Iowa City narrowly passes resolution calling for cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war, joining Democratic-led U.S. cities

IOWA CITY — In a split vote, the Iowa City Council on Tuesday answered community calls to pass a resolution urging a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, seeking to support the rights of all people in both Palestine and Israel to live in peace and security.

The measure, adopted in a 4-3 vote by the seven-member council, was supported by community members who oppose the nearly three-month long war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. In an Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Hamas killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 200, including some Americans — triggering the ongoing war.

With the resolution’s passage, Iowa City joins a growing number of Democratic-led cities around the U.S. that have passed resolutions — a mostly symbolic sign — calling for a cease-fire to resolve the conflict. The U.N. General Assembly last month overwhelmingly voted in support of a humanitarian cease-fire, but the U.S. vetoed the resolution.

Mayor Bruce Teague — who voted for the city resolution with council members Laura Bergus, Andrew Dunn and Mazahir Salih — said at least 16 individuals worked on the resolution with city officials. While the resolution may not create a visible response that people can see across the globe — an end to the conflict — city officials felt it was important to create a document that represented the thoughts of the Iowa City community.

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“We do recognize that this document can be viewed by many in various lights, but our true hope was to really find a way to express ourselves to show the love and support for all the Palestinian and Israeli individuals that live in our community,” Teague said.

Iowa City’s resolution calls for a cease-fire and asks for “the return of all hostages, and the delivery of humanitarian aid.” It also opposes antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bigotry “with the aim of achieving a just and lasting political solution.” Under this measure, the city condemns the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas as well as the killing of civilians in Gaza and West Bank by the state of Israel.

The resolution’s passage comes after the Israeli military announced it would pull thousands of troops out of the Gaza strip — a sign of longer-term, lower-intensity fighting against Hamas terrorists, the Associated Press reported. International pressure has mounted for Israel to scale back its military offensive as nearly 22,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war. Hamas still holds more than 100 hostages in Gaza.

Under the resolution, Iowa City asks that the congressional delegation support all resolutions and legislation that align with the values of the city resolution, particularly those intended to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It cites U.S. House Resolution 786, which asks President Joe Biden to immediately facilitate de-escalation and a cease-fire in Israel and Palestine and urges the president to promptly send humanitarian aid into Gaza.

It also affirms citizens’ First Amendment rights to criticize the government “and affirms that criticism of governments in Israel and Palestine is not inherently antisemitic or anti-Arab,” shooting back at GOP politicians who have labeled pro-Palestinian protesters advocating for peace as antisemitic or Hamas sympathizers. Some Republicans have threatened to pull universities’ funding and deport international students accused of sympathizing with anti-Israel terrorists.

Council members who opposed the resolution said they voted against it because they wanted more time to gain broader community support, but Bergus said inaction maintains the status quo and also causes harm.

Of those who opposed the measure, council member Shawn Harmsen favored taking more time and said while addressing a global injustice, he didn’t want to risk alienating parts of the Iowa City community with the resolution. Council members Josh Moe and Megan Alter said they supported a strong resolution deploring violence in the Middle East and senseless killing, but favored a pause to consider the language.

“I don’t know that we have heard the whole community,” Alter said.

Deema Totah, a Palestinian American resident of Iowa City, said the resolution so far has received public endorsements from 20 organizations and more than 140 individuals since Sunday morning.

“Looking at this council today, I envy you because each one of you has a voice today — a platform you have earned with this council seat,” Totah said. “We as U.S. citizens have not been given a choice about whether we support Israel’s bombing and killing of Palestinians, mass destruction of Palestinian society and infrastructure … Washington has not heard us, so we’ve come to you to amplify our voices.”

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State Rep. Sami Scheetz, D-Cedar Rapids, the first Arab American elected to serve in the Iowa Legislature, said the resolution wouldn’t change the outcome of the conflict in Gaza alone, but more violence wouldn’t end a conflict between Israel and Palestine that has raged for more than 50 years.

“It helps the peace cause when local U.S. governments go on record opposing crimes against humanity that are being carried out with U.S. funding, U.S. arms and U.S. protection,” said Paul Street, of Iowa City.

The council chambers erupted in applause when Bergus said this was a challenging topic to face in the first meeting of the year, but that as elected leaders, their challenge is to decide when to draw the lines rather than pursue perfection.

“We will never hear from 100 percent of the community and we will never have 100 percent of the community in agreement,” Bergus said.

Council member Mazahir Salih said that Iowa City residents drafted a bold resolution. She said the resolution didn’t mean the city was picking a side, but instead represents its opposition to violence.

“We just don’t like killing in general,” Salih said. “... We are not going to be perfect.”

Teague said some may see this as a political statement and he understood concerns about the language, but he supported the resolution with some language changes proposed by Dunn.

“The intent of Iowa City speaking its concern and humanitarian position — that is what we wanted to get at,” Teague said.

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