SPOKANE — The Spokane City Council on Monday will consider once again speaking out about the Israel-Palestine conflict, this time voicing support not only for the victims of Hamas’ attacks against Israel Oct. 7 but the Palestinian civilians now under siege by Israel’s military.
The resolution, sponsored by City Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Councilman Zack Zappone, comes after months of protest over the council’s first foray into the international conflict and perceived attempts to silence that protest.
Two days after the terror attacks in Israel killed an estimated 1,200 people, the Spokane City Council quickly and unanimously adopted a last-minute resolution put forward by Councilman Jonathan Bingle that condemned the incident and affirmed Israel’s right to “exist and defend itself.” In his public comments preceding the Oct. 9 vote, which came with little notice to the public, Bingle said he had been horrified by videos of the violence and was asked by members of the local Jewish community to make an official statement showing the city’s support for the nation of Israel.
Though that resolution also expressed support for local residents of both Jewish and Palestinian heritage, pro-Palestinian activists argued the vote was “racist” and “historically illiterate” for failing to consider Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories or including the perspectives of local Palestinian-Americans. Protesters soon began rallying outside City Hall and packing council meetings to highlight the subsequent military response and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling on the City Council to rescind the previous resolution and to support an immediate cease-fire.
The weekly meeting’s open forum period, during which the public can speak on issues not currently up for a vote, became dominated by the issue, led by activists denouncing the Oct. 9 resolution and criticizing council members by name. Then-City Council President Lori Kinnear began to interpret a council rule to forbid the public from naming council members, which raised eyebrows among constitutional scholars and further fueled protest.
On Nov. 6, speakers flouted the disputed rule interpretation. Justice Forral, an activist with Spokane Community Against Racism who helped lead protests, attempted to read a verbatim transcript of a speaker having their comments curtailed by Kinnear at an earlier meeting.
After repeated requests for Forral to not name Bingle and Councilman Michael Cathcart as part of their transcript, Kinnear attempted to cut them off. Forral continued speaking, at which point council members walked away from the dais. Around 30 minutes later, Kinnear appeared via video conferencing software and declared the meeting was adjourned.
By the end of the week, following public outcry that the rule interpretation was on shaky constitutional grounds, Kinnear conceded and allowed the public to name council members during their comments.
It wouldn’t be the last time the City Council would face backlash for what protesters believed was an attempt to quash dissent.
A proposal sponsored by Wilkerson at the beginning of the year would have limited open forum to once a month, rather than once per week.
Wilkerson expected the changes to be approved, but by Jan. 8 noted that the public’s response had “not been favorable,” and that the once-per-month proposal would likely fail.
Amid the outcry, Zappone and Wilkerson have been leading conversations on a new resolution with community organizations, including Muslims for Community Action and Support, Spokane Community Against Racism, the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, and others. That resolution condemns both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, calls for a return of hostages and the safe return of those displaced or detained during the conflict, and supports efforts toward an “immediate and sustained peace in Israel and Palestine.”
The resolution also expresses support of strengthening hate crime laws, such as a bill sponsored by state Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, to broaden the state’s law to allow damage to public property to be prosecuted as a hate crime.
In a Tuesday interview, Zappone said he regretted his vote in support of the Oct. 9 resolution.
“I think I made a mistake, the council made a mistake, and we could have been more deliberate and did more community outreach,” he said. “That was the lesson we took in how we did this new resolution.”
Bingle said he was leaning toward voting in support of the new resolution but hadn’t made a decision.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t love a lot of the language,” he said. “Some of the people I’ve chatted with feel it’s a real win, and others feel frustrated when it calls for a permanent peace, which sounds like a call for cease-fire, which is not something they want. I think with a couple language tweaks it could be a good resolution.”
Bingle acknowledged it was unlikely that the language would be further changed before a final vote and praised the work of Zappone in particular to come to a compromise of some kind.
“Zack in particular was working to find a middle ground where we’re not going to call Israel a racist, genocidal apartheid government, because I have little credibility with the people calling for that and he has far more,” Bingle added. “It’s often harder in politics to stand up to those who agree with you than those who don’t.”
The resolution also has the support of Councilman Paul Dillon, who is the only council member to call for an outright cease-fire. In a Jan. 8 letter to U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Dillon urged them to support a cease-fire and a return of hostages in Israel and Palestine.
While Dillon said he was disappointed Monday’s resolution stops short of calling for a cease-fire and the City Council as a whole hasn’t joined in his call for such an action, he said he still intends to vote in favor of it.
