Who the chancellor oh Can have cake yeah I don't believe so not unless the mayor surprises me I wouldn't put it past him Should I have someone Don't think that's what it means actually Else in this year All right, it's good to see you Mr. Mayor the chancellor tells me You read my mind You are Good evening like to call this meeting of the Durham city council to order 7 o'clock Monday night april the 16th And we certainly want to welcome all of you all in attendance I will ask you all now to please pause with me for a moment of silent meditation Thank you I now I'll ask councilmember reist if please lead us in the place to the flag Thank you, mr. Mayor those of you in the audience if it's your practice to do so And if you're able please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance Thank you very much Madam clerk will you please call the roll Mayor shul here mayor pro tem johnson here councilmember austin has requested an excused absence Councilmember caballero here councilmember freeman president councilmember middleton here and councilmember reese here Thank you very much. I'm going to now Ask for as as you all know councilmember austin's plane is delayed In route we hope she will make it But i'm going to ask now if someone will move that we please give her an excused absence Been moved and seconded that we give councilmember austin an excused absence Madam clerk will you please open the vote? Close the vote Motion passes six zero. Thank you very much We're going to deviate a little bit from our usual Order of business tonight We are going to do the ceremonial ceremonial items as we usually do Then we're going to do the prior items by the city manager city clerk City attorney and city clerk then we will read the consent agenda and after that We will come back to announcements by the council since we could have some lengthy discussion at that point So first I will begin though with our ceremonial items And i'm going to ask councilmember mark anthony middleton if he will do the honors With the first one Thank you, mr. Mayor and to esteem colleagues. Good evening fellow citizens residents and guests.  Oh, I can lay a would come up and coach lavel Motin my friend in the whole squad Oh, you short guys get down from here with me To stand right behind him The proclamation reads as follows whereas North carolina central university Is one of america's leading historically black colleges and universities And is an integral part of the very fiber of Durham as a strategic partner for the educational economic and cultural advancement of the city and Whereas the north carolina central university's men's division one basketball team won the 2018 mid eastern athletic conference me act tournament championship for the second consecutive season after topping number one seed hampton 71 to 63 inside the norfolk scope arena and Whereas with the victory The eagles earned a bid into the nc double a tournament while capturing its third tournament titled in five years and whereas north carolina central's head coach lavel motin was named the tournament's most outstanding coach and Whereas pablo revis the tournament's most outstanding performer Delivered the championship performance finishing with 22 points on eight out of 13 shooting off the bench and Whereas rashaun davis and pablo revis are included in the tournament's all tournament team and Whereas while the eagles played valiantly against its opponent They experienced an end to an impressive season finishing with a 25 to 9 record And whereas their journey to the 2018 nc double a division one tournament from selection show celebration To the matchup with texas southern and the nc double a first foreign date in ohio and Whereas collectively this team will long be celebrated for its excellence athletic prowess and the enormous sense of pride It brought to alumni fans and the larger community of north carolina central university Now therefore on behalf of the Durham city council I do hereby salute chancellor johnson. Oh, I can lay a Coach lavel motin and his staff and members of the 2018 north carolina central university men's basketball team For winning the me ac championship and for its third appearance in the nc double a tournament And call upon all citizens in the city of Durham to join in saluting these outstanding athletes And the ncc u athletic staff for a job well done We are confident in a bright future for this program and can't wait until next season Witness my hand in the corporate seal of the city of Durham north carolina the 16th day of april 2018 It is signed steven m shul mayor of Durham. I won't be too long. I know you guys have some um lengthy discussions that need to take place, but um On behalf of north carolina central university I want to thank you guys. Mr. Mayor and everyone else in just the city of Durham It's too many people to name. Thank you for your support um Thank you for your love. Thank you for your Uh representation. We're proud to be extended Part of this community and represent you all as best that we possibly can I have the best job in the world because what constitutes a great job. It's not only is this my alum But I work for this guy right here. So chancellor is the most incredible human being ever And secondly and last but definitely not least I probably get a lot more credit than I deserve because I haven't scored a bucket or Contributed I didn't play any defense. I'm kind of too old to do that And these guys right here allow me to yell at them and standing the suit on the sideline and they go out and execute So this award is strictly for them. So give them a round of applause Thank you all and um We did it back to back. So we look forward to being here Next year Mr. Mayor And the council members and the citizens of dorham We wouldn't take much of your time tonight. I simply just want to echo What our coach has already said Um, I want you to know that North Carolina Central University is a part of this city And we appreciate the integration We appreciate your love and support for our institution and for this very great team And we thank you tonight for this proclamation and we are grateful for your support. Thank you so much. Thank you Mr. Chancellor, we are all looking forward to your installation this week. We're all very excited about it. So thank you for being So now we have on another very very special Special presentation I think that I might though wait just a minute and allow other people who want to come in to do that Because this presentation is going to needle everybody's attention We're just going to wait a minute till we get the seats all filled up So everybody can be in here to hear you guys All right. Thank you very much thank you and I want to appreciate our fire marshals for doing such a good job with a big crowd. Thank you very much Now we have a very special entertainment. I'm very excited about A few weeks ago. I got invited out to read in the media center at spring valley elementary and while I was out there I Had the good fortune to be reading to an exceptional group of third grade students And they seem to have appeared in the first two rows here in Durham city hall with their teacher Ms. Alicia Morris and They while I was there with them They did a very special pledge which I thought was really amazing And so I asked them to come to city hall and do it for all of us Ms. Morris, I'm going to ask you to come up now and your students so you can Put them wherever you want and come up here and say a few words to us. Okay Good evening. My name is Alicia Morris, and I'm a third grade teacher at spring valley elementary school Mayor shul has graciously invited my third grade class and I to recite our pledge I would like to take the time to acknowledge turquoise parker A second grade teacher at eastway elementary for creating this pledge We appreciate you for sharing your words of wisdom with us Since the beginning of the school year we take time during our morning meeting to say our pledge and affirmation These serve as a daily reminder for my students to understand that their education holds a purpose for their future They know that if they take an active role and responsibility for their actions and learning They will have the power to achieve any goal They had they set their mind to in order to be successful Durham leaders So please help me in welcoming my third grade students up to them Ms. Morris and students Fabulous job and we know you're going to do all of those things So thank you all for being here and Ms. Morris I also want to thank the other staff members from spring valley who came to support you and the parents Good job parents Well done Again, we're going to pause and and let some more people in So Folks we're just trying to let as many people as we can so Thanks for your patience Thank you very much again. I want to thank our fire marshals. We appreciate you Is lisa richmond here Lisa great my council colleague charlie reese is going to read the recognition for our neighborhood spotlight tonight Lisa richmond, but let me just say that Lisa is one of those neighborhood champions who make Durham a better place Every day. She is a truly amazing neighborhood advocate And i'm really glad that charlie was going to be honoring her tonight with the neighborhood spotlight. So charlie Thank you, mr. Mayor. I appreciate that. I just wanted to also mention that my daughter is a third grader at hope valley elementary But when those third graders are doing that pledge, i'm not ashamed to say I got a little dusty in here anybody else It was amazing But enough about that. Let's talk about the neighborhood spotlight award Tonight, we're honoring lisa richmond. Who's the recipient of the neighbor spotlight for the month of april 2018 The neighbor spotlight award recognizes community members that have gone above and beyond And volunteering their time to serve their community This month lisa richmond at resident of the birchwood heights community was nominated and selected because of the wonderful work She has done in her neighborhood including but not limited to Coordinating the volunteers of the birchwood heights community center for programming including a community garden exercise classes Mentoring a food pantry and a computer lab Organizing neighborhood events and meetings including national night out and health information workshops And conducting door-to-door outreach and sharing information with neighborhood residents Congratulations to miss richmond on being the april's neighbor spotlight for the city of Durham And thank you for all the work you do to improve our Durham community If there are any residents that have shown up in support, you can stand now. Congratulations miss richmond Now i'm gonna call on uh mayor pro tem jillian johnson to uh make the The final presentation tonight For the sunday supper durham day. Good evening everyone evening So our is um james glenn keith daniel and harris fawn here and some others great Whereas the city of durham faces a one million pound shortage of food annually with nearly one fifth of citizens and one in four children considered food insecure living without a sufficient supply of food And whereas healthy food is essential to children's performance in school and adults capacity to work effectively and provide for their families and critical to families abilities to pull themselves out of poverty And whereas durham's current food distribution system lacks the additional capacity to collect store and distribute food To meet our one million pound shortfall And whereas food insecure citizens are not fully aware of the many programs and resources designed to help provide the assistance they need And whereas catholic charities which has provided food and other key services in the durham community for more than 25 years Plans to build the durham community food pantry that will provide 1.5 million pounds of food each year by 2021 And whereas in hunger durham through their information station and other methods reaches food insecure citizens with information helpful to meeting their critical needs And whereas community organizers are planning the sunday supper durham event on april 29th 2018 To raise critical funding to support catholic charities and end hunger durham as well as other worthy organizations working to address durham's food insecurity needs And whereas the sunday supper is designed to bring people together to break bread give thanks and help neighbors in need Now therefore i stevenham shul mayor of the city of durham, north carolina do hereby proclaim april 29th 2018 as sunday supper durham day In durham and hereby urge the residents of durham to support this important event thank you Thank you mayor pro tem johnson and thank you mayor shul city council fellow citizens of durham We're honored to be here We have a fantastic opportunity ahead of us in fighting food insecurity That's why our team is here. That's why we have spent so many hours Working with so many of you in our community To have the sunday supper durham And what this will be is a gathering of people Underneath the water tower to american tobacco campus on sunday april 29th from noon until 3 p.m For a very small fee you get all the food you can eat Everything you want to drink and some great entertainment So we our intent is to bring And unify durham together as much as we can for an hour have people sit across the table from one another Get to know somebody you don't know and there's magic in that there's some healing in that and at the same time We will raise some crucial funds for catholic charities new durham food pantry as well as under hunger durham These organizations are great. They are helping the citizens of durham and that's what we're about We just want to help unify durham and please Check out www.sundaysupperdurham.com. We'd love for you to volunteer or just attend and enjoy Thank you for your time and thank you for the proclamation. Mayor shul Now on to the fun stuff We will have now the uh, I'll now ask the um City manager mr. Manager any priority priority items tonight. Thank you. Mr. Mayor members of council. Good evening everyone I have one priority item this evening Which is agenda item number 16 of the utility extension agreement with the miracle league of the triangle incorporated To serve the miracle league at american tobacco for requests at this