Laura Glesby photo
Activists at alder meeting show support for ceasefire resolution.
Should New Haven join Providence, Detroit, and Oakland in publicly calling for a ceasefire in Gaza through its local legislature?
Twenty-five activists appeared at Monday night’s Board of Alders meeting to show support for such a statement.
Chloe Miller, a law student at Yale, submitted a resolution to alders “calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, which she said was drafted by a coalition of activists both affiliated and unaffiliated with the university.
In addition to supporting a ceasefire, the resolution calls for “the release of all hostages including Palestinians arbitrarily detained by Israel,” the provision of “unrestricted” humanitarian aid and restoration of electricity, water, food, and medical equipment in Gaza, “an end to the siege and blockade of Gaza,” and “respect for international law by all parties.”
It also restates a “commitment to combat anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia in all its forms.”
Similar resolutions have been passed by legislative bodies in cities across the country. Click here, here, and here to read about some examples. Click here to read the proposed resolution now before the Board of Alders in full.
Miller and two dozen others took seat in the Aldermanic Chamber for Monday night’s meeting, mere days after a temporary pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas devolved into violence. As with all such requests sent to the alders, the proposed resolution was entered into the record as a “communication” but not discussed publicly or voted on during the meeting.
The Board of Alders has taken a stance on foreign policy in the past. It passed a resolution in 2022 calling for an end to the U.S. embargo against Cuba, as well as a resolution in 2020 calling for the U.S. to reallocate military funding and work toward an end to nuclear weapons.
Harmony Solomon Cruz-Bustamante and Kevin Menescardi.
Harmony Solomon Cruz-Bustamante, a Wilbur Cross senior and a student Board of Education representative, noted that the subject is personal for many New Haveners, including many of their classmates.
“For the last couple of months, it’s been hard to operate normally,” they said. Particularly as New Haven’s refugee community grows, they added, “there’s not enough mental health support.”
After the alders’ meeting, the activists present approached a handful of alders to make their case in one-on-one conversations.
Board President Tyisha Walker-Myers can now decide to assign the resolution to a committee, which would hold a public hearing on the statement.