Seven Birmingham residents spoke before the City Council on Tuesday urging city leaders to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

According to the United Nations, more than 35,000 people have died in the 141-square-mile territory since Israel began a military offensive in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

Among the speakers in the council chambers Tuesday was Birmingham resident and University of Alabama history professor Janek Wasserman. According to the university’s website, he teaches courses on the Holocaust and the history of fascism.

Wasserman, who is Jewish, said it’s fitting that the city recognized Jewish American History Month on the same day he and others were lobbying the council to adopt the ceasefire resolution.

“To celebrate Jewish American history is also to take part and to take heart from the lessons of the 20th century … to say never again. And when we say never again, we mean never again. That is why we’ve gathered here today to show that never again is now. This is a moment not just for memory but for action,” Wasserman said.

For several months, each council meeting has ended with comments from residents calling for the ceasefire resolution, many of them clad in white keffiyehs, scarfs that often signify support for the people of Palestine. In a previous meeting, council members said they were reviewing such a measure.

While some question the efficacy of a local resolution calling for a ceasefire to a conflict across the globe, Wasserman said Tuesday that more than 100 cities have passed similar proclamations, and action already has started to change public opinion. To be silent is to be complicit in the atrocities, he said, and Birmingham would send a resounding message to U.S. leaders by joining those cities speaking out.

“This is not a question about antisemitism or Islamophobia. This is not a question about Zionism. What this is a question about is human rights, human dignity, aid and humanitarianism,” Wasserman said. “We need a ceasefire now and I beg and beseech all of you to take this seriously and consider the resolution that I know is circulating among you.”

Wasserman’s comments were met with a standing ovation, after which Council President Darrell O’Quinn cautioned the audience to stay seated and maintain decorum.

Outside of the council chambers, Palestinian supporters also have been trying to spread their message through Free Palestine rallies and events.

The nonviolent rallies have been held since October in places across the city, including Avondale Park, Railroad Park, Five Points South and City Hall. They have been sponsored by multiple organizations – including a coalition of groups that include members of the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter and Young Palestinians of Birmingham, as well as the Young Democratic Socialists chapter at UAB.