Featured photo: Activists pushing for a ceasefire resolution at a Winston-Salem city council meeting in March. (Photo by Gale Melcher)

For months, local activists have been coming to speak at Winston-Salem city council meetings in an effort to persuade city leaders to pass a ceasefire resolution in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The move, which has gained traction since the start of this round of conflict, has become a popular form of anti-war protest across the country. 

So far, cities in North Carolina such as Carrboro and Durham have passed measures calling for a ceasefire; Greensboro passed a resolution in January calling for peace in the Middle East but did not call for a ceasefire.

During Winston-Salem’s city council meeting on Monday, speaker Elif Erginer called Israel a “terrorist state” and that the country is trying to “justify” their barrage of Gaza by saying that “Palestine’s retaliation was the first strike,” referencing the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion.

Speaker Rafia Kirmani noted that she and others in the group met with Mayor Pro Tempore Denise D. Adams and Councilmember Robert C. Clark, but that the city leaders told them that the city will “only address and consider items that affect Winston-Salem.”

“Our county and city tax dollars are being directly used to fund this genocide…We need you all to realize that this is a absolutely city issue,” Kirmani added.

In a March interview with NPR, Allison McManus, managing director for the National Security and International Policy department at the Center for American Progress, estimated that $11.25 per person has been sent to Israel since the war began in October 2023. That would total about $135 per person in a year. The Intercept, an online nonprofit news organization, put the estimate around $150 per person per year.

“We are not going to vote as usual: We are changing our major party affiliations, we are going to vote third party,” Kirmani threatened.

“We are going to keep coming here until we get a ceasefire resolution, so the best way to get rid of us is to pass the resolution,” speaker Abigail Lightfoot said.

At the end of the comment period, city leaders retreated into a closed session and did not address protesters’ demands. People gathered in support of a ceasefire chanted, “Ceasefire now!” as city leaders exited the room.

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