The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted in favor of a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza on March 7.
Demonstrators gathered outside the Multnomah County building early Thursday morning, demanding elected officials call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire and acknowledge the impacts Israel’s military campaign has had on Palestinian-Americans living in the county — many of whom are grieving the loss of family members in Gaza.
The resolution was first proposed by Commissioner Lori Stegmann at a contentious board meeting Feb. 1. She offered an amended resolution March 7, after inviting each board office and staff into facilitated negotiations grounded in nonviolent, peaceful conflict resolution. Stegmann said it was essential that the board reach a consensus vote, and offering mediated conversations helped bring the resolution to pass.
“If we can't get five people on a board of county commissioners to agree around the issues of humanity, then how can we ask world leaders to have a ceasefire?” Stegmann told Street Roots. “It was really important to me that we not only ask of others what we need to, but we also need to ask ourselves those same things.”
The short resolution cited social justice as a core value of the county board, saying human life is precious, and the targeting of civilians, no matter their faith or ethnicity, is a violation of international law.
“Hundreds of thousands of lives are at imminent risk if a ceasefire is not achieved and humanitarian aid is not delivered without delay,” the resolution said.
It also noted the United States, as a long-standing ally and supporter of Israel, has the ability to influence the actions of Israel’s government. Ultimately, the resolution called for an immediate ceasefire, return of hostages, safe passage and free access for humanitarian organizations to provide medical aid, food, water, clothing, fuel, power, and shelter to Gazan civilians.
“With the adoption of this ceasefire resolution, we are demanding that those in power stop the insane and inhumane actions that are occurring in this war,” Stegmann said before the vote.
During public testimony, Mohammed Usrof, a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip who lives in Multnomah County, said his family originated in the city now known as Tel-Aviv, Israel. He said the Israeli state expelled his family 75 years ago, and said Israel is destroying Gaza again today.
“They're forcing people to leave to the south with no horizon in sight,” he said. “My family and my friend’s families have lost everything — not just the home that they lived in, not just the happiness and the life that they had, but also, they lost every access to culture, house of worship, schools, mosques, and every single thing that makes life there possible.”
The vote comes just five days after at least 1,000 Portlanders joined global protests in solidarity with Gazans, and called for a permanent ceasefire. The massive demonstration gathered at downtown Portland’s Lownsdale Square the afternoon of March 2 before the crowd marched across the Hawthorne Bridge, ultimately gathering at the Eastbank Esplanade fire station. Protestors chanted “hands off Rafah,” a rallying cry demanding Israel abstain from attacking the 25-square mile city. (For comparison, Portland, OR is 145 square miles.)
Israel has promised a ground offensive in Rafah by March 10, the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. At least 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering in the southern city of Rafah after the Israeli government issued successive evacuation orders and bombings, forcing people out of the north and into the southernmost area of the Gaza Strip.
The International Court of Justice, or ICJ, put Israel on notice Jan. 26, ordering Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. South Africa filed a request for provisional measures seeking to ensure Israel’s compliance with the Genocide Convention Dec. 29, 2023, and after hearing two days of public testimony, the court issued a decision Feb. 16. The court ordered Israel to comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide in Gaza.
“The most recent developments in the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah in particular, ‘would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,’ as stated by the United Nations Secretary-General,” the court said.
South Africa submitted a request to the ICJ March 6, asking it to modify the prior provisional measures in light of new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza, specifically with regard to increasing starvation and Israel’s blockade of life-saving humanitarian aid.
“South Africa fears that this application may be the last opportunity that this court shall have to save the Palestinian people in Gaza already dying of starvation, and now ‘one step’ from famine,” the application said.
At least 576,000 people in Gaza, including children under the age of two, are “one step” away from famine—the highest level of food insecurity—according to a Feb. 27 letter sent to the UN Security Council from Ramesh Rajasingham, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, director.
Local organizers initially called on Multnomah County to adopt a resolution at a board meeting Feb. 1. A coalition of at least two dozen local organizations asked the county to pass a draft resolution it presented to the board, noting the disproportionate and increasing death toll of Palestinians at the direction of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu. In the five weeks since, nearly 3,600 Palestinians have been killed, according to an OCHA report released March 6.
At least 30,717 Palestinians are reported dead, while 72,156 are reported injured as Israel has unleashed a brutal campaign in Gaza, according to the report. An estimated 2.2 million face crisis levels of food insecurity or worse. Israel’s bombings have displaced roughly 1.7 million Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in an attack on Israel.
Marc Blattner, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, supported the ceasefire resolution but asked the board to add condemnation of Hamas.
“There was a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza five months ago today, on October 7, when Hamas, who has never mentioned by name in any of the resolutions broke that ceasefire by entering Israel,” he said.
Stegmann said the final resolution does not reflect the entirety of the commissioner's thoughts on the issue but stressed the importance of the board having a strong, unified voice calling for a ceasefire.
“While this resolution may not accomplish world peace, it is foundational to building county peace," she said. “If we can live together without hostility or conflict, despite our differences, maybe county by county, we can have an impact on the world,” Stegmann said.
Multnomah County joined a growing list of cities and counties across the U.S. passing ceasefire resolutions, including Seattle, San Francisco, Wayne County, MI and roughly 70 other municipal governments. The city of Chicago, home to 2.7 million people, passed a resolution Jan. 31—the most populous city to pass a resolution thus far.
“Finally, under the pressure of a community who will not wait any longer, Multnomah County Commissioners joined the dozens of other local governments who are demanding a ceasefire,”
With the unanimous vote, the resolution will be signed by Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and a county attorney, sent to U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley; U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici and Lori Chavez-DeRemer; and President Joe Biden. Of those, Merkley and Bonamici are the only two Oregon elected officials to call for a ceasefire.
Diyala Yousef, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Oregon to Palestine Coalition, said the final resolution falls short of organizer’s wishes, but said it is ultimately a testament to the power of the collective community’s demands for justice.
“Finally, under the pressure of a community who will not wait any longer, Multnomah County Commissioners joined the dozens of other local governments who are demanding a ceasefire,” Yousef said.
Stegmann told Street Roots she hopes the resolution will inspire other governments to do similar work.
“I hope that we have emboldened other jurisdictions and governments to speak out,” she said. “If one person speaks up, then maybe two people speak up, and if one county speaks up, then maybe another county will speak up.”
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
© 2024 Street Roots. All rights reserved. | To request permission to reuse content, email editor@streetroots.org or call 503-228-5657, ext. 40