item be referred back to administration Thank you very much. Can I have a motion on the? Manager's priority item So moved second It's been moved and seconded any discussion. If not madame clerk. Will you please open the vote? Close the vote Motion passes six zero. Thank you very much madame attorney any priority items tonight Uh, no, you're no mr. Mayor. Um, i'm came early raper senior assistant city attorney Obviously, i'm not patrick baker and mr. Baker is not informed me of any priority items. Thank you very much Madam clerk any priority priority items tonight. Good evening mayor and council. I have no items. Thank you very much As I said earlier before we do announcements We're going to do the consent agenda The consent agenda can be approved with a single motion by the council Any item can be removed from the consent agenda by any council member or any member of the public And then we would take that item up at the end of the meeting. So i'll now read these items Item one approval of city council minutes item two Durham city county appearance commission appointments item three city county committee on confederate monuments and memorials appointments item four contract administration and change order performance audit dated march 2018 item six 2017 planning commission annual report item seven 2017 durham environmental environmental affairs board annual report item eight 2017 durham city county appearance commission annual report item nine 2017 historic preservation commission annual report item ten 2017 durham open space and trails commission annual report item 11 2017 durham board of adjustment annual report item 12 supplemental agreement with north kelana department transportation the city of durham for the r kelly bryant bridge trail project item 13 grant agreement with north kelana department transportation in the city of durham for the third fort creek trail extension project Item 14 proposed five-year lease with hanson aggregate southeast llc for the tier quarry at 50 90 danfield road item 15 acceptance of the donation of public art sculptures from trinity park foundation item 16 utility extension agreement with a miracle league of the triangle I'm sorry. That was the item that we have referred back to the administration Uh item 19 adoption of the downtown master plan updates items 21 through 28 These items can be found on the general business agenda public hearings Council members you've heard the consent items Can I have a motion for their approval? Mr. Mayor, I'll move the consent agenda Second it's been moved and seconded in any discussion If not, madam clerk, will you please open the vote? Close the vote the consent agenda passes six zero Thank you very much We are now going back to the announcements portion of our agenda and that after we do the announcements and Discussion related to one of the announcements we will Then go to our public hearing items me There is one As you all know, there is already one announcement by the council that Is the discussion of the Council statement on international police exchanges But we are beginning today with another announcement that i'm going to make and and we may have other announcements by the council as well As you all many of you know, there were Arrest in Durham this past week By the united states immigration and customs agency and I made a statement earlier in the weekend about this With the assistance of my council colleague Javier a caballero and she has been doing a lot of work on this over the last few days and We have another statement that we're going to make tonight I will be I will be reading the statement in english and she will be reading the statement in spanish Actually, we're going to do it the other way around she's going to be reading in spanish and i'll be doing it in english We are not taking comments on this today. It was not pre announced on our agenda but I think you will get the import Of what we have to say So Javier, I'll turn it over to you and for your remarks and for reading the statement Thank you mayor. Um, just uh Really quickly. It has been a hard few days In our state has sido muy difícil estas últimos días acá en Durham y también en Raleigh y Asheville y Chapel Hill um El cuento que les voy a decir esta noche Es una mujer que nos pidió que se quería quedar anónima y es por eso que no voy a ser su nombre De acuerdo con la primera información recibida el jueves 12 de abril cerca de las 7 de la mañana 8 agentes Generales de la agencia de inmigración y control de aduanas de los estados unidos ice Aparecieron en un complejo de departamentos donde viven muchas familias latinax Estaban buscando a una persona específica Que ya tenía órdenes de deportación contra él Una residente de Durham Que también es una mamá de un niño joven Escuchó ruido afuera de su departamento y abrió la puerta para ver lo que estaba pasando Los agentes de ice Inmediatamente y agresivamente Forzaron la entrada del departamento Los residentes adentro de la habitación eran la mujer su hermano su niño de 18 meses Dos amigos de la familia Un niño de 16 años que era el hijo de uno de los amigos y tres personas Más que vivían en el departamento Todos estaban dormidos Los agentes los despertaron ruscamente y les gritaron que presentaran su identificación Cuando la mujer pidió permiso para ir a buscar a su bebé no le dejaron El mano fue detenido y también uno de sus amigos La mamá no fue detenida Porque su niño era tan joven pero los agentes de ice tomaron fotos de su pasaporte Desde ese día la mujer nos ha dicho que se siente muy culpable de haber abierto la puerta Y que está muy traumatizada con su experiencia Se siente muy sola Y desprotegida Y ha sabido que su hermano quien era el proveedor de su familia fue transferido Al steward detention center Muchas veces la persona que los agentes es no es la persona que los agentes está buscando Y desafortunadamente son aguardados porque ice está operando con un alcance mucho más amplio Bajo la actual administración federal Cuantos de estos eventos estaban desarrollando El gerente de la ciudad de Durham confirmó con la jefa de policía Jefa CJ Davis que nosotros no recibimos notificación previa de las actividades Además yo personalmente Confirmé con el aguasil Mike Andrews que su departamento tampoco recibió notificación previa de las actividades Como alcalde de la ciudad de Durham condenó estos arrestos en los términos más Enérgicos posibles A cogemos a todos los residentes de Durham Sin importar el estado de la de su documentación y no queremos que ice tenga un grande road en nuestra comunidad Yo creo que fuera de las obligaciones morales y éticas para darles la bienvenida y cuidar a nuestros vecinos más Odenables la comunidad inmigrante de Durham tiene un impacto enorme Cultural social y económico en nuestra ciudad El éxito de nuestra ciudad Está relacionada A su éxito y su habilidad de estar seguro y vivir sin miedo Les pido que donen a los fondos legales programados para ayudar nuestros residentes En la intención y finalmente a nuestros inmigrantes Les quiero decir que te queremos Y tu lucha es nuestra lucha Durham is a city that is about to be 150 Years old in a year And I believe that was the first speech Given from this podium Aside from my occasional lousy Spanish In Spanish And I think that's a landmark moment in itself and we need to Be very appreciative of it. I'm now going to read this statement that Councilmember Caballero and I worked on together in English According to first-hand accounts on Thursday April 12th around 7 a.m. Eight federal agents for the United States Immigrations and Customs Agency ice Appeared at an apartment complex where many Latinx families live They were looking for a specific person who had deportation orders against them a Durham resident Who is the mother of a small child heard noises outside of apartment and opened the door to see what was happening And as soon as the door was open the ice agents forced their way into the apartment The residents in the apartment were her brother For 18 month old child Two family friends The 16 year old son of one of the family friends and three more people who live there as well Everyone was sleeping The apartment residents were roughly awakened And ice officials demanded they present identification The woman's brother was detained as was one of the family friends The mother was not detained because of her young child But ice agents took pictures of her different IDs The woman has since shared she feels guilty for having opened the door and is traumatized by her experience She feels isolated and alone and has learned her brother who was the provider for their family Has been transported to the Stewart detention center in lumpkin, georgia This type of scenario played out across the triangle late last week in ashville over the weekend Where people are detained in what are called collateral damage cases Like the man in chapel hill who was detained last week while taking out his garbage A person seized by ice is often not the person agents are looking for But unfortunately are caught as ice operates with a wider net and broader scope under the current federal administration As these events were unfolding our city manager tom bonfield confirmed with Durham's police chief cj davis That we did not receive Prior notification of planned ice activities in addition I personally confirmed with sheriff mike andrews that our sheriff's department received no prior notification of the ice actions as well As mayor of the city of Durham I condemn these arrests by ice in the strongest possible terms We embrace every Durham resident Regardless of documentation status and we do not want ice striking fear in our community I believe that beyond the ethical and moral obligation to welcome and take care of our most vulnerable neighbors The immigrant community in Durham has a huge positive economic social and cultural impact on our city Our city's success is tied to their success and their ability to thrive and to live free from fear I ask you to donate to the legal fund set up to assist our residents in detention Finally to our immigrant community. I want to say you are loved And your fight is our fight. Thank you very much Council members any comments any for any comments about that that anyone else would like to make Councilmember freeman and then mayor pro tem I um I had to write it down because I know it would probably get too elaborate I just want to thank the mayor and councilmember capriero for Taking a lead and setting up this statement so that we um Could say something about this. I just want to add to this conversation and And to thank El Centro for making this point Today that we spoke about it and uh pilar wrote your goberg specifically I um As a member of east of the eastern community have experienced a lot of families. I'm sorry Take your time. You're good he ain't shattered but what I was going to read what I wrote because For as long as we are going to treat our immigrant community as criminals Based on our country state county and municipal system We have to call out the immorality of the enslavement of of these human beings as well as The fear mongering that is occurring It is completely unacceptable to participate in the system That would break families apart like this And I can't say enough That is the children who suffer the most in this And I cannot bear I can't bear to continue to go through this every time with each family We have to do something enough is enough I recognize that this is a system that we must operate in but we have to do something And I'll leave that that thank you. Thank you Your pro tem Thank you, mr. Mayor. Um, I wanted to also thank the mayor and council member caviero for this statement and to Also bring into the conversation That while these raids leading to deportations are incredibly traumatic and And dramatic in the community We're also dealing with the situation where people are being pushed into into deportation every day by being arrested for minor criminal violations that lead them into deportation proceedings because our county jail continues to cooperate with ICE and to And to honor ICE detainers We don't have to do that A lot of people immigrant rights advocates and lawyers believe that it's unconstitutional to hold people beyond Beyond the the timeline that they are constitutionally allowed to be held in jail based on a request from another from another agency And there have been a number of people who have been deported as a result of Being held in the jail on ICE detainers in Durham from the Durham county jail So I just wanted to bring that concern As well into the room is something that We in our local community have direct control and direct influence over We our federal government It's it's hard to It's hard to think about ways that we can influence our federal policy right now. I think we just have to As a community stand together and support people as best we can people who are in sanctuary here people who need our help But our local policies we do have have more control over and we do have more of a say And that's something that we can all be thinking about when we're Thinking about how to support our immigrant friends and neighbors. Thank you Thank you Councilman Reese. