Duluth City Council rejects Israel-Hamas war cease-fire resolution

DULUTH — The Duluth City Council last night voted against a resolution calling for an Israel-Hamas war cease-fire, following weeks of intense pleading from dozens of residents to approve the symbolic measure.

Councilors heard about three hours of public comment from a packed chambers that spilled into the hallway, in a night that included a Hebrew prayer, a Quaker hymn sing-along, raised fists and impassioned speeches from citizens and councilors alike.

The vote was a 5-4 split, with Councilors Lynn Nephew, Tara Swenson, Arik Forsman, Terese Tomanek and Janet Kennedy opposing it. It was supported by Council President Roz Randorf and resolution co-authors Azrin Awal, Mike Mayou and Wendy Durrwachter.

It comes three weeks after nearly 46,000 Minnesota voters checked “uncommitted” in the state’s Democratic presidential primary, a push from progressive Minnesotans and members of the Muslim community to send a message to President Joe Biden that large factions of his own party want him to support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

On Monday night, Tomanek said she believes council support of such a resolution would further alienate and harm some in the community who are already afraid.

“People are on edge,” she said, of some of the Jewish community she has spoken to. “If I could vote and know it wouldn’t cause emotional or psychological trauma to people of our city — and it will, and it already has done so — I could possibly vote for it.”

Awal said she met with the Jewish community to revise the resolution to ease some of those concerns. Awal, who is Muslim, said many feel unsafe, with rising Islamophobia in Duluth, which she has experienced herself.

“The voices in our community have been calling for us to take a stand and protect human life,” she said. “This is how a global issue becomes local.”

The majority of councilors said they had heard from many it wasn’t city business; they were elected to prioritize local issues and the city’s own crises, including housing, homelessness and public safety.

Speakers were largely in support of the resolution and numbered close to 50, ranging from University of Minnesota Duluth students and children of those with Jewish and Palestinian heritage. Many said they didn’t support tax dollars going to support the war and didn’t want America associated with the killing of civilians on either side. Some said they were just calling for peace, or recalled past council decisions that took a stand on non-city issues, such as the war in Iraq.

Lyla Abukhodair, a second-generation immigrant who is opening a Palestinian restaurant in Duluth, said Islamophobia prevents her family overseas from obtaining visas to visit Duluth, thereby missing weddings, graduations and holidays. Her family in Duluth has endured racists comments because of its last name, she said.

“I stand before you as a lifelong Duluth resident, a Palestinian lifelong Duluth resident. There are many more of us who share this heritage with me in Duluth. Many people who may relate to our struggle for freedom with their own beautiful, unique story in which so many want to erase,” she said. “Is that local enough?”

Minneapolis, St. Paul, Moorhead and Hastings have passed such resolutions, intended to carry a message to state and federal leaders.