Anchorage Assembly approves resolution on Israel-Hamas conflict

The Anchorage Assembly called for Alaska’s congressional delegation to “support negotiations which lead to lasting peace in the Israel-Hamas conflict” in a symbolic resolution passed in an 8-4 vote Tuesday evening.

“The Anchorage Assembly calls on our federal delegation to support negotiations that lead to an immediate bilateral ceasefire, the release of all hostages, immediate access to life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza for civilians and hostages, and ultimately long-term peace and security for the people of Israel and Palestine,” the resolution said.

The measure comes exactly one week after the Assembly voted down a similar resolution, and held the vote without first debating it. That move elicited outcry last week from a group of residents who have been attending meetings for months, calling on the members to condemn the violence and call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict with a resolution.

Other residents had opposed a cease-fire resolution altogether, fearing it could deepen divisions over the war and further fuel antisemitism that has grown since the conflict began.

The version approved Tuesday included significant additions and changes to the language of the originally proposed version — changes that the protesters largely opposed.

Assembly member Karen Bronga said she put together the substitute version to better balance it with concerns voiced by members of the Jewish community.

“We put language in there that would make sure that it was known that the U.S. recognizes Hamas as a terrorist organization. We put in words that talked about how Palestinians have a right to be safe in the Gaza Strip, but Israel also has the right to defend themselves from attack,” said Bronga, who co-sponsored the resolution with members George Martinez and Felix Rivera.

“At this point, cease-fire needs to happen,” Bronga added. “And so that’s what the S-version is about. It’s about threading a needle.”

Assembly members on Tuesday added several paragraphs to the resolution in an amendment from member Daniel Volland and Vice Chair Meg Zaletel before voting to approve it. The amendment added statements about Israel’s status with the United Nations and about Hamas’ founding, among many others.

It changed the resolution’s title to remove the phrase calling for negotiations leading to an “immediate bilateral ceasefire,” replacing it for a call for negotiations leading to “lasting peace.”

That was in order to “call, not just for an immediate bilateral cease-fire, but for lasting peace, because I believe that is the true end goal here, although we do need a cease-fire and we do need delivery of aid and health care and, and food to the region,” said Volland.

Volland and Vice Chair Meg Zaletel last week led the push to kill the resolution and the procedural move to stop debate. Volland and several other members have said they felt the first resolution lacked critical context about the conflict.

“I think it’s important acknowledging that both Jewish and Palestinian peoples can trace the history of their ancient ancestors back to the region that is now Israel, and both groups have been subjected to historical oppression and colonization,” Volland said.

The sponsors of the resolution largely disagreed with the additions, but other members voted to include them.

“Recognizing that the level of community information around this issue is not extremely high, but that there are extremely deep emotions running in our community, I thought it was best that we try to not have as much of the background information and really stick to the humanitarian question at hand,” said Martinez, one of the sponsors.

Zaletel, who voted against the resolution along with members Scott Myers, Kevin Cross and Randy Sulte, said she felt an Assembly resolution on the issue is inappropriate.

“I think this is a very complex situation, quite frankly, and I don’t feel equipped to weigh in on foreign policy,” she said.

Anchorage joins at least 70 U.S. cities that have passed various resolutions on the war, the majority of which have called for ceasefires, according to a Reuters analysis.

Major cities including Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago along with smaller communities in numerous states have passed resolutions on the violence, which began Oct. 7, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took 253 hostages. Since then, the estimated Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has surpassed 30,000 and the U.N. says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million people face starvation.