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. I want to thank you and council member Caballero, I know that the two of you spent a lot of time On this issue late last week and over the weekend. Mr. Mayor. I know you were traveling And so the the burden was a little bit more difficult for you I also want to thank councilmember caballero, especially For making the statement that the two of you worked on I'm available in Spanish and delivered first in Spanish. I think that's really important As we go forward on this issue because it's an issue that affects our Spanish speaking neighbors, especially hard In our community as as councilmember Freeman. So eloquently told us about I just wanted to underline a couple of things before we moved on to other matters One of the reasons that these types of rates are so scary Is that they're out of our control and we have no idea if or when they will happen again in the future But one thing we do have the ability to control is whether or not we speak out on behalf of our neighbors who are Being targeted by federal agents in this way. And so I I truly appreciate Your mr. Mayor your willingness to be very vocal in support of our immigrant neighbors I want to make sure that everyone knows that every member of this council Wants Durham to be a welcoming place for all people. We want all of our neighbors to stay right here The other thing I wanted to do is just underline Briefly the mayor pro tem's remarks about ice detainers in our local jail as she mentioned Many there are a number of courts around the country who have ruled that Local jails aren't required to honor these these federal detainers. There's also been litigation around the question of funding And courts have held that the federal government cannot withhold funding Of agencies that do not honor these detainers. And so I hope that's something that will continue to be part of our conversation Here in this community as we talk about how we can stand up For the folks who are most vulnerable to these types of federal overreach actions And just again, thank you for all that mr. Mayor all the time that you've put into this issue And I hope we can figure out some way to protect one another going forward. Thank you Thank you council member All right, I just want to say one last thing of course. Um, I want to say that when One of the things that is the most helpful in our community and many of our grassroots activists do this Is when you see suspicious activity Uh, unfortunately ice agents often just wear things that say police. And so there is confusion But I know that when it's reported When it's shared out, I know in ashville that was very very tremendously helpful To get the word out so that people stay home Um They know not to drive in that part of town And so I ask all of you to please be vigilant and help take care of our neighbors Thank you very much council member freeman I apologize. Um, all right. I would just pull myself together I just want to also add to the conversation in that when i'm talking about the enslavement of our immigrant community Is it's the fact that there's not a deportation happening Is that there being there there are immigrants who are being held And forced to work At these detention centers and it's not acceptable for us to continue to put them there It has to stop I also want to add that The spanish-speaking community is under severe attack But so is the african community and the muslim community immigrants as well and is not limited to one group This is all of us And we have to stand for one another Thank you very much Thank you all for indulging us on an item that wasn't on our agenda, but is important to our community But now we'll move on to the next analysis next announcement by the council Which has to do with The statement by the derm city council international police exchanges The council will be voting on this this evening Whether or not to approve this statement I read the statement And it was discussed by council members at our work session 10 days ago After a lengthy process of discussion and hearing from our community and since that time we've heard from many more of you Thank you. We enjoy hearing from you And We have many people who've signed up almost 50 people So To speak so here's what we're going to do I'm going to read the statement again It's not too very long At that point, uh, I will ask Any council member that has a comment at that point to comment, but then we will have Comments from the public And then I will ask my council colleagues again to discuss it. I think that's probably when most of our discussion will take place as a council Since we have 50 people Who have signed up to speak i'm going to give everyone two minutes If you had planned on three minutes, which is what we mostly give Uh, when we have 10 speakers or something, uh, please rearrange your comments into two minutes. We are strict There's a timer right over here. That's a city clerk will be operating You will be standing over at this podium And when the two minutes are done The two minutes are seriously done um I'm now going to read the statement Statement by the Durham city council and international police exchanges The Durham city council appreciates receipt of the memo dated april 4th 2018 From chief cj davis a city manager tom bonfield stating that quote There has been no effort while I have served as chief of police to initiate or participate in any exchange to israel Nor do I have any intention to do so The Durham city council endorses this statement by chief davis and affirms his policy That the Durham police department will not engage in such exchanges The council opposes international exchanges with any country In which Durham officers receive military style training since such exchanges did not support the kind of policing we want here in the city of Durham We recognize and share the deep concern about militarization of police forces around the country We know that racial profiling and its subsequent harms to communities of color plague policing in our nation and in our own community In Durham, our community is working towards a time when we are beyond policing When everyone has a good job and excellent health care in a safe warm affordable place to live Until that time comes we want policing that is founded on earning the trust of the community We want policing that effectively reduces gun violence without any racial profiling ever We want policing in a justice system that do not criminalize small acts such as drug possession We're moving in that direction in Durham under the strong Persistent leadership of chief davis and her staff the police department is undergoing a profound cultural shift Which is evident in the numbers in the annual reports. We have just received for 2017 The reporting shows that while violent crime is on a 17 year downward trend in Durham We're also undergoing an extremely dramatic shift in the way Durham is engaging in police work Traffic stops at recent years have dropped from 32,227 to 11,578 Searches of cars have dropped from 1296 in 2013 to 416 in 2017 Charges for drug violations in Durham are down from 1223 in 2015 to 173 this past year Our new mr. Wiener diversion court has kept hundreds of first-time offenders free of a criminal record Use of force complaints by residents are down from 33 in 2016 to 15 last year Chief davis new u visa policy has resulted in immediate improvement for undocumented residents who assist in solving crimes As 35 residents received u visa approval from the department the first quarter of 2018 far more than ever before An array of new police department policies and practices are working in Durham And as the numbers above show with striking clarity these reforms are today making a positive difference in lives of thousands of people Especially in communities of color the council knows that we still have much progress to make Although police searches have dropped precipitously among all groups Black motorists are still more likely to be searched the white motorists And we need to continue efforts to ensure that the racial makeup of our police department more nearly represents Durham's diversity The council is deeply committed to this work, and we are grateful to chief davis for leading this cultural shift Black lives matter we can make that phrase real in Durham by rejecting the militarization of our police force in favor Of a different kind of policing and that is where what we are doing in Durham now So that's the statement and i'm going to ask now if I any brief comments from my council colleagues after which we will hear from We will hear from members of the public council members Alrighty, thank you. We're now going to hear from members of the public This is not a public hearing. It's not a public hearing format. It's not gonna. I'm it's not going to be everybody for and everybody against At different times in the program. I'm going to call your name When I call your name, I would like you to please come over here to the podium and await your turn and I will begin by calling Jane Wagstaff Muhammad Eid Larry Beckler Richard Ford k robert volkwein And tenade shawa if you all could please all come over here in the order. I called you That would be great Jane wagstaff. You're our first speaker Jane wagstaff here Jane wagstaff are you in the room? Please come up. You're our first speaker Ms. Wagstaff will be followed by Muhammad Eid Larry Beckler Richard Ford k robert volkwein Volkwein, I'm not sure if I got that right And tenade shawa so all of you all who I've called your name You need to be up here now if you're not up here now, you won't be speaking. Okay Just wagstaff You love please just for all speakers. Please give us your name and address And you have two minutes. Ms. Wagstaff welcome. My name is Jane wagstaff I live in Pennington place in Durham And I'm just gonna be very brief. I think the city Is safer if we adopt best practices There are lots of studies. I'm sure on best practices no matter where they come from And we're all safer if the police Are part of the community and Durham's about to price the police out of this community It is hard to live in this community on a policeman's salary So if you want community policing Then you need to be able to have police who actually live here So I think that's a very important piece of this But we're all safer if we're looking at best practices and we're always open to best practices Wherever it comes from and do the job that they're hired to do And insist on the best Quality and training for the people that they hire. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Wagstaff We'll now hear from Muhammad Eid Mr. Eid, please state your name and address and you have two minutes Thank you. My name is Muhammad Eid. I live in Calbroon Collins crossing 501 Jones Ferry Road Originally, I'm from Gaza Strip, Palestine. I came here last august Since I came here, I haven't met my friendly kind and generous people people I care for I've been in a peaceful community I came here today to give my testimony for I care for this community I want to bother you with all the stories about the IDF storming my village since I was 12 years old When I had to wake up at night the sound of dogs Barking inside my house at the scene of my father being beaten down to the ground At the scene of my mother and my siblings being pushed around and shouted at I won't tell you. Sorry. I won't tell you about the humiliating Interrogation I had to go through on the checkpoints on my way out of Gaza Strip I'll just ask you to search on YouTube Gaza March of Rita and Mary with a flag And see my neighbor a 14 year old a 14 young Called Mary being shot in her leg and watch the people carry her away And watch her leg swinging around as the boy is literally being crushed by the bullet Sorry, watch carefully because you must know well what practices will be brought back home Search soldiers laugh when israeli sniper kills innocent elderly palestinian And watch the ethics your men will be learning overseas Watch and think of your own mothers and grandmothers Search sniper shooting palestinian on gaza border And watch how the office commands the soldier to aim at the boy a very young boy Shooting him and they both cheer in excitement Watch and watch and think of what you will be bringing back to the place you call home Because once your home is ruined you will never enjoy life anywhere else Without reason I support the police's statement against israeli police exit changes and I support the demilitarized During two palestine campaign. Thank you very much Excuse me I know you're going to want to applaud. They're 50 speakers. Okay at the very end you kind of can Applaud as much as you want, but I'm going to ask you all all to please hold your applause so we can get through this And everybody gets the respect that they deserve. Okay, so please hold your applause. Thank you so much Larry Beckler. Yes, Larry Beckler Durham Lakers court in Durham I'm a little confused by all the issues. I first became aware of the general topic last thursday I think at minimum this can be considered a very liquid or fluid rather situation I've been around now for about 70 years and I was nine When nakita khrushchev said will bury you from within I was in november of 56 I think russia has done a very good job of trying to keep its word In a recent vote over half of the millennial said they thought socialism is a good idea Never mind that it's never worked anywhere. It's been tried I draw this correlation between communism the us and israel Because the communists have always had a real problem with god and jews in particular I'd like to discuss races For israel as was stated in Uh comment I'd like to point out that in 84 was operation moses and in 1991 Solomon and that's when israel went into ethiopia and rescued black jews who would refuse to give up their faith And brought them to live in their homeland They're called the beta israel community and the largest beta community in the world Terrorists I have to comment that the ruling body in israel is the knesset It's made up of jews gentiles women and muslims and what I was interested to find out Is that the percentage of muslims on the knesset is actually more than the percentage of muslims in the in the country I'm gonna skip to the end I would like to respectfully Suggest the a word of caution for the council The bible says those who bless israel will be blessed and those who curse israel will be cursed If you curse israel today or in the future, I believe you'll bring woe upon durham north carolina in the u.s Jerusalem is the king of kingdom of god Roche and cavod mouth huso leol umboed blessed art thou lord our god king of the universe forever amen Thank you. Mr. Beckler Richard Ford Richard Ford 64 16 falcon bridge Road durham. I am the chair of the friends of durham The friends of durham do not have a position on the palestinian israeli conflict However, we wonder why the city council feeds needs Feels the need to take up a position on this There are real problems facing this city and the palestinian situation is not one of them And further nobody has ever suggested sending durham policemen to israel for training Just look at the letter you've published from chief davis So this entire discussion is much ado about nothing in my opinion And it is pursuing an insult to our chief and the police force It is ignoring the advice of rabbis representing the arc of jewish faith in durham If the council is going to work on this issue and not durham issues such as public safety Affordable housing homelessness transportation etc Then one wonders what is the council's job? The proponents tout that durham will be the first city to adopt such a resolution You know why no other city council has done so because it has nothing to do with the city council This council will end up helping the activist group say oh a city of public body has supported them That's what happened when i was on the human relations commission with reports on the police and the jail Before this meeting over the proponents will have a press release out on this Is this what we are doing with our city council? Please do not take this action table the resolution Go speak at any meeting you want But don't pretend that this is city council business or that you speak for the city on this matter The friends of durham concentrate on durham elections and issues. I hope that the city council will as well. