Select Board votes ‘no report’ on ceasefire resolution after brief recess due to audience disturbance

UPDATED: After hearing from more than a dozen recognized speakers about the controversial ceasefire resolution that was slated to go before Special Town Meeting on May 1, the Arlington Select Board went into recess and left the room.  This occurred after Board Chair Steve DeCourcey more than once warned disruptive audience members in the room – to no avail – not to shout out from the gallery. The board soon returned and, on a motion by Eric Helmuth and a second by Len Diggins, voted  5 to 0 for “no report.”

What that means, DeCourcey said and Town Counsel Michael Cunningham affirmed, was that the proposed resolution – Special Town Meeting Article 5 – is to now become “the main motion” before Town Meeting members, who are the only people authorized to actually adopt (or not) any given article. DeCourcey emphasized that he had previously spoken with Cunningham to confirm that, while an advisory opinion from the board to Town Meeting is generally traditional on articles, it is not required.

At the Wednesday, May 8, Special Town Meeting, Town Meeting members voted “no action” on Article 5, a resolution for a proclamation seeking an immediate permanent ceasefire in Gaza, release of all hostages, and related provisions. To read the coverage, see the full story here. >>>

But on May 1, Diane Mahon said she appreciated the audience but advocated for continual respect from all and to all going forward. “We do thank you for coming out,” she said.

Recently endorsed by the town’s Human Rights Commission, Special Town Meeting Article 5 seeks an immediate permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, release of all hostages and other related measures; the commission voted, 8 to 1, to support this on April 24.

The board meeting ended just after 7:50 p.m., about five minutes later than planned. It had been scheduled to go only until 7:45 p.m. because the night’s Town Meeting session was slated to start at 8 p.m. 

At the meeting, those who spoke in favor of the resolution exceeded the number who spoke against, as is common practice at government meetings, each person was allotted three minutes. At least a dozen other people, some attending in person, others via Zoom, had hoped to speak as well but could not due to the time constraints, so their positions remain unknown. It was not certain whether this is what prompted the crosstalk nor what views might be held by those speaking out of turn, and neither the identity of those calling out nor what they said was intelligible to this reporter watching over Zoom.

“It’s nothing but pro-humanity,” one Arlington resident said, and intended “to support peace in the Middle East.” She was one of several speakers who mentioned severe food shortages in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 8 – and to refer to the overall situation  as an “atrocity” and a “genocide.” She also said, “We Americans are complicit – we sponsored it,” possibly referring to recently approved billions of dollars of federal funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. She concluded by saying, “I support ceasefire of all wars.”

In a statement Monday, resolution co-author and Town Meeting Member Sarah McKinnon expressed her thoughts. 

Organized Jewish community’s perspective

In a telephone interview hours before the meeting, Rabbi Avi Bukiet, co-founder of the Center for Jewish Life, the only Jewish institution in town, told YourArlington that he has long been aware of the article, to which he has been consistently strongly opposed.

“The most important reason is that we believe that this will just bring conflict and division in the community. It has already brought conflict and division within the community, within the town of Arlington. And there’s no actual practical measures that the town is taking to address what is going on right here in Arlington. Forget about what’s going on 10,000 miles away in a foreign conflict!”

He continued, “So we are just asking that they refocus their attention to the goings-ons in Arlington and the strife that may be happening right on their doorstep, whether it’s discrimination, whether it’s antisemitism that has rocketed in Arlington itself, or Islamophobia. Hate of all kinds. But the point is that this is what they should be focusing on — and not at all anything that has to do with something that they have no impact on. So that is what we are asking them to do in no uncertain terms — and we are asking them to listen to us and to not make a severe mistake in this process.”

At the meeting itself, Bukiet reiterated these points. He also described his center as having been targeted more than once by unmistakable antisemitism — from having received a swastika in the mail when it first opened to his personally experiencing vile verbal slurs to the building having been victimized twice by arson in 2019.

How to learn more

The texts of all five Special Town Meeting articles may be read here >>

ACMi typically broadcasts public meetings in real time here >> 

These recordings usually are posted on YouTube within 48 hours.