WAYNE, N.J. — A debate continued at the Feb. 7 Wayne City Council meeting here over a resolution the council had adopted Dec. 20 defending Israel’s war against Hamas, calling for the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and denouncing antisemitism.
Some dozen opponents of the resolution had attended the last council meeting on Jan. 17 seeking to get it overturned. They called for a new resolution that would call for Israel to abide by a cease-fire, deny Israel’s right to defend itself and blame Israel for civilian casualties in Gaza.
Joanne Kuniansky, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Senate from New Jersey, told the Feb. 7 meeting she had learned about the Jan. 17 council meeting in the Bergen Record and saw an online petition calling for the resolution to be revisited.
“The petition doesn’t mention Hamas’ Oct. 7 pogrom, the worst since the Holocaust,” she said. “It doesn’t condemn Jew-hatred.
“Trained, armed and financed by Tehran, Hamas’ reactionary Islamist death squads killed 1,200 people, mostly Jewish civilians, wounded more than 5,000 and took 240 hostages, raping women and mutilating many of its victims,” she said. “Hamas started this war breaking a cease-fire that had been in place up to Oct. 7.”
Dina Gershowitz, a Jewish resident here, said that the casualties in Gaza were the result of Hamas’ pogrom against Jews Oct. 7. “It is Hamas, not Israel, who must be forced to cease fire and surrender,” she said. “By overturning the resolution, the council would deny Israel’s right to defend itself against future attacks. Hamas would stop at nothing to eradicate Israel. Israel wants nothing more than to live in peace with its neighbors.”
Maimon Mustafa, an attorney in Wayne, argued there was too much talk about Hamas. “Hamas, and Hamas, and Hamas and Hamas. How about if we end Israel’s occupation, Hamas would probably go away. If you end occupation you have freedom.”
Mustafa pointed to those who had been killed in Gaza, calling Israel an “apartheid state” that carries out genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Lea Sherman, SWP candidate for U.S. Congress, joined in defending Israel’s fight to defeat Hamas.
Two speakers who said they want to see the Dec. 20 resolution reversed also argued that Kuniansky and Sherman shouldn’t have the right to speak, since they don’t live in Wayne.
After the meeting, several people thanked the SWP members for speaking out.
The City Council says it is preparing to vote on another resolution at its next meeting Feb. 21.