Do you support genocide? City-County Council says “yes”

Within minutes of the start of Monday’s City-County Council meeting, the room erupted in shock and outrage from a large crowd of supporters who had turned out to support a vote on Proposal 358, a ceasefire resolution drafted by democratic socialist Councilor Jesse Brown. After months of delay, the Council abruptly removed Prop. 358, which called for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to U.S. arms shipments to Israel, from the agenda by a vote of 23-to-2.

In a clearly-coordinated effort, Republican Michael-Paul Heart of District 20 moved to remove Brown’s proposition. Instead, the Council voted on Proposal 357, a vacuous statement on respect and diversity without a single mention of Israel, Palestine, U.S. arms shipments, or the ongoing genocide materially facilitated by our local, state, and federal government. Prop. 357 was introduced by 20 Democratic and Republican Councilors, clearly demonstrating this was not an organic decision but rather the result of months of delaying Brown’s Prop. 358, which was first drafted in July.

Unlike Brown’s proposal, Prop. 357 entailed vague calls for “faith leaders… to speak and act with mutual respect for one another,” and affirmed the Council “condemns all hateful and violent speech or action in our community and around the world directed at members of any faith, race, ethnicity, gender identity, or orientation.” The clear hypocrisy of condemning “hateful and violent speech or action” in a general sense while not acknowledging the willing participation of the U.S. in an ongoing genocide was not lost on anyone.

The rhetorically empty proposal was clearly a desperate attempt on the part of the council to deflect responsibility for its role in the ongoing nightmare in Gaza, where over 50,000 are confirmed dead or missing, including tens of thousands of children, with potentially hundreds of thousands more dying of starvation and infectious disease in the wake of a relentless campaign of indiscriminate violence and destruction. Over the past year, Indiana purchased over $100 million in Israeli bonds to support the genocide, with over $12 million coming from Indianapolis tax-payers alone.

Council uses armed sheriffs to stifle public dissent

As the council undemocratically replaced Brown’s ceasefire resolution with Prop. 357, the Council chamber exploded with indignation. Attendees condemned those who blocked Brown’s resolution for their complicity in the ongoing genocide, demanding a vote on on Prop 358.

The councilors mobilized gangs of armed sheriffs to threaten and forcibly remove the public from a public meeting. After physically forcing out the people, the sheriffs arbitrarily declared the entire building “closed” despite the ongoing meeting.

By the end of the meeting–an hour later, a throng of ejected protesters had gathered in the street out front of the City-County Building on Market St. Ignoring the insult of having been treated as criminals by their so-called “representatives” for speaking their conscience, spirits were high as the crowd chanted “Free, Free Palestine”. The people greeted Councilor Jesse Brown with applause and chants of support when he exited the building.

Why we need a ceasefire resolution

Brown’s proposal is similar to others that have been fought for and passed at local and state levels around the country over the past year. It called for “the immediate implementation of the U.S.-backed ceasefire plan and the withholding of all offensive weapons to Israel,” and urged Congress and the Biden administration to “immediately send and facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza at the scale necessary to avoid humanitarian disaster and to ease suffering.”

This statement comes at a pivotal moment, as Israel escalates its genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing in the north of Gaza. The IDF has killed hundreds and forcibly removed tens of thousands from the Jabalia refugee camp over the course of just a few weeks. At the same time, Israel’s illegal invasion of southern Lebanon and reckless attacks on numerous other neighboring countries threatens to intensify a nascent regional war which would have devastating ripple effects across the globe.

Featured photo: Attendees at the November 04, 2024 City-County Council meeting. Credit: Indianapolis Liberation Center.