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Ford Now, uh k robert volk wine and while you're coming forth, mr. Volk wine I'm going to call the next speakers. I would like to ask you to line up behind them as well Sandra corn Gabriel liberty Jasmine williams jack stanley Ralph mccoy And jonathan diane if you all could come and stand over here as well, that would be great Mr. Volk wine. My name is k robert volk vane And I live at 605 sanderson drive in durham, north carolina Mr. Mayor and members of the city council Thank you for this opportunity to address you on this important issue Let me start off with a quote from melton mandela You must use time wisely and forever realize that time is always right to do right To make this policy That durham will not send offices to israel to be trained to make it into law is indeed something that is the right thing to do Too many times in durham and elsewhere in this country police have caused pain and sadness Especially if they've been trained by the idf For as we can see in the last few weeks the way in which the idf has handled peaceful protest Is not the way we want our peace officers to act At the city council do right So that they can be on the right side of history Nelson mandela again It always seems impossible Until it is done Thank you. Mr. Mayor and council. Thank you. Mr. Volkvine. And now I believe this week now I believe we have jihad shawa Shawa. Yes, sir. Uh, mr. Mayor. Thank you so much. I'm trying to get here A video that it's been feeding, but I can't find Vivian. She said it's here It's a it's a must that I show you one minute out of it My name is jihad shawa again. And last time I was here Uh On the uh on the uh, you know former mayor Uh, I changed the name of the city the city of midis. I mean city of justice I hope it's gonna stay that way city of justice when you were talking about the equality for muslim Now it's the time to talk about equality of human being. Thank you so much Uh, last time sheila was Hugged and this time I asked you to hug for a few administrations. Uh, miss amos and Uh, miss brooks diana Uh, karmish and vivian. They're wonderful. So do hug them for me. I will thank you gentlemen right here I don't know if you can Click it Well, anyway, this guy here you can't yes, you can see him Excuse me It's okay from the audience. You really don't need well. I gotta say yeah, go ahead This this is this is uh, a knot will not not see. I'm sorry. That's a Zionism And then you've got the Israeli army, which I like to refer to as one of the most One of the best trained best equipped best fed terrorist organizations in the world That's the idea. Yes. They have generals and they have nice uniforms But their entire Their entire uh purpose is terrorism So just as one example I'll give you one example Almost exactly four years ago As israel began its attack. This is israel and this is Zionism born as Zionism and then he found the lying. He found all the Intimidation he found the fifth. Mr. Shawa done. Mr. Shawa. Thank you.  Thank you very much Thank you. Thank you Sandra corn Followed by gabriel liberty. You have two minutes. Please state your name and address Thank you. My name is sandra corn and I live at 803 north street through north carolina Um, for those of you who are here in support of the demilitarized erm to palestine Campaign and the policy statement against israel police exchanges. Would you just please rise in with your hands or your bodies? Thank you So I want to speak tonight about the power of coalition work and about where the jewish community stands on this issue I have had the immense honor of being part of the demilitarized erm to palestine coalition for the past two years Straight and queer students and elders white black latinx and arab Muslim christian secular and jewish We have come together with a shared vision for human rights and racial justice This coalition and this city council exemplify what I love so much about durham and why I've made this city my home I'm a jewish educator a leader in my synagogue And i'm so glad to see so many members of durham's incredible jewish community here tonight My jewish family and texts have taught me that if you can save a single life It is as if you have saved the entire world. That's why I care so deeply about palestinian human rights And why I mourn the protesters in gaza who've been killed 30 over 30 since the start of pass over That's why I believe and agree with the city council that black lives matter These are statements of jewish values Um, so city counselors I want you to know that you may be accused of anti-semitism for passing the statement I a jewish person have been accused of anti-semitism for my support for palestinian human rights But you should know that these accusations are just meant to threaten you away from sticking to your own values The durham community of all faiths rises behind you and we will support you in making a statement that represents our city's progressive values I support the policy statement against israel police exchanges, and I support the demilitarized durham to palestine campaign Thank you Hold your applause, please gabriel liberty Mr. Liberty welcome. You have two minutes. Hello. My name is uh Do this? Hello. My name is gabriel liberty. I live on hennington way in durham, north carolina and carolin force Um, based on my parents, you probably don't know this, but i'm actually an israeli american. I afford children who are also israeli and um Needless to say I'm I'm I'm torn by this statement as I agree with the second part of it but the fact that israel is mentioned in this doc in your statement Makes it into an issue that I actually am against because It's a hard one for me because israel in my respect is the most moral most Steamed country in this world who has provided so much to this world That most people don't even understand through whether it's the technology and their cell phone to their laptops that they use every day Or the the health benefits that they receive through the medicines and the water that the world receives in the food That is used in order to grow food for the poor and they impoverished and they've given so much through this Because it is a jewish tenant that we give back to this world We make this world a better place than what we live in today And what this statement does is it ostracizes us it ostracizes us It demeans us in a way that says you're different than the rest of the countries Because you don't mention any other country who does terrible acts of violence on their own citizens Like what just happened in syria What you're doing is you're basically you're putting emphasis on a country that tries so hard to do so good And then there's so much hate And because it is the only jewish country in this world that it is Ostracized and separated from the rest of the world Whether it's through the un or our bodies like this that always does this to us that we feel that we don't have a place to be and We still continue will give and we will continue to give Until we can't anymore And hopefully that day will never come and my children will be able to live a free life And to be able to be who they want to be without the threat of being killed for simply who being who they are And from the mother that they were born to Thank you, mr. Liberty Jasmine williams miss williams you have two minutes. Please give us your name and address Thank you. My name is jasmine williams. Um, I live at 802 underwood avenue Um, I think a lot of people here probably understand why we don't want our police taking pointers from the israeli military Um, but we also have to remember they should be taking tips from us either Um policing in this country is so violent And so historically racist that it shocks other countries um And black people make up triple the proportion Of the population on the inside then they do in the country as a whole Um, and I say this as a black person Um as a person who is muslim Um as a person who is indigenous to this land that we now call the united states Um, so when we we're looking at a country that's an estate which a lot of people would describe as apartheid I think the last place that they should look to to swap expertise With would be the people running the united states incarceration system I support the ban exchange changes both, um for the sake of over-policed people here, especially black and brown people Um, and in palestine. Thank you. Thank you. We'll now hear from jake stanley Mr. Stanley You have two minutes Hi there. I'm jake stanley. I live at a 200 knock circle in durham And i'm here as a millennial representing the north carolina piedmont chapter of the democratic socialist of america sponsoring partner of this campaign So as a democratic socialist, we believe in government government truly by for and of the people We are fighting alongside the groups today and many all over the country to transform the united states So that everyone particularly black indigenous immigrant lgbtq muslim and other oppressed communities can thrive not merely survive on the scraps of a wildly unequal capitalist system Freedom from the fear of state violence is essential to creating that thriving society As we have seen in the past decade in the streets of ferguson chicago and baltimore The sidewalks of statten island the neighborhoods of south south sacramento and countless places in between including just over the weekend With ice, um black and brown people are disproportionately threatened and killed by law enforcement The militarization of police municipal and county forces that look more and more like an army than peace officers This compounds a systemic problem We reject the idea that u.s police from the leadership down to regular officers Have anything to learn from the israeli military police the enforcement arm of a racist apartheid state and a violent settler colonial project We are encouraged by derm's efforts to reform the police towards support of and accountability to dermites Especially our communities of color, although we agree with mayor shul and the council that there is much more work to do We want to focus on improving other measures of public safety like affordable housing and health care strong public And a livable wage Therefore we join this call for the derm city council to create a new policy That unconditionally bars police training exchanges with israel or other foreign militaries and police. Thank you Thank you. Well now here from ralph mccoy. Mr. McCoy. You have two minutes thank you Ralph mccoy 4305 mihers park drive durham I keep on my cell phone a picture of a 13 year old boy Amad Abdel docker On november the 9th 2012 I was with an interfaith delegation in gaza when we received a call from a un representative Asking us to come to a local village There we met amad's parents The previous day amad was playing soccer with friends in front of his home He was shot by an idf soldier from an israeli helicopter The israeli military was in gaza illegally clearing Terrain beside the wall that imprisons that land Amad ran to his front door and fell dead Since his death over 700 children have been killed by israeli police and military Most from indiscriminate fire It's impossible to express the grief of his parents that day Only sig only cindy and craig quarry Our leaders on that delegation could understand their unspeakable loss Their daughter rachel was run over and killed by an israeli military build-ozo while protesting the demolition of a president of a palestinian home in 2003 There was never any public investigation or explanation of why the idf soldier shot amad During the past three weeks men women and children in gaza have been protesting a 50 year occupation And illegal imprisonment They have been shot by israeli military snipers Is this the type of culture that we want the durham police Have training in I support The policy against israel police and military exchange. Thank you Thank you. Mr. McCoy before the next speaker comes forward. I'm going to ask to line up also Dr. Burhan ghanayim William Rosenberg Isle con I hope I have that name right Lara gutman And I'm sorry. I'm having a hard time reading this one. Lara heartache perhaps And max chairman if you all could please Line up behind mr. Diane In order that would be great mr. Diane. Thank you for being here. You have two minutes Thank you council members Thank you council members. Uh, jonathan dion. I live on anderson street in duke forest and durham We moved here seven years ago to be transient and we love durham so much So we decided to stand this wonderful city built a new business here And ironically Our business is mainly bringing money from israel for lower income investments Building housing for lower income in durham So, uh, I hope that in the end of this evening, we will find a reason for more investments coming to durham that we are more inclusive The beautiful part about This council is everything that was said in the beginning. So all the proclamations Our wonderful achievements in and central university All of this is all inclusive is all what we love about durham and then comes a statement That 95 percent of it is great, but it starts with some kind of racist dividing Line and it says israel it doesn't say syria doesn't say South american countries that are oppressive and The the ironic