County Board Wants Ceasefire In Gaza, But Only By A Narrow Margin

Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

After hours of debate and thousands of people submitting comments, the Milwaukee County Board approved a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

However, it wasn’t the same piece of legislation that went before the board’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee earlier this month.

Sup. Ryan Clancy authored a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire. The board passed a substitute resolution offered by Sup. Liz Sumner, which was intended to reflect the criticisms of Clancy’s resolution, namely that it did not mention hostages. The substitute resolution also pared down much of the language in the original and did not use the words genocide or apartheid.

“The resolution is not divisive,” Clancy said of the original. “What is divisive is that there is a genocide happening in our name, with our permission and with our dollars, that should make us all very uncomfortable.”

Sumner said she has received an outpouring of comments from constituents and county residents about the resolution. Most supervisors who spoke Thursday noted the massive amount of feedback on the issue. The comparatively simple language of her resolution is “what makes it impactful,” she said.

“What we are asking for is what I heard resounding support for from my constituents and constituents countywide. They want us to ask for a ceasefire. They want us to ask for the release of the hostages, and they want humanitarian aid delivered to those in need,” Sumner said. “If the county board must pass a resolution on this issue, let’s pass something with language that can bring our community together, not further tear it apart.”

The board ultimately voted 10-8 to adopt the resolution, with supervisors Sumner, Shawn Rolland, Sheldon Wasserman, Felesia Martin, Steve Taylor, Tony Staskunas, Willie Johnson, Jr., Patti Logsdon, Kathleen Vincent and Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson voting in favor and supervisors Clancy, Deanna Alexander, Peter Burgelis, Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones, Caroline Gómez-Tom, Juan Miguel Martinez, Steven Shea and Sequanna Taylor voting in opposition.

Clancy said the majority of constituents he’s heard from want a “bold statement” and one that calls what’s happening in Gaza a genocide. “This substitute does not do that it erases that term,” he said.

Rolland, a co-sponsor of the substitute resolution, said the board was releasing a statement calling on world leaders to set aside differences and, in that spirit, the board should do the same. “Keep in mind that our state’s motto: Forward. Let’s look forward,” Rolland said. “That’s why I worked with supervisors on a forward looking resolution with a simple message peace, immediate and permanent ceasefire, release the hostages, provide humanitarian aid and provide permanent peace and prosperity.”

Miguel-Martinez, a co-sponsor of the Clancy version, said he had learned a lot about Jewish identity in recent weeks in hearing from people on the issue. His support for Clancy’s resolution is not based in anti-Semitism, he said. “The reason I support the original resolution, as it’s written, is for the death count of 30,000 people in Gaza and the West Bank; and people continuously starved,” Martinez said.

Shea authored an amendment to the original resolution to include language condemning the taking of hostages and calling for the release of all hostages, but was procedurally unable to introduce the language tweak during the debate. “The thought of 200,000 people starving to death is absolutely it’s not only unconscionable, it’s just unthinkable,” he said.

Burgelis also drafted an amendment, though his was to the second resolution. It was voted down by the board. “My big concern today is that if we can’t come to a consensus and get the language right, that this board will not take a stand and not say anything about the crisis in the Middle East,” he said.

A few supervisors said the board should never have taken the issue up in the first place, because it was outside of their purview as county policymakers. “Now there’s some issues that were brought up today that are fundamentally offensive to me as a Jewish-American,” Wasserman said, taking issue with the characterization of Israel’s actions as genocide.

Gomez-Tom said her support for the original resolution had nothing to do with taking sides, “It is me saying that I don’t want additional human death and suffering.”

The calls for ceasefire and humanitarian aid are important, Johnson Jr. said, adding that the killing and uprooting of families is “unconscionable.” The supervisor also said, “I am heartened by the fact that we have had a long debate; we’ve had a vigorous debate.”

Steve Taylor was another member who said the board should not have taken up the issue. “But this is before us, alright, this is before us, and the people in this room on both sides are hurting,” Taylor said. “And I can tell you that the videos I’ve seen of the bombings of the women and the children is heartbreaking; bone sticking out of legs, no anesthetic to do surgeries. Horrifying.”

Policymakers at the federal level will not pay attention to the resolution, he said. If they did it would likely only register that the county supports a permanent ceasefire, and the details his colleagues were debating would not matter.

“So this is symbolic,” he said. “It’s also symbolic for the people in this room and the thousands of emails that we received on both sides.”