Anchorage Assembly members decided to take a pass on a resolution calling for Alaska’s congressional delegation to call for a cease fire in Gaza. About 30 people at the regular Assembly meeting on Tuesday evening held signs in front of them expressing their views on the war between Hamas and Israel, which Hamas appears to be losing badly, even with the help of Iran.
The resolution had been brought to the agenda by Karen Bronga, George Martinez, and Felix Rivera. It was member Meg Zaletel who made the motion to postpone, seconded by member Daniel Volland.
As the Assembly voted 8-4 to postpone the item, the activists in the audience jeered and could be heard yelling, “Cowards!”
Michael Patterson, a communist and member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, stood up and yelled, “Garbage! Absolute garbage! Cowards, absolute cowards!”
Assembly Chairman Chris Constant called for security to remove Patterson, and then paused the meeting for the Assembly’s dinner break, while the crowd continued to shout its disapproval.
