Following a lengthy and contentious debate, the Kingston Common Council has passed a resolution calling for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. But the 7-2 vote failed to achieve council Majority Leader Rennie Scott-Childress’ stated goal of a unanimous decision that would send a message of unity on a divisive issue.

Calls for a symbolic resolution in support of an end to Israel’s offensive into Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas that left 1,200 Israelis dead and 250 more taken captive have roiled the council since late last year. In January, a resolution sponsored by Laws and Rules Committee Chair Michele Hirsch (D-Ward 9) based on one put forth by pro-Palestinian activists died in committee after it failed to get a second. The issue was revived in May when Laws and Rules member Teryl Mickens (D-Ward 5) introduced her own resolution drafted with help from fellow lawmakers Michael Tierney (D-Ward 2) Sara Pasti (D-Ward 1) and Drew Andrews (D-Ward 7).

That resolution, like the one that failed in January, included a series of “whereas” clauses detailing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the toll of the Israeli offensive on women, children and civilian infrastructure and calls for the creation of a Palestinian state. The resolution ends with a call for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to “unrestricted military aid to Israel,” increased humanitarian aid to Gaza and “lifting the siege on Palestinian lands.”

Supporters of the memorializing resolution said it was intended to put pressure on Kingston’s elected representatives in Washington, including U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, to push more aggressively to rein in an Israeli offensive that has, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, has killed about 38,000 people, most of them civilians.

At a June 20 meeting of the Laws and Rules Committee, Scott-Childress said he would not support the resolution as written because it gave the appearance that the council was taking a side in the conflict. Scott-Childress said the council had heard emotional testimony on both sides of the issue during a series of marathon public speaking sessions in the months leading up to a potential vote on the issue. Scott-Childress introduced his own resolution, which explicitly stated that the council would not take sides in the conflict; instead, it calls in more general terms for an end to the violence, recognizing the deep feelings on both sides and calling on city residents to “hold one another in community” despite their differences. Scott-Childress later said that his resolution was offered in hopes of winning unanimous approval for the measure since a split vote on a symbolic expression of community sentiment was “not a good a look.”

A June 27 special meeting of the Laws and Rules Committee called to reconcile the competing resolutions ended with the adoption of the version that went before the full council on Tuesday. That version stripped out most of the language about the humanitarian toll of the conflict while including one “whereas” clause about the threat of famine in the war zone. The resolution also replaced the call for an end to unrestricted military aid to Israel to a more generic call to end “unrestricted offensive military aid” in the region, something Scott-Childress said could apply to repressive regimes in Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia as well as Israel. The resolution also included language from Scott-Childress’ resolution recognizing the divide within the community over the issue and calling for unity while calling for the release of prisoners held by both sides.

Tuesday’s meeting began with a marathon public speaking session that stretched over three hours as dozens of partisans made their case for and against the resolution. Many of the attendees sported keffiyehs, a traditional Arab headdress and symbol of Palestinian resistance, and waved Palestinian flags and signs bearing pro-Palestinian slogans. One pro-Palestinian protestor was escorted from the meeting by police at the direction of Common Council President Andrea Shaut after disrupting the council’s deliberations.

When it came time for a vote on the resolution, Mickens lamented that the compromise resolution passed out of Laws and Rules undercut the purpose of the effort to highlight the toll on Palestinian civilians and put pressure on elected officials to press for an end to the Israeli offensive.

“It has, in my opinion been reduced to pablum as a resolution,” said Mickens. “I find it intellectually insipid, but we have a ceasefire resolution such as it is and I will vote in favor of it.”

Despite Scott-Childress’ hopes for a united council, two members voted against the resolution. In an impassioned speech, Jeanne Edwards (D-Ward 4), said that she had been elected to deal with issues in her Midtown community, not international affairs, and contrasted the outpouring of concern over Gaza with what she described as the relative indifference to issues like poverty, homelessness and violence faced by her constituents just a few blocks from Council Chambers.

“I love the energy you people have given and I respect you, but I can’t stand for [the resolution] until you start fighting for Kingston,” said Edwards. “Start looking at what really matters because when the rubber meets the road, foreign affairs, they don’t really care about Kingston New York and if we don’t start cleaning up our own backyard, who’s going to do it for us?”

Steve Schabot (D-Ward 8) cast the second dissenting vote. In a caucus meeting Monday, Schabot, the council’s longest-tenured member, took issue with the title of the resolution which included the phrase “immediate and permanent ceasefire.” Pro-Israel partisans have described the phrase as a call for capitulation and abandonment of the Gaza offensive’s stated goal of destroying Hamas.

“I realize it is just a term and I don’t want to get caught up in semantics, but I think it’s a term that has taken on a life of its own in recent months to some peoples’ delight and to some people’s chagrin,” said Schabot. “It has divided a lot of people here.”