Salem City Council to consider Gaza ceasefire resolution Tuesday – Salem Reporter:
The Salem City Council will consider a resolution Tuesday calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, while condemning both the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7 and what it called genocide by the Israeli government.
Whatever the cause or the case, if Council’s votes have no effect or impact on the outcome then it’s not issue they should be engaged in. This will do nothing more than inflame members of the public while accomplishing nothing.
“The Commission shared that a resolution process on issues of foreign affairs may, at first, appear extraordinary,” Archer said. “However, Salem taxpayers collectively subsidize (to the tune of $2 million) the actions of a foreign government that in the judgment of the Human Rights Commission, the United Nations, and majority of the international community, is committing egregious violations to the rules of war, including genocide, against the Palestinian people.”
The $2 million figure refers to the estimated amount of federal taxes paid by Salem residents that fund U.S. military aid to Israel, according to U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, a pro-Palestinian advocacy group cited by the human rights commission.
This is clearly a federal issue not a city one, and the proper group to lobby are one’s US Representatives and Senators. This type of overreach and mission creep is endemic now to US society, and it’s in fact a major problem. The City of Salem has a massive general fund short-fall. Perhaps the Council’s time would be better spent trying to solve that?