Pro-Palestinian speakers dominate Raleigh City Council meeting
All of the speakers included "cease-fire" and defunding of police demands
On Nov. 21, 2023, the Raleigh City Council held its regular public meeting and was met with a large number of pro-Palestine speakers during the public comment portion of the meeting.
The public comments took up over an hour and a half of the initial part of the six-hour-long public meeting.
It had been rumored that the council was considering a "cease-fire" resolution.
Groups putting forth the draft resolution apparently included Students for Justice in Palestine as well as Jewish Voice for Peace; two groups well-known for anti-Israel positions and supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
That rumor was confirmed with remarks made by the final speaker during the public comments who chastised the council for not acting on a resolution that "we gave you last week" before telling the council they need to "prove" they have a "moral compass" and "follow-through and demand a cease-fire now."
Nearly all of the speakers called for a "cease-fire" while side-stepping or completely leaving out the reason for the fighting - the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in which terrorists murdered 1,200 civilians including infants. The attacks included rape, torture, and reports of infants beheaded and children burned alive. Hamas also took hostages during its terror raid with the count being somewhere 240-247. A recent four-day cease-fire that began late this past week saw the return of 50 of those hostages to Israel and Hamas received 150 prisoners from Israeli jails with another 14, including Americans, expected to be returned today, Nov. 26.
Much of the public comment remarks included "defund the police" narratives with more than one speaker commenting on the surging crime in Raleigh while at the same time unironically calling on reduced funding and training for Raleigh Police.
Violent crime and break-ins in downtown Raleigh have spiked in the past year. Shop and restaurant owners in the area have been vocal about their staff being assaulted and stores burglarized. Things have gotten so out of hand that Mayor Baldwin announced the city would be hiring private security to help police in and around the Moore Square area. Raleigh Police, like many departments across the country, have also faced staffing and recruitment issues.
In addition to “defund the police” statements, multiple people called for a ban on Raleigh police training conducted with Israel. One speaker told the council that Raleigh must "outlaw police training with the IDF, just like Durham has."
The Durham Council voted 6-0 in 2018 to ban the Durham Police Department from training and tactics events with Israeli military or police forces despite no such training having occurred or being planned to occur. The ban was the first of its kind in the country.
Despite the mayor asking speakers to identify themselves prior to starting their remarks, very few actually complied, making quote attribution difficult.
The audience also continued to cheer for certain pro-Palestine speakers despite being warned not to do so.
A single speaker, a woman dressed in blue, spoke out against the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7. As she spoke, some in the audience attempted to disrupt her.
The disruptions continued, with the woman raising her voice above their shouting. At one point, someone from the audience yelled out "You're lying!" with the woman yelling back, "Shut up!"
At that point, Mayor Baldwin intervened and reprimanded the audience.
"We are going to have to suspend the meeting if these outbursts continue," said Baldwin. "I am telling you that right now, we will not tolerate that and we will not tolerate disrespect. We are all here as a community. Please stop."
Watch the exchange HERE.
From the start, speakers were overwhelmingly pro-Palestine, with the initial female speaker describing "Israeli occupation and genocide.”
That initial female speaker mentioned a site in Lebanon bombed by Israel but left out the bombing was in retaliation to Hezbollah's rocket strikes into Israel.
She then asked, "Are we going to say there was a base under the church?"
Her question likely was a reference to the now-proven claim that Hamas has bases under hospitals, mosques, and other civilian sites.
Additionally, she accused the United States of "ruining the arab world," and told the council, "The blood is on your hands at this point."
A male speaker, who appeared to be of Asian descent, gave remarks that called on the city to stop funding "racism in all its forms," and stop funding Israeli interest in "all its forms," as well as "divest all municipal funding from police and militarization" in Raleigh.
Another young male speaker called for a cease-fire and even compared activity in Palestine to the Holocaust.
Another female speaker called for the council to make a commitment to "no collaboration with the Israel occupying forces," before segueing into asking the council to consider blocking any type of policing exchange program with Israel like the "Demilitarizing Durham to Palestine Coalition" had successfully advocated for in Durham. She later went on to say the funding of the police by the city "goes towards the racist occupation of southeast Raleigh."
An elderly man told the council "cease-fire is not enough" and "Palestine is going to win their humanity."
As the public comments concluded a woman named Manasa Chitluri described herself as a "mental health professional" and claimed she does not believe she will "die free in Raleigh."
Chitluri's remarks ran the gamut, covering homelessness, inflation, medical care, gun-related deaths, climate change, and corporate greed narratives but near the end turned pro-Palestine.
"And yet, millions of dollars are being spent to fund the Israeli government's brutal regime," Chitluri said in an apparent reference to U.S. spending. "And the strategic power grab of areas of the Middle East and Africa."
