Calls for a Gaza cease-fire resolution reach another Wake County town government
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NC responds to Israel-Hamas war
Since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, the ensuing war in Gaza has had an impact around the world. In the Triangle, protesters have taken to the streets, college campuses and government meetings to call for a cease-fire, aid to Gaza and the release of hostages. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer.
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For months, some residents in Wake County and the Triangle have been calling on local leaders to support calls for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Since Oct. 7, over 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in response to a surprise attack led by the terrorist organization Hamas on Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
The Israel-Hamas war has had an impact around the world. Tuesday night in Apex, two advocates, one of them a town resident, asked the Town Council to pass a cease-fire resolution. About eight people sat in the audience to support the speakers.
“Many residents ... have been affected by the massive and indiscriminate destruction and desecration of civilian homes, hospitals, schools, churches, mosques and historical sites dating back thousands of years since October 7,” the Muslim American Public Affairs Council in Raleigh said in a 2-page letter.
“We are aware that many residents are watching what our leaders do (or do not) in this growing humanitarian crisis,” the letter states.
Apex resident Julia Owen, a member of the public affairs council, referenced the town’s slogan when she asked the council to “show Raleigh that we are better than them, show them that we are not only the peak of good living for ourselves, but we are the peak of good living for more.”
Over 100 residents in Raleigh who support a cease-fire in Gaza have lobbied the Raleigh City Council for months for a resolution, but council members could not agree on its passage.
“While we do not have a consensus among our community, we also do not have a consensus among our council,” said Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin. “With this in mind, the Raleigh City Council will not be issuing the resolution on this matter.”
So far, two municipalities in the Triangle have passed a resolution. Durham passed one in February, becoming the largest town in North Carolina to do so. Carrboro approved its resolution in November.
“I am demanding that you totally divest from Israel,” Owen told Apex leaders. “One day, we’re going to look back on this moment and we’re going to be appalled that we didn’t do more.”
Manzoor Cheema, of the People’s Power Lab and the Muslims for Social Justice, asked the council to consider a cease-fire resolution and create a human relations commission to address Islamophobia, racism, housing, and health disparities in Apex.
People’s Power Lab is a multi-faith and multi-racial grassroots organization based in the Triangle.
He spoke on behalf of Zohra Oumous, an Apex resident and mother of Noureddine Oumous, who is serving a 27-year term at Maury Correctional Institution for second-degree murder in a 2012 homicide. She believes her son is innocent, she said at the meeting.
In 2018, Oumous said, she was repeatedly denied visitation rights at the Greene Correctional Institution because she would not remove her hijab. The state Department of Public Safety has since investigated this matter.
“Since Israel’s war on Gaza, there’s a spike, a high increase in anti-Muslim bigotry and violence as well as antisemitism,” Cheema said. “(We) demand that Apex should have a human relations commission or defend the rights of the people.”
The Apex Town Council has not taken any action on a cease-fire resolution to date, Town Clerk Allen Coleman said. Council members did not respond to the calls for one.
Two council members, Arno Zegerman and Audra Killingworth, have joined other area leaders in a letter calling on the Biden administration and North Carolina’s congressional delegation to publicly back a permanent cease-fire, the release of remaining hostages, and the extension of Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure so that Palestinian families in the United States can remain safely here.
The letter was also delivered to Congressman Wiley Nickel’s office in Garner on Feb. 8 to press the lawmaker. The rally and letter were followed by a poll taken by the Jewish Voices for Peace, which found 76% of his constituents supported a cease-fire in Gaza, according to the People’s Power Lab.
Other signers include Jennifer Robinson, a Cary Town Council member, and four Raleigh City Council members: Mary Black, Jane Harrison, Christina Jones and Megan Patton.
This story was originally published February 29, 2024 at 4:12 PM.
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