Council Rejects Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Resolution
After hours of emotional testimony, much of which came from people personally impacted by the Israel-Hamas conflict, the East Lansing City Council rejected a resolution calling for a ceasefire at its Tuesday (Jan. 9) meeting.
The almost five-hour meeting also saw several contracts approved, American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds committed and Council enter closed session to discuss a matter protected by attorney-client privilege.
There were also public hearings on three separate proposals, which ELi will cover in an upcoming report.
Council votes against a ceasefire resolution, despite heavy turnout from pro-Palestine advocates.
Tuesday’s meeting was held on the 95th day of the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas. The day of the meeting, Al Jazeera reported that Israel killed 126 Palestinians, a loss of human life that has become routine for Palestinians since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Since the initial attack, casualties have been mostly one-sided. According to CNN, well over 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israel.
Dozens of speakers came to public comment to weigh-in on a resolution drafted by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) that called for a ceasefire in the conflict. Majority of the speakers were in favor of calling for a ceasefire, with many having personal ties to the region.
“We have lost at least 24 family members in four separate bombings, Israeli bombings,” said Waseem El-Rayes, a Palestinian-American who is an associate professor at Michigan State University’s (MSU) James Madison College. “All civilians, all killed while sheltering at their homes or while seeking refuge in areas that were then designated by Israel as safe zones.”

“Since the creation of Israel in 1948, my hometown has not experienced peace,” El-Reyes continued. “But never in its tortured history has it suffered this degree of genocidal destruction.”
Many speakers said they supported the ceasefire resolution because it voices displeasure with federal taxes paid by East Lansing residents being used to fund the Israeli military, it shows support for the people of Gaza and it promotes peace. Throughout the meeting, there was a chorus of audience members snapping their fingers in support when speakers advocated for the ceasefire resolution.
There were also speakers against the resolution. Arguments against the resolution were that it is one-sided and should condemn Hamas, the city should not be weighing in on international affairs and the resolution would be divisive at a time when anti-semitism is already on the rise.
“It’s a very tough time to be a Jewish person in East Lansing,” said MSU student Matthew Zivian, who said his cousin was captured and killed by Hamas. “It’s not getting any easier.”

Multiple Muslim speakers also stated they have seen increased bigotry since the conflict broke out.
Following the lengthy public comment portion of the meeting, Council ultimately opted to vote against the resolution 4-1, with Councilmember Dana Watson serving as the lone vote in favor.

“Violence begets violence,” Watson said. “I want to stand on the right side of history, which is peace and a ceasefire.”
Mayor Pro Tem Kerry Ebersole Singh said she is “not a foreign policy expert” and suggested she may support a revised version of the resolution, highlighting several aspects of the document she liked.
Councilmember Mark Meadows said he wasn’t sure that “legalistically” the Human Rights Commission could recommend the ceasefire resolution to Council. He said he also had an issue with the language in the resolution.

“At this point in time, I’ll just say that I can’t support this resolution,” Meadows said. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t think we should work on something that we can all agree on.”
Councilmember Erik Altmann said it was clear that meeting attendees did not all agree on the facts of the conflict and that he cannot adjudicate the facts because he is not an expert on the Middle East.
“I am pedaling as fast as I can to be an expert on East Lansing,” Altmann said, “and decide on issues that we have some understanding of and some control over.”

Before announcing his vote against the resolution, Altmann said the city does not have “the authority to do anything in terms of foreign policy” or how federal tax dollars are spent. Following Altmann’s statement there were calls of “shame” and “coward” that came from the audience.
Mayor George Brookover had to quiet the crowd before announcing he would also be voting against the resolution for three main reasons. First, he said the city charter does not give Council the ability to opine on foreign policy. He also said he doesn’t believe there is a precedent for the resolution. Finally, Brookover said “these types” of resolutions are “counterproductive.”

