News Nov 22, 2023 at 7:05 pm

We’re Not the First City to Call for One, but We’re the Biggest

The council ultimately passed a watered-down version of Sawant's resolution. Shitty Screenshot from Seattle Channel

Comments

1

That said, Sawant can’t leave office soon enough (that said, the progressive / DSA embrace of Hamas and their goals to delegitimize the two state solution in general, and Israel’s right to exist explicitly will go nowhere, lead to further Palestinian suffering).

You do you, Rich

2

Rich somehow failed to include the specific language of the amendment, and CM Sawant’s refusal to endorse this language. So, we’ll fix that for him. The language required to move this resolution all the way from a complete non-starter to full passage was:

“…underscores the Council’s support for the people of both Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security… ”

In refusing to agree with that language, CM Sawant replied: “‘…the root causes of the conflict,” she said, “the Israeli occupation and the US military aid that facilitates the brutalization of the Palestinian people.”’

It was the Council’s declaration that Israelis also deserve “to live in peace and security” which aroused CM Sawant’s ire. Apparently, in her view, ordinary Israelis do not deserve such consideration.

(Scooping the Stranger was performed by Capitol Hill blog, last night: https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2023/11/seattle-city-council-note-2024-budget-approved-impact-fee-amendment-nixed-common-ground-found-on-gaza-resolution/)

4

This resolution will have exactly zero influence or effect on what Israel or the US Government does. None. It will save no Palistinian lives, and will end the war not one second sooner.

I suppose it makes some people feel better, and reporting on it does represent another chance for the Stranger to be seen giving Sawant yet another public blowjob. So there's that.

5

@4 perhaps not but it’s not hard to argue it did infuemce some of her comrades to take it upon themselves to do this.

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/mercer-island-synagogue-vandalized-with-horrific-heartbreaking-graffiti/DP2V7AFPD5EEBOSPOWZA2S4ZEE/?outputType=amp

7

Ms. Sawant may now sleep soundly, secure in the knowledge that she has accomplished exactly nothing.

8

What a complete waste of the city council’s time.

Rather than voting on a ceasefire in Gaza, the Seattle city council should be focused on reducing gun violence in Seattle.

9

Well that settles it then, doesn't it?

10

Meanwhile Seattle area synagogues are being vandalized. How about the council repudiate such acts, whatever faith they may target (tho disproportionately it seems to be Jewish houses of worship that are targeted).

11

Next step: Cease fire in the city of Seattle.

12

@11
Because citizens on both sides of Rainier Ave S deserve to live in peace and security!

13

You said it, Rich: “A resolution is already a glass of water.”

And two hours of public comment? Does anyone seriously think that there was a single comment that changed anyone’s mind … or vote?

14

Performative bullshit from Comrade Sawant.

15

@14: performative acts like this make much more sense once you grasp that politics is a replacement for religion/spirituality. Religion and spirituality are all about symbolism and ritual, along with purity quests, 'spreading the word', and diving the world into two halves (saved vs. unsaved aka our side vs the other side or good vs. evil).

See the resemblance? Once you do, you'll never unsee it.

16

Lots of commentators love to rag on Sawant, and while I’m not a fan of her theatrics, listening to different voices is part of democracy. Some voters are conservative, and some are socialist.

17

"Our movement will claim this historic victory today and fight on." Fight on? What's next? A working group? A position paper? Maybe a teach-in? Brutal combat indeed.

18

@16: “…listening to different voices is part of democracy.”

Per @13, why would you believe any “listening” happened? Socialist Alternative packed the actual and virtual room with flunkies, anyone who expressed opinions contrary to CM Sawant’s was ignored (or perhaps treated even more rudely), and the resolution passed only after it was amended per order of other CMs, without whose amendment it would not have even received a vote. That final result was known from the start of the public session, and the behavior of the non-CM attendees simply didn’t matter, so this was theatre, not democracy.

19

@6 -- Have you been napping?

20

TWO HOURS of public comment??? I missed that in the original article. That must have been delightful. Is that old ham Alex Tsimerman still holding forth at those?

22

LOL, this is freakin' hilarious.

Sooooo Israel and Palestine went for a ceasefire, largely through a coalition of international leadership including Joe Biden and a bunch of normie democrats, and the normie democrat council passed a ceasefire resolution.

And the Stranger's editorial stance is still coming out "Joe Biden and Democrats bad, how dare they successfully support and do the stuff we wanted."

23

They can’t help or clean up Seattle but we got time for this as if they have any input other then making them feel important. I say we throw them all out and get someone who cares for the city they live in. We need the help

24

@22 Yeah, the self-awareness isn’t strong in this one.

To be “fair,” though, CM Sawant and the Stranger strongly dislike the actual resolution because first, it does not unequivocally place all of the blame upon Israel / US, and second, it notes Israelis have the right to live free of terrorism. The first includes too much reality for CM Sawant and the Stranger, and the second follows from Israel having a right to exist, which they seem to oppose.

Also fun is Rich’s apparent belief a resolution passed by the Seattle City Council will provide a huge example elsewhere in the state: “…a loss in Seattle could mean a major setback to the broader antiwar movement. Washington’s Congressional delegation, which is currently composed of eleven jellyfish plus Pramila Jayapal, could point to a failure as a reason to maintain their current opposition to a permanent ceasefire. That said, the failure would expose certain council members and the Democratic Party as lemmings who are unwilling to act decisively in the face of an ethnic cleansing campaign, and hasten an end to their political reign.”

Rich’s overlong and overwrought pronouncements notwithstanding, to the extent anyone in Eastern Washington or wherever cares, Seattle tends to provide a negative example; passage of this resolution, if it has any effect anywhere at all, would be to discourage ceasefire resolutions elsewhere in the state, and embolden opponents of ceasefire.

27

While I am not a big fan of either Pramila Jayapal or Kshama Sawant, I must tip my hat with regards to their moral stance in the face of massive opposition. No one deserves to see their own child's dead body, just outside the hospital, in Gaza, being eaten by starving dogs, because IDF snipers kill anyone trying to retrieve their bodies for burial.

29

@28: New to the Stranger’s coverage of Occupied Palestine, are we? If you’re very successful, you’ll get a url for a commentary which states as fact the story about dead children, dogs, and snipers is true. (No primary sources cited, of course.)

30

Well, that's one way to keep this Council from effing up substantive things.

31

@7 On her high threadcount sheets.

32

Uff da (enough of this shit).
I need my City Council spending their time productively. Go fill a damn pot hole. Figure out how to issue more building permits.
Keep thinking and acting locally. Damn!!


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