Community members urge Youngstown City Council to call for ceasefire in Palestine
.jpeg "Suhad Hadi with the Arab-American Community Center of Youngstown urging her city council to seek a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict.")
Members of the local community and the Arab-American Community Center of Youngstown addressed the Youngstown City Council asking them to seek a resolution that would call for a ceasefire in Palestine.
Suhad Hadi, president of the Arab-American Community Center of Youngstown, was among the people who addressed council during the meeting for the first time about Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
“Today I’m asking Youngstown, the sister city to Al-Bireh, Palestine, to stand with us on the right side of history and choose life and humanity,” Suhad said. ”Let us join cities across the country that are working together to build joint resolutions for a call for permanent ceasefire and a call for humanity. I invite the council to join us in working towards this goal.”
Suhad was joined at the podium by her sister, Saedah Hadi, a high school English teacher for Youngstown City Schools.
Ashraf Salman, Tala Alsharif and Mousa Kassis also addressed the council sharing their perspectives and advocating for a ceasefire resolution.
Alsharif is the president of Students for Justice in Palestine at Youngstown State University. Kassis is both a board member for the Arab American Community Center of Youngstown and director of the YSU Export Assistance Network.
Suhad explained this official address to council was only the first step in the process.
Council members asked for copies of their speeches to have on official record.
The next step will be to meet one-on-one with the council members to discuss the possibility of building a ceasefire resolution.
Suhad also emphasized to the council members the importance of education surrounding Palestinian history and Israel’s occupation.
“We cannot continue to conflate selected parts of history and ignore these other parts as it’s only by putting them together that we will sincerely understand and own the truth,” Suhad said. “Today, I’m asking the council to join us to widen the lens in which we actually view the atrocities in Gaza in Palestine. We need to better understand the impact of a century long colonial project and occupation aimed toward removing the indigenous Palestinians from their homeland and depriving them of the basic human rights of self incrimination justice and freedom.”
They emphasized it’s day 124 of the conflict and as many as 25,000-30,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to reports.
“But the narrative is changing. voices are no longer being silenced and Palestine is no longer the unpopular opinion as evidenced by 120 countries who as early as October 27, voted in favor of a ceasefire....In a landmark trial, South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice which concluded that the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza was indeed a plausible genocide. The truth prevails,” said Suhad.
The city council met inside the DoubleTree by Hilton Community Room at the Covelli Centre.
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This story was originally published February 8, 2024 at 7:45 AM.
