Public Comment

I am writing to support Cleveland’s ceasefire resolution and support of Gaza during this ongoing genocide.

I have watched Cleveland City Council meetings on TV 20's for the past many months and every week, I see the lack of humanity and inaction by most of the council to act when as residents, we are begging your to act!!! Well this weekend marked annual remembrance of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. Our Vice President was in attendance and she stated unequivocally: "So, before I begin today, I must address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza...As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed...People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act...And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire" You can read the entire transcript at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/03/03/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-commemorating-the-59th-anniversary-of-bloody-sunday-selma-al/ and view it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRRm_q3uBS8 It is my position as a resident of Cleveland that City Council's relentless attacks on the Palestinian community MUST STOP, and its beyond time to pass a resolution for a cease fire! I thank Rebecca Maurer and Jenny Spencer for being in support of this, but I implore the rest of Council to take the wise advice of VP Harris and call for a ceasefire. I will remember this at election time!

As a lifelong resident of the Cleveland area and a current worker in the West Park neighborhood of Cleveland, I have been gravely disturbed by City Council's refusal to listen to its constituents asking for the most basic of human dignity and respect to be shown towards Palestinians. After weeks of ignoring our pleas, despite multiple revisions of the ceasefire resolution to fit council's various requests, it is clear that the vast majority of City Council works solely for those lining their pockets-- not the people they allegedly represent. With this is mind, I would like to express my wholehearted support for the people's ceasefire resolution. We, the people of Cleveland, join the voices of other Ohioans whose city leadership values integrity more highly than Cleveland's: Dayton, Akron, Athens, Toledo, Yellow Springs, and others. City Council, pass the resolution now! But even if you won't, we the people will.

But Aaron Bushnell Ain't Flying Home I wish the US was fighting for justice But Aaron Bushnell ain't flying home I wish the songbirds could sing of true justness But Aaron Bushnell ain't flying home I wish no one had to lose their life But Aaron Bushnell ain't flying home I wish no one had to suffer strife But Aaron Bushnell ain't flying home I wish he was still here But Aaron Bushnell ain't flying home Don't want to shed a tear But Aaron Bushnell ain't flying home He can't sit on a porch But Aaron Bushnell ain't flying home So we must carry his torch As Aaron Bushnell ain't flying home A man burned himself for Palestine and all of you are doing nothing except debating procedure. You need to call for a Ceasefire, to divest from Apartheid companies, to restore public comments to the way they once were, and to call for the restoration of funding to UNRWA. From the water to the water, justice for every son and daughter.

I would like to urge Cleveland city council to pass a ceasefire resolution for Gaza. Surrounding cities in Ohio, and other major cities, have already passed ceasefire resolutions. You are alienating a portion of the Cleveland population and showing you are complicit in genocide by not passing one. I highly encourage you all to do the right thing — and stand for basic human rights by calling for a ceasefire. Thank you.

We should bring Indycar back to Cleveland. This event will bring millions of dollars to our city. It will pack our hotels and restaurants. We need this badly.

I support a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestine. I see genocide against the Palestinian people being committed in this war. Let us call for a ceasefire now.

Israel is slaughtering Palestinians by the tens of thousands in many blatent violations of the Geneva Convention. Israel is commiting these war crimes primarily with funding and weapons provided by the United States. Many cities around us have evaluated these facts and determined it necessary and proper to voice their opposition of this genocide. Cleveland has a large Palestinian population. Cleveland also has a large Jewish population. Both groups have banded together in condemning the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. Cleveland city counsel has seen extensive citizen support of passing a resolution condemning this genocide and helping our citizens feel a tiny bit of peace knowing they live somewhere that will speak up for them. It costs us nothing. Pass the resolution. Now.

Morelle McCane is Cleveland's only current qualified USA Olympian 2024. She will be competing in Paris this summer. Glenville Alum. Tri-C Alum. Med-tech Certifications. Worked in retail, manufacturing and patient care. 9x USA National Champion. 4x National Golden Gloves Champion. It all started at the Glenville Recreation Center. Currently, she is the only qualified 2024 USA Olympian from the entire state of Ohio. Cleveland's Own!

When I was in college, I had the opportunity to shadow Holocaust research in Lviv, Ukraine. My professor, Father Patrick Desbois, interviewed Holocaust witnesses to locate and document mass grave sites and local complicity. The Holocaust there looked different than what most of us learn in history books: Father Desbois’ work has found that millions of Jews, Roma, and other marginalized groups were murdered by firing line in broad daylight. That was his emphasis: the Nazis and local sympathizers were successful in genocide not in spite of, but because they worked in broad daylight. That is what I see happening now: the Israeli government is committing a genocide in broad daylight, and as long as we bear witness without action, our inaction makes us complicit. But, further, we cannot call our current policy “inaction” — our country is serving the perpetrator, and supplying the weapons that make continued genocide possible. To claim there are “two sides” in this moment that we should view as morally equal is willful ignorance and a poor excuse for remaining complicit in genocide. The question is not to call for a ceasefire or to remain neutral, the question is whether we will confront our own complicity and demand to change our course of action from the wrong side of history to the side of justice.