Activism / March 21, 2024

100 American Communities Have Called for a Gaza Cease-Fire

Cities, towns, and villages that are home to millions of Americans have demanded that Biden and Congress work to end the killing. And more are doing so every day.

John Nichols
Over two thousand people pack San Francisco's City Hall during a hearing on a cease-fire resolution on December 5, 2023.

Over 2,000 people pack San Francisco’s City Hall during a hearing on a cease-fire resolution on December 5, 2023.

(Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images)

At least 100 American cities, towns, and villages have formally called for a cease-fire in Gaza, amplifying a grassroots demand for the Biden administration and members of Congress to do everything in their power to end an Israeli assault that has left 32,000 Palestinian civilians dead and close to 75,000 injured.

From the city of Chicago, population 2,746,388, to the town of Newfane, Vt., population 1,645, municipal government bodies in more than two dozen states have endorsed cease-fire resolutions, according to a running list being maintained by the Arab American Institute (AAI).

While there has been considerable national media coverage for state-based campaigns to send Biden a pro-cease-fire message by casting “uncommitted” Democratic presidential primary votes—an effort that so far has won almost 500,000 votes and at least 20 Democratic National Convention delegates—the movement to pass cease-fire resolutions in communities across the country has been covered mostly at the local level. But this municipal movement also merits national attention, as it has been strikingly successful.

Current Issue

Cover of April 2025 Issue

In addition to Chicago, the site of this summer’s Democratic convention, cease-fire resolutions have been passed in Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Providence, Seattle, St. Paul, St. Louis, and San Francisco, as well as the Ohio cities of Akron, Dayton, and Toledo. Metropolitan centers, suburbs, and rural communities have signed on, and the numbers are growing on an almost daily basis.

“It’s a very clear message: This must end,” explains James Zogby, the president of the AAI. A veteran member of the Democratic National Committee, a frequent adviser to Democratic administrations and presidential candidates, and a regular contributor to The Nation, Zogby says, “There’s a brewing discontent. Many of these resolutions specifically call on members of Congress to get off the fence and call for a cease-fire. People are saying to their elected leaders in Washington, ‘You aren’t moving, so we will.’ And I would advise members of Congress to listen.”

More than 80 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives have called for a cease-fire, as have a growing number of senators. But the White House and the majority of Congress continue to back Israel, which responded to the October 7 Hamas attack with an assault on Gaza that has caused an increasingly desperate crisis. When the Senate voted in February to allocate $14 million in new military assistance to the Israeli government, as part of an “emergency” military spending bill, only three senators—Democrats Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Peter Welch of Vermont, along with independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont—objected to the blank check.

So the outcry continues to grow from the grass roots of a country where polls show there is broad support for a policy reset with regards to Israel and Palestine. The number of municipal cease-fire resolutions was at 99 on Tuesday, according to the AAI. But, that night, following a long and contentious meeting in Sacramento, where almost 80 people testified, the City Council in California’s capital passed a resolution calling for:

* “an immediate and permanent bilateral ceasefire to urgently end the current violence”

* “the immediate, unconditional release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza”

* “the immediate unconditional release of all Palestinians held without charge or trial in Israeli prisons”

* recognition that “this conflict will not be resolved militarily; rather, it will be resolved diplomatically when wise, courageous and visionary leaders on both sides replace the current leaders in charge today”

* action by the Biden administration “to promptly send and facilitate the entry of unrestricted humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip.”

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced that he would bring the resolution before the council, saying, “Making peace is not easy…. In the midst of great mourning, anger, and fear over the war in the Middle East, I’m calling on our community to once again choose hope over continued division.”

Steinberg, who is Jewish and who pushed for the resolution with support from members of Sacramento’s Muslim and progressive Jewish communities, explained, “The resolution contains language important to all sides. It also includes some provisions that each side would write differently if they wrote it themselves. That is the nature of principled compromise. We may not be able to create peace in the Middle East, but we can model what we want to see throughout the world here in our own city.”

The Sacramento resolution’s language is typical of the motions that have been passed around the country, although a number of them also call for ending or placing restrictions upon US military aid to Israel. In addition to the 100 communities where local governments have backed specific cease-fire resolutions, at least seven more have passed resolutions calling for peace negotiations in Gaza, where at least 70 percent of civilian infrastructure has been destroyed, at least 85 percent of the Palestinian enclaves men, women and children have been displaced, and the threat of mass starvation is so severe that the executive director of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain (widow of Arizona Senator John McCain), says, “People in Gaza are starving to death. The speed at which the man-made hunger and malnutrition crisis has ripped through Gaza is terrifying.”

The frustration with US policy regarding Gaza has been seen on the streets and at the ballot box. But the municipal resolutions focus it in a way that members of Congress are particularly likely to note, says Zogby. He pointed to resolutions passed in three cities in New Jersey—Haledon, Paterson, and Prospect Park—that called on US Representative Bill Pascrell to back a cease-fire. Paterson, the third-largest city in New Jersey, is home to one of the largest Palestinian-American communities in the country.

