The following is a press release from Rochester Committee to End Apartheid and Free the People Rochester:
Rochester, NY – Yesterday, Pro-Palestinian community members and anti-war activists held a demonstration at the County Legislature meeting, calling for County leaders to use their positions of power to stand with the Palestinian community, and call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Our decision to address the County Legislature is directly connected to County Executive Adam Bello’s complete silence on the slaughter of nearly 20,000 Palestinian people, and his decision to fly an Israeli flag outside of the County building, while the Israeli government commits a genocide against the Palestinian people. Our demonstration was successful, raising the voices of our local Palestinian community, and joining the international call for ceasefire to protect all human life.
As a broad coalition of community members, also engaged in struggles for housing, equitable wages for workers, and human rights for all, we recognize the importance for all members of our community to speak out against injustice and be granted a platform to do so. We therefore unequivocally condemn and reject the County legislature’s decision to vote to end the public comment period of the County Legislature meeting.
The Legislature had the power to hear housing rights advocates, union workers and all other community members, and instead voted to silence their voices. With a vote of 24-5, the overwhelming majority of the County Legislature, including President Lamar, made a cowardly decision to end the public comment period. In light of this act, President Lamar and Bello’s statements displacing blame on pro-Palestinian protestors for their choice to end the public comment period is nothing short of disingenuous. It is their job to listen to all community members and they chose not to do so.
We continue to call on County Executive Adam Bello, President Lamar and the County Legislature to value Palestinian life by calling for a ceasefire to end Israel’s genocide of the people of Gaza.
Finally, we recognize that all our struggles are interconnected. We stand firmly with our union siblings, echoing their calls for a fair contract, and we stand with housing right advocates fighting to ensure that all our neighbors are housed with care and dignity.