From February 28 to 29, New Yorkers held a 24-hour vigil outside of City Hall to demand that the New York City Council pass a resolution to call for a ceasefire in Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip. The vigil was organized by the NYC 4 Ceasefire coalition, composed of several pro-Palestine organizations in the city including Adalah Justice Project, the NYC Democratic Socialists of America, VOCAL-NY, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), and NYC Dissenters. At least 70 US cities have passed resolutions calling for a ceasefire, according to Jewish Voice for Peace. These cities have passed resolutions specifically urging Biden to call for and facilitate a ceasefire, and to end all US aid to Israel.
Out of the 51 members of the council, 16 City Council members have already joined the call for a ceasefire. Several of these council members attended the vigil, including Shahana Hanif, the first Muslim woman ever elected to the New York City Council. Hanif expressed disappointment that none of her statewide representatives in Brooklyn have called for a ceasefire. “It is a damn shame. I can’t be the only one to call for a ceasefire as the lone Muslim woman elected official.”
Hanif continued, “As elected officials, we have the responsibility, the obligation to have the moral courage to call for what we know is right: a permanent ceasefire.”
Peoples Dispatch spoke to Anousha, an organizer with the NYC chapter of Dissenters, an organization which describes itself as an “anti-militarism youth movement.” Anousha was stationed outside of the gates of City Hall, trying to persuade City Council members exiting the building to join the call for a ceasefire. According to her, some representatives ignored the organizers completely, while others said that they would only call for a ceasefire once Hamas released hostages, which in her view, shows that they “have no critical awareness of what’s been happening for 75 years.”
“Individual cities’ taxpayer money, our taxpayer money, is being sent to the federal government to fund arms, to fund weapons, to fund the destruction of the lives of the people in Gaza,” Anousha said. “It is the responsibility of our council members to listen to their constituents, to put their money and life giving services in our schools, in public housing, and in healthcare.”
Jawanza Williams of VOCAL-NY spoke at the start of the vigil, stating that NYC 4 Ceasefire wants to ensure that New York City becomes the largest city in the country to call for a ceasefire. “We are making a direct connection between the deaths the culpability of New York City tax dollars and funds sent to Israeli military funding. Right here in New York City, every year, almost 120 million dollars of New York City residents’ federal tax dollars goes to the US government’s military funding of Israel.”
Aamnah, from Desis Rising Up and Moving, told Peoples Dispatch, “We recognize that New York City is the financial capital of the world, that New York City is where the UN is headquartered, and we are here to remind folks that New Yorkers are united in what we want, and so that our demands are uplifted throughout the rest of the world.”
