The city council is at an impasse over the prospect of passing a Gaza ceasefire resolution after the majority of the council voiced their opposition to the concept of weighing in on international matters during the council’s Monday night meeting.

The council weighed three differing resolutions during its Government Operations committee meeting on Monday tied to the conflict in the Middle East, with the board discussing a resolution submitted by Jewish community leaders, another resolution brought forward by pro-Palestinian advocates calling for a ceasefire resolution and a resolution submitted by City Councilwoman Carmel Patrick stating that it would not be appropriate for the seven-member council to take an official stance on international matters.

During the discussion, Patrick and fellow Councilmembers Doreen Ditoro, Joseph Mancini and John Mootooveren each voiced opposition to the prospect of the council passing a Gaza ceasefire resolution, with the discussion ending with no resolutions advanced for a council vote.

“It doesn’t serve any purpose,” Mootooveren said of a ceasefire resolution during Monday’s meeting. “What are we going to do, get on a flight to Tel Aviv and hand it to [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu and tell him the Schenectady City Council passed a resolution and cease fire? He’s not doing it.”

In advance of the council meeting, City Councilmembers Carl Williams and Damonni Farley engaged in conversations with community leaders from both sides of the ceasefire issue, with Williams noting on Monday that efforts to negotiate a joint resolution from both sides had fallen short.

Williams instead submitted resolutions from each perspective for council consideration.

Williams said on Monday that he entered the discussions with each group aiming to find common ground between the two sides.

“What quickly became apparent is that it is unable to be achieved,” he said. Williams said he wants to see further collaborative discussions between the two sides in the community advocating for and against a ceasefire resolution.

“Until we have this moment, I don’t think our community is able to heal,” he said. “This is something we have to address in a number of ways.”

The resolution submitted by Patrick originated from a response to a resident from the Arlington County Board in Virginia. The resolution, which was amended to substitute Schenectady for the Virginia county, states that foreign policy is outside of the purview of city government and is the responsibility of the federal government.

“Despite our individual personal positions on this topic, we have determined that an official stance on an international matter by the Schenectady City Council would neither be appropriate nor helpful at this time,” the resolution notes.

City Council President Marion Porterfield noted during Monday’s meeting that she could not support a resolution prepared by an outside municipality that did not have the same level of diversity of the Schenectady council. Porterfield said that she did not want to support a resolution that declared that the Schenectady council would never weigh in on international affairs in the future.

“If we were going to do anything, it would really need to come from the city council members here, not adapted from a board that has a different kind of governing body,” she said.

Williams contended during the meeting that after receiving feedback from residents for the last three months about a potential ceasefire resolution that he believed the time had come and gone for the council to declare they wouldn’t respond on the matter.

“I don’t think it’s us not responding, I think it’s us responding by saying that we’re not going to get involved in an international matter,” Patrick responded.

Mootooveren noted that the council had not previously weighed in on international conflicts.

“We have to be very careful, we’re stepping into uncharted territory here,” he said during the Monday meeting. “Getting involved in something, as a council we have to be very careful. Over the years, this council has not passed resolutions for the conflict in Syria, the conflict in Libya, Sudan or Russia.”

Farley replied that the conflict in the Middle East had personally affected families in the city.

“I think we have to be responsive to the times that are here now,” he said. “We can’t afford to allow our traditions to stifle our innovation or our responsiveness to our community.”

The Albany Common Council passed a Gaza ceasefire resolution in January.

The resolution submitted by pro-Palestianian advocates states that Schenectady “condemn the plausible genocide undertaken by the government of Israel upon the Palestianian population as a form of collective punishment.”

Mancini said that he would not back the ceasefire resolution and added that the council should continue to foster dialogue between both sides of the issue.

“What’s happening in the Middle East is deeply concerning, but I would not support a ceasefire resolution,” Mancini said on Monday. “Our focus should be on the issues that are directly impacting our citizens. I think the resolution would have minimal effect, if any, and that should be left to the federal representatives. I think what was said here that the groups couldn’t come to an agreement tells us that it’s a very diverse issue. We have a very diverse population of residents, and taking a firm stance could create unnecessary further division.”

Ditoro said she also opposed the ceasefire resolution.

“We have enough to worry about in our city,” she said on Monday. “Being elected, we’re responsible to our constituents in our city and everyone that we serve. I think we’ve just wasted a little bit too much time on this. My heart goes out for both sides that I hear that come [to council meetings], on a personal level. It’s not our responsibility to pass a resolution for either side or jointly together.”

The resolution submitted by local Jewish leaders calls for the negotiated settlement of the disputes between the people and Israel and the people of Gaza and also asks for the “Return of all Israeli hostages, their bodies and their body parts being held captive by Hamas.’”

Mootooveren asked during the meeting why the groups that submitted the two outside resolutions to the council had not been identified.

Williams replied that identifying the authors of the resolutions could induce a kneejerk reaction from the council instead of having the merits of the resolutions debated on their face.

“If a group is going to present a resolution or statement, I’d like them to stand by it,” Mootooveren replied.

Porterfield said during the meeting that she would take more time to examine the various resolutions before deciding if she supported any of the options presented to the council.

Porterfield noted that if the council does not pass a ceasefire resolution that any council member has the opportunity to speak publicly on the matter during council meetings.

Rabbi Rafi Spitzer, rabbi at Congregation Agudat Achim in Schenectady, said that a Sunday night meeting scheduled between Jewish leaders and pro-Palestine advocates was canceled when the groups could not agree on the parameters of the discussion.

Spitzer said he would like to see the discussions between the two sides continue.

“I’d like to see a local discussion that increases compassion, listening and mutual understanding,” he said on Tuesday.

Imam Jamal Shah of the Schenectady Islamic Center, one of the organizers of the ceasefire movement, did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.

Pro-Palestinian advocates appeared in large numbers at four city council meetings between March and May calling for a ceasefire resolution.

Porterfield said during the Monday meeting that she had heard concerns from Schenectady residents about having to wait for prolonged periods of time to speak about local issues at council meetings this spring due to the large number of people addressing the Gaza ceasefire issue.

Spitzer said that he feels the perspective of the local Jewish community has been lost in the discussion.

“Folks have a misunderstanding about what Judaism is,” he said. “It’s not a religion with a set of beliefs and sacred texts. Judaism is what might be called an ethno religion. It’s an ethnicity, a culture, a people, a nation and tribe.”

Contact Ted Remsnyder at tremsnyder@dailygazette. net. Follow him on X at @ TedRemsnyder.

‘What’s happening in the Middle East is deeply concerning, but I would not support a ceasefire resolution. Our focus should be on the issues that are directly impacting our citizens. I think the resolution would have minimal effect, if any, and that should be left to the federal representatives.’ JOSEPH MANCINI Council member