BREAKING NEWS: Glenwood Springs Passes Ceasefire Resolution!
Glenwood Springs becomes the first city in Colorado to call for a ceasefire
On Thursday night, by a unanimous 7-0 vote, the Glenwood Springs City Council became the first municipality in Colorado to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the four-month war in Gaza.
The council added the resolution to the agenda in response to comments by members of Ceasefire Now Roaring Fork Valley during the opening public comment period.
The language the council adopted last night called for:
“an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza and occupied West Bank, immediate unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza, and release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinian civilians in order to work towards a long-term, lasting peace.”
The council noted the rare preponderance of young people presenting the resolution. Six members of Ceasefire Now gave comments. Others held signs reading, “Don’t look away” and “Let Gaza live”.
The group’s comments highlighted the nearly 29,000 people in Gaza killed under Israeli bombardment and shelling, including 12,300 children, the 2.3 million people at extreme risk of famine, and the role of American taxpayers in supplying funding, arms and vetoes of UN Security Council resolutions.
Seth Bontrager of Ceasefire Now told the council, “As Americans, we are complicit in these atrocities. There is a $14 billion aid package going through Congress and I would much prefer this money be invested back into our communities instead of funding death and destruction overseas.”
Maya Hunt argued for a ceasefire resolution to “use our voice to condemn an ongoing, human-created, preventable, humanitarian catastrophe.” She said, “US policy is supporting ongoing violence against civilian populations,” and asked the council to “do better to represent me while my national government fails to.”
Immediately following public comments, Councilmember Jonathan Godes began, “I would love to at least have a conversation about this since we have a lot of young people here that took the time out tonight.” He thanked those assembled for their “passion” and said, “I think asking for more peace is better than a continued genocide, which is what we’re seeing.”
Councilmember Shelley Kaup shared that “along with everyone here, I am horrified by all the violence and escalation. I don’t want to pick sides but it’s gone beyond the pale, and it’s very disturbing to see our country supporting this type of violence. My tendency is to want to support this, just to give us as leaders a voice to our leaders at the state and federal level. We’re just one small voice but I’d like to represent what I think a lot of our community is feeling.”
While the council wasn’t prepared to pass the entire four-page resolution as written, all seven felt strongly about adopting an abbreviated version of the resolution consisting of the first paragraph of the proposed resolution. The passed resolution calls for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire”, “unhindered aid” and “work toward a long-term and lasting peace.”
On Tuesday, Ceasefire Now RFV also presented the resolution to the Aspen City Council, which declined to consider it. Councilman Sam Rose turned his back to the members of Ceasefire Now throughout their time speaking. During his own comments, he called them “antisemites” and “dangerous”, apparently for speaking up for the rights of Palestinians to live.
After the council passed the resolution, organizer Tucker Knight was gratified. “It is very inspiring to come together with other caring people and achieve this. We are proud of the city council for their leadership. May it propel other cities to pass similar resolutions.”
The full text of the resolution proposed is here. The resolution was authored and provided by the Colorado Palestine Coalition.
As of this morning, the text of the adopted resolution is not yet available on the Glenwood Springs city website, but it will be available here, once documentation is updated from the meeting last night.
A full list of U.S. municipalities which have passed ceasefire resolutions is here.
The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights maintains a tool showing how municipalities could better spend the $3.8 billion the United States gives to Israel’s occupation and war on the Palestinian Territories.
Email a Thank You to the City Council
The Glenwood City Council took a courageous step to stand on the right side of history and pass a ceasefire resolution. We know how this works — not everyone will be pleased.
Let’s make sure the City Council knows we appreciate their moral stand.
Take a quick moment and send an email saying thank you to: citycouncil@cogs.us
While we encourage you to put your own spin on it, here’s an email script to get you started!
Dear Glenwood Springs City Council members,
Thank you for making my voice feel heard. Your decision to adopt a ceasefire resolution is an essential step in ending the United States contribution to Genocide. Thank you for the swiftness of this decision as everyday we lose more lives. Thank you for honoring our time with action, and for your willingness to continue to work with us to make sure our impact is maximized.
Best,
[Your Name]
I just spoke to a reporter from the Post Independent. The story about last night should be online in the next hour or so.
The Post Independent article is up! Very detailed coverage: https://www.postindependent.com/news/glenwood-springs-city-council-passes-resolution-calling-for-a-ceasefire-in-gaza/