Public Comment

End public funding of an apartheid state and support of genocide

Northeast Ohio and our area has a large Arab/Muslim/Middle Eastern community. Supporting the evil acts of Israel against an indigenous people, without proper context, and dehumanizing them and their right to resistance (PER UN GUIDELINES) against an illegally occupying state. Israel is not an official country. Palestine is. None of the city, community, state, COUNTRY’s money should be going towards the funding of war crimes. It is despicable. A human rights violation before our very eyes. Don’t be cowards in this matter. See and hear the pain of the Palestinian community and all that they have lost. Have heart for those with nothing. Against one of the richest states in the WORLD, they do NOT need Ohioan or American tax dollars to continue to terrorize native people on their land.

It is with great disappointment that I see Cleveland’s City Council not reconsidering its position on the events taking place in Gaza, Palestine. I urge them to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. This is the very least they can do. At most, they should condemn Israel and call for an end to Israeli occupation. Condemning Israel is not antisemitism as condemning black crime is not anti-black racism. As a black Muslim woman, it is unfortunate to see that those with my same background have not clearly understood the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Israel is an illegal apartheid state founded on stolen Palestinian soil. The Holocaust was a grave tragedy that happened in human history. But how many African ingenious groups had a UN to give them land after Europeans flattened them? What about the Rwandan genocide or the Cambodian genocide? The civilians who survived were rewarded with living amongst those who had killed their family members and not the UN or another body handing them secure land and a protected status. The same people many of the councilmen would look up to as heroes such as Malcolm X (a Muslim) and Desmond Tutu, outwardly condemned the state of Israel. Tutu even claiming some tactics used against the Palestinians were worse than South African apartheid. Thus, any act that Palestinians engage in against Israel is ultimately self-defense. The disproportionate story telling and centering of Israel in the media do not match the disproportionate number of innocent Palestinians killed just for existing. If you believe that Muslim or Arab life is of less importance than Israeli or Jewish life, then you must renounce Malcolm X MLK and other black leaders as figures you look up to. It is sad to see that the billion dollars wasted funding this state of terror could be used to fund reparations for African-Americans, which would have a dramatic affect on Cleveland - a majority black city. As well, it is unfortunate that party plantation politics will have one standing on the wrong side of history while Palestinians have showed their solidarity with black life e.g. George Floyd and all the fallen black people who were killed just for existing. Not to mention, many police in highly militarized American cities are trained by Israeli officers. I hope you can truly have a change in heart and understand that Palestinian liberation is our liberation. Join us in stopping the heinous acts of Israel and liberating Palestine.

FUNDING THE ISRAELI MILITARY WITH U.S. TAX DOLLARS MAKES AMERICAN INDIVIDUALS COMPLICIT IN GENOCIDE AGAINST THEIR WILL. WE THE PEOPLE ARE ANTI-GENOCIDE AND ANTI-ETHNIC CLEANSING. WE THE PEOPLE DO NOT BACK THE UNITED STATES GOV.

I do not want my tax dollars to go toward the killing of Palestinians. There is plenty of causes here in Ohio that need financial support rather than the genocide of a group of people. I am deeply saddened.

The city of Cleveland must condemn the genocide happening in Palestine and call for an immediate ceasefire. Cleveland should speak against the violence Israel is responsible for.

Please condemn the genocide of Palestinian people and condemn the US military support of Israel. The United States backs Israel because they need a military power in the Middle East to bully nearby countries into submission for resources like oil. It's not about justice for Israeli people-- many of them are also against the genocide of Palestinian people.

Cleveland City Council needs to divest from Israel and denounce the blatant and disgusting genocide happening in Gaza. The people of Palestine should not be suffering, and these acts supported by our government are disgusting.

Let there be NO public funding for professional soccer facilities or operations in Cleveland. Proponents are already setting the table for taxpayer handouts. Mayor Bibb and City Council are joining in the exuberance, as if any new entertainment, development or construction will actually benefit residents. As entertaining as these diversions can be, they DON'T necessarily bring a significant number of full-time, living-wage, family-sustaining jobs with benefits here. If these types of developments were truly economically beneficial to all residents, Cleveland wouldn't remain one of the poorest big cities in the United States. Our county, city and civic "leaders" need to get a grip on priorities: 1) poverty, 2) poverty and 3) poverty. Make progress there, and many other good things will fall into place. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. Our "leaders" are too scattered and running in six directions at once, and wasting time and money flitting around country and world pretending to be working. Professional soccer is a seductive distraction. Let its fans, boosters and investors carry the ball, and foot the bill. So, no taxpayer subsidies and no free or cheap land, no city backed low interest loans, no tax abatement and no TIF to private money-making schemes that just end up keep our poor people poor.

The landlords do not live in Cleveland. They are hiring management companies to collect the rent. The management companies are not keeping the properties up, the tenants are allowed to do what they want to do. People like myself and numerous amount of other home owners have to suffer. We are part of the solution not the problem. We have been living in Slovac Village for a long time and we would like to live peaceably and clean. These people move in and wreak havoc for a short period time and then move and wreak havoc somewhere else. Meanwhile, anyone who is descent they will move if they are renting. Myself and plenty other home owners can not afford to move. We do not want try to move somewhere else and pay a whole lot of rent for something that is not as solid as our properties. These out-of-town landlords need to be more responsible for their properties. It is so hard to contact the real owners that is why they leave it up to the so-called management companies who truly do not care. Thank you Jackie Beckette