Cleveland City Council Cuts Meeting Short as Protestors Once Again Call for Gaza Ceasefire Resolution

Basma Hamid, a pro-Palestine activist, commenting in Council Chambers on Monday. Credit: Mark Oprea

After two-and-a-half months of public scrutiny and an ongoing federal lawsuit, City Council approved an updated and somewhat controversial resolution for its public comment rules Monday evening.

Public commenters should abstain, the new rules state, from any behavior that “interrupts, delays, or disturbs” regular procedure in Council Chambers. There should be no clapping, feet-stomping, loud noises (including whistling), obscenities used, or talk directed to anyone other than Council President Blaine Griffin.

“Any person who violates any of the above,” the resolution says, “may be immediately removed from the Council Chamber.”

As council passed the updated terms on Monday, it also once again dealt with supporters who have called on Council to pass a resolution in support of a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Hundreds of pro-Palestine supporters filled the stands in their keffiyeh scarves and N95 face masks, waving ceasefire-aware signs, and calling direly upon members—often right in the middle of roll call—for their lack of action in support of Gaza.

Juan Collado Díaz, a 23-year-old activist living in the West Side’s Little Arabia, was the most vocal pro-Palestine protestor at Council’s meeting Monday. “They just have to read it, add whatever they want to add,” he said, regarding the pro-Gaza resolution Council has been refusing to sign since late 2023, “and introduce it.” Credit: Mark Oprea

By eight o’clock on Monday, the chants and reproaches were so unrelenting that Griffin decided to end the meeting a few minutes early, before any miscellaneous comments could be made.

“I don’t know what we’re voting on if I can’t hear it,” Ward 9 Councilman Kevin Conwell told Scene as he was leaving Chambers. “So we can’t do government. What they did, they shut government down. They shut it down.”

Many in the stands had been attending Council’s Monday meetings to both protest its public comment restrictions and to urge, for the tenth session in a row, Council to pass legislation codifying Cleveland’s support of Gaza. Some 250 Gazans have been killed daily, according to Oxfam International, in the Israel-Hamas War since the Palestinian militant group invaded Israel on October 7.

A letter signed by more than 1,500 Clevelanders urging a resolution on the issue, which arrived in all 17 councilpersons’ inboxes Monday morning, asked the legislative body to declare an emergency ordinance “expressing sympathy for the innocent civilians victimized by the violence in Israel and Palestine; condemning violence of any kind; affirming Cleveland’s status as a welcoming community for those of the Jewish and Islamic religions and any other religion.”

And asking Council to encourage “residents to offer support and sincere condolences to members of the Jewish and Palestinian communities of Cleveland and all over the world.”

Many of the protestors, who claimed allegiance to a variety of pro-Palestine organizations, felt that Council’s original restriction of public comment rules was a method to skirt around passing a resolution. Many noted that local bodies in other U.S. cities, like Akron, Atlanta and Detroit, have okayed resolutions similar to the drafted example emailed to Cleveland’s lawmakers that morning.

“They just have to read it, add whatever they want to add and introduce it. It’s literally there for them,” Juan Collado Díaz, a 23-year-old activist living in Cleveland’s Little Arabia, told Scene after the meeting. Commenting while holding an apple on the podium and shouting frequently from the benches—”Free—free—free Palestine!”—Collado Díaz was easily the most outspoken opponent to Council’s hesitancy.

“It’s been written by Christians, by Muslims, members of the Arab community, members of different communities,” he added, his voice cracking. “It’s not just two people sitting down. This has been written by over 50 people together. It’s the simplest resolution!”

Protestors overwhelmed Council’s regular proceedings on Monday. “They shut it down,” Councilman Kevin Conwell said. Credit: Mark Oprea

Council President Blaine Griffin. Credit: Mark Oprea

As for Council’s hesitancy in acquiescing to the demands of Collado Díaz and his colleagues, Griffin has labeled the push for a resolution one-sided in past interviews with the press.

In a statement sent to Scene on Tuesday, Griffin seemed to appreciate the democratic tones underlying the protestors’ speech, yet suggested Council’s walk-out was in response to public comment getting a bit out of hand.

“City Council is the people’s house,” Griffin wrote in an email. “I support people protesting and communicating with their government. I understand the protestors want their voices heard. But yesterday’s actions border on interfering with city business and people feeling safe.”

He added, “I won’t allow this body to be interrupted from doing the people’s business.”

Kamal Alkayali, a 21-year-old activist with Palestinian roots (his father, Ayman Alkayali, owns Algebra Tea House in Little Italy), refused to take Council’s walk-out seriously. Or believe the accusatory signage and shouting were “rude.” Or that public comment restrictions have their justification.

“We have privilege being here America, and we see that the privilege speaking at a City Council where we all have shelters over our head,” Alkayali told Scene. Dozens around him chanted “If we don’t get justice, we don’t get no peace!” as Council members and Mayor’s Office staff walked quietly towards the Chambers’ north exit. “And today, there’s a genocide [in Gaza] where people have no roofs over their heads.

“So whether it’s fair or not, that’s a minor inconvenience,” he added, nodding to the protestors beside him. “This is a minor inconvenience.”

McKenna Nalow, 24, agreed with Alkayali as she was exiting City Hall. “I can say every Palestinian person I know has been affected very directly by the war,” she said. “Again, this is not just affecting our people here: our Palestinian population in Cleveland—their family is getting slaughtered.”

Collado Díaz told Scene that he expects an even meatier turnout next Monday, with Council’s newest public comment rules in effect. As of today, no Palestine supporters have been arrested or kicked out of Council Chambers, which could change in the coming months.

As for the updated public comment rules and how they pertain to the ongoing Federal lawsuit brought by Chris Martin, nothing is settled yet.

The First Amendment Clinic at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, which is representing Martin, said in a statement, “This new policy, though an improvement on Council’s prior policy (currently enjoined in Federal Court), still contains some vague and problematic portions that we will have to evaluate in terms of the litigation.”