Local group asks Aspen City Council for ceasefire resolution in Gaza

Tracy Zabel of Carbondale, along with other members of the Ceasefire Now Roaring Fork Valley group, went before Aspen City Council on Tuesday to ask council members to consider passing a resolution that would call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, stating that at least 15 other major cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Detroit have passed similar resolutions.

In her comments to Council, she said she believed it was the responsibility of every American to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to bring an end to the violence in the West Bank, along with abundant aid such as food, medical supplies, drinkable water, and medical staff.

“The situation is dire,” she said. “A ceasefire is in the best interests of all of the hostages. … I also call for the release of Palestinians held as prisoners by Israel, many of them without a trial without a charge, many of them children, many of them being tortured.”

In addition to Zabel’s comments, group leader Will Hodges said that while he understood that Aspen does not have jurisdiction over international affairs, he said he’s aware of many in the valley who are “despondent” over the 28,000 people killed in Gaza, many of which he said were women and children. 

He added that it was his opinion that “far too few people” were as willing to criticize Israel and US foreign policy due to intimidation and further pointed to accusations of “perceived insufficient support” for Israel that took place at a previous city council meeting last November. 

Council members Sam Rose and Bill Guth responded to the local group’s comments by turning their backs to each speaker while still being seated. One of the group’s members, Christina Flores, made mention of the dismissal of the two council members, by at one point calling attention to Guth being on his phone during her comments.

In response to the ceasefire comments, Council member Ward Hauenstein said that he would like to invite all of the members of City Council to face the discussion head on while maintaining respect for people and to “not turn your back on it.”

He added that while he respected the group’s courage and right to stand up for what they believed in as well as supported the stance to end human suffering on both sides of all borders, he could not support City Council taking a position by passing a resolution.

“I respect people’s right to express their opinion,” he said. “I cannot turn my back on human suffering – whether it’s in Gaza, Israel, Yemen, China, Myanmar – and all human life is precious.” 

Rose responded to Hauenstein comments by stating he did not appreciate the “veiled comments” regarding turning his back, and added that in his personal opinion, the members of the ceasefire group were “anti-semitic, anti-Zionist,” and “make the world a more dangerous place for the Jews.”

“I really don’t feel like they deserve the level of respect that some people do for the hate that they spew and lies that they spew to come in here and do what they do,” Rose said. “I stand by attacking my back to them and their comments because I was listening, but they don’t deserve my face.”

Mayor Torre ended Tuesday’s discussion on the proposal of a ceasefire resolution by thanking the members of the group for their comments and concluded by saying that due to recent events, the council had decided to not take unified stances on international affairs but added that anyone interested in individually acknowledging or lending support for such efforts were welcome to do so.

To reach Jonson Kuhn, email him at jkuhn@aspentimes.com.