The Dallas City Council meeting on Wednesday morning was a packed house that featured an anti-Israel protest in which multiple public speakers requested council members call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Due to the large number of attendees during the meeting, Dallas City Hall opened multiple overflow rooms for those who attempted to watch the meeting in person.
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn (District 12) posted on social media to highlight the number of protesters who attended the meeting and the apparent disrespect they displayed, noting that “[d]uring the invocation, many in the audience started coughing to drown out the minister.”
“Then they didn’t stand or say the pledge of allegiance. Many non-Dallas pro-Palestinian speakers are signed up for public comment today,” wrote Mendelsohn.
The public comment portion of the meeting featured roughly 25 speakers from the crowd, with the majority requesting Dallas pass a resolution that calls for a ceasefire.
Jana Ismail addressed council members, stating, “… Representatives that should be amplifying my voice do not recognize my humanity.”
“We are watching video after video of children being brutally murdered by Israel in the thousands. You cannot claim to have humanity toward Muslims and Arabs in your city while not recognizing the humanity of the Muslims and Arabs abroad,” continued Ismail.
“Dear respected council members, you cannot claim that calling for a ceasefire is beyond local limits. Because, if so, then why, as the city council, do you feel obligated to take action on what happened overseas and condemn the attack launched on Israel?” she said.
Dallas City Council members unanimously adopted a resolution shortly after the attack stating “that the City of Dallas unequivocally condemns Hamas for this deplorable and unprovoked attack on Israel,” as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“This is a local issue, as this is the city’s tax money,” said Ismail. “Instead of being used to improve schools that students like me attend, it is being used to fund Israel as it commits genocide.”
Mendelsohn noted in another social media post that members of the audience who did not sign up for public comment disrupted the meeting with chants of “free, free Palestine,” while Mayor Eric Johnson “repeatedly and respectfully advised about the council rules, saying they will be removed if necessary.”
Despite warnings given by Mayor Johnson, multiple audience members had to be escorted out of the meeting because they continued to cause a disruption. Following the end of the public comment portion of the meeting, the anti-Israel protesters exited the chambers while chanting and calling for a ceasefire. A subsequent social media post by Mendelsohn included a video, which showed a rowdy crowd slowly exiting the chambers.
The Dallas Express also captured video footage of the protesters chanting as they left the chamber.
There have been more than a dozen anti-Israel demonstrations held in Dallas in recent months, but elected officials at the local, state, and national level have voiced their support for Israel following the unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7.
While the City of Dallas as a whole decried Hamas’ terrorism, some leaders such as Gov. Greg Abbott have denounced the radical group and emphasized their support for Israel in the conflict not only on behalf of their offices but as individuals.
Abbott has announced his condemnation of Hamas following the “heinous acts of violence and inhumanity against Israel and its people by ruthless terrorists.”
“I firmly denounce the act of war against Israeli citizens and Americans in Israel and support Israel’s right to defend itself from these barbaric attacks,” added the governor in a press release following the initial terrorist attack by Hamas.