 UGA students for justice in Palestine packed City Hall this week to demand the ACC Commission support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. And they weren't always polite about it. My name is Yara, and I am Palestinian. My grandparents on both sides of my family fled Palestine during the 1948 Nekba, the mass expulsion of Palestinians. My name is not a very common name, and the reason for that is because very few people in my family were fortunate to make it out of Europe prior to the Holocaust. Many of them were annihilated. I've heard stories about this from my family for many many years, which is long enough to recognize when it's occurring to other people around the world. Since the creation of the State of Israel, Palestinians have become the largest refugee group in the world. More recently, Israel's indiscriminate and bloody bombardment of Gaza has left more than 16,000 people dead, half being children and 1.9 million people displaced from their homes. My elected government is ignoring the slaughter of my people, and all I can do is watch and beg for them to act. You, so-called public servants, should be using all of your political power and your representation in Athens to stand against genocide, period! We've seen numerous other cities, other countries call for a ceasefire. We saw success a couple of weeks ago when the Atlanta City Council approved a resolution that supports the Carter Center's recent call for a ceasefire in Gaza. We are asking for the same solidarity and support from our own government here in Athens. Regardless of the scale, every act of resistance has an impact. On all levels, it is our government, our representatives, you, all of you, who give its unwavering support to Israel and refuse to stop the genocide. I mean seriously, f*** y'all, like for real. As for you City Council, I implore you to use your position to do something, to say something, to give something to your Athens residents, to your Arab Muslim Jewish constituents, any, like the people that are affected about this, the people who are losing families. Have you seen the blood? Have you seen the missiles burning a hole in the night sky? I have sat in this room tonight and I've listened to families express concern about safe, quiet, kid-friendly neighborhoods. Please tell me, what would you want if your children had been going to sleep to the sound of warplanes for 59 nights? I want to know how much you would want anyone to speak on your behalf. But your disrespect tonight is unacceptable. I am still the descendant of a sharecropper who was born and raised in Athens-Clarke County, who has seen the same atrocities. The same grandmother who had a son shot and killed right in front of her. So before each one of you come up here again to naturally assume that none of us have went through something, you should look in the mirror because we are all hurting. It is not just one subject. We are all hurting, sir. I don't do good with threats. I don't do good with, you know, shame. This was the first time I ever heard that there was a resolution or that we should have been signed. I apologize, I must have missed it, but this is new to me. But to come before us and criticize and shame us is very disrespectful. This is an issue I've been struggling with for a couple months now. This is a complicated situation. I'm well aware of what's going on in the world and listening to it. I have family members. My daughter is married, is a Muslim, and I have children who are Muslim and look Middle Eastern. And it's very easy to identify or to think of myself going through those situations, to think of those families running. I feel very privileged that I am not living in hell. Any statement that makes people feel good about themselves, let's do it. But the bigger issue is not with the local government. Most of you came in here thinking, we did not want a ceasefire. I want a ceasefire. I would be deeply interested in us making a statement that expressly values the life of all people in our community and abroad that calls for a ceasefire. You know, it's a sad, horrible irony how a legacy of genocide is beginning more genocide. But I do believe that the violence needs to stop. I stand in solidarity with Gaza and Palestine, and I call for an immediate ceasefire.