Local News

Cambridge City Council unanimously calls for a ceasefire in Gaza

Mayor Denise Simmons moved the meeting online to avoid protesters, and she was absent for the first two hours of public comment.

Pro-Palestine supporters demonstrate in front of Cambridge City Hall before their scheduled City Council meeting. Because of the planned protest the City Council opted to have their meeting virtual. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

By Molly Farrar

January 30, 2024

3 minutes to read

The Cambridge City Council unanimously voted to support a ceasefire in the war in Gaza Monday night during a 5-hour, remote-only meeting.

All nine councilors voted for the policy order, with amendments that identified Hamas as a terrorist organization and acknowledged that the council’s actions are symbolic.

Cambridge followed in the footsteps of their neighbor Somerville, who became the first city in Massachusetts to pass a ceasefire resolution last week.

“While city councils have no direct influence upon American foreign policy nor any authority to direct the federal government’s actions, there has nonetheless been a steady call for municipal bodies, nationwide, to symbolically join the calls for the freeing of the October 7 hostages and a ceasefire, and such has been the case in Cambridge,” one of the amendments added to the call for a ceasefire.

Three councilors, who each were a sponsor of the original resolution, voted against the amendment to explicitly identify Hamas as a terrorist organization.

“I don’t have a problem with acknowledging the terror that Hamas has caused, calling them a terrorist organization, but if we do that I think we need to really define further the violence under occupation,” Councilor Sumbul Siddiqui said. “We’ve said Israel has a right to defend itself against this terrorist organization, but the problem there is that we’re basically saying the response is justified.”

From in-person at City Hall to Zoom

Monday’s meeting was originally supposed to be in-person at City Hall but was moved to a remote-only format last Thursday by Mayor Denise Simmons, the city said. Simmons arrived at the meeting at 7:23 p.m., two hours after the public comment had started, due to a family obligation, according to her office. Public comment ended at around 8:30.

Simmons saw social media posts from “organizations” who were planning to “pack City Hall,” her office said.

“The previous disruptions involved shouting, chanting, ignoring the rules of Public Comment, and ultimately bringing regular City Council business to a halt,” Mayor’s Office said in a statement. “This happened on numerous occasions in recent months, and it was clear that this meeting would feature the same dynamic if it were held in person.”

More than a hundred of people, with a minute each, spoke during the three-hour public comment period. Some spoke from City Hall, where they had planned to attend the meeting in person.

“Mayor Simmons believes that the City struck the right balance in allowing a peaceful protest to take place outside of City Hall, a peaceful assembly of people to gather inside City Hall during Public Comment, the ability for nearly 200 people to participate in Public Comment, while still allowing the meeting to proceed in an orderly and respectful fashion,” the Mayor’s Office said in a statement.

The majority of people speaking were in support of the city’s call for a ceasefire. Some were in support with amendments, which included identifying Hamas as a terrorist organization. A marked minority of speakers were completely against the call for a ceasefire.

State Rep. Mike Connolly and former Cambridge City Councilor Quinton Zondervan both spoke in support of the ceasefire resolution.

“I stand in solidarity with Jews, Muslim, Palestinians, Israelis, and people of all faiths and backgrounds who are calling for peace, for deescalation, for the safe return of hostages, for the delivery of humanitarian aid,” Connolly said at the meeting. “I want to thank the sponsors for bringing forward this resolution. I was proud to support the resolution back in November and I think the resolution before you does even more to address the complexity of this issue.”

In November, Zondervan brought forward a similar resolution to call for a ceasefire, which surprised the council, Cambridge Day reported. The policy order, which was in direct support of Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s call for a ceasefire, failed with only two votes in favor.

Pressley said in a statement that Somerville and Cambridge’s recent resolutions are a part of a “pro-peace, pro-humanity movement.”

“As we continue pushing federally for an indefinite, lasting ceasefire to save lives, release all hostages, and ensure the swift delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, I am so proud to see municipalities in the Massachusetts 7th leading the way locally,” Pressley said. “With over 25,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis killed, over a hundred still held hostage by Hamas, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsening daily, we must move with the urgency this moment demands.”