part of it is that no one here that spoke up to now said a word about policing We all talked about military Now if the if the statement's idea is to bring up the problems between palestine and israel It did a wonderful job If the statement idea is to keep durham unified with a great police that has a future and keeps its citizens safe Then leave out israel Just talk about what what the issues are and don't bring up this divide. Look at we're half half Yes, some people clap a little bit more or less a couple later or less, but We all love each other in the wind if we love durham, okay Let's put aside israel and palestine Make a make a statement again with for the police build durham leave leave the politics for others to deal with right now Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Diane Dr. Burhan Ghanayim You have two minutes, sir. Thank you. Uh, I'm sure my family on occupied palestine dream of Having this right that we all are enjoying tonight. My name is Burhan Ghanayim. I am durham resident for more than 35 years I stand here today in support of the policy statement to be considered by the city council Just in the last two weeks in the palestinian territory of gaza We have witnessed this diddly forced by the israeli army that is used against palestinian protesters Over 35 people were killed over a thousand people were injured Their fault was demanding freedom and return of the stolen land and homes that they lost This is not new. I was the Victim of brutal beating as a teenager in my high school in occupied palestine When the israeli army stormed our high school Came into our classes and beat us with now mercy or Reason All the reason we were protesting the presence of soldiers on our high school grounds That was our fault The israeli military tactics This is the tactics that they are trying to sell to the city of durham and other cities in the united states How to suppress crowds how curtail freedoms? Israel markets these tactics as tisted and Tried on palestinians We wholeheartedly endorse the proposed statement I like to assure all of my durham fellow neighbors That this coalition today Is not anti-semitic As it is against anti-semitism. It is against racism. It's against Brutalities against minorities people of color I extend my hand to all of you Who oppose this to come and join me in support of this statement. Thank you, mr. Good. I am dr. Good. I am William Rosenberg. Please come forward. You have two minutes and please state your name and address Thank you. Thank you, mr. Mayor and members of the council. My name is William Rosenberg I'm a resident of rtp and carry but I have a strong interest in what's happening here um My request is that you table this statement at this time Until you can measure and understand the full impact of what it means to durham Please understand that if the durham city council Passes this statement Outside of the durran city council It will be widely recognized and widely publicized as anti-israeli and anti-semitic That will adversely affect the broad interests of durham In business home values schools and universities So I request one thing that you table this until you actually measure and understand The long-term impacts that this action could have Thank you. Thank you, mr. Rosenberg Well now here from faisal con You have two minutes. Please give us your name and address phasal con 501 Jones ferry road carburel Thank you very much mayor council members and everybody else in the audience for giving the opportunity to speak on this very important issue I want to ask all the council members including the mayor To ask this question to yourself Your conscience Would you support what ice did this this past weekend? Because they are doing exactly the same thing as what the israeli police and idf are doing in occupied territories of palestine I want you to ask this question to yourself How would a two-year-old child would ask for help And his or her house is invaded by the intelligence community of israel or idf or the israeli police How would that child Would ask for help How did this child ask for help When the ice agent stormed into that apartment Or in carburel or in chicago Or in la Because we are dealing with the same issue here This is not a political issue This is a human rights issue This is a dignity of palestinians living in gaza as a part of palestine living in the west bank Which is part of palestine east jewell slum which is part of palestine Very simple I'm really disturbed What is happening in this country right now? It's unprecedented and unacceptable We should not have any training exchange programs with the doran police department or any israeli intelligence police or idf It's unacceptable So i ask you Support the statement Thank you Thank you Can i ask you to hold your applause please laura gutman? Please come forward you have two minutes Members of the council um audience Um, i'm laura gutman and i live on watts avenue. I've been there for 47 years. Um, i'm um wanted to comment On the um proposal which appears to be a proposal having to do with the training of the um Durham county of the durham city law enforcement agents Um, we have a very fine chief of police who was recruited Very carefully she comes with an enormously credible Reputation nationally She's a very fine exceptional recruit part of the usual Expectations of the chief of police Is that she will determine the appropriate training for the police officers and um this Um a statement is going to compromise that um and removes that from her Full purview I think this is profoundly disrespectful for a highly professional Member of of our community who was brought to us. Um, I think by perhaps members of this council In any case, I think that again that this is very disrespectful and I urge you to return this um The the ability of of uh her ability to train to decision that the decisions to train her own officers Um, for the appropriate roles which they have to play Thank you Thank you very much miss gutman now. We'll hear from laura huntush Not sure I have that right Hi, my name is lemma abu huntush and I live at duke university Um There's since 1967 40 of palestinian men and 20 of palestinian women have been in prison at some point in their lives In in some ways the ones who make it to prison with their limbs and lives intact are the lucky ones These are idf soldiers incarcerate mutilate and often kill young palestinian men to prevent them from fighting back against apartheid In fact of my mother's 24 male cousins in the west bank 23 have been arrested on trumped-up charges Virtually all were beaten and many were brutally tortured in israeli prisons against the geneva convention This institutionalized system of prejudice and mass incarceration is mirrored here in the us Which boasts the world's largest prison population and is disproportionately composed of black men In the words of angela davis Palestinians and black americans are in the same state the carceral state, which is alive and growing here in durham The durham police are supposed to serve and protect our community But idf soldiers neither serve nor protect palestine. They occupy it By engaging in police exchanges durham's department is learning to enhance racial profiling use excessive force and police the community like an occupying military Just yesterday I had probably the scariest experience of my life not involving an idf machine gun When I woke up to a text from my friend saying he'd been arrested While walking on duke central campus the night before a police officer had stopped him and asked for his identification But he wasn't carrying his duke id He was later handcuffed and held in police custody until his roommate confirmed that he is in fact a deuce student But why hadn't he a visibly college age? uh Person on a busy campus been singled out as if he didn't belong because he's a young black man These are your tax dollars at work racial profiling and presumption of guilt courtesy of the idf The durham police department must reflect the community. It serves not the israeli military We must end police exchanges. I support the uh, this resolution um to end israeli police exchanges durham. Thank you so much Thank you very much Max german you have two minutes as mr. Chairman comes up. I'm going to Call out the names of the next group of speakers and if you'll come over here to my right and line up that would be great uh in Jenny blasts david roswell Jerome fox carol fox david T-h-e-u-r-e baby thurrer not sure you live on demaria street. You know who you are uh rabbi zalman blooming And lee mortimer if you all could please come over here to my right Uh, and you will be following Mr. Chairman mr. Chairman. Thank you for being here. Please tell us your name and the address i'm max german. I'm also student at duke Today we are faced with a non-issue non no ongoing durham police cooperation with any military exists nor would it be likely Chief davis asserted her one visit to israel was a good will trip focused solely on leadership development and public relations with homeless populations She should not be misrepresented by this council Despite a letter signed by 10 esteemed diverse local rabbis warning against targeting israel Certain members of this council join the join petitioners and put political interests ahead of the community they serve Is this consistent with a durham for all? Will these members have the professionalism to become proximate with a jewish with the concerned jewish community? Or will they continue their sly machinations while fleeing from accountability to their constituents? Note this Students for justice in palestine at duke university a group closely tied with the petitioners ignores the terrorist group hamas's genocidal ambitions and suggests israel provokes wars in gaza to use it as a human laboratory Of experimentation subjects for testing its advanced weapons in intelligent systems for economic gain It's 2018 And the jews are again being baselessly and shamelessly accused of heartless manipulation Murder etc for economic gain This must be stopped However, it seems like the council today is intent on sending its message The message it sends is a resounding one If you are a business owner or an individual looking for a community to call home Don't you seek a community built on respect honesty and trust? Not one that stabs you in the back Shouldn't your elected leaders care about serving their hardworking constituents? Not narrow political interests Today the jewish community has been misled and ignored tomorrow. It could be you Thank you, mr. Chairman. Well now here from jenny blasts was blast. Please tell us your name and address You have two minutes Jenny blasts odys road chapel hill Not not Durham, but I know a lot, but I go to a shule in the area and I know a lot of people who live here Anyway, I'm jewish and proud of my religion and heritage And that extends the state of in that extends to the state of israel The insinuations that the state of israel with where I have family Is racist and supports white supremacy are extremely harmful to me I feel that what israel does has been misconstrued by many people in this room Israel only fights in self-defense And the israelis want peace as much as the palestinians The labeling of israel in particular is violent In militants is offensive to me as a person and as hints of antisemitism I'm not saying that this issue isn't worth discussing I just think we um that we need to take a look at the motivations in particular political ones that are behind this controversy I hope Durham in the research triangle as a whole will continue to be welcoming to people who identify with israel like I do Thank you for giving me your time Thank you very much Ms. Blass now we'll hear from david roswell You have two minutes I am david roswell. I live at 106 west woodridge drive in Durham I'm a member of the people's alliance and i'm reading a statement written by the people's alliance in support of the campaign Dear mayor shul and members of the derm city council We are writing to express the support of the derm's people's alliance where the campaign Led by the derm to palestine coalition to preclude to preclude any collaboration Between the derm police department and the israeli defense force We strongly support the message in mayor shul's statement that the council opposes international exchanges with any country in which Durham officers receive military style training Since such exchanges do not support the kind of policing we want here in the city of derm We ask the city council to act on that message and to pass the resolution They clearly expresses the city's commitment to pursue community safety without resort to the kind of military tactics Used by the israeli police against palestinians Policing in the u.s. Has a long history of violence against black and brown communities While the derm police department under chief cj davis has begun to make progress in reducing the incidents The incidents of targeting and violence against black and brown communities Including immigrant communities. We want to see continued progress and more demilitarization not less The demilitarized derm to palestine Palestine campaign is based on the finding that police exchanges between the u.s. And israel promote militarized policing At home and overseas And we have seen under the trump administration the language of security and counterterrorism Being used to enable racist scapegoating and justify violent and discriminatory practices against targeted communities Now more than ever we need to challenge the idea that our security comes from militaries police prisons and border walls And work towards a safer world for all people based on community equality and justice The people's alliance believes that derm can best promote public safety by moving ahead on the vision laid out by the mayor In his state of the city address. Thank you. Thank you We'll now hear from jerome fox My name is jerome fox. I live on 13 mandy court here in durham I'm one of the rabbis Who sent the letter to the council urging you not to Single out the state of israel in your condemnation or your your problems you're having with police training And uh, I have had a lot to say but i'm gonna have to cut it. I know I want to say that the group that is fomenting that is called the jewish voice