“Pascrell should be echoing the voice of our community that elected him,” said Paterson City Council member Alaa Abdelaziz. The first Palestinian-American elected to the council, Abdelaziz explained, “This call for action isn’t just about politics. It’s about representing the will and values of the families in our city and stopping the unnecessary loss of civilian lives, including women and children.”

Not all members of Congress are responding. But many have. US Representative Betsy McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, highlighted the St. Paul council’s unanimous pro-cease-fire vote, hailing “our City’s thoughtful leadership” on the issue. And even if Congress and the president are slow to move, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who cast the tie-breaking vote to make his the largest city in the United States to back a cease-fire resolution, said, “I wish I could give you maybe an answer to what impact it will have on other people who make decisions, but I can say from a very personal note: I know that for Black liberation we had to make statements that maybe not in the immediate [moment] had an impact. But I’m not mayor of the city of Chicago if people weren’t pushing the government to recognize people’s humanity and understand the value of what liberation means for people, groups, and nations. And in this instance, people should be liberated.”

Support independent journalism that exposes oligarchs and profiteers


Donald Trump’s cruel and chaotic second term is just getting started. In his first month back in office, Trump and his lackey Elon Musk (or is it the other way around?) have proven that nothing is safe from sacrifice at the altar of unchecked power and riches.

Only robust independent journalism can cut through the noise and offer clear-eyed reporting and analysis based on principle and conscience. That’s what The Nation has done for 160 years and that’s what we’re doing now.

Our independent journalism doesn’t allow injustice to go unnoticed or unchallenged—nor will we abandon hope for a better world. Our writers, editors, and fact-checkers are working relentlessly to keep you informed and empowered when so much of the media fails to do so out of credulity, fear, or fealty.

The Nation has seen unprecedented times before. We draw strength and guidance from our history of principled progressive journalism in times of crisis, and we are committed to continuing this legacy today.

We’re aiming to raise $25,000 during our Spring Fundraising Campaign to ensure that we have the resources to expose the oligarchs and profiteers attempting to loot our republic. Stand for bold independent journalism and donate to support The Nation today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

John Nichols

John Nichols is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation. He has written, cowritten, or edited over a dozen books on topics ranging from histories of American socialism and the Democratic Party to analyses of US and global media systems. His latest, cowritten with Senator Bernie Sanders, is the New York Times bestseller It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.

More from The Nation

Twenty-six years ago, the St. Pat's for All parade in Queens, New York, began as a response to the exclusion of Irish LGBTQ communities from the Fifth Avenue parade. Now it welcomes Irish and Irish American solidarity with Palestinians.

There’s Another St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York—and This One Stands Up to Trump There’s Another St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York—and This One Stands Up to Trump

The St. Pat’s for All parade started when the more famous Fifth Avenue parade barred queer groups. Twenty-six years later, it welcomes Palestinian solidarity organizations.

Phoebe Grandi

Police officers remove members of Act-Up, who have staged a sit-in inside the hallway of the New York State Capitol in Albany.

We Need to Turn Our Outrage Way Up We Need to Turn Our Outrage Way Up

This is no time to sit idly by. People’s lives are at stake. We have to put our bodies on the line.

Gregg Gonsalves

Columbia University Mahmoud Khalil Protest

Mahmoud Khalil’s Detainment Won’t Stop the Pro-Palestine Student Movement Mahmoud Khalil’s Detainment Won’t Stop the Pro-Palestine Student Movement

The reverberations of Khalil’s arrest are being felt beyond Columbia University’s campus.

StudentNation / Lara-Nour Walton

Mahmoud Khalil, a student negotiator during the protests at Columbia University against the Gaza genocide, speaks to the press on April 29, 2024.

Mahmoud Khalil Is the First Activist to Be Disappeared by Trump Mahmoud Khalil Is the First Activist to Be Disappeared by Trump

The detention and attempted deportation of Khalil is a test by Trump to see how far he can go—and a test for us to see how hard we will fight back.

Laura Jedeed

Students staging a sit-in at Milstein Library on March 5.

Columbia Expelled Student Protesters For the First Time in Over 50 Years. But Activists Won’t Back Down. Columbia Expelled Student Protesters For the First Time in Over 50 Years. But Activists Won’t Back Down.

On March 5, protesters were arrested after dozens formed a sit-in at Milstein Library to demand the reinstatement of three expelled students.

StudentNation / Lara-Nour Walton

CUNY Faculty Are Still Determined to Hire Palestinian Studies Scholars

CUNY Faculty Are Still Determined to Hire Palestinian Studies Scholars CUNY Faculty Are Still Determined to Hire Palestinian Studies Scholars

Faculty at Hunter College submitted a revised job listing after Governor Hochul told the school to remove one that used the terms “settler colonialism,” “genocide,” and “apartheid...

StudentNation / Luca GoldMansour