The Carrboro Town Council passed a resolution Tuesday night calling for a cease-fire and end to violence in Gaza and Israel, becoming the first North Carolina municipal government to approve such a measure since the escalation on October 7. But the resolution did not pass with unanimous support, which most of the council’s do.
The council approved the measure with a 4-3 vote after each elected member weighed in and residents in attendance provided extensive public comments. Mayor Damon Seils, Sammy Slade, Eliazar Posada and Danny Nowell voted in favor of the resolution, while Barbara Foushee, Susan Romaine, and Randee Haven-O’Donnell voted against it.
The full resolution reads:
WHEREAS, all human life is precious, and the targeting of civilians, no matter their faith or ethnicity, is a violation of international humanitarian law;
WHEREAS, between October 7 and October 24, 2023, armed violence has claimed the lives of over 5,700 Palestinians and over 1,400 Israelis, including Americans, and wounded thousands more;
WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of lives are at imminent risk if a cease-fire is not achieved
and humanitarian aid is not delivered without delay; andWHEREAS, the Federal Government holds immense diplomatic and appropriations powers to save Israeli and Palestinian lives;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town of Carrboro calls upon our US
Congressional delegation, both in the Senate and House of Representatives, to join us in:(1) urging the Biden administration to immediately call for and facilitate de-escalation and a
cease-fire to urgently end the current violence; and(2) calling upon the Biden administration to promptly send and facilitate the entry of
humanitarian assistance -at the scale needed- into north and south Gaza.BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Carrboro Town Council asks the Town Clerk that copies of this resolution be quickly forwarded to the President of the United States and Carrboro’s congressional delegation.
The resolution passed on Tuesday came after a different version did not earn enough support from council members during their prior meeting on October 24. Sammy Slade, who brought both versions to the council’s agendas, said during Tuesday’s meeting the revised version omitted some aspects he personally wished to include — like language encouraging the U.S. to divest from Israeli contracts and services over its ongoing offensive in Gaza.
When Slade attempted to add such language as an amendment on Tuesday, however, it did not get support. He said although he wasn’t “happy” with the version ultimately passed, he thanked the rest of the council for its “attempt to find something that we can all abide by.”
“I really hope my colleagues on this council have heard and understand that this is not about anything other than saving people’s lives, and dignity, and being human,” said Slade.
The three town council members who voted against the measure each said they empathize with the victims of the ongoing war and those locally who have been affected by the violence. But the trio said their opposition stemmed from a mix of not having all perspectives reflected in the resolution and the complexity of the Israel and Palestinian tensions, which have lasted for centuries.
Council Member and Mayor-Elect Barbara Foushee said she believes resolutions commenting on global affairs or championing a cause to the federal government “should be 7-0,” and that she took issue with “what the resolution is not saying.”
“For me,” Foushee said, “it was always important that no voices be muted in this resolution — none. The issue is complex and divisive, which is why I don’t want to weigh in on it. There’s too much to be taken into account and one resolution could never hold it all.”
Romaine shared similar sentiment that passing a resolution where it was “not possible to speak with one voice” as a council could be more harmful than helpful. She said with the community experiencing “worry, angst, fear and anger” from both the humanitarian crisis and threats of antisemitism and Islamophobia, she believed it did not make sense to consider the gesture.
“There are no unifying words to capture the multiple truths and multiple feelings right now,” said Romaine. “I worry that a resolution would further divide us and make some of our community members not feel welcome here. That’s been the case in many other cities and towns all over the country that have approved resolutions on the Israel-Hamas war over the past five weeks.”
Haven-O’Donnell, who also spoke during the prior meeting about why they would not support such a resolution, said Tuesday the changes in the revised proposal brought by Slade were negligible — and that the result of not representing all of the Carrboro community would still be true.
“My job and my role is to bring community together, not to uphold one group over another,” said Haven-O’Donnell. “And when a body such as our takes a vote, as we did on October 24, [the split decision] shows you that we’re trying to convey that there’s a diverse community. When that happens, and the vote is representative of our attempt to speak for community, how is it that we turn around and determine that that vote is invalid?”
Posada was the lone vote that changed from the October 24 meeting to Tuesday night’s. He said he wanted to see the prior resolutions’ language changed because he didn’t feel like he “understood the situation well enough to make a decision one way or the other.” Posada said after having conversations with religious leaders, mentors, and friends, he felt compelled to vote in favor of it.
“I will be supporting the resolution tonight because while it is not perfect, I do believe that life is sacred,” he said. “I do believe that it’s a complicated issue, I would like to see, and I would support, further resolutions that include language calling for the release of hostages, calling for more measures. But tonight we have this in front of us.”
Nowell said during the October 24 meeting that he was wary of supporting a resolution the entire council did not agree with, but that he supports calling for a cease-fire. He added Tuesday he was grateful to his fellow members for pushing each other and for the public commenters being in attendance to share their views.
Nowell also said he hopes as people become energized and mobilized over issues, they continue to directly share comments with the local government.
“Several of you heard me say several weeks ago that I think this is out of our purview,” he said, “because I want to focus on issues closer to home and use those to build power the best way we can. It’s a growing process that you would honor us, enable us, and as you continue to organize, to include us [council members] in your organization.”
Seils, the outgoing mayor, had shared thoughts on the violence in Gaza during the council’s October 17 meeting and did again on the social media platform X ahead of Tuesday’s meeting. He said he wants to push the country’s leaders to call for an immediate deescalation of the violence because of the “new horrors” experienced in the Middle Eastern region each day.
“It is, in my opinion, necessary to have a cease-fire to save lives,” Seils said during Tuesday’s vote, “but also in order to address what is a growing tide of islamophobia and antisemitism — which is only enflamed by continuing violence.”
The Carrboro Town Council also considered several other items on its agenda Tuesday, including the final report from its Community Safety Task Force and a first quarter budget update. Video of the meeting, including the council’s full discussion on its cease-fire resolution, can be watched on the town government’s YouTube page.
Photo via the Town of Carrboro.
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