ACLU Challenges Worcester City Council Over Exclusion of Gaza Ceasefire Resolution

Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, Worcester Multifaith Coalition for a Gaza Ceasefire Resolution, called into the Talk of the Commonwealth to tell us about a letter sent by the ACLU to the City. The October 22nd meeting of the City Council was suspended after members of the coalition were denied the opportunity to speak and a raucous protest ensued. The coalition seeks to return in January to address the council. Schaeffer-Duffy said she has heard the argument that a resolution on Gaza is not something the City Council should be taking up but she says she can’t imagine anything more local than speaking out on our tax dollars ending up funding atrocities in Gaza.

In a letter sent December 9, the ACLU of Massachusetts informed Worcester City clerk, Mayor, and Councilors that its exclusion of a Gaza ceasefire resolution from the October 22nd City Council agenda, based on Council Rule 11, violated US and Massachusetts law protecting first amendment rights.

 

The ACLU noted the City had applied Rule 11 in a “viewpoint discriminatory” manner, prohibiting the Gaza ceasefire resolution while allowing other international resolutions, including one concerning the Israel/Hamas war, to be considered.