Divided Moorhead City Council passes Gaza cease-fire resolution
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A divided Moorhead City Council approved a resolution on Monday calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
People holding signs and flags filled the council chambers for the discussion of the measure in response to the Israel-Hamas War.
City Council member Deb White encouraged a yes vote on the resolution, though she also said the city has no authority to influence international affairs.
“The issues it touches on are not part of our core functions as a city government,” said White. “But as public servants, I do think that we cannot simply ignore the outpouring of people in our community who are asking us to respond, pleading with us to respond.”
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The resolution, previously passed by the city’s Human Rights Commission, calls on state and federal officials to use their authority to “advance a full, immediate and permanent ceasefire, along with urgently needed humanitarian aid as a necessary step towards lasting peace.”
It also calls on the U.S. to set conditions on military aid to Israel, and urges the release of both Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
And it proclaims that the city stands “firmly against the rise of and all acts of racially motivated violence and hate crimes perpetrated against our Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian and Arab constituents here in Moorhead and around the United States.”
The resolution is non-binding, but White said it offered the council an opportunity to use its voice to “speak out for peace.”
Four council members voted for the resolution, two opposed it, and two members abstained, saying the city council should not take positions on international issues. That left Mayor Shelly Carlson to break the tie.
“I will be voting for this resolution because that is where my heart lies,” said Carlson, who added that she wanted to be clear that the resolution only represents the views of elected officials. “We are speaking as individuals who happen to be holding positions of power within the city,” she said.
Carlson noted that several residents opposed the resolution, and the mayor said she will oppose any such future resolutions, “because this is not the forum for this to occur.”
Several other Minnesota city councils, including those in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Hastings and Columbia Heights, have passed their own cease-fire resolutions in recent months.
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