ITHACA, N.Y. — The Tompkins County Legislature rejected a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war at its meeting Tuesday. The resolution, which had been modified from an earlier version considered in January, failed by a 7-6 vote after hours of public comment where dozens of residents spoke in support of the legislation.
The defeated resolution called for the release of all civilian hostages by Hamas, a “sustainable ceasefire from all sides to stop the ongoing war and violence,” restoration of electricity and water service in Gaza, unrestricted humanitarian aid to those impacted, and more.
The language urging the release of Hamas’ hostages was added, with other elements, while tweaking an earlier version of the resolution as a compromise to hopefully gain the legislature’s full support, though that proved unsuccessful.
The rejection ends a debate spanning several legislature meetings over the last three months. During that time, each meeting’s public comment period has been filled with emotional appeals to the legislature to approve some form of condemnation of the violence.
On Oct. 7, Hamas members representing Palestine attacked Israel. Aljazeera reports that nearly 28,000 Palestinians and 1,139 Israelis have been killed in the conflict that has unfolded since then, including the initial attacks. As the bloodshed continues, ceasefire resolutions have been introduced in municipal governments throughout the United States, most notably in the city of Chicago, whose governing body just passed a resolution calling for an end to the Israeli military’s assault on Gaza.
With the vote count 7-5 in favor, Tompkins County Legislature Chair Dan Klein delivered the final vote of “No,” meaning the resolution would not reach the necessary threshold of 8 votes to pass, even though “Yes” secured more votes. Klein was the only legislator not to comment on the resolution during the meeting and maintained that position when approached during a break after his vote.
“I’m not ready to comment,” Klein said. “I will some day, but not today.”
Democratic Legislators Veronica Pillar, Greg Mezey and Amanda Champion argued that despite the jurisdictional limitations, making a statement that the ongoing Israeli offensive against Gaza should not be allowed to continue, particularly with financial help from the United States, is worth the oddness of weighing in on an international conflict.
“This is a resolution for peace,” Champion said, echoing Pillar’s earlier sentiments. “We can’t keep treating each other like this.”
In 2022, in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the legislature passed a resolution allowing a Ukrainian flag to stand in chambers. Mezey did not support that resolution at the time, stating that a foreign country’s flag should not be flown in the county’s place of legislative business.
In the face of the ongoing conflict, though, Mezey said he respected other legislators’ right to disagree, but wondered aloud how the resolution’s opponents would feel about the vote after the meeting.
“I don’t know how you can sit by and watch all the atrocities and not speak up,” Mezey said. “Some people will be upset with some of us for voting on the right side of history, and I’m okay with that.”
Those in opposition were more varied in their motivations. Legislator Mike Sigler retained his position that Israel has a right to defend itself from Hamas and that the country should not be condemned for acting in retaliation to the Oct. 7 attacks.
Sigler pushed back on several commenters’ use of the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s offensive in Gaza. He said the term made him uncomfortable because he felt it indicates a desire to end the state of Israel, as opposed to stopping its military actions.
Other opponents of the measure spoke less about the actual conflict, instead focusing on the authority and jurisdiction of the Tompkins County Legislature and how little tangible impact the resolution would have on the ongoing violence.
Legislators Rich John and Lee Shurtleff both highlighted that point specifically. John said he would not support a resolution that he didn’t feel was an appropriate use of the legislature’s voice.
Shurtleff spoke about his concerns when he looks around the county or his community of Groton, like homelessness, Narcan availability, and emergency response efficiency. He said the legislature’s time and influence would be better spent discussing those issues, rather than attending to an international conflict.
Legislator Randy Brown made these same points during his remarks about his opposition to the resolution, adding that the United States should end military funding support to Ukraine and Israel and focus on fixing domestic issues.
“I get the frustration, but what can we do?” Brown asked. “The Biden administration is going to do what they’re going to do. Israel is going to do what they’re going to do. […] Let’s spend two hours on homelessness. Let’s spend two hours on youth mental health.”
While the commenters Tuesday were universally supportive of the resolution, Legislator Shawna Black noted that since the first meeting the topic was discussed, county electeds received hundreds of emails asking them not to pass the resolution. That was confirmed by other legislators during the debate.
Remarks from the public all centered on a similar sentiment: that the resolution was an important signal to display opposition to Israel’s military action, even if it wasn’t as forceful as the previous resolution that the Human Rights Commission had advanced.
“We can’t know if this resolution will do anything,” said commenter Barbara Chasen. “We can know that doing nothing is a form of passive support for our government’s complicity in this brutality. […] We should remind ourselves that the people of Gaza are not our enemies.”
In total, Legislators Travis Brooks, Shawna Black, Susan Currie, Anne Koreman, Amanda Champion, Greg Mezey and Veronica Pillar voted in favor of the resolution, while Legislators Mike Sigler, Lee Shurtleff, Dan Klein, Randy Brown, Rich John and Mike Lane voted against. Deborah Dawson was excused from the meeting.
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