The Boston City Council voted to call for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire in Israel and Palestine,” JNS reported.
The vote on the resolution, which was passed by a majority of 11 to 2, was held on Wednesday, according to the report.
In the ceasefire resolution, the council also demanded “an end to the bombing of Gaza, the freeing of all hostages from Hamas and the freeing of all administrative detainees held by Israel, lifting all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale to meet the full needs of the population of Gaza, in line with international law” and “the resumption of US funding of UNRWA.”
It also demanded “the rebuilding of the schools, homes, mosques, churches and other structures destroyed in this conflict, enforcement of U.S. and international laws requiring recipients of U.S. military assistance comply with human rights standards and international humanitarian law and the beginning of a process of repair and reconciliation for all impacted by the violence in the region including the advancement safety and dignity for all Israelis and Palestinians.”
The Massachusetts Republican Party said in response that “there can’t be a ceasefire without the release of the hostages and the termination of the terrorist organization, Hamas. The Boston City Council should have never passed this resolution. This only adds to the antisemitic misinformation plaguing the Commonwealth.”
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston said before the council’s vote that the resolution would “be a troubling outcome to the months of debates and negotiations around the Boston City Council regarding how to responsibly support a ceasefire in Gaza.”
The resolution “is not balanced,” the JCRC added. “It fails to name the culpability of, let alone condemn Hamas for the barbaric Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israeli civilians; the taking of innocent civilian hostages by Hamas and its terrorist allies; the sexual violence perpetrated on that day and against the hostages; the use of innocent Palestinian civilians as human shields; and the continuing unwillingness of Hamas to accept ceasefire proposals advanced by the US, Egypt, Qatar and others.”
In February, Chicago’s City Council narrowly passed a resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
After hours of debate, the measure came down to one single vote, that of Mayor Brandon Johnson's.
Other cities to have approved similar resolutions include Atlanta, Detroit and San Francisco.