Majority of Northfield council abstains or votes against proposed ceasefire resolution

A divided Northfield City Council chose not to pass a resolution offered by councilors Davin Sokup and George Zuccolotto which would have endorsed a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, frustrating dozens of area residents who have packed recent meetings to demand the council back a ceasefire.

At previous meetings, a resolution in support of a ceasefire has not even made it onto the Council agenda, with Mayor Rhonda Pownell and Councilors expressing sympathy but also finding the issue to be non-germane to the Council’s responsibilities.

While it might be unusual for a City Council to weigh in on an issue of foreign policy, more than 100 cities across the country have passed symbolic resolutions calling for a ceasefire, including the Minnesota cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Hastings, Columbia Heights and Moorhead.

With concern about conditions in Palestine growing across the globe, a passionate group of organizers, including many professors and students at Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges, hoped that Northfield, a community well known for progressive, activist driven politics, would formally add its voice to the pro-ceasefire effort.

An online petition calling on Northfield’s City Council to adopt a pro-ceasefire resolution was signed by over 700 people, though it was not limited to Northfield residents and a significant number of signatories appear to currently live outside the city.

Triggered by the October 7th terrorist attack which left more than 1,200 Israelis dead, the largest one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Israel’s assault on Gaza has left more than 30,000 Gazans dead according to figures from the Gazan health ministry, which though run by Hamas is generally seen as offering the most accurate and reliable casualty figures available.

Israel maintains that its forces have killed more than 12,000 Hamas fighters in Gaza, though it has not provided detailed evidence to support such claims. Israel largely blames Hamas for the high civilian death toll, saying that fighters from the terrorist group use civilians as human shields and operate tunnels under schools, homes and hospitals.

Facing a tight re-election race in the fall, President Joe Biden has faced increasing pressure from pro-Palestinian voters, with many expressing their displeasure in the Democratic Presidential Primary by supporting an “Uncommitted” vote in Minnesota and other states.

In response, the Biden Administration has become increasingly vocal in expressing support for a temporary ceasefire while pushing Israel to take more steps to avoid civilian casualties and allow greater humanitarian aid into Gaza.

At the same time, the U.S. and its allies have been loath to fully abandon a longtime ally which continues to enjoy strong sympathy from many Americans and, while accused of practicing a form of apartheid by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights nonprofits, does provide many basic rights for its citizens.

Even amid human rights concerns, the U.S. and its allies were quick to show solidarity with Israel in the face of attacks from Iran last weekend, supporting a robust defensive military response and reportedly preparing stronger sanctions on the Iranian regime

The Biden Administration’s efforts to walk a delicate tightrope on the issue simply weren’t enough to mollify vocal the pro-Palestinian activists who spoke before the Northfield City Council on Tuesday to loudly condemn continued military aid to Israel and accuse Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians.

Arguing that the proposed resolution is in fact highly germane to Northfield, city resident Jenny Hartley cited Northfield’s City Charter, the preamble to which includes the statement, “Human freedom and human rights are indivisible. If anyone is denied equality, no one is free.”

Hartley further argued that the Council not only could but should pass the ceasefire resolution on the grounds that continued conflict in Gaza would be incompatible not only with Northfield’s stated values on issues like environmental sustainability and indigenous rights.

Others highlighted the particularly harsh impact of the conflict on children and emphasized that as the drafted resolution noted, the continued use of U.S. tax dollars to help fund Israel’s defense budget provides another tie to the conflict.

Several of the speakers had addressed the Council on the topic at previous meetings, including Adam Ailabouni, a Family Medicine Doctor at Northfield Hospital + Clinics. The son of a Palestinian refugee, Ailabouni urged the Council to consider the scale of destruction in Gaza.

“Imagine a Northfield with both colleges destroyed, a hospital bombed and invaded until it ceases to function, all utilities cut and crops destroyed, factories, schools, churches and museums, all destroyed, and 60% of all housing destroyed, and to top it off the groundwater poisoned,” Ailabouni said. “War crimes are being committed, with United States money and weapons.”

Sokup said he recognized that a symbolic resolution from Northfield’s City Council would likely not have much impact on policy, but said that given the “horrendous” nature of the situation and an “absence of meaningful action at the federal level,” he felt compelled to introduce the legislation to show support for grassroots movements pushing for a ceasefire.

“If there are some Councilors who don’t support this because of the precedent we’ve set around not entertaining resolutions that are not directly related to city business, I respect that,” Sokup said. “However, precedent is precedent until it’s not, and this larger national effort fits into a different category for me.”

Zuccolotto said that while many Northfield residents have been blessed to live lives well removed from the brutal poverty, war and repression, others have been deeply impacted by the crisis in Gaza, fear daily for family members or friends caught in a brutal war zone and are looking for support.

“How are we not affected by it when people have loved ones, family and friends who are deeply affected by (the conflict)?” Zuccolotto asked.

While Councilors Jessica Peterson White and Kathleen Holmes both expressed extreme concern for the situation in Gaza, with Peterson White stating that the situation in Gaza “appears to be a genocide,” both ultimately decided to abstain on the resolution.

By approving the resolution, Peterson White argued that the Council could be opening a Pandora’s Box, setting a precedent that would open the door for victims of many conflicts across the globe to push the Council to weigh in on foreign policy with regards to their nations.

“Were we as a Council to decide that weighing in on matters of U.S. foreign policy or international geopolitics should be a part of our agendas, which I believe we would need to acknowledge as the choice we’d be making by passing this resolution, I don’t believe we’re prepared to define or judge what the bounds of these policy attempts would be,” Peterson White said.

Peterson White concluded by stating that she didn’t believe she could ethically cast a vote on the issue, because it was so far removed from the issues on which she campaigned on and on which voters decided to support her.

“We engage with voters about what we might decide before we are elected,” Peterson White said. “For me to cast a vote on this issue which is so very far from our areas of meaningful, practical policy influence is a breach of our shared understanding of my role,” Peterson White said.

Holmes argued that expanding its potential focus to a broad array of issues such as foreign policy, the Council would be less effective and less focused on dealing with the issues on which it has the greatest impact, and emphasized that deciding not to support the resolution does not mean that she is not sensitive to issues of injustice.

“I want to caution the false dichotomy that is being set up here that if I don’t pass this resolution, that I’m not standing firm in my condemnation of all forms of anti-semitism, islamophobia racism and bigotry, that I’m not welcoming of all people from all backgrounds and beliefs and that I’m not an advocate for the safety and dignity of all people,” Holmes said.

Without the vote of Councilors Peterson White or Holmes, Zuccolotto and Sokup were unable to get the votes to pass their resolution. Councilor Brad Ness joined Mayor Rhonda Pownell in opposing the motion, while Councilor Jami Reister was absent, leaving it to fail in a 2-2 tie.

After Pownell announced that the motion had failed, the room erupted in boos and cries of “shame.” One member of the public shouted “shame on all of you, you will go to hell,” while another made an obscene gesture to the Council.

While expressing support for the statements within the resolution, Pownell said she does not believe it to be appropriate for the city to comment on foreign policy issues and urged the public to instead share its concerns with Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and Rep. Angie Craig.

“We have never been asked in my 15 years here where our stance was, in any city debate for a local election, what our stance was on foreign policy,” Pownell said. “It’s not our place or capacity to be taking policy positions on an international conflict.”