Beverly City Council Tables 'Difficult' Israel/Palestine Discussions, Possible Resolution

BEVERLY, MA — A proposed public discussion among Beverly City Council members on the local impacts of the crisis in Gaza and Israel was tabled on Monday night when a majority of the Public Services Committee — following what appeared to be the will of the majority of the Council — voiced opinions that the emotional and potentially divisive topic was beyond the Council's purview.

Councilors Hannah Bowen and Julie Flowers had sent a letter to the Council requesting the discussion and potential resolution after weeks of public comment requesting the Council adopt a resolution regarding the ongoing humanitarian crisis and possible ceasefire in Gaza following attacks on Israel in October. City Councils generally do not directly respond to public comment.

But before that discussion could begin, Councilor Stephen Crowley, a member of the Public Services Committee, made a motion to place the letter on file — effectively cutting short the public exchanges between Councilors in an open meeting session.

"I am not saying that we not have discussions about this in the community," Crowley said. "I think there are other forums that may be better suited to have these continued discussions. ... I just don't think this is the right forum for this. But I'm not saying not to have the conversations."

Bowen introduced the letter during the Council's March 4 meeting with Councilors indicating that constituent feedback had ranged from supportive to contentious to a general feeling that it's not necessarily a subject that warrants action from a municipal governing body.

"In the past week or so I have heard from many members of our community about this proposal," City Councilor Brendan Sweeney said. "And almost all the folks who have reached out to me have shared their personal stories, the pain that they have dealt with, and for some, the anger they have felt toward the Council for introducing this proposal that is beyond the scope of their official responsibilities. I will say that I empathize with those who have reached out to me in this regard."

The City Council joined Mayor Mike Cahill and the city Human Rights Committee in October in a joint letter both condemning the attacks, and expressing support and empathy for "all the innocent victims in Israel and Gaza, and all others affected and now suffering in the wake of Hamas's brutal terrorism."

Bowen, citing past resolutions spurred by both national and international events, said she believed the events of subsequent months were worthy of the Council discussion and potential resolution referenced in the letter.

"My motivation now is essentially the same as my motivation (at the time of the solidarity letter)," Bowen said. "That remaining silent risks leaving members of our community feeling unheard and unseen. Remaining silent then risked leaving members of our community guessing about what we might view as acceptable, what we are willing to ignore, what we are willing to face and discuss, whether we are able to listen to each other.

"I do not want anyone to interpret the combination of the statement we made in October and our silence now as meaning that we agree that the level of destruction, in civilian deaths and displacement, starvation and humanitarian currently unfolding in Gaza are justified or acceptable to us."

Both Councilors Kathleen Feldman and Scott Houseman said they agreed that the discussion was beyond the scope of the Council, with Feldman saying there was a lack of actionable items the Council could take to affect change in the conflict, while Houseman said that — unlike actions the Council took in the wake of the George Floyd killing in Minnesota that did result in the Council funding two municipal staff positions to examine racial inequities in the city — "there is no bright line to decide what issues of great public significance the Council should engage in."

"So while I disagree with the filing of the resolution I think it came from the same impulse to address a larger and pressing issue," Houseman said, "and I appreciate that."

Flowers got emotional as she shared her motivations for submitting the letter along with Bowen.

"I can recognize and respect what my fellow City Councilors are saying that in some ways our very formal City Council public meeting processes fall short of being able to have the kind of interactive, face-to-face conversations that communities need to have when talking about important, heavy, raw in some ways, topics," she said. "I hope that we as a community, and by that I mean our whole community in Beverly, can continue the good work I know we already have begun.

"But as a community, I have seen us undertake some of these difficult conversations to be able to think and talk together about how Beverly can be evermore a place where people feel seen and safe, respected and heard. I think it would be foolish for me to say that Beverly is always that place. I think some of you in this room feel that Beverly is not always that place. I don't know that any community yet is always that place.

"I hope that even if not within the confines of our City Council chambers we, as a community, can continue to have those conversations."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)