for peace And that sounds very nice, but one of them came to a seminar. I was teaching just thursday of last week And she began to spout What I would call anti-semitism She said the israeli army is A bunch of butchers just as bad as isis That's why i'm wearing the israeli army skull cap tonight, by the way Uh, and then she went on to say that she wants one state between the jordan and the Mediterranean and I said well, then you know the jews would eventually get outnumbered and then the palestinians there could democratically de judae eyes the state of israel And throw out the national anthem the hebu language, etc etc and I contend That any person who says that who wants to de judae eyes the state of israel Is an anti-semit and this particular young woman who came to my class. I believe is a jew Thank you. Thank you carol fox Carol fox you have two minutes. Thank you for being here. Okay, you're welcome So my name is carol fox and I live at 13 mandy court in durham And I would like to request of city council That you please remove Mention of israel or the israeli police From your resolution On other matters concerning the city of durham Israel has no relevance to the issue of how Durham police does its job Israel has no relevance to the issue of police brutality or unfair treatment of people of color Or disabled people here in durham or in the united states Removing mention of israel will make the proposed resolution stronger and clearer and less confusing Removing mention of israel from the resolution will prevent city council from muddying the waters In the issue of community policing and local city matters Thank you. Thank you very much And now we will hear from David thurer Hi, y'all. Um, i'm david thur. I live on demarius street here in durham And i'm here representing the inside outside alliance We support the ban on police exchanges with israel We believe that the displacement of palestinian people is unjust and that is important to disrupt the facade of normalcy Just exchanges seek to create the occupation of palestine Haven't seen in the past few weeks the violence carried out against palestinian protesters by israeli security forces We believe such exchanges don't only further militarize durham police I can say personally Haven't been tear gassed by the durham police while peacefully protesting the death in custody of uh, tru werta That we are already that they are already dangerously militarized because of this We support the policy statement against israeli police exchanges and we support The demilitarized uh, durham to palestine campaign. Thank you. Thank you We'll now hear from Rabbi zalman blooming Thank you your honor the mayor and the city council I have the greatest respect for you and our community and jewish community praise for your success and continued success Each week in shul First i want to thank you for bringing so many people together to speak about israel Right before her 70th birthday I congratulate you on the 150th birthday of durham north carolina which we're going to be in it one year from now and Over 3 000 years of the jewish presence in the holy eternal capital in the city of jewslam But i have one request My request is let's make a city. We love a city for all I'm here less to talk about israel and more to talk about durham as a rabbi That works with a lot of young adults and students here in this community. My phone has been ringing non-stop over the last week Of young adults that live here that feel unsafe That feel marginalized That felt a feel as if for some reason they've been singled out And i'm not aspiring any judgments on the city council on what they meant But language matters and it affects And i wonder why if a statement was made, why don't we consider this sensitively? There are many rabbis in our community. Was any of our rabbis Spoken to uh with the heads of the jewish federation spoken to so we can share the sensitivities About this Very vital and very important issue. Look i've been to israel I'd like to argue probably more than almost anyone in this room I sat there a few months ago a few weeks ago by the gaza border So i know what it is huddling with young 18 year old people who are fighting for their lives in this desperate battle It's very it is not simple at all And i'm wondering why would you single out israel you want to mention all countries in the world that you don't want to work with Good luck Feel free to israel doesn't need business israel is doing very well But why why is israel mentioned and singled out and so my only prayer to the city council which does such incredible work is Let's make the city we love A city for all. Thank you. Thank you rabbi Now we'll hear from now. We'll hear from lee mortimer And while mr. Mortimer is coming up i'm going to ask um these people to also come up uh and To my right evalina molder tom stern Debra freedman Elise crystal muska blooming and ihab mikati And i believe that there's another debra freedman. We have two of you No, you're the same person But you may not speak twice okay, um All right, uh, so now we're gonna hear from mr. Mortimer Followed by miss molder mr. Mortimer welcome. You have two minutes. Good evening. I'm lee mortimer I live at 41 16 living stone place in the trotter ridge neighborhood I'm a 30-year resident of durham our son entered kindergarten here and went through durham public schools I participated in a number of civic activities including serving on two Task forces studying city county merger. I was a youth soccer coach several seasons and a candidate for the school board in Year 2000 I think I did better as a soccer coach than in that school board election I'm here tonight representing the coalition for peace with justice Our office is located at the lion park community center We advocate for a peaceful resolution of the israeli palestinian conflict We have endorsed and I have personally participated in the demilitarized durham to palestine campaign We urge you to support this policy statement Putting the city of durham on record as opposing members of our police department being trained By israel's police and military I don't know all the components of training that other u.s. Police departments have undergone During often fully paid trips to israel I do know that israel has a well documented record of human rights violations And that our police would gain nothing worthwhile from being trained by a regime that holds a subject people Under military occupation as it dispossesses them and colonizes their land This is not as some opponents claim Singling out only one country on the planet israel Far too many regimes brutalize their subject populations But israel is the only one on which the u.s. Government lavishes military financial and political support Hold your applause, please. I'm a student like leigh. Excuse me one second. I'm serious about holding the applause okay, leigh And turns a blind eye to virtually every brutality it commits Our police officers should not be trained in military style surveillance of social movements Racial profiling extreme crowd control measures and use of excessive force that can lead to de facto shoot to kill policy Thank you, mr. Waterman. Thank you.  Thank you very much. Thank you We'll now hear from evalina molder I'm evalina molder. I live on settlement drive in Durham I must admit i'm perplexed The statement on policing by the city council seems to be a response To a non-existent problem Police chief davis has indicated that there are no plans to train with police from other countries So why is it necessary to issue a statement? Bet there will be no training with israel I fear that the council by issuing this statement has become a pawn in a publicity initiative I moved to Durham in part because it's a well managed city With elected and appointed officials who share the values that I hold dear This statement has currently worded demonizes israel and by implication the jewish people I am one of those jewish people And i'm a derm resident I have no vested interest in whether the derm police train with the israeli police But I cared deeply that israel not be vilified and misrepresented I cared deeply that the council take the time to reword the statement Removing reference to israel and thereby removing the unnecessary and politically motivated targeting and demonization of israel Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Malder Tom stern you have two minutes I am tom stern at 204 reeks b avenue. I have lived in Durham for over 30 years, and i'm jewish I speak in opposition to those who seek to sabotage the council's courageous stand against further militarization of our police By quoting from the so-called omitted portion of chief davis's memo regarding her experience in israel Their position would have you believe that these police exchanges are simply about leadership academies And building relations with refugees in the homeless Nothing could be further from the truth Regardless of chief davis's specific experience the major organizations facilitating police exchanges with israel tout their focus on counter terrorism tactics For example, I hold in my hand A recent anti-defamation league recruitment brochure for these police exchanges with israel It lists the training topics as preventing and responding to terrorist attacks Intelligence gathering and the evolution of terrorist tactics Two other major providers of these training state. They are to strengthen law enforcement Counter terrorism practices and security tactics There is simply no denying that these trainings are inextricably linked To the militarization of israel's police and security forces and serve to export that mindset and those tactics to police departments in the us Further the claim that durham was has not been complicit in these military style trainings is also false former police chief lopez attended one in 2008 and this adl Recruitment brochure lists durham north carolina as the police department that has participated in these military style trainings Think about that the adl is using durham's good name without our permission to recruit more local police departments in the us To further militarize their police departments Durham needs to be clear that our police are community-based. We do not support racial profiling We do not support disproportionate and violent responses to civilian protests We do not see our own residents as the enemy I support the city council's proposed new policy against these exchanges. Thank you Thank you. Mr. Stern. Now we're going to hear from deborah freedman Ms. freedman welcome. You have two minutes My name is deborah freedman and I live on hardscrabble drive in hillsboro, but I am a durham taxpayer Members of the council Many people in this room understand there are several different kinds of racism One kind is obvious. It is in your face use of the n word lynching We have seen it all too often Many of you also understand that there is racism that is more subtle Prison sentences that are longer for minority people Justice applied unequally confederate monuments since jews have experienced this kind of racism called Antisemitism for millennia We have a long tradition of empathy and support for the african-american communities fight for equality We are proud to have supported And provided such support Some jews have even sacrificed their lives for this cause Just as there are different types of racism. There are different types Of anti-semitism There is a swastika that even anyone in this room would recognize as an overt obvious sign of anti-semitism Then there is the subtle kind that many in this room don't see It comes in the form of a double standard of hypocrisy and scapegoating That is exactly what is going on here You should be ashamed to allow this to happen in Durham It's clear that you need an explanation as to why this petition is racist discriminatory and anti-semitic It starts with the premise a lie that is repeated so often That people believe it that is reilly police teach militaristic tactics Did you bother to investigate the validity of this accusation? Or is it something that you simply accept as truth without question? Israel has world-renowned expertise not only in counter-terrorism But also in how to assist during natural disasters and in leadership as police chief davis knows firsthand If the concern is international training in general, why don't you investigate argentina greece haiti hungary? Thank you miss freedman. Thank you Elise crystal you have two minutes. Thank you. My name is elise. I live on princeton avenue in durham. I'm an american jew Last week may a pro tem julian johnson pointed out in her statement That there's no clear evidence that the police trainings with israel lead to increase violence on the streets of us cities Of course violence in the us predates the state of israel the creation of the state A state that like the u.s. Was founded on white supremacist ideologies on ongoing dispossession of the indigenous population And on ongoing violence directed at its non white population But we do have some anecdotal evidence for example in washington dc Police adopted the israeli tactic picked up when they went on a ride along with the Jerusalem police of keeping the red and blue lights on their cruisers flashing at all times to be more visible So that their presence has always felt particularly in poor black neighborhoods Rick fuentes superintendent of new jersey state police said the knowledge gleaned from observation and training during the trip prompted significant changes to the organizational structure of the new jersey state police And brought about the creation of the homeland security branch This branch comprising nearly a thousand members of the state police now maintains a steady state of vigilance in new jersey And quote these strategies and policies adopted after the exchanges May appear benign especially to those of us who are not used to being under constant Surveillance and maybe none of these police departments needed to travel to israel to develop these plans But they did Is there a causal relationship between going on these exchanges and increased violence? We may never have empirical evidence But we see in the current political climate The kind of racist scapegoating and support for discriminant discriminatory practices against targeted communities