Bellingham approves resolution regarding a ceasefire in Gaza. Here’s what it says

The Bellingham City Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday night that calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of prisoners captured in an Oct. 7 attack, during which an estimated 1,200 Israelis and others were slain by militants from Hamas.

Hamas, which the U.S. has labeled a terrorist group, still has more than 100 hostages who were taken during the attack more than two months ago.

Council members discussed a revised version of the proposal when the Committee of the Whole met on Monday afternoon and voted on it during their evening session. It was the third time in recent weeks that they’ve been asked to approve a cease-fire resolution.

Several council members said they believed the new resolution, which was drafted by Councilman Skip Williams, was more reflective of the facts surrounding the current Mideast crisis and lacked the political rhetoric of earlier versions.

Councilwoman Lisa Anderson said she hoped it struck a balance between recognizing the brutality of the Hamas attack and the suffering of the people in Gaza in the face of Israel’s military campaign.

The Associated Press reported this week that the Palestinian death toll in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 17,700, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. Nearly 2 million people have been displaced in Gaza.

“It does acknowledge what happened on Oct. 7 and the need to release the hostages. But it also acknowledges the unfolding humanitarian crisis. The Palestinian people are not Hamas, and yet they are bearing the weight of (Hamas) actions,” Anderson said.

Anderson said she hoped that the resolution would catch the attention of state and national elected leaders.

An initial version of the resolution, submitted Nov. 20 and written by the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, Veterans for Peace Chapter 111, and the Whatcom Families for Justice in Palestine, contained language that is broadly considered antisemitic.

The resolution passed Monday specifically “condemns the rise of racist acts, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and targeted hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim communities that may occur or have occurred in our city, across the nation, and around the world.”

Council President Michael Lilliquist told the council that he reached out to Rabbi Joshua Samuels of Congregation Beth Israel for his opinion on the issue.

“Rabbi Samuels indicated to me that this most recent version is more preferable than the previous versions. He is least concerned about it but is less enthusiastic about supporting it,” Lilliquist said.

Samuels confirmed their conversation in a text message with The Bellingham Herald.

“I said how much I do not support such a resolution for a variety of issues but that I like the language of the newest version better than the others. I do not appreciate how it equates Hamas with Israel,” Samuels said.

Friction over the Israel-Hamas war has increased sharply across the U.S. in recent weeks, with both Muslims and Jews reporting an increase in hate speech and hate crimes directed at them. U.S. cities, colleges and universities have been the focus of rallies and demonstrations.

At Western Washington University, protesters have repeatedly used antisemitic language and chanted slogans reminiscent of age-old tropes targeting Jews in demonstrations since Oct. 7. At a rally on Dec. 8, a protester waved an Israeli flag with a swastika drawn over the Star of David. A Gaza “teach-in” for students that excluded the public featured a professor known for making antisemitic statements.

For several weeks, the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center has been sponsoring or assisting rallies and events in Bellingham and on the WWU campus to highlight the Palestinian cause.

Yoav Litvin, an Israeli-American Jew and a member of the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center board of directors, urged the City Council on Dec. 4 to approve an earlier version of the cease-fire resolution.

Litvin claimed that Israel was founded on “settler colonialism” at the expense of the region’s “indigenous” people, an assertion disputed by historians and called antisemitic by most Jews.

“I know there is no ‘both sides’ here. The balance of power is skewed to one side alone,” he said.

Several people praised the City Council resolution in a two-hour public comment session after the measure was approved Monday, including several who described themselves as Jewish.

Leah Hill questioned why the City Council hadn’t considered resolutions against atrocities being committed in places like Ukraine, Sudan or Myanmar.

Hill told the council that their measure risks sending a message that the lives of Israelis are worth less than those of Palestinians.

“Israel has done everything that they can do to minimize civilian deaths, which are a tragedy but fall squarely on the hands of Hamas,” Hill said.

“(Hamas) failed to build even one humanitarian structure for their own people ensuring safety, knowing full well that Israel would retaliate after their atrocious attack.”