Baltimore City Council members found a last-minute resolution from Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer (D-5) on their desks at the Monday night regular meeting.
“This council has stood together in the past against injustice, and it's time that we stand together for our Jewish brothers and sisters in Baltimore and Israel and across the globe. This resolution does just that,” said Schleifer. “It calls to condemn the Hamas terrorists who committed atrocities to innocent people both in Israel and in Gaza, and calls for the release of all hostages....”
He noted that according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a non-profit that tracks antisemitism, antisemitic incidents were up over 300% in the U.S. a month after the October 7th attack by Hamas.
The resolution, which was largely symbolic and not on the scheduled agenda for council members to review in advance, called for “Condemning the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 and antisemitism.”
With four council members deciding to abstain, and two others absent, it did not get the required 12 votes to pass.
Schleifer, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, said the resolution’s failure encapsulates the “double standard” applied to Jewish people. He pointed out that the language in his resolution is nearly identical to that in a similar resolution, which he cosponsored, condemning Islamophobia after a 2019 mass shooting in New Zealand that killed 51 Muslims worshiping at two different mosques. Baltimore City has not passed any resolutions or bills related to the Israel-Hamas war although Mayor Brandon Scott put out a statement condemning the October 7th attack by Hamas.
After Schleifer’s comments, Council President Nick Mosby gave the abstaining members a chance to change their vote, but none did.
Councilmembers Ryan Dorsey (D-3), Kristerfer Burnett (D-8), Phylicia Porter (D-10) and Odette Ramos (D-14) abstained from voting. All four councilmembers were asked for comment on their decisions but did not return an explanation before this article was published.
While the abstaining members did not provide detail, Councilmember Bullock (D-9) did offer some context for his vote. He denounced terrorism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia while saying, “As a student of history, I think it’s also important for us to give context.”
“The fact is that there are people who are also fighting for self determination. And just like the State of Israel deserves to exist, in terms of people or self- determination, that also needs to extend for the Palestinian people as well,” he said.
Incidents of Islamophobia have spiked since the October 7th attack too, with some Muslim people saying it feels similar to a post 9/11 atmosphere where hate crimes against Muslim people surged. In October, six-year old Wadea Al Fayoume, a Palestinian boy, was stabbed to death in Chicago by the family’s landlord, Joseph Czuba. Shortly after Thanksgiving, three college students of Palestinian heritage were shot in Burlington, Vermont. The injuries were not fatal but 20 year-old Hisham Awartani is reportedly paralyzed from the chest down.
Schleifer’s resolution was introduced minutes after protesters supporting a “Free Palestine '' interrupted the council’s proceedings although Schleifer said that was a coincidence.
Dozens of people packed into the council chambers for the Baltimore City Council’s regular meeting; many of them were forced into the overflow room after security decided to close the upper balcony. Opening proceedings went as usual until the introduction of the agenda’s first item when protestors stood, chanting and unfurling banners that read “Divest from Genocide” and “Free Palestine.”
Most of the council sat in silence, facing away from the protestors, as police escorted them from the chambers. As the meeting resumed, chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” could be heard from the antechamber.
Update 12/5/2023: This story was updated with additional comments from Councilmember John Bullock.