That isn't new But now we have the opportunity to redefine safety and security on our own terms In our own community based on equality and justice. I support your statement. Thank you Thank you, miss crystal And now we will hear from muska blooming Miss blooming you have two minutes It's a wonderful honor to speak before you dear mayor and thank you for what you do for the city It's also great to be able to talk about israel, especially on the eve of her 70th birthday this week As you know, north carolina and israel share a robust friendship built on economic cooperation and common values For our 60th birthday the general assembly reaffirmed as the resolution states the people of israel have established a vibrant pluralistic democratic political system including a freedom of speech press assembly And religious and religion israel is also one of north carolina's top trading partners Since 1996 israel has Partner with close to two billion services from the tar hill state the two have also shared millions of billions of dollars And by national grants supporting their respective Universities as they strive to make new technological and medical advances as the statement called for north carolina to honor 60th anniversary as a modern state. I would love for you to do the same and continue And consider to do that for the 70th As i'm sure you are familiar House bill 161 north carolina recently signed publicly declaring support for israel and legislating punitive measures Against those boycotting the jewish state divestment the companies the boycott israel Yet the language of what was bought by the council highlights schismism and dividing those gives the wrong vibe about a very healthy relationship that truly exists Thank you Thank you very much miss blooming uh While we're waiting to hear from eehob mccutty. I'm going to call the following people up and if you would Please come over to my right amad amirah Mike ross Lee mortimer you cannot speak again adam goldstein minister rafiq zayidi muhammad stan rob boy peter writes's And reverend curtis gatewood If you all would please come to my right We will now hear from eehob mccutty I'm sorry. I'm working on it. Sorry eehob mccutty. Sorry. If you would give us your name An address and then you'll be followed by amad amirah Yeah, mccutty 511 carleton avenue I also wrote the op-ed and the herald sign which i provided to councilmember freeman There are three comments that keep coming up that people seem to be confused by that. I'd like to talk about First some people are asking Why do we care about israel specifically? Is this a foreign policy statement? They're asking Aren't there other countries that treat people worse? And the answer is not any countries that we give so much aid to Because my tax dollars fund this police department and because my tax dollars fund a militarized israel It is my personal responsibility to oppose any abuses from those two institutions. It's as simple as that The second question is Is the city of durham even taking part does israel have a relationship with our pd? And the answer is yes, and tom stern earlier brought the receipts as recently as last december in documents that are titled national counterterrorism seminars And so that leads into the third question, which is Is There what's so wrong about counterterrorism training? Two weeks ago the israeli military massacred protesters near border fence in gaza You may have heard that a journalist critical of the occupation was among those killed by israeli troops You may have seen a video that emerged of snipers shooting a palestinian protester Who is standing harmlessly in the distance as the soldier and his friends laughed and cheered at the shot You may have heard the israeli defense minister Confirmed that this was not an exception to the military culture But was the encouraged practice saying that the sniper should be decorated and the photographer should be condemned If it's not obvious to you, this is what counterterrorism looks like in israel It doesn't have anything to do with minimizing violence But with expanding the definition of terrorism so broadly that it means standing around a fence that the government doesn't like you to stand around Americans are already terrorized by state violence at protests Remember the water cannons used in freezing temperatures on the indigenous people at standing rock for example Like the palestinians. These were people who were standing up for their right to land stolen from under them Instead of protecting us our police grow more and more each year to look like soldiers And the violence that is enacted upon their victims isn't treated as a crime But as an unavoidable or even heroic action Whatever these two forces will learn from each other. It won't make me feel safer We should make Durham a leader in true safety and ban these exchanges Thank you We'll now hear from Ahmad Amira Mr. Amira you have two minutes Amira 51 brody dim drive go duke the atlanta police department in 2014 said that chief davis's atlanta exchanges Quote include training where officers learn tactics on preventing acts of terror And quote the atlanta mayor defended these exchanges for their counterterrorism focus and donald trump has applauded israel For its racial profiling and has even used israel's apartheid system as justification for his border wall and for his muslim ban At this point city council needs to draw a clear line between counterterrorism and deadly racism for israel the line blurs into one And countless palestinians have died as a result Former israeli defense minister masya lawn has admitted the targeting civilians in lebanon in 2006 and in gaza in 2014 Current defense minister avigdor liberman recently claimed that quote There are no innocent people in gaza after he authorized the murder of dozens of unarmed gaza protesters Durham needs to take a stance against the intentional murder of civilians and not glorify atrocity by claiming israel is some expert in counterterrorism The countless hours of interrogation every palestinian faces when traveling through israel is not counterterrorism It's racism israel's airport security that uses a scale of one to six to identify an individual's threat level is assigned by race The six on my passport classifies me as an extreme threat to israel Calling me a terrorist just because i'm palestinian. That's not counterterrorism. That's racism Arresting teenagers in the west bank like a head to me me primarily waving flags and throwing rocks like those That's not counterterrorism. That's excessive force and that's deadly I say Let's not glorify the deadly racism that israel imposes upon the palestinians that illegally occupies Don't let the suffering the palestinian space under the israeli military Become some model for policing in america reject racial profiling Reject police militarization And put our black and brown communities here in america first Black lives matter We need to reach a point where those words represent the widely accepted truth and not some distant goal Let's make a difference. Let's demilitarize durham and free palestine. Thank you. Thank you Thank you very much. Um mike ross We won't take your two minutes for that mr. Ross Thank you very much. Mr. Ross you have two minutes Thank you mayor and city council members for allowing me to speak I had three main points, which I may not get to first jvp's pervasive demonization of israel as we see tonight Is a recipe for unending conflict The anti def of two the anti defamation league the premier jewish organization fighting for social justice has been targeted by jvp's initiative And three as we witness today jvp's bringing the conflict and discord from the middle east to our city council First in the petition jvp disgracefully claims a direct link between us police training in israel to deliberate oppression of minorities here That is there is absolutely no evidence for that smear and teaching such hate will never lead to peace Tonight they will hijack this forum as we've seen to attack israel. They will make claims which Are are accusing the one jewish state of being entirely evil Make that a make that a what you will but their statements will be a steady stream of accusations more about instilling blame than being constructive Mutual respect comes from cooperation and compromise not continued incitement and conflict Second jvp has attacked the adl the adl which sponsors trainings for police to combat hate crimes To counter implicit bias and to build trust with communities Their courses in israel focus on israeli's balancing of security concerns with the imperative to uphold civil rights It is a gross inversion of reality to claim that the adl is complicit in oppressing people of color Third as we see today jvp is Bringing the conflict to us They are sowing division in the community by telling minorities that israel and its supporters are to blame For police brutality against them This lie leads to distrust division and inevitably hatred I'd rather envision a Durham that is inclusive and tolerant in summary. Please do not support their device of agenda Please continue to be a welcoming city. Don't listen to people Either from the right or from the left who want to tell you what to be afraid of and who's to blame for it Thank you, mr. Ross adam golstein Adam goldstein, uh, yukaya lane chapel hill north carolina. Thank you for allowing me to speak today And thank you for your service on behalf of the people of durham My name is adam goldstein. I'm a family physician I've been involved in multiple leadership positions in the durham chapel jewish community for almost two decades including Being past president of the learner's school in durham past president durham chapel jewish federation That supports over 5 000 jewish families in this region in israel I'm chair of the statewide north carolina hillow and 13 campuses throughout north carolina for jewish life on campus Why do the majority of jewish organizations and synagogue leaders see your current statement as anti israel and anti zionist And why do some see overtones of anti-semitism? These concerns is applied to israel are not simply criticism Because we are all willing to criticize as we are here in the united states at times But it's when policies or statements are done That seek to delegitimize Demonize and apply double standards to israel. They're almost always done under the shadow of extreme prejudice Whether from the hatred and lies of the far right or the far left The petition which became a statement started with the premise that was false and demonizing and six council members signed it Despite changing the petition to the statement Please take ownership that the sponsorship of the petition in this entire episode Is designed to single out one country in one country only not iran, syria, north korea, china or russia But israel you do so in conjunction with an organization known to demonize israel and you do so in a way that will harm jewish life On campus in towns in north carolina and durham moving forward Finally, you have the completely distorted the durham police department's chief glowing statement on israel Trying to take one sentence out of context to support of you is not truly honest You brought these petitions up during the jewish holidays a pass over and right before the jewish memorial in israel For fallen soldiers the whole statement starting from a petition for an issue that doesn't even exist Along with your failure to consult with multiple jewish leaders to discuss this impact along with continuing to keep the name of israel On the statement and distorting the police chief statement are blights on this great city Less changes are made tonight. Thank you. Thank you We'll now hear from minister rafiq zayidi muhammad sir. You have two minutes Good evening To this council deals and local government body. I am rafiq zayidi muhammad. I resided 807 south duke's street down north kalaima I am a muslim believer A father of the honorable minister lewis farakhan in the nation of islam I have been on the forefront with the palestinian brothers and sisters in this country since 1975 I went to jail in chicago for standing up for the palestinian's demonstration But first and foremost tonight. I want to say this. I thank council Very deeply from my heart Because the move that you have made to approve this petition Was one against forces that are unseen There is a synagogue of satan That's always lingering in the background as the book of revelation the second and third in the third and the ninth say They propose to be of the righteous But they are a synagogue of satan And I want to say this to you tonight first and foremost Let it be known that as a citizen of the nation of islam And a resident of the city of derm I support the petition to prevent police exchanges between the derm police force and the israel defense forces known as i dl my words tonight In the last 30 seconds may grow wise for criticism from some in the community But I am obligated to point out the inordinate control that some jews have over the political system in this city And I praise you and thank you For the inherent effort that you have made to make this proposal one that we all can deal with and stand firm on Thank you very much. And may all may almighty god allow bless you And continue to intervene in all our fails. Thank you minister zaiti I'm one of those jews. I just want you to know that I'm one of those jews. Mr. Zaiti Please be seated That is I can't describe that as anything other than anti-semitism and just as I would speak out excuse me And just as I would speak out against that Anything said about any other group i'm fret i'm gonna have to speak out when it's said against a group of which i'm a member I don't appreciate it. Don't bring it in here again Mr. Robboy you have two minutes Please hold the clock until I get my power point up Help you help. Yeah, sure go ahead Can can I get some help? I I expect that they're they're about to run out and help you. That's what usually happens. So just Give them a second and the staff will be out here to give you a hand. Yeah, I'm just trying to Hang on one second. Believe me Thank you. Hi Yes, sir Thank you. First, I want to say My name is Stanley Robboy a circle park place in Chapel Hill This whole process to me has been very bothersome The