullock and Danielle McCray. Councilmembers Phylicia Porter, Ryan Dorsey, Odette Ramos and Kristerfer Burnett abstained. Councilmen James Torrence and Robert Stokes were absent.

Bullock offered an explanation of his vote saying that terrorism must be condemned. However, Palestine has the right to exist in the same way that Israel does, he said.

“I support the resolution but at the same time understand the full complexity of this issue that’s been longstanding throughout the decades,” he said.

Schleifer argued the resolution was almost a duplicate of another resolution passed by the council condemning a 2019 terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand that killed dozens at two mosques.

“For some reason the lives of Jews who were slaughtered doesn’t get the same condemnation as attacks on any other group of people,” he said.