KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — Kalamazoo City Commissioners can’t get anyone to come to a meeting when they discuss the city budget but a resolution on the rights of Palestinians drew an overflow crowd last night.
So many people showed up for the debate that they had to open another meeting room with a video monitor to avoid violating the fire code.
The resolution was drafted by Kalamazoo Non-Violent Opponents of War, calling for an end in military aid to Israel until they stop violating the rights of Palestinians.
30 people from all over the area took turns debating it, most of them members of the local Jewish community who opposed it.
Commissioners rejected the resolution, some commissioners saying it might inflame anti-semitism; others saying it was drafted without the participation of the Jewish Community.
The final vote was two yes and five no.
Mayor Bobby Hopewell says if the drafters of the resolution want to rewrite it and bring it back, it’s up to them, but it had better address the concerns expressed last night.