"If money is all that matters to you, Mary-Ann, just say that," said Chitluri directly addressing Mayor Baldwin. "At least then you'll be honest about your pursuits. Even Donald Trump was able to do that."
Chitluri then said money that could be used for health care, protection, and schools was instead being used for "the genocide, the ethnic cleansing... the Holocaust of the Palestinian people."
"And for those of you questioning my use of that word, know that the etymology comes from the Greek language to 'burn whole'," said Chitluri as she hit the speaking time limit.
Following the public comment session, Council member Christina Jones thanked everyone for being there today as well as those who were in attendance the week before.
"I know how hard this is," Jones told the audience. "And I appreciate your vulnerability of coming and speaking to us. That's what this is for."
She added that public comment was for "telling us your values" and "holding us accountable."
Jones also said as the council continued to discuss the matter of the cease-fire that "I too stand in awe" and "appreciated" Council Member Mary Black's efforts "in this space."
"I do see you. I see your pain," Jones said, apparently directed at the pro-Hamas/Palestinian speakers. "I want you to know I support and understand we need to have further discussions in a cease-fire movement."
Public comments at the meeting start near the beginning of the video at around the 17:30 mark.
More To The Story
The council took a short break and later on in the meeting Council member Black brought up that Nov. 20 was the "transgender day of remembrance" and requested a moment of silence for "33" lives lost to "anti-transgender violence."
Black then echoed comments made by White House Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre that transgender violence "disproportionately impacts women of color." She also mentioned "efforts by North Carolina legislators to restrict transgender lives."
Jean-Pierre's "Day of Remembrance" comments about the "26" transgender individuals who have died were roasted on social media, with many pointing out that no "Day of Remembrance" is held for other deaths such as those in Chicago, where over a single weekend deaths are typically higher, as well as the number of people killed by bees and dogs each year.
"I put the Q in LGBTQ and am grateful to be a part of one of the most diverse city councils in the history of Raleigh," said Black.
Black also said she wasn't sure the public was aware council members are not allowed to speak during public comment and proceeded to give a lengthy set of remarks.
"At the risk of sounding like the reactionary, quote/unquote, the all lives matter claims we hear when Black people and other persecuted groups speak about how their lives matter too," said Black. "I want to start with this statement by saying I have always condemned all harm and loss of life."
"Let me repeat that: I have always condemned all harm and loss of life," Black said. "I condemn the loss of life that took place on Oct. 7 and I reflect on the conversations with members of the Jewish Community who stated they were never given time to mourn. I see you. I hear you. And I feel your pain."
Black did not end her remarks there, instead citing unconfirmed casualty numbers issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Health (PMH), which is largely controlled by Hamas.
"I also condemn the ongoing loss of life of the more than 14,000 children, mothers, and fathers from the indiscriminate bombing happening currently in Gaza," Black said. "I see you. I hear you. And I feel your pain."
The PMH is documented for having misreported in an example early on in the war about the al-Ahali hospital being destroyed by Israel with 500 to 800 dead as a result. The bomb was actually an Islamic Jihad rocket fired from inside Gaza, it landed in an adjacent parking lot, and the PMH revised death toll estimates down to a few hundred after that fact came to light.
Black also claimed Israel's bombings in response to the Oct. 7 terror attack were "indiscriminate."
Following that statement, Black then said she condemned the "rise of antisemitism" and gave the example of being the "only council member to denounce" antisemitic fliers that showed up in her district over the summer. She used that example to launch into a statement denouncing "anti-muslim and anti-arab hatred."
Black then addressed those who questioned why she would publicly support a cease-fire resolution.
"I want to remind you I am a human first before anything else," Black said. "But most importantly after that, I am an advocate and a Black woman."
"That was true before the election when I stood outside the Wells Fargo building with a megaphone to demand that they divest in fossil fuel money that is killing our planet and people," said Black. “And in 2020, when I was tear-gassed in the streets of Raleigh as I marched for the justice of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Keith Collins, and the seemingly endless number of historically dispossessed people across the country who have lost their lives during police interactions."
Black went on to say she told everyone "over and over" that she was not a "career politician with no political ambition," but that she was a "community advocate."
She also said she has "begged for the end of heartbreaking and vile violence against civilians in Gaza," but did not express the same sentiments for Israeli citizens murdered over the decades by Hamas.
Black told people not to refer to her as "uppity" or to "stay in my lane" and that she has always been "the same person."
She stated that the council had received "thousands" of emails demanding the council adopt a cease-fire resolution, but also admitted the council must consider the hundreds of emails against the resolution.
"Although it is clear where I stand on wanting the council to sign a cease-fire resolution, that may not come," said Black. "I want to state that I am committed to using my seat to work with organizers to push for humanitarian action and a cease-fire resolution at other levels of government."
Black closed out her statement reminding citizens that "a rising tide lifts all boats."
Watch Black's comments HERE.