116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids City Council won’t take up activists’ request for resolution urging cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war
Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell says council won’t weigh in on foreign policy matter where it has no authority
CEDAR RAPIDS — Local activists are asking the Cedar Rapids City Council to join neighboring city governments in passing a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
So far, it seems the nine-member council won’t be moved to take up such a resolution and will likely reject the pleas to follow Johnson County communities including Iowa City and Coralville, whose councils have passed cease-fire resolutions. While council members say the city lacks authority to weigh in on foreign policy, the activists say they disagree with the notion this isn’t a local matter.
In an Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Hamas militant group killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 200, including some Americans — triggering the war that has gone on for more than three months. The Israeli military continues to bombard Gaza and, as of Sunday, the number of Palestinians killed has surpassed 25,000.
Around the nation, activists have been asking local governments to pass resolutions — mostly symbolic gestures — urging a lasting solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some major Democratic-led cities including Detroit and Atlanta have adopted the measures, though in Chicago the resolution’s passage is less certain after the city council tabled it this week.
“We’re very mindful of the rich history and ethnicities represented in our city. The question of whether or not the city has a resolution or not — we aren’t here to debate the merits of the resolution,” Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said. “The question of the council is whether we are going to wade into issues of foreign policy, of which we certainly have no authority. The answer is no.”
Cedar Rapids’ resolution -- brought to the council by Advocates for Social Justice -- has been endorsed by Veterans for Peace, Artivists of Iowa, Jewish Voice for Peace Eastern Iowa, Iowans for Palestine, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Cedar Rapids Democratic Socialists of America, and Students for Justice in Palestine.
More than a dozen people in the audience at Tuesday’s council meeting stood in support of a cease-fire. Some waved small Palestinian flags with “Cease-fire Now!” written on the back.
Specifically — like the resolution passed by the Iowa City Council in a 4-3 vote — the proposed Cedar Rapids measure calls for the city to support “a permanent cease-fire in Palestine and Israel, the return of all captives, and the delivery of humanitarian aid; and affirming opposition to antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bigotry with the aim of achieving a just and lasting political solution.”
Mariam “Mimi” Daoud, with Advocates for Social Justice, said it is unfair for the mayor and council to be vocal for Israel but silent for Palestine.
O’Donnell posted on her mayoral Facebook account on Oct. 10, “God bless Israel” with an Israeli flag over the image of a Cedar Rapids skyline. At the Oct. 10 meeting, O’Donnell said those in the chambers would pray for “peace in the Middle East,” but the invocation led by public safety chaplain Jim Coyle acknowledged the Israeli lives lost in the attack.
“I take issue with the contrasting it of the silence for Palestinian lives,” Daoud said. “Posting ‘God bless Israel,’ praying for Israel, reading a prayer for Israel on a municipal government floor and then turning around and saying that a discussion about Palestine is not a local issue is quite hypocritical.”
Daoud said the advocates would be interested in working with city officials to draft a resolution emphasizing the city and Cedar Rapids Police Department’s commitment to all citizens, regardless of their ethnicity, religious background and political beliefs.
“That is also a great step but I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive,” Daoud said of maintaining momentum on a cease-fire resolution. “I think that both can happen.”
The Cedar Rapids activists’ request also comes after the Iowa House last week adopted a resolution that “recognizes the State of Israel’s right to act decisively and unilaterally in self-defense” and “calls upon Iowa’s state and local law enforcement agencies to remain vigilant in protecting Israeli Americans and all supporters of the State of Israel from acts of crime and unlawful discrimination.”
“Who are we supposed to rely on? Who are we supposed to come to? If it’s not this municipal government, who is it?” Daoud said. “ … If we are not turning to our state government, we are turning to you.”
With some Johnson Community cities adopting a cease-fire resolution, if Cedar Rapids declines to support such a measure, Anthony Arrington, with Advocates for Social Justice, asked the council: “Are we agreeing with the state? Are we OK with that?”
Maier said he felt this was “scope creep” and that local governments don’t have a role to play on this matter. He met with advocates before Tuesday’s council meeting to discuss the resolution. But he did share concerns about safety issues and said if there are people in the community who feel unsafe, the city could have a hand in addressing that.
“Perhaps that’s just the police communicating that they want to reiterate they serve and protect everyone, regardless of their race or color or beliefs,” Maier said.
Asked if there were other ways she envisioned the city offering support to Palestinians in Cedar Rapids, O’Donnell said she has not been approached by anyone else in the community on this issue and did not have immediate answers.
Anne Harris Carter, with Advocates for Social Justice, said she is concerned the council might miss the opportunity to demonstrate what it means to say “welcome is our language.”
“There’s a clear dissonance for me: neighbors come together in times of need despite differences. And when I consider the language of the resolution making its way through the state Legislature in Iowa, I am mortified that is not the language of welcome,” Carter said.
State Rep. Sami Scheetz, D-Cedar Rapids, said in a statement that as a resident of Cedar Rapids and the first Arab American state legislator in Iowa’s history, he is “deeply disappointed in the city’s decision to not consider a cease-fire resolution.”
While state and local governments around the U.S. weigh in on the conflict, Scheetz said the council’s argument against considering its own resolution is less salient.
“While the city’s decision will not impact the outcome of the war, its moral stand can symbolize our community's commitment to peace, justice and human rights,” Scheetz said. “By publicly advocating for a cease-fire, the council can send a powerful message, contributing to the collective call for peace in the region.”
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com
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