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Hundreds of residents urge Champaign council to place ceasefire resolution and divestment measures on the agenda
Summary
At a lengthy public-comment period Dec. 3, residents, student groups and local organizations urged the Champaign City Council to put a ceasefire resolution and a socially responsible investment policy on a future agenda, citing international reports and calls for an arms embargo; the council did not vote on a resolution at this meeting.
Scores of residents and campus groups used the Dec. 3 public-comment period to press the Champaign City Council to place a ceasefire resolution and a socially responsible investment policy on a future agenda.
Speakers included members of Amnesty International—s UIUC chapter, UC Jews for Ceasefire, the CU Muslim Action Committee and other local coalitions. Amnesty UIUC representatives cited their organization—s reporting and urged the city to support a ceasefire, an arms embargo and policies that would prevent city funds from being invested in entities they say facilitate human-rights abuses. An Amnesty speaker said, "We demand an arms embargo now," and urged local government action to align investments with human-rights values.
Stuart Levy, speaking for Urbana Champaign Jews for Ceasefire, read draft resolution language calling on the U.S. administration and congressional delegation to urge an immediate, permanent ceasefire, facilitate humanitarian aid and oppose active or proposed U.S. military aid to Israel. Levy referenced rulings and calls from international bodies and framed the request as both humanitarian and civic.
Multiple speakers tied the request to local civic action and existing ballots elsewhere: an Amnesty UIUC speaker and others noted that Cunningham Township and the city of Urbana previously advanced related measures and that similar local advocacy had received large voter support in nearby jurisdictions.
Council did not place the resolution on the agenda at this meeting. Council members acknowledged receipt of correspondence and petitions earlier in the meeting and filed them for the record. Several speakers urged the council to schedule the resolution for a vote; others asked for a city-adopted socially responsible investment policy to prevent city funds from being placed in securities or instruments that contributors allege support human-rights abuses.
Speakers quoted casualty figures and reports from international organizations; those numbers and characterizations were attributed to the speakers and the organizations they cited, not verified by the council in this session. For example, one commenter read language that attributed a UN International Court of Justice order and cited casualty figures; another cited Amnesty International reporting on specific munitions. Those sources and claims would require external fact-checking before being reported as established facts.
No formal council action on a ceasefire or investment policy occurred at the Dec. 3 meeting; staff and council will determine whether to place such items on a future agenda.