“Would I like there to be a ceasefire in Gaza? Lord, yes,” Brookover said. “I just don’t think this is the most effective way to achieve a ceasefire.”
Following Brookover’s comments, Watson spoke again saying the resolution was not outside the city’s authority, as many municipalities in Michigan and around the country have passed similar resolutions. She also said Council members should apologize to members of the HRC for not raising issues with the resolution earlier, as the HRC had written and contacted them before the meeting asking for feedback.
HRC member Thasin Sardar said during public comment he had reached out twice in the weeks leading up to the meeting to see if Council members had issues with the resolution.

“You left them hanging until this moment,” Watson said.
“This is really sad,” Watson continued. “People came to us and we let them down.”
Singh then jumped in and motioned that the resolution be tabled to work with community groups on amendments. The motion did not receive a second. Singh then motioned for Council to go into recess to revise the resolution that night, but again there was no second to her motion.

Brookover said voting against the resolution does not mean Council cannot take another path forward on a similar resolution at a later meeting.
Following Council’s vote, many pro-ceasefire activists jeered Council for several minutes, as Brookover tried to push on with the agenda.
American Rescue Plan Act funds spent on salaries, money from the general fund will later be moved.
After Council had some feedback to proposed usage of ARPA funds at the Dec. 12 discussion-only meeting, City Manager Robert Belleman and staff returned with a new proposal.
The new proposal left off some major pieces from the last draft Council saw, dropping off funding for major projects like new water meters and a solar array. Belleman explained there was a focus on funding projects covered by the general fund, primarily salaries.
However, this means there will now be more money in the general fund that can be spent on the projects previously discussed, Brookover explained.
“In effect what happens is, because of the way the statute has been interpreted, we can use the ARPA money for essentially the regular pay things… in our budget,” he said. “That then leaves extra money from our budget, a surplus or an additional amount of money, that then we can use for all those other things if we choose to.”
“So, all those things that were on that list that we talked about back in December are still, potentially, in play,” Brookover continued. “We’re just going to pay for them in a different way, if we decide to do that.”

Belleman said around $6 million was being spent and it gets the city away from the pressure presented by deadlines attached to ARPA funds.
After a short discussion, the resolution passed unanimously.
Ruby Bridges to attend Martin Luther King Jr Day celebration in Lansing.
On the consent agenda, Council approved a resolution commemorating Martin Luther King Jr Day.
Watson announced that Ruby Bridges, who played a pivotal role in integrating public schools in the south, will be attending the Monday (Jan. 15) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Mid-Michigan celebration in Lansing. Bridges was just 6 years old when she needed to be accompanied by U.S. federal marshals to attend school due to racist mobs that opposed her presence.
Watson, the only current Black Council member, took a few minutes during her communications portion of the meeting to acknowledge the significance of the celebration and how explicit racism has impacted her family.

“My parents, who are still alive, they are 80, and they survived the deep south, that’s where my mom was during segregation, during Jim Crow,” Watson said. “My dad was in Pennsylvania as the sole African American male in his school district.”
She said her dad loved sports, particularly football, but he was not always allowed to play and missed out on scholarship opportunities.
“Even though his passion is truly there for football, he couldn’t have gotten recruited and he couldn’t have had a scholarship here in the state of Michigan during those times,” Watson said.
Watson also took time to acknowledge the strength displayed in peaceful protests by King and other Civil Rights activists, when the oppressive people and forces they stood up against were so often violent.
“Practicing nonviolence and really embracing it took a lot,” Watson said. “People were going on boycotts and they were going into streets unprotected. They were getting hosed, they got bottles thrown at them, they got beat up, they were killed.”
Council agrees on vague resolution after closed-session.
The meeting ended with Meadows reading a resolution after Council returned from a closed session that lasted a little under 15 minutes.
“I move to accept the recommendation of the city attorney to resolve in the matter of Luke and Laura [Beamers],” Meadows said. “And to authorize the city manager to sign whatever documents are necessary to accomplish that.”
ELi is uncertain of the spelling of names in the resolution but reached out to the clerk’s office on Wednesday (Jan. 10) requesting the full text of the resolution. (We have not yet heard back from the city and will update the story when details of the recommendation are available.)
The motion passed unanimously, with the only discussion being Altmann correcting Meadows, who initially read “Reamers” not “Beamers.”