City Council met Feb. 5 and heard from members of the Athens community who implored council members to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The push follows about 50 U.S. cities passing similar resolutions, including Seattle and Chicago.
Wesley Thompson was the first to speak to council members, citing numbers from the International Court of Justice. Since Oct. 7, 2023, 25,700 Palestinians were killed, 63,000 injured, 360,000 housing units destroyed, and 1.7 million people displaced, according to an ICJ document from Jan 26.
Thompson said the City of Athens is obligated to the health, safety and basic human rights of all people in the city and abroad. He further condemned the U.S. government’s suspension of funds to United Nations relief programs sending aid to Gaza.
Thompson’s resolution to council members was to call on the state and federal government leaders to demand and facilitate a permanent ceasefire by Israel on the people of Palestine, restore funding for healthcare and halt funding for weaponry.
Alisha Bicknell, who graduated from Ohio University in 2010, said she was disappointed to see where her taxes are going and is extremely dissatisfied with current government leadership.
Bicknell said Ohio holds the second-most Israel bonds out of all U.S. states. According to Ohio Treasure Robert Sprague’s website from Oct. 11, 2023, the state now holds $187.5 million in Israel bonds after a $20 million purchase. Bicknell compared the figure to the national $3.8 billion in annual federal aid to Israel. She also said the Gazan death toll exceeds the entire population of the city of Athens.
Barbara Lyons, a Jewish resident who only recently moved to the city, said she has belonged to the Jewish Voice for Peace for many years.
“It sickens me when people say every Jew is a Zionist,” Lyons said. “Zionists are Nazis, and there’s no other way to say it. I’m sick of being ashamed to say I’m a Jew, and then I have to say, ‘but.’”
However, the support for a ceasefire resolution was not unanimous among participants. Rabbi Levi Raichik and Director of Chabad Jewish Center on Court Street spoke out against those calling for a ceasefire, claiming other attendees had been feeding council members “lies” and “conspiracy theories.”
Raichik read from the biblical book Genesis about the Jewish claim to the modern territory of Israel and Palestine. He also said he did not know Ohio owned the second-most Israel bonds out of the U.S. states.
“Ohio being the second largest donor of Israel bonds makes me proud to be an Ohioan,” Raichik said.
Drake Chamberlin, an attendee of the pro-Palestine protest on Jan. 26, spoke out against Raichik and the Israeli government for their use of religious texts to justify political and military action.
“I’m afraid we have people running Israel right now that are being driven by this ancient belief system,” Chamberlin said.
Micah McCarey, D-At Large, said the resolution will be considered and told attendees to be on the lookout for whether it appears on the upcoming committee meeting’s agenda, which goes on the city’s website Friday.
Before adjournment, Lyons returned to the podium to comment on Raichik’s statements.
“That’s a wonderful country that the Bible has given my people, and I don’t want it,” Lyons said.
The council also tabled a resolution prohibiting the use of mind-altering substances in outdoor spaces. The council members decided there needs to be additional time to decide what language might be the most appropriate for the future amendment.
