Like their colleagues on the seacoast Tuesday night, Queen City elected officials are having none of what progressives are selling when it comes to adopting far-left Israeli-Hamas municipal ceasefire resolutions.
Two weeks after a raucous mob of pro-Palestine activists shut down a Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, the panel met again Tuesday and one member successfully made it clear that and similar resolutions would not be considered in the future.
“I’d like to ask for a personal privilege to put forward a motion for the first time in 15 years on this board,” Alderman-at-large Joseph Kelly Levasseur said to Mayor Jay Ruais just before the beginning of the meeting’s public comment period. “I would make the motion that the board will not be taking a vote on a ceasefire resolution now or in the future, as the Middle East peace process is not germane to the business of this board.”
Levasseur’s reasoning was almost identical to the decision Portsmouth City Councilors made less than 24 hours earlier in concluding the city had no business involving itself in international affairs.
Ruais allowed Levasseur to advance his motion, and following a brief voice vote, the matter was settled before a single keffiyeh-clad activist even had an opportunity to speak.
The lone representative of the 15-member board who could be heard opposing Levasseur’s motion was Ward 5 Alderman Anthony Sapienza as activists began unfurling Palestinian flags from the balcony.
Sebastian Rowan was the first ceasefire supporter to address the board and said the activists’ petition, which called for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel among other demands, has signatures from 244 Manchester residents.
“You can no longer deny that this is an issue your constituents care about,” Rowan said.
Manchester has a population of more than 115,000.
Resident Olivia Lenox questioned Levasseur’s public support of Israel and blamed the board’s “inability to work together” for the shutdown of the board’s Feb. 21 meeting.
“All of you should be ashamed of yourself,” resident Katie Carbonara told the board. “Except for you, Alderman Sapienza. We appreciate you, and I think you’re the only person here who takes his job seriously.”
Activist Abby Rowe recalled learning about the Holocaust in sixth grade.
“I couldn’t wrap my brain around how it could even be possible,” Rowe said, “I now know that the Holocaust was able to happen because of bystanders.
“The people of Manchester are demanding the ceasefire. Listen to the people in Manchester and pass this resolution, and don’t make us a city of bystanders.”
Aidan Neigh, a Westside resident, also compared Israel to Nazi Germany.
“Not even a century ago, my country deemed that a genocide is a noble enough cause over which to fight a war,” Neigh said. “We developed and dedicated a military-industrial apparatus to ensure that atrocities aimed at the deliberate and organized extermination of an entire people never happen again.
“Now, just 80 years later, I’m appalled to see that the same apparatus is, in fact, being lent to a cause determined to achieve the ends that we fought to ensure would end in the 1940s.”
Katy Morrison told the board Israel “does nothing but inspire fear and incite reaction on a global scale” and called for the end of U.S. military aid to the country.
“The lack of decorum from some people in this room while people have been up here has been pretty disappointing.”
The week was not a total loss for New Hampshire pro-Palestine activists. Shortly before Portsmouth city councilors concluded a foreign ceasefire resolution was “not germane” to city business, elected officials in nearby Durham voted otherwise.
Meanwhile, A.J. Coletti, another activist, told the board it’s “not your job to have opinions but to listen to ours and deliberate them.”
“Your cognitive dissonance will deactivate your critical thinking the moment you feel triggered,” A.J. Coletti, another activist, told the board. “I am not trying to offend you. But if you find yourself upset, please self reflect because as one of us said last time, it is not your job to have opinions, but to listen to ours and deliberate them.
“I wish that I could unravel the entire blood-soaked tapestry of the global patriarchy in one swift three-minute testimony, but I can’t, and so I’m here to drive one thing home: Ceasefire in Gaza, now.”
