For more than four months, people have flooded Cleveland City Council meetings with chanting, protests and public comments calling on City Council to pass a resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza. The Cleveland Palestine Advocacy Community, which includes organizations such as the Palestinian Youth Movement and Jewish Voice for Peace, has advocated for City Council to pass a ceasefire resolution sent earlier this year.

The coalition first presented a ceasefire resolution to council on Oct. 30.

“One of the reasons we decided to do that was just to kind of put Cleveland on the map as a place that has firm stances about moral and just happenings and fighting for life,” said Noelle Naser, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement.

International issues come home

More than 30,000 Palestinians and over 1,200 Israelis have died since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, and 1.7 million people living in Gaza have been displaced. (Gaza’s population is 2.1 million.) 

The majority of public commenters since mid-October have called for a ceasefire resolution or been critical of Mayor Justin Bibb’s and some City Council members’ public support for Israel. Bibb has since said that his comment was focused on Hamas’s attack and that he supports a two-state solution.

The commenters represent communities across Greater Cleveland, including the region’s large Arab and Jewish communities. Cuyahoga County is home to  as many as 80,000 Jewish residents and an estimated 20,000 Arab residents, though the exact count of Palestinian residents isn’t available. Advocates say the Arab population is undercounted by the census and could be much higher.

Pushing for a ceasefire resolution 

On Jan. 29, Council President Blaine Griffin said City Council would not pass a ceasefire resolution that is “one-sided.” The resolution sent to council members asked for council to support the end of violence in Gaza and cited a United Nations resolution calling for both sides to cease hostilities and comply with humanitarian law.

Council Member Rebecca Maurer declared her support for a ceasefire and pushed back on council’s inability to introduce a resolution of its own.

In previous meetings, two commenters explicitly opposed a ceasefire resolution, and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland sent a letter to council opposing it. Another two spoke in support of Bibb’s and council members’ statements supporting Israel.

Naser said that advocates have also met with individual council members and collected signatures from more than 2,000 businesses and individuals in support of a ceasefire resolution. Out of 75 public commenters since mid-October, 55 supported a ceasefire resolution or criticized Bibb’s initial statement.

Supporters of a ceasefire resolution plan to be at City Hall for the 15th time on March 4, where they have said they will host meeting and pass a resolution “by the people,” according to the Cleveland Palestine Advocacy Community.

This article has been updated to provide context about the size of Cuyahoga County’s Arab population and to correct the first mention of the Cleveland Palestine Advocacy Community.

To hear more from the public commenters below, click on their photos below. Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Noelle Naser is a Palestinian-American living in Cleveland and is a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement. She has made public comments three times since Oct. 16 about the history of Palestine and Israel, and the ceasefire resolution that was sent to City Council.

Why have you been making public comment and what impact do you hope it will have?

I felt not only responsibility as a Palestinian to use my voice to uplift the voices of the Palestinians on the ground, but to also educate.

I wanted to use that first public comment as a chance to explain the history of Palestine, of the occupation and the colonization. Give [council members] the benefit of the doubt and start opening up the dialogue with the community, specifically the Palestinian community, hear our stories, and then use that afterwards to maybe get some more action done.

Oct. 30 was the first date we introduced a [ceasefire] resolution to council. One of the reasons we decided to do that was just to kind of put Cleveland on the map as a place that has firm stances about moral and just happenings and fighting for life.

You chose to come back and make another public comment. Why?

We haven’t been heard. We’ve been trying to connect with council members one-on-one or in groups to have this open dialogue and discussion to help them learn and understand and see from the Palestinian perspective. It’s not only a Palestinian cause, but an issue of humanity.

We had gathered signatures from, at the time, over 80 organizations that had signed on also calling for a ceasefire. We wanted to show that not only was it our group that is coming here calling for this, but the greater Cleveland community is also asking for that.

What would it mean to you for City Council to pass a ceasefire resolution?

It would mean a lot. Before we started coming to public comment, Palestine, I felt, was kind of a taboo thing to talk about. Often Palestinians hid their identity, or it was something that even if it was brought up was kind of countered with this “two sides” and not so much a focus on our own identity.

For me personally, and I think for a lot of Palestinians personally, having our identity and our stories recognized reaffirms our own identity. That our stories are believed and recognized and have a place here in Cleveland.

What has been the response from council members? Both to your public comments and when you’ve reached out to individuals?

We’ve had a mix. I do want to acknowledge that we have had council people who have been sitting down and having dialogue with us and have really been trying to educate themselves. And, you know, may be coming from a place where they didn’t have this knowledge and are catching up to where we are now.

Not having this ceasefire resolution passed–on top of numerous other cities that have passed it, even Akron–it’s been a little frustrating. We know that there’s more beyond the ceasefire resolution, but we feel that it’s calling for this basic act of an end to violence.

You talked in your comments about the community leadership that you’ve seen on this, and you mentioned healing circles and teachings. Could you elaborate on that side of the community leadership?

