Local issues

Pro-Palestinian activists in the Tidewater area are working to pull our time and energy from local issues. Their ultimate goal is to have our area pass resolutions for a ceasefire in Gaza that will support Hamas. At our local city council meetings, they show up in force.

I urge our local city councils to not declare ceasefire resolutions. In other cities, these proclamations have caused division between residents. The time devoted to debating them takes away from the important work of local government. At a recent Virginia Beach City Council meeting, many speakers brought up concerns around roads and traffic, property taxes and small business operations. These areas, not international policy, are where we deserve to have our local government focus.

Gaza has a government that is responsible for its people. This government, Hamas, was initially legitimately elected — and is also defined as a terrorist organization by the U.S. The Hamas-incited war in Gaza is terrible, and the images coming out are heartbreaking. But we are not going to solve this through debate at local city council meetings.

This movement has a strong antisemitic faction that we do not want to see our city councils engage with. Why are the protesters so fixated on Israel? Right now, there are dozens of other armed conflicts in the world — 45 alone in the Middle

East and North Africa, according to the Geneva Academy. In each, terrible things are happening. Are our local city councils really expected to take their time and energy to debate, comment and pass resolutions on all of these?

— Stacey B. Plichta-Kellar, Virginia Beach