City Council President Ben Ewen-Campen: “This is the right thing to do.”
Somerville became the first city in Massachusetts to formally call for a ceasefire in Gaza after a tense 3-hour city council meeting last week.
City Council President Ben Ewen-Campen spoke to a full room on Thursday night, when he brought forward his resolution to call for an “enduring ceasefire in Gaza.” Councilors called on about a dozen community members, including Holocaust survivor descents, Palestinians, and a rabbi to speak.
After amendments to the text, the resolution passed 9-2. Councilor-At-Large Kristen Strezo and City Council Vice President Judy Pineda Neufeld voted against.
“Whether you are opposed to this resolution, whether you’re in support of it, whether you wish that we weren’t even taking it up, all of us are part of one community,” Ewen-Campen, who is Jewish, said. “Tomorrow, we will all wake up as neighbors.”
Since Oct. 7, when over 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 taken hostage, more than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed and 60,000 have been wounded, including children, according to the adopted resolution.