The healing circles are a chance for the Palestinian community and our allies to come together and just have a space to process and debrief. A chance to kind of step back away from these direct actions of emotionally marching and chanting and yelling and having this time to process the deep grief that the community is feeling and witnessing.

It’s very heavy to be watching a genocide of your people and then also having to be advocating for them and for yourself.

You mentioned there’s been such a growth in community leadership. What do you think leadership coming from our local elected officials would look like in this moment?

Acknowledgment that we have been coming to public comments. Nearly filling every 10th spot is definitely something worth mentioning and talking about.

I also think making these original statements of “Cleveland stands with Israel,” but then coming back after we’ve been talking to somebody, “A ceasefire resolution is a foreign issue. Cleveland shouldn’t touch on this,” I think it’s very contradictory. And it’s sending mixed messages to the community of “who do representatives represent?” If they’re standing in solidarity with Israel, but then not standing in solidarity with the Palestinians–not even in Palestine but here in Cleveland–it creates this distrust and almost resentment. 

I think the biggest part they’re missing is that as Palestinian speakers, Black speakers, Jewish speakers–we’re trying to express that this is touching every demographic. That if they are really listening to their constituents they would understand that it is all of us against genocide.

It’s not as complicated an issue as it’s been made to seem.

Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin said Council will not support a ceasefire resolution. What’s your response to that?

Instead of listening to our very basic ask of a ceasefire resolution, over the weeks [City Council has] doubled down on their repression of us speaking out and have thrown around racist accusations against our group and Palestinians and Muslims as a whole.

We will continue to be the voice for the Palestinians in Gaza and all of Palestine who are living under genocide and occupation. If we have learned anything from all these weeks it is that Cleveland stands with Palestine.

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Estelle Raskin is a Jewish resident of Cleveland and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace. She has made public comment twice since Oct. 16. In her comments she has talked about her identity as a Jewish person and asked City Council to pass a ceasefire resolution.

Why have you been coming to Cleveland City Council?

So much is happening so quickly. And we now collectively–Palestinians, Jews and other allies–have been coming to Cleveland City Council. The death toll is mounting every minute. So there’s an incredible sense of urgency and eminence that is bringing us there and that I feel.

It’s important to really do anything and everything we can to bring attention to the situation and ask our representatives to use their power and their platform and pass a ceasefire resolution.

As someone who lives in Cleveland, what would it mean to you if a ceasefire resolution were passed by City Council?

One of my best friends has extended family in Gaza. He sends them our public comments and you wouldn’t believe the hope it gives them. He forwards me their texts and they make me weep. A ceasefire in Cleveland is a declaration that can ripple out, and give permission to other cities, states, and countries to stand for the safety and dignity of all people.  

You mentioned in one of your comments that Cleveland City Council passed a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine within a week of the invasion. How does that make you feel about your representatives?

They’re not doing their jobs. At the most fundamental level, they’re not representing us. They’re not even, at the City Council [meetings], giving us any indication that they hear us. There’s an apathy.

We’re going through all the right channels to try to achieve this goal. We’re doing all the right things. I think there’s a feeling of betrayal because we’re coming to them and asking them for their help. We’re asking them to use their power, and they’re continuing to refuse.

In your first public comment you said to city council members, “How will you protect me from actual antisemitism when you are being complicit in the perversion of that term? How will you protect your Palestinian Arab and Muslim constituents from anti-Palestinian hate and Islamophobia, when speaking out for their own safety is construed as antisemitism?”

Could you tell me more about what you mean by that? 

What I mean when I say perversion of that term is that any criticism of Israel is being rendered as antisemitic. Including any kind of peaceful protests from Jews, from Palestinians, from anyone. Jews are being called self-hating. There really isn’t a tolerance for any kind of critique of Israeli policies governing Palestinians.

I’ve been in conversation with people in Cleveland who feel that they cannot express any criticism of Israel in their workplaces.

This violence in Palestine is making it unsafe for everybody. Jews and Palestinians and Arabs. Islamophobia and antisemitism are there–when one goes up, the other goes up. That alone is an argument for how continuing the violence is not going to make Jews safer. It’s not making anybody safer.

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Summer Husein is a Palestinian-American living in Cleveland. She has made public comment three times since Oct. 16. Her comments have criticized Mayor Justin Bibb’s statement of support for Israel  and called for City Council to pass a ceasefire resolution.

Why did you initially decide to make a public comment?

I started going to City Council more for the purpose of informing and educating. Informing more the mayor and City Council that the mayor’s statement was incorrect because he stated in a tweet that Cleveland stands with Israel. As a resident of Cleveland, and a part of the broader Arab community in Cleveland, that was not true.

Why do you support a ceasefire resolution?

As a Palestinian American, 90% of my identity surrounds being Palestinian and what that means. And calling for a ceasefire in what I consider to be my home country, is very important to me. But broader than that, this isn’t a matter of whether you’re Palestinian or American or Egyptian or even Middle Eastern at this point, it’s a foundation of just humanity.

