North Texas Palestinian-Americans and community advocates who began chanting and yelling at Dallas city council members during their meeting Wednesday were removed from the chambers.
During — and after — public comments at the meeting, some in the audience began chanting and yelling at council members. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson warned several times that “outbursts” are against the city’s meeting rules.
“We have the ability to have anyone removed from this meeting for disrupting, but I don’t want to,” Johnson said. “I want everyone who came out this morning and took time out of their day to be here to be heard…we have to keep outburst between speaks to a minimum.”
After the last public speaker finished, members of the audience had begun chanting and shouting at the council. Johnson ordered the council “at ease” and instructed Dallas police officers to clear council chambers.
Jewish community members who showed up to speak in favor of the October resolution said it represented the council taking action on what some likened to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
But on Wednesday, speakers said that resolution overlooked Dallas’ Palestinian community — and gave what they say are war crimes committed against Gazan residents a “rubber stamp of approval.”
“On October 11th a resolution was passed by this council to stand with Israel,” Dallas resident Tamera Hutcherson said during Wednesday’s meeting. “Since October 11th, Israel has continued to fabricate lies to dehumanize Palestinians, manufacture consent for genocide, and has led to the exacerbation of Islamophobic rhetoric here in the U.S.”
Now, they want a resolution that urges a ceasefire overseas, stands with Dallas Palestinian communities — and acknowledges what Gazan residents are going through.
“This is the legacy that you are leaving yourselves and you’re leaving it in our name as people who live and work in Dallas,” Noor Wadi told the council at Wednesday’s meeting. “Break your silence on the Palestinian civilians being murdered by Israelis and come out on the right side of history with a ceasefire resolution.”
Other public speakers pointed to Dallas’ history crafting resolutions about international issues.
“Our city has a history of standing ion solidarity with South Africa during the anti-apartheid movement,” Sommar Iqbal said. “The Dallas City Council worked with activists…to pass two resolutions that divested contracts with companies involved in South Africa.”
Activists worked throughout the mid-to-late 1980s to make sure Dallas would not have any ties that furthered Apartheid, according to a Southern Methodist University article on the North Texas Anti-Apartheid movement. Although the city never “fully divested” — the council at the time passed ordinances that prohibit against city contracts with companies that had worked in South Africa in the last year.
Before the meeting — which started nearly 40 minutes late — District 12 Council Member Cara Mendelsohn claimed on X, formerly Twitter, that many in attendance “started coughing to drown out” the minister giving the invocation.
Mendelsohn continued on social media during the public comment section of the meeting, posting photos and videos of the speakers being removed from council chambers. She also pointed to members of the audience yelling at her to “get off her phone.”
After police cleared the room, advocates could still be heard chanting “Ceasefire now!” from outside the council chamber.
Got a tip? Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@kera.org. You can follow Nathan on Twitter @nathannotforyou.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gifttoday. Thank you.
