During the last regular Anchorage Assembly meeting, a resolution urging the Alaska congressional delegation to support an immediate cease fire in the Israel-Hamas war was waved off by the majority of the Assembly.
The resolution had been brought to the consent agenda by members Karen Bronga, George Martinez, and Felix Rivera. It was member Meg Zaletel who made the motion to postpone, seconded by member Daniel Volland, and the vote was 8-4.
The makers of the resolution have put it back on the consent agenda for Tuesday, March 5. The consent agenda is supposed to be reserved for non-controversial items, but this resolution, when it was first brought forward last month, drew nothing but controversy last time, including Assembly Chairman Chris Constant calling security to remove a loud pro-Palestinian protester.
During the last Assembly meeting, about two dozen anti-Israel individuals brought signs that they held on their chests to communicate to the Assembly that they want Israel to stop trying to get its hostages back.
Since that meeting, President Joe Biden has authorized air drops of food and other humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, who are trapped in a war started by their elected leaders, Hamas, when terrorists raided Israel on Oct. 7 and took around 240 Israelis hostage in what has been the largest terrorist attack in Israeli history and the most savage attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Israel is working to eliminate the threat that Hamas and Iran poses. The air drops have taken the place of trucked-in supplies after an aid delivery truck was overtaken and its driver killed by residents of Gaza, who then clambered for the aid.
Many of the original Israeli hostages have since died. During a cease fire in November, 105 were released from Hamas captivity, including 81 Israelis, 23 Thai nationals, and one Filipino. Other hostages, some now dead, have endured rape and torture at the hands of Gazans, many of whom dedicate their existence to wiping out the Jews.
The Anchorage Assembly meeting begins at 5 pm in the meeting room on the ground floor of the Loussac Library, which is on the corner of 36th Ave. and Denali Street in midtown Anchorage.
The link to the item on the agenda is here: Resolution No. AR 2024-87, a resolution of the Anchorage Municipal Assembly urging our congressional delegation to support negotiations which lead to an immediate bilateral ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, Assembly Members Bronga, Martinez, and Rivera. (Addendum.)
The rest of the agenda can be viewed at this link.