People are being slaughtered, are being starved, are just overall being treated inhumanely. That in itself should want anybody to call for a ceasefire.

Some council members have said this isn’t a Cleveland issue. As a Cleveland resident, what would it mean to you for City Council to pass a ceasefire resolution?

If this isn’t a Cleveland issue, why is the mayor making comments? But further than that, [Greater] Cleveland is home to over 25,000 Palestinians/Arabs. In that scenario as the mayor of Cleveland is coming out and saying that Cleveland supports Israel, and there are openly Palestinian citizens of Cleveland here, it’s going to create an Islamaphobic environment, it’s going to create a Palestinian-phobic environment. It’s just going to become a hostile environment.

You mentioned in your most recent comments that Bibb has said he wants safer communities but that with his tweet, he created an environment that is less safe for Palestinians living here. Could you tell me about what safety in your community looks like to you?

It’s the overall knowing of the fact that I can leave my house and nobody is going to be hostile or be harmful towards me because I’m Palestinian or because I’m walking around. I am a Muslim, a Palestinian hijabi, so I am very visibly diverse. That in itself makes it so that I’m readily identified as being Middle Eastern or Muslim.

You mentioned in your first public comment that you met Bibb previously when you were an intern with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown’s office. Does your experience having worked in a political setting impact your view of public comment and this process?

As an intern for Senator Brown, one of the bigger parts of what we did was casework. The other half we [would] answer the phones and answer the emails. We look at the faxes from people leaving comments, like they’ll call the senator’s office and say “I would like the senator to vote no or yes.”

Obviously, the community in Cleveland has gone above and beyond. At this point, this isn’t a lack of us trying, it’s the mayor himself ignoring the democratic process of being for the people.

Working in a senator’s office you start to understand the actual “politics” behind phone calls and making public comments and going to these things. It sounds dumb, but it’s more like a game when you’re trying to appeal to these people.

Anything else you’d like to share?

A lot of people surrounding us going to public comment [are] like, “It’s been weeks and you guys still have gotten nowhere. Why do you guys keep going?”

I just think it’s important for people who have lost faith in the political system to know that we want to be able to know that we’ve done everything we could’ve done to get the ceasefire resolution passed, whether it’s public comments, events that are being held, or fundraising and educational information events.

These public comments are held live on YouTube and then posted so other people can see. While we may not be convincing city council members, maybe on the broader spectrum, the people that are watching this are being informed and maybe changing their minds.

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Koby Picker is a Jewish resident of Greater Cleveland and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace. He’s given public comment at City Council once since Oct. 16. In his comment he criticized City Council’s lack of action and asked them to pass a ceasefire resolution.

Why did you decide to make a public comment?

There has been an unfolding genocide occurring in Gaza since Oct. 7. Cleveland’s mayor, Justin Bibb, has made statements saying that Cleveland stands with Israel. Given the unfolding atrocity, I felt that it was important to offer a response to that.

I’ve seen Palestinian groups and members of the Jewish community offering that response at Cleveland City Council. Because [they’re] going up there every week and we still haven’t seen any movements by City Council towards [the] ceasefire resolution, I decided to give it a turn. 

You said in your comment that a letter The Jewish Federation  sent to City Council opposing a ceasefire resolution wasn’t representative of the Jewish values you had learned growing up. What were some of those values?

One of the values that I was explicitly taught at Agnon, which is now called Mandel Jewish Day School, is “tzedek, tzedek, tirdof,” which is “justice, justice you shall pursue.” That is one of the core values that has me standing up in solidarity with those in need of justice here. 

Then there’s another, I don’t have the Hebrew for it. But there’s a Jewish value of human life. Specifically, when you hear the phrase ‘to save a life, as if you’ve saved the world.’ To see how cheap life is being treated by the Israeli military. So it calls me to respond to that as well.

What would leadership that is more representative look like? From elected officials or community members?

There is a strong contingent of Jews, in Cleveland’s community and throughout the United States, that are seriously questioning their relationship with Israel or have finished questioning and have outright decided they can’t abide by the Zionism which is forced upon us by the broader community.

Locally, there are really only two groups that have a tolerance for the type of politics we’re talking about. That would be Jewish Voice for Peace and, to some extent, the Cleveland Jewish Collective. It’s a relatively new congregation in Cleveland, and they do have a number of people who aren’t ardent Zionists. It’s a safe space for people with alternative views. I want to see more bravery from members in other congregations, who feel compelled to stand up for this but feel like they have no way to do so.

Why do you support a ceasefire resolution?

I support a ceasefire resolution because of the commitment to human life. The scale of the killing has been extreme. The only way to do justice to families who have members who are currently held hostage in Gaza is by allowing for a permanent ceasefire to prevent them from being harmed by the Israeli military and to begin negotiating for their release.

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