After more than two hours of public comments at the March 5 Maplewood Township Committee meeting, former Mayor and current TC member Vic De Luca addressed commenters regarding a proposed ceasefire resolution and its accompanying fact sheet and FAQs that had been forwarded to the governing body by somacollectiveforpalestine.org.
Although no resolution was on the agenda for passage and no straw poll was taken by the TC, affirmative comments made by Mayor Nancy Adams and TC member Dean Dafis to De Luca’s remarks indicated that the resolution being offered did not have majority support from the five-person governing body.
“I am not supporting the resolution,” said De Luca. “I think that the argument for a permanent ceasefire is one-sided. But it doesn’t mean that I want war. I want the war to stop.”
De Luca said he was “disappointed” that the language of the resolution “does not call out Hamas for what Hamas does,” and said that the fact sheet and the FAQ accompanying the resolution “almost justified what Hamas did. At best, it minimizes the impact of what Hamas did. And at worse, it justifies it as a righteous rebellion group when they’re really a terrorist group.”
Related: Maplewood Leaders Call for ‘Peace & Unity’ Following Ceasefire Rally & Counter Protests
De Luca said he stood with the six-week ceasefire proposal recently promoted by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris: “She talked about the people in Gaza are starving … . She talked about an immediate ceasefire, a temporary ceasefire. … She talked about pushing for ceasefire in a hostage deal. She spoke about the immense scale of suffering in Gaza.”
Quoting Harris about conditions in Gaza — including “children dying from malnutrition and dehydration,” and “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” De Luca said he agreed with Harris: “She said it’s inhumane and a humanitarian catastrophe. Who would not agree to that? … But she also said that Hamas has shown no regard for innocent lives, including the innocent lives of the people of Gaza.”
“If we don’t address the problem of Hamas, we don’t get anywhere,” said De Luca. “So let’s get to ceasefire. Let’s support what [U.S. President Joseph] Biden and Harris are doing right now in trying to bring about a temporary ceasefire, get some hostages home, get some aid in there, and try to build that temporary into a more permanent situation to call for a permanent ceasefire. Right now, and in this resolution, I have to tell you that the release of the hostages is almost an afterthought. It’s a comma behind the main thrust. I will not support the resolution.”
Speaking on behalf of the resolution, Maplewood resident Sabeel Abulsoud also invoked Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We are a community that has a track record for standing on the right side of history, advocating for life, equality, inclusivity,” said Abulsoud. “Our justice and minority sub-communities here in SOMA have come together on this resolution. We, as a community, are calling on the Maplewood Township Committee to stand up. You have boldly declared solidarity in permanent paint on our streets. Boldly stand up with the more than 70 other cities in this nation, with Kamala, and call for the ceasefire with us. So that one day when this is all over, when the world is different and when we look back at this moment, we reflect on history, you don’t feel ashamed that you lacked the courage to document your humanity and Maplewood’s humanity in the history books.”
Find the full text of the proposed ceasefire resolution and supporting documents at somacollectiveforpalestine.org.
A competing proposed resolution was also read aloud by an unnamed public commenter at 3 hours and 2 minutes into the meeting. SOMA for Solidarity organizer Michael Goldberg shared this link to that resolution: change.org/p/hamas-ceasefire-release-the-hostages-now. During his public comments, Goldberg, who is a former South Orange Trustee, said, “Let’s be clear, everyone wants peace and for war to end.” However, he said, “there can be no peace until the hostages are released and Hamas surrenders or is eliminated. … Such a ceasefire without the elimination of Hamas will only allow the terrorists to regroup and rearm and will lead to the loss of tens of thousands of more lives in the future. … There is a temporary ceasefire deal on the table which Israel has already agreed to, and the world is waiting for Hamas to respond.”
Watch the public comments here:
Watch De Luca’s comments here:
