Protesting in Duluth on a cold January day. Photo by Phil Anderson.

News reports say 100 U.S. municipalities have passed resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. These include Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Sacramento, Seattle, St. Paul, St. Louis, San Francisco and even Dayton and Toledo in the red state of Ohio.

On March 25 the Duluth City Council voted 5 to 4 to defeat a ceasefire resolution.  

Many people in Duluth, and across the nation, are appalled by Israel's ongoing massacre of innocent civilians in Gaza. Numerous national polls say a majority of Americans (68%) support a ceasefire. These results cut across political, religious and other demographic differences.  

In Duluth a coalition of individuals and organizations has been rallying support for a ceasefire. Recently they brought a resolution before the Duluth City Council calling for a permanent ceasefire and asking the Biden administration to actively work to stop the killing.  

For months citizens of Duluth and the Twin Ports have been contacting their local, state and national representatives asking for action on a ceasefire. For months they have been on street corners trying to raise public awareness of the ongoing massacre being supported by our government.  

In January, in 10 degree weather, more than 100 people of different ages, religions and backgrounds gathered in downtown Duluth for a rally. In February, 300 people came to a church dinner in Duluth to raise a phenomenal $56,000 in aid for Gaza. For many weeks Duluth residents have come to the weekly Monday night Duluth City Council meetings to push for a local resolution.  

On March 11 and on the 25 supporters of a ceasefire resolution packed the city council chambers with more than 100 people. Many of them spoke in support of the resolution. By my count at both those meetings there were only four speakers opposed.  

The people of Duluth, and our nation, clearly want a ceasefire in Gaza. They are disappointed that the Biden administration has done nothing significant to stop Israel from slaughtering more than 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Many people are appalled and ashamed that our government continues to fund, supply, support and enable – and is therefore complicit in – the war crimes Israel is committing.  

Many of the speakers before the city council decried the use of our tax dollars to support Israel. Many pointed out that these resources could be better spent on pressing public needs here in Duluth. Many of the speakers mentioned the shame they feel that their tax dollars are being used to enable ethnic cleansing and genocide.  

There is no doubt that all of us are poorer and have less quality of life because more than half our income taxes are wasted on foreign wars, militarism and feeding the military industrial complex. We have the most expensive military in the world. We spend more on our excessively huge war machine than the next 10 military powers combined. Yet we are the only major industrial nation with no universal national health care program. We are the only one with citizens going bankrupt because of medical debt. We have the highest infant mortality, the highest child poverty rates and the lowest life expectancy of any of our peer countries. We are the only major country with citizens incurring huge levels of debt to obtain higher education. Militarism and war are local issues.  

We are literally killing ourselves and shortchanging our futures because of our obsession with “national security.” The sad part is none of this actually makes us more safe, more secure or more free. Our militarized thinking and foreign policies do exactly the opposite.   Our unqualified support of Israel makes us less safe. Israel contributes little to our security while greatly increasing the threat of terrorism and confrontation with Russia and Muslim nations. History proves this assertion.  

In 1973, the Arab Oil Embargo directly affected everyone in our country. It was initiated by Arab oil-producing countries to punish our support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War. During the 1967 Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War, U.S and Soviet nuclear forces went to higher levels of alert. This increased the risk of a nuclear accident or confrontation, endangering the whole world. The 2001 9/11 attacks were motivated in part by our support for Israel. Now we are incurring the anger of much of the world for supporting Israel's war crimes in Gaza.  

One of the speakers on March 25 commented on how the rest of the world is getting tired of U.S. militarism. He wondered when the rest of the world would take action to punish us for our militarized, aggressive behavior. I have often wondered when the world will no longer tolerate the U.S. being the world's biggest weapons supplier, or a frequent instigator of wars, or the biggest obstacle to arms control treaties to ban land mines, cluster bombs or nuclear weapons.  

In 1967 Martin Luther King accurately described our country as “...the greatest purveyor of violence today.” His words are true today. Our support for Israel is only one example of the harm we do all over the world.  

Eventually there will be consequences for our violent behavior. Adriel Kasonta, a British political risk consultant, lawyer and author recently wrote, “In fact, Gaza’s blood-soaked sands may well mark the graveyard of not only Biden’s presidency but also the Western-led rules-based order as national and international condemnation mounts and U.S. complicity becomes increasingly untenable” (“The U.S, betrayal of Gaza,” The Hill, March 27, 2024).  

“Think globally but act locally” is a logical and appropriate strategy for citizens seeking action at a national level. Local resolutions are a powerful tool to amplify local citizens' voices. In the past they have helped change national behavior. Today local actions are helping to bring changes in policy.  

Today we are seeing the Biden administration moderate their support for Israel. After the U.S. vetoed three ceasefire resolutions in the United Nations Security Council, this week a resolution finally passed because the U.S abstained.  

Duluth should be proud of the citizens who are protesting Israel's war on the Palestinian people. They should be proud of those citizens who spoke eloquently for the permanent ceasefire resolution. They should be proud of the four councilors who voted for the resolution.  

When our government does what is wrong, we have a responsibility to speak up and take action. The Duluth resolution failed but the struggle for peace continues.