The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after months of lobbying from local pro-Palestinian groups. In a joint statement released Wednesday, four of those groups called the measure “lukewarm,” saying it failed to add important context about the bloodshed in that region.
“The wording in the resolution completely omits any mention of ‘Palestine’ or ‘Palestinians’ and effectively absolves Israel of culpability, despite the decades of context and hundreds of Palestinian deaths before October 7th in 2023 alone,” Hamza Abu-Hamdeh, a spokesperson for Young Palestinians of Birmingham, is quoted as saying in the statement.
The 141-square-mile territory of Gaza has experienced historic levels of civilian deaths since Israel began a military offensive in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 38,700 people have died in the action.
Young Palestinians of Birmingham is one of several groups — including the Birmingham Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Palestinian Christians of Alabama and the Central Alabama chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace — that have urged for the ceasefire resolution from the city of Birmingham since February.
Nearly every council meeting this year has ended with comments from residents calling for a resolution. Outside of the council chambers, Palestinian supporters have also spread their message through Free Palestine rallies and events. The nonviolent rallies have been held since October in places across the city, including Avondale Park, Railroad Park, Five Points South and City Hall.
Not all of the remarks in Wednesday’s joint statement were wholly negative, though. For example, Jared Margulies, a spokesperson for the local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, was quoted as saying, “We celebrate that Birmingham has taken a stand and joined over 100 US cities in calling for a ceasefire. This is the result of months of hard work by a diverse, Palestinian-led coalition.”
However, he added that the resolution “neither recognizes the decades of suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza before October 7th nor firmly denounces Israel’s ongoing genocidal actions.”
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