On Wednesday, February 14, 2024, over 175 members of our community showed up at a Cincinnati City Council meeting to urge city leaders to not pass the Cincinnati City Council ceasefire resolution for Gaza and Israel. We told City Council that taking this pro-ceasefire stance would be divisive for Cincinnati. As Federation CEO Danielle Minson stated: "If our City Council takes a stand on and advocates for a ceasefire, it will widen the gap between our Jewish and Muslim communities here in Cincinnati.”
Cincinnati City Council patiently listened for over four hours to our collective voices and, after listening to those testimonies, Mayor Aftab Pureval concluded by saying that the Council should not take a stance at this time, as they represent the city's residents and the city does not have a consensus.
We echo what Rabbi Moshe Smolkin said in his statement yesterday: "A ceasefire resolution does not solve this painful, complex international problem... We must begin an essential dialogue to repair wounded relations within our city.”
Ohio, as of today; Akron, Dayton, and Toledo have passed ceasefire resolutions, and Athens, Cleveland, and Columbus have not.
If you would like to learn more about problematic and divisive rhetoric, please click here:
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