Oklahoma City residents call for peace, condemn violence in Gaza

OKLAHOMA CITY As tensions remained high in Israel on Tuesday, the Oklahoma City Council heard from residents who urged the passage of a resolution condemning the hateful rhetoric and violence at home and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Let the world know that Oklahoma City stands against violence towards all civilians,” said Audrey Hendricks, one of 18 residents who spoke in support of the resolution.

Speakers identified themselves as Palestinian, mothers, a medical student, a veteran and a recent college graduate who is Jewish, among others. They spoke of crimes against humanity, genocide and a catastrophic health care crisis. A few cited The Lancet medical journal’s estimated death toll of 186,000.

The resolution was placed on Tuesday’s agenda at the request of Councilwomen JoBeth Hamon and Nikki Nice.

It stated that the mayor and city council “do hereby condemn anti-Semitic, anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic, xenophobic rhetoric and attacks across the nation and here at home and that they do hereby call for an immediate, durable, and sustained ceasefire in Gaza to protect and save human lives, which allows for humanitarian aid and the unhindered provision of goods to civilians throughout the Gaza Strip which are indispensable to their survival as required by international humanitarian law.”

Councilman Todd Stone said the city council should be focused on filling potholes and addressing homelessness, not on international issues.

“We’re here to take care of city business,” Stone said. “That’s where I try to maintain my focus. And I can tell you it’s a lot.”

Councilman Mark Stonecipher preempted a vote on the resolution by moving to postpone it indefinitely. “That way we can decline to take a position on the main question,” he said.

The vote to postpone action on the resolution passed 6-3, with Hamon, Nice and Councilman James Cooper opposed.

“Your attempt to silence us today is shameful and disgusting,” resident Vivian Jaber said. “We are watching the holocaust of the Palestinian people happen right now and the only moral and acceptable response to the that is to call for a ceasefire and to call for peace.”

Ramona Diaz invoked the Albert Einstein quote, “If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity.”

At ground zero

Meanwhile, the violence and tensions continued in Israel as soldiers were due to appear before a military court over what a defense lawyer says are allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian prisoner from Gaza.

More bodies and further destruction were found after Israeli forces withdrew from parts of Khan Younis in Gaza, where the Health Ministry says over 39,300 people have been killed since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

And there was a new exchange of fire at the Israel-Lebanon border. Israel carried out a rare strike on Beirut, killing at least one person and raising the stakes in the escalating tensions with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The Israeli military says the strike targeted the militant commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 youths in a weekend rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Israel has blamed the rocket attack on Hezbollah, which has denied any role.

Back home in OKC

Some residents who spoke at City Hall insisted the crisis in Gaza is a local issue, citing the manufacturing and exporting of weapons and local tax dollars that are supporting the war.

“Our tax dollars are supporting this massacre. And I’m here at the City Council meeting because that’s where my voice can be heard,” Janell Jensen said. “I don’t have a direct connection to the federal government, and the actions that we take here at the City Council can affect federal policies.”

The medical student said: “This is very much an Oklahoma issue just as it is an American issue because our tax dollars are funding this genocide We must call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza from here in Oklahoma City as has been done in many other cities in the United States Let’s be people of conscience and stand on the right side of history.”

The Associate Press contributed to this article.

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