Durham residents debate over ceasefire resolution at city council meeting

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a hot button issue in the Triangle.

In the face of signs and strong emotion, the topic of a ceasefire resolution came up again Thursday at the Durham City Council meeting.

Voices on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict spoke Thursday to Durham city council members.

“It is your moral, legal and ethical duty to not remain silent,” one speaker said.

Many speakers asked city council members to sign a ceasefire resolution.

“How can we go home to our families, our friends, our children?” another speaker said. “How can we eat food with them, sleep in a home with them, tell them we love them, knowing there are human kin in Gaza who are never going to get to do that again?"

Others say Durham should not get involved.

“This petition to get involved in international matters is completely out of the scope of the practice of this governmental body," a speaker told Durham city council members.

Just before Christmas, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution calling for humanitarian pauses to the conflict and increased aid to Gaza.

The United States and Russia abstained from that vote.

Thursday’s Durham City Council meeting is not the first dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams says whatever city leaders decide to do may not please everyone. He said the advocacy on this issue is loud on both sides.

Williams said he has created a group of people on both sides of the issue to discuss how the city should move forward.

"I chose to bring this group together because this group is going to advise me on how I’m going to approach this with my colleagues, and we're going to do what we need to do to respond to this issue," Williams said.

Durham isn’t the only municipality in North Carolina dealing with pressure from residents demanding that local leaders sign a ceasefire resolution.

In Raleigh, more than 100 people spoke about a possible ceasefire resolution at a December City Council meeting. Raleigh has not passed a resolution as of Thursday.

In November, the Carrboro Town Council passed a ceasefire resolution. It called on the Biden administration to facilitate de-escalation and send humanitarian aid.