Boston City Council sidesteps debate on resolution supporting negotiated ceasefire in Gaza

Councilor Ben Weber, who is Jewish and in his first term, filed the resolution, but withdrew it Wednesday, worried it would cause “more division”

Councilor Ben Weber, who is Jewish and in his first term, filed the resolution, but ultimately withdrew the measure, saying it had come to his attention that the language “may cause more division, which is the opposite of what [he] had hoped to do.”Tanner Pearson for The Boston Globe

The Boston City Council on Wednesday sidestepped debate on a resolution in support of a negotiated ceasefire in the war in Gaza, avoiding what has previously been a contentious topic for the body.

Councilor Ben Weber, who is Jewish and in his first term representing District 6, filed the new resolution with the hope it would help the body reach accord on the issue. But at Wednesday’s council meeting, Weber ultimately withdrew the measure, saying it had come to his attention that the language “may cause more division, which is the opposite of what [he] had hoped to do.”

The city councils in Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford have all passed resolutions this year calling for a ceasefire in the war-torn strip, but the Boston City Council has struggled to find consensus on the subject.

In October last year, discussion over two resolutions — one by former councilor Michael Flaherty expressing solidarity with Israel and condemning Hamas, and the other by Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza — inflamed tensions in the chamber. Both resolutions faced objections by members and were sent to committee, where they never received a hearing.

Before withdrawing his resolution Wednesday, Weber told the council that he has always felt a strong connection to Israel because of his Jewish identity, which only intensified after the Oct. 7 attacks.

“I believe in the right of Israel to exist and to defend itself,” Weber said during the meeting. “But being Jewish does not mean that I have to agree with everything the Israeli government does, and I cannot ignore the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza or Palestinian families living in Massachusetts watching the events in Gaza.”

He told the council he consulted with the Jewish Community Relations Council and Palestinian American attorney Sammy Nabulsi, who has been working to get Massachusetts residents out of the Gaza Strip during the war, and left those conversations “hopeful” over the common ground they shared.

Weber also previously told the Globe he sought and received input from Councilors Ed Flynn and Fernandes Anderson as he drafted the resolution. Fernandes Anderson is the council’s first Muslim American member and an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights. Flynn recently traveled to Israel, missing the council’s first full meeting of the year, for a seminar on the critical issues facing the country since the Oct. 7 attack.

He described those conversations as “productive,” and said he hoped the resolution would bring people together “on a subject that is very difficult.”

“I support a ceasefire because I believe in peace, and because I believe that we as a body can recognize the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians,” Weber said during the council meeting Wednesday. “This process has only reinforced my belief that dialogue is the only way forward for peace for Israelis and Palestinians. ... I hope we can continue to talk so we can stand up for all Bostonians, support peace, and call out pain in all its forms.”

Weber declined to comment further when approached by the Globe after the meeting.

Weber was the sole sponsor of the resolution, which opened by acknowledging that the council’s role is limited solely to matters of city government in Boston. It went on to address the events of Oct. 7, describing Hamas as a terrorist organization that killed more than a thousand Israelis, committed sexual violence, and took more than 240 hostages during its attacks that day.

The resolution also referenced the Israeli military’s response to the Oct. 7 attack, and described how the response has displaced more than 80 percent of the Gazan population, killed tens of thousands of civilians, and destroyed major swaths of homes and infrastructure, leading to a humanitarian crisis.

It called for a negotiated ceasefire, the return of all hostages held captive by Hamas, and the immediate distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza. Weber also emphasized it was important for him to have the resolution advocate that Gazans with ties to Massachusetts be allowed to safely leave the strip, and that nations condition military aid on “compliance with international and human rights law.”

“Both Palestinians and Israelis have the right to live with freedom and security,” the resolution reads, condemning all forms of antisemitism and Islamophobia.