Protect your city

I studied discrimination against Jews, and I want to help by providing some historical context.

The introduction of Resolution 1547 on Yom Kippur continues a dark pattern. There is a long and painful tradition of attacking Jews on their holidays. In Israel, Hamas planned the October 7th attack to coincide with Simchat Torah. It has also sent suicide bombers to target Passover Seders.

Just last week in England, another synagogue was attacked on Yom Kippur. Here in the U.S., for decades, the anti-Zionist playbook in universities, unions, and local governments has involved introducing anti-Israel resolutions on Jewish holidays. The University of Maryland did it again just last week.

If the vote is held on that day, they achieve a “Jew-free” environment to express their hatred. If not, the attack still lands—because the timing itself is an act of targeting. These resolutions claim to be about Israel, but the timing targets Jews locally.

What happened here in Nashville is not a one-off. We already face enough hate—from neo-Nazis marching downtown—we don’t need a Council member weaponizing Metro Council against us. A Council member targeted us by bringing this resolution on Yom Kippur.

We went to the synagogue to pray and arrived to learn that we had been attacked. That is simply cruel. The Council member owes the Nashville Jewish community an apology.

Jewish Nashvillians deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect as anyone else. I ask you to vote for an indefinite deferral, and I thank you for your openness in hearing my words.

Thank you.

I recommend that the committee indefinitely defer the proposed resolution.

First, it is hurtful to the Jewish and Christian people—and to everyone in this community who supports Israel. For two years now, a very loud minority in this country has demonized Israel, and by association, all Jews, for fighting a war that began with the horrific massacre of 1,200 civilians and the kidnapping of 250 hostages. Somehow, the murderers and rapists who still hold hostages today have become the “good guys” in this war—and that is unbelievable to me.

Second, if it is truly the responsibility of this Council to debate world affairs, then the business of taking care of our city would be put on hold. Nashville faces enough challenges—public safety, education, and infrastructure among them. Those are more than enough for this Council to focus on.

Third and finally, this resolution accomplishes nothing. It has no real impact on Gaza one way or the other. It is based on false information and propaganda released by Hamas and repeated faithfully across social and mainstream media.

John Spencer, a professor at West Point and an expert on urban warfare, has written extensively about how the IDF has gone to great lengths to minimize civilian casualties. He also said that if Israel is committing genocide, it must be the worst attempt in history—since Israel has provided millions of meals and medical aid to Gaza’s population, which, by the way, has actually increased in the last two years.

Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you to indefinitely defer this proposal.

Thank you.

Members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak. Since the October 7th massacre, I have traveled to Israel multiple times—meeting with hostage families, survivors, and hostages themselves; attending briefings with Israeli civil and military leadership; and working closely with national Jewish organizations here in the United States. I urge the committee to vote for an indefinite deferral.

This resolution addresses the actions of a foreign government—a matter entirely outside the business of this Council. Since October 7th, the “genocide” lie has been resurrected as a tool of political propaganda. There is a tactic behind this called political DARVO—Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. This resolution follows that exact pattern. It denies the genocidal massacre Israel faced on October 7th. It denies Hamas’s stated goal to eliminate the Jewish state. It attacks Israel for defending its citizens. And it reverses the roles of victim and offender in this conflict.

Victims do not start wars. Victims do not hold hostages. And victims do not write this resolution. The resolution cites journalists as sources, yet some of those same journalists were complicit in the October 7th attacks. For example, Hamas members who were holding hostages included freelance journalist Musa al-Nazzar, who filmed the abduction of two babies, and Abdullah al-Jamal, an Al Jazeera journalist, who was found holding three Israeli hostages in his own home.

The claim of genocide ignores both law and fact. Under international law, genocide requires the intent and action to destroy a people. Israel meets neither condition. Its intent is clear: to defeat Hamas and return the hostages. Israel has delivered more humanitarian aid to an enemy population during wartime than any nation in history. Over 109,000 trucks, carrying 2.1 million tons of aid, have entered Gaza.

This resolution mirrors one that was withdrawn last year—originating from one of the largest BDS organizations in North America, a campaign that seeks to isolate and eliminate Israel. Hamas wages war with rockets and terror; BDS wages political war through local councils like this one.

Once again, I urge the committee to indefinitely defer this resolution.

Thank you for your time.

I am an American and a proud member of Nashville’s Jewish community.

The resolution proposed by Councilmember Welsh is deeply misguided. The Council’s duty is to serve the people of Nashville—not to pass divisive political judgments on conflicts happening thousands of miles away.

Only the International Court of Justice has the authority to determine whether genocide has occurred. It has not found Israel guilty, and that case is still ongoing. Declaring otherwise is not only premature—it’s misleading.

The timing of this resolution has already been discussed. It is both intentional and cruel. Even here in Nashville, we’ve seen disturbing trends—Nazi marches on the far right, and protests on the far left calling to “globalize the intifada.” These are not abstract threats. They are real fears our community faces.

Nashville should be united against hatred. Yet this resolution singles out the world’s only Jewish state with false and inflammatory claims—while ignoring atrocities in places like Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Yemen, China, and Nigeria.

That double standard is not fair—and to many, it feels antisemitic at its core.

Our duty is to indefinitely defer this resolution and keep our attention where it belongs: on making Nashville a safer, stronger, and more united city for everyone.