People who came to persuade their Tucson City Council leaders to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war did not get the votes they wanted. Rather, they listened to a nuanced, and at times emotional, discussion about an issue that has been so volatile it has incited hate against both Jewish and Palestinian communities locally and internationally.
Safety concerns from Palestinians in Tucson and members of the local Jewish community have risen since Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel.
Four local rabbis recently denounced antisemitism in Tucson, which they felt at city council meetings, in an opinion article published by the Arizona Daily Star in March. They said the conflict, as a foreign policy issue, should be handled by the U.S. Congress. “There have been anti-Israel protesters spreading and promoting misinformation and engaging in blatant antisemitism in the Council Chambers,” they wrote.
Palestinian students were fearful when an October statement released by University of Arizona President Robert Robbins said the national organization for the campus club Students for Justice in Palestine endorsed the “actions of Hamas in Israel, which are, of course, antithetical to [the] university’s values.” Robbins also said that because the “university has one of the largest populations of Jewish students in our country, this tragedy hits our community especially hard.”
Feeling targeted, the Students for Justice in Palestine group canceled one of the first Pro-Palestine protests they had planned in October.
In Arizona, South Tucson is the only city that has declared a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Arizona Democratic Party also passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in January.
Nationally, about 70 U.S. cities have called for a ceasefire, according to a Reuters analysis in January. The Arab American Institute puts the number of U.S. communities, including Cleveland, San Francisco and Chicago, at more than 100, according to a Nation article in March.
Since December, Tucsonans have been urging action by their city council through protests and appearances at the call to the audience portion of regular meetings when public input is heard.
Toward the end of a four-hour city council study session Tuesday, people wearing keffiyehs and green, white, red and black filed into Tucson City Hall to hear the mayor and council finally deliberate on a ceasefire resolution. A keffiyeh is typically a black and white headscarf worn by Palestinians that may be used as a symbol of resistance. Green, white, red and black are the colors of the Palestinian flag.
Members of the Jewish community who oppose a ceasefire resolution by the council also attended the study session.
Phones were held up and posters swayed in the air as Mayor Regina Romero made her opening statement on the agenda item labeled: “Discussion regarding Consideration of a Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza.”
“It is crucial for us as a unified and compassionate community to stand against hate in all of its forms,” Romero said.
She called for a respectful discourse on the “touchy and complex issue” and handed the floor to council member Lane Santa Cruz, representing Ward 1, who had requested the agenda item.
In a March 19 memorandum, Santa Cruz said: “Since December 2023, community members have been coming to Call to the Audience requesting we join municipal governments across the county in passing and adopting a ceasefire resolution.”
Santa Cruz shared how her own upbringing was shaped by the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict as someone who grew up in an Evangelical Chrisitian household. She said she was taught to believe Israelis were the “Chosen People” and before switching to a Mexican-American studies major in college, her focus was on Judaic studies.
“It was taking a course at the UA on the feminist interpretation of Hebrew texts that made me confront that I no longer believed in a Judeo-Christian God and that my parents had adopted and converted into a tradition that wasn’t ours as colonized Indigenous people of this continent,” Santa Cruz said.
Santa Cruz said she understood that some of her colleagues were uncomfortable with the discussion of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which she referred to as “Israel’s war on Gaza” and a “genocide.” She said she felt compelled to urge a public discourse, adding that “it would appear tone deaf” and be “a disservice” not to listen to the many community members who have spoken at recent municipal meetings appealing to the council to adopt a ceasefire resolution.
Santa Cruz pushed back against critics who said the issue was international and unrelated to city affairs, saying Tucson’s constituents have been affected by Islamophobia, anti-Arab prejudices and antisemitism as a result of Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. She also refuted the idea that discussing a call for a ceasefire was an act of antisemitism.
“My hope is that this governing body can embrace that Jewish and Palestinian lives matter equally,” she said.
Members of the public who came to watch clapped after Santa Cruz finished her speech. They were quickly silenced by Romero who asked for a discussion free of interruptions.
Council member Nikki Lee, representing Ward 4, said she was not in favor of a resolution because it would not make sense to come to a single consensus considering the variety of opinions on the council and in the community.
Council member Kevin Dahl, representing Ward 3, seconded Lee’s motion to not schedule a resolution and later said a council meeting was not the place to decide on a resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Next, the floor was given to council member Paul Cunningham who represents Ward 2. Cunningham said his thoughts on the issue have changed from week to week since October when Hamas attacked Israel.
“What I didn’t want was to be forced into thinking one way or the other,” he said.
Cunningham outlined three things that he believes “all people can agree with.” The community is divided on this issue; Oct. 7 was a tragedy and the hostages must be released; and the Israel Defense Forces must stop killing civilians, he said.
“Everything else is nuanced,” he said.
With a quiver in his voice, Cunningham spoke about his personal beliefs as a member of the Jewish community and said that he failed as a leader to bring Palestinian and Israeli Tucsonans together.
“Every single part of me wants a peaceful Israel … but I’m also really disappointed in Israel right now,” he said. “They had opportunities to back up, and with the aid workers getting killed, and I don’t know how, as someone with a military background, I don’t know how you can run a missile strike campaign in a small area of 140 square miles. I just don’t. So I go back and forth with what do we do? Because our community is divided, and I can’t get anybody to give.”
Cunningham agreed with Lee’s motion, but added that his stance was measured and only “for now.” He stressed that the dialogue must continue. “I still think there’s light at the end of this tunnel. I still think there’s a way to do a resolution.”
Council member Richard Fimbres, representing Ward 5, said he supported both Santa Cruz and Lee, but ultimately chose to side with Lee.
Romero closed with a vote on Lee’s motion. The motion not to schedule the ceasefire resolution for a vote by the council at a regular meeting passed 5-1, with Santa Cruz as the only council member voting against it. Romero said she plans to write to President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the state’s congressional delegation about Tucson’s concern for a resolution.
“They, more than us, can make that happen,” she said.
While the study session came to a close, about 50 pro-ceasefire protestors gathered outside city hall to have their voices heard despite the council voting to table the resolution.
Suda Billinger, who had just exited the study session, joined the protest wearing a Palestinian flag, a “Free Palestine” T-shirt and a keffiyeh-inspired sweater. A chant emerged amongst the crowd and she turned into the circle with her face held toward the sky, loudly belting “Free, free Palestine!”
Billinger said she saw the mayor and council performing “a lip service” that did not do the issue or community members justice. The ceasefire resolution that they see as complicated, she said, is simple for her.
“Humanity is not politics. Saying that we shouldn’t be killing children is not politics,” she said.
Billinger commended Santa Cruz for being the sole council member in favor of discussing a ceasefire resolution. She called the rest “cowards.”
Eduardo Heredia Quintana and Michael Cease, members of the Green Party, joined the protest calling for an end to genocide in Palestine. Quintana is chairperson for the Green Party of Pima County and said he is launching his campaign to run for U.S. Senate.
“I’m old, but the last few years that I have of life, I’m going to dedicate to fighting for justice and fairness and peace and freedom,” he said.
Quintana said he was drafted in 1969 to fight in the Vietnam War. He protested then, he protested against wars in Central America, against the Gulf War, and is still protesting to this day.
On Tuesday, he leaned against a concrete wall outside city hall, his keffiyeh draped around his neck and shoulders, holding a lime green sign that read: “End U.S. military support to Israel.”
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