This morning’s OKC City Council meeting briefly veered away from the usual fare of zoning requests and revocable permits for a detour into international politics as members discussed but ultimately postponed indefinitely a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza.
Ward 2 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon and Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki Nice introduced the resolution, which also condemned “Islamaphobic and xenophobic rhetoric attacks across the nation and here at home.”
On Oct. 7, Hamas, which governs Palestine, launched a large-scale incursion into Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 Israeli civilians with dozens more taken hostage and held by Hamas in Gaza. In response, Israel has launched airstrikes and other military operations that have decimated Gaza and claimed the lives of an estimated 39,000 people. In March, an international attorney told the United Nations Human Rights Council that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide (…) has been met.”
While the conflict between Israel and Palestine has become a top geopolitical issue, conversations also have found their way into local government meetings over the last year. The issue has come up in San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Mobile, Alabama, among other cities. Protesters were present at Oklahoma State Capitol earlier this year.
Nice, who was recently elected to represent State Senate District 48 starting in November, told fellow council members it is important to remember OKC’s sister cities, some of which are in areas of the world experiencing conflict including civil war and occupation.
“We condemn the things that are happening across the world,” Nice told fellow council members. “I think it’s important for all of us to truly acknowledge the things that are happening in Gaza as well as Palestine and Israel and the sister cities I mentioned, and the places that we have yet to hear or read about that are experiencing extreme conflict that will never be televised.”
However, Ward 8 Councilman Mark Stonecipher quickly made a motion to table the resolution indefinitely. He did not say why he wanted the resolution postponed, but he did discuss the procedural nature of his motion.
“On Nov. 23, 2021, we adopted Roberts Rules of Order to be binding on this body, and (…) at this time it is appropriate for me to move to postpone this motion indefinitely,” Stonecipher said. “That way we can decline to take a position on the main question. The motion to postpone indefinitely needs a second, is debatable, and takes a majority vote to pass. A motion that is postponed indefinitely is disposed of for this meeting.”
Stonecipher’s effort was ultimately successful, with the council voting 6-3 to postpone the resolution indefinitely. Nice, Hamon and Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper voted against Stonecipher’s motion.
But before that vote, the council allowed public comment, during which about a dozen people spoke out in favor of Nice and Hamon’s resolution.
“I urge the council members to vote ‘Yes’ on the ceasefire resolution because thousands of children and civilians are being massacred in Gaza,” OKC resident Janelle Jensen told council members. “Their health care system has been decimated, and as you’ve already heard, it’s a humanitarian crisis. Our tax dollars are supporting this massacre. I’m here at the city council meeting because that’s where my voice can be heard.”
Another speaker, Amber Williams, said she fears for children in Gaza.
“As a mother of two children, I don’t feel like I should go to bed at night crying because I have the privilege of knowing that when my children wake up in the morning I will still be there and they will still be there,” she said.
Stone, Carter speak out against the resolution
Two council members spoke against the resolution prior to the vote on the tabling motion. Ward 4 Councilman Todd Stone said international issues are outside the purview of the OKC City Council.
“You all came up here and took time out of your day, and that’s good,” he said. “But I can tell you my stand since I’ve been elected, one thing I’ve always stood for on council: We are here to take care of city business. Whether that’s potholes or whether it’s trying to fix issues for our homeless, or fix issues for other residents, that’s where I try to maintain my focus.”
Ward 1 Councilman Bradley Carter said those who spoke were missing a larger point about the origins of the most recent conflict and briefly sparred with several audience members who attempted to heckle him. Mayor David Holt admonished those in the audience and threatened to clear the chamber if the disruptions continued.
“I listened to everyone get up here and speak about the atrocities against Palestine, but not one person said a word about the attack on Oct. 7 that began this,” Carter said. “Not one person recognized the fact that there was already a ceasefire in place that got violated at that point in time. Not one person rejected the brutal rule that Hamas has inside of Gaza.”
The OKC City Council’s tabled conversation came as Israel carried out an airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday that followed a rocket attack Saturday that killed 12 children in Majdal Shams.