petition that was brought was actually signed the petition by six of the members of this council And some of the members of the council actually helped formulate the petition in addition There's a specific email that one of the council members sent Thought I'd send this in case it has any use for future bds purposes. Is my power point actually showing yes We can we can see it. Mr. Robboy pardon. We can see it. How does this go forward? Won't go forward. There it is The last meeting that was held two weeks ago to me was a sham meeting Several of us were called. We were given three minutes We thought we're talking about the petition at 125. We finished speaking at exactly 235 10 minutes later the city council produced a statement that was given to the newspaper A long statement that clearly could not have been written in 10 minutes. It was at least the day before The chief's statement As far as I'm concerned was full of praise and much was suppressed This is what she wrote and there are types of words that are saying it's builds community police relations helps homeless Highly academic all of that was left out. The only thing was we're not going to have a relation with israel Which does not sound like what the chief meant Then at the same time suddenly came this by the by the same group that's here It's on the web and it says no more police at jewish synagogues And in fact, it says there should be no more police departments We might like not to have police, but just imagine what we would have in this country with no police departments at all We single out here on the israel But look at all the other countries some 25 We're your time's up. Mr. Ravoy. Thank you peter writes us And then we will have Reverend curtis gatewood and then i'm going to call some other names that can assemble over behind mr. Gatewood bob gutman michelle laws buddy bombsie i'm sorry if i haven't got your name right there robert hollister And rina rachel golper if you all would please make your way Over there behind minister gatewood that would be great And in the meantime I'm sorry. I'm being told i'm not being loud enough for which i'm often not. Let me say it again Thank you very much. Dr. Allison. I will try to be louder Reverend gatewood will will be followed by bob gutman michelle laws buddy bombsie robert hollister rina rachel golper Yes, sir. Mr. Rites. Thank you. Thank you My children's synagogue school in dorham not too long ago was faced with a bomb threat The dorham police were there. I'd like to be the first person tonight to thank the dorham police for everything you do every day Councilperson jillian johnson said something that I think everyone in this room can agree upon She recently said that it is not anti-semitic to criticize israeli policies and practice But let me tell you what is anti-semitic This month the city council received an email from one of the petitioners And the email listed what the petitioner called savage military countries and the petitioner said Argentina Bolivia brazil columbia and costa rica just to name a few there are about 20 countries This city council ignores All of those countries that the petitioner says and this city council says let's focus on israel The only jewish majority country on the planet my friends That is anti-semitism singling out israel and forgetting about everybody else That is anti-semitism During president obama's administration The obama state department defined anti-semitism in relation to israel with three examples Demonizing israel de legitimizing israel and holding israel to double standards if this council passes your statement tonight You are doing all three things that the obama administration said are anti-semitic I ask one thing remove all mention of israel from your statement. Thank you for your time Thank you very much Reverend gatewood you have two minutes Please tell us your name and address The choice amen amen First i'm reverend Curtis gatewood I resided 129 west front street oxford north carolina I'm the founder of justice administration, which is justice being the acronym for jesus uniting souls to increase community engagement I'm also founder of stop killing us solutions campaign The basis for which I stand in solidarity with those who support the resolution Is driven by my adamant opposition to the militarization Of the police department in durham or anywhere else in the world first And i'm not aware of the city's current plans as they relate to the militarization Uh training for the durham police By the israeli defense force or idf But I am aware of the history which may date back to 2008 With police chief lopez Therefore the lack of clarity Of the city's current position Regarding the the militarization of the police department And the israeli defense force necessitates The need for a resolution now To later rest any questions First reason being if the israeli defense force will use excessive force and wrong for death toward their own palestinian neighbors What makes us think they can train durham police to treat The struggling citizens of oxford manor bractown meduga terrace liberty street Or turn key right except to kill us or to turn the key to lock us up What we would like to see Is the idea of knowing that the durham east end and the west end are struggling to make ends meet Thank you very much minister gatewood Mr. Bob gutman you have two minutes. How do I start this? Hang on a second and someone will come help you I'll get started. I have a picture of a baked cake on the first slide Because we know the cake is baked And we're very sad about it because the name israel was insisted on being there In the lead up to the petition initially presented it was very clear that jvp a notoriously anti zionist organization Included its chosen language to defame israel This is a national program that's been going on several years And you are supporting it by inserting the name israel almost gratuitously I have that's it. Thank you. I have to ask What was the point? What did that what purpose did that serve the city of durham? It's great to have a very well formulated and very clear kind and thoughtful police Policy, but why do you have to mention israel? Only because you decided to insert yourself in national and international politics For the sake of these people who come and notice that they have all said the same thing We're saying they have all declared that they're for this because it defames israel Just the same thing. We're saying they don't need to do that Or you don't need to do that they do need to do that because that's what the national organization wants to happen I just want to go I was going to go through a bunch of slides showing you how many people on their side support what i'm saying But I do want to just end by saying That when mayor shul ran He gave two promises strong support for chief davis's emphasis on deescalation and racial equity training That's a promise properly being kept The next another statement is quote I will continue to work toward a police force that effectively fights violent crime While actively seeking to build the trust of our entire community That's a promise that needs to be kept. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Gutman We'll now hear from michelle laws laws. We have two minutes Thank you. Mr. Mayor and members of the city council. I really just want to come and offer my Approval and and Just my hats off to the police chief for standing in a very difficult and uncomfortable place I am a jewish muslim hindu buddhist Loving christian the god I serve Says that he has no respect of person I come from a history a family A group of people who understand the danger Of us holding on to these narratives embedded in historical documents often revisionist Histories and our own interpretations of what the lord means The same slave holders who held us captive and used My ancestors to create the largest profit margin in the world's economy And we've never lost our footing as a nation since those almost 300 years of free labor were given Justified that by their religious doctrines I also come because I do know that now is the time for us to be very clear as a nation As a city as a state on where we stand in terms of the conflict between israel and the palestinians Far too many children and women and disabled and elderly are losing their lives because men on both sides Are refusing to come to the table and reason together as the good lord our creator has called us to do And in terms of israel the united states entered in 2016 An agreement a 10 year military assistance agreement with israel that is worth over 38 billion dollars The diplomatic and military alliance between our two countries is Infectious and it is the largest cumulative recipient israel is of us foreign assistance since world war two This bill is not hurting in any kind of way and largely it's because of we our Thank you. Thank you very And women are thank you very much Thank you very much miss laws. We will now hear from buddy bombsy. I'm sorry. I haven't gotten your name right How you have two minutes? That's correct Hello, my name is buddy bombsy, and I'm a lifelong Durham resident I've attended charter and public schools, and I am now a junior at the north carolina school of science and math I have been active in local government for two years as a member of the Durham youth commission And I am jewish I am here tonight to speak to the city council about the proposed statement regarding training of members of the Durham police department in israel Last week a coalition of groups many of which have missions that I support Presented a hateful petition to the Durham city council called demilitarized from Durham to palestine This petition contained allegations that israeli training of american police forces assists them in the practices of racism and racial profiling Anyone who has studied american history knows that white supremacy and racism and the violent behavior related to such ideas Has been ingrained in american society for more than four times as long as israel has existed as a sovereign nation From the time immediately after the civil war up until the early 20th century southern police forces would arrest African americans on baseless charges and then sell them via their their bail price into neo slavery The claim that israel influenced american racism is simply disingenuous In response, mayor steve schull crafted a statement in support of the petition Though he does not directly mention israel some council members feel that by omitting israel His statement does not go far enough in meeting the goals of the petition The proactive nature of this movement and the Durham city council's response when the Durham police department and israel Do not have a relationship in any capacity Lead me to believe that the most important goal of this petition is not the quality or improvement of our police force These actions lead me to believe that the goal of this petition is to demonize and ultimately blight israel Further evidence of this goal is that a number of the supporting organizations Believe in the boycott divestment sanctions movement, which though advertised as an effort to support peace in the region Does no such thing I am not here because I unanimously unanimously support israel in any in all situations or or all policy decisions But I cannot stand by as the state of israel is slandered by false accusations Or as my city government promotes such assertions. This petition is nothing more than a gratuitous attempt To have our progressive city participate in the last socially acceptable form of discrimination I ask you to go no further in responding to this petition. Thank you very much We'll now hear from robert hollister and then uh, miss galper after her after him and then uh after Then we will be followed by these people and these will be our last speakers In order, please over to the right Ron bar on I believe this person's already spoken this person's already spoken Beth brook and deborah rosinstein and those will be our last speakers Anyone is feels that they've already signed up and I didn't call their name You can let me know You called in okay, dr. Allison will get you. Thank you. We'll get you up here. Thank you Okay Um, sorry about that mr. Hollister welcome and you have two minutes. Thank you. My name is robert Hollister I live on north lake shore drive in chapel hill But i'm here as a representative of the justice ministry council of the eno river unitarian universalist fellowship Which is on garret road here in durham Our goal is to is to develop and support a vibrant local community based upon diversity opportunity equity support and protection The realization of these goals depends to a considerable extent On the qualities of our police and judicial systems Because these are the institutions that either support or destroy public perceptions of trust Fairness equity and respect Which are the glue that hold us together as a society and as a community A particular concern is the increasing militarization of our police forces These practices include training in military tactics The provision of military style assault rifles Combat dress and the military equipment such as armored personnel carriers and mine resistant and ambush protection vehicles In your consideration of tonight's resolution, we respectfully request that the durham council consider the following Number one the adoption of policies that prohibit the militarization of the local police force number two policies that prohibit the police force From applying to the pentagon for military equipment And number three policies that prohibit the provision of foreign training for police officers In military military style procedures and tactics. Thank you. Thank you very much Now we'll hear from miss golfer Good evening everybody. I'm sure it's been a long night. I'm very glad to be here So I the coalition has asked me to say that Just to affirm that we reject any support that comes from anti-semitism And that this previous speaker making those comments is not a member of our coalition And the other thing too and this is just something that's really near and dear to my heart. This is not a Jewish issue This is a human rights issue and it's not about for me personally being against Israel and being called anti-semitic and there's been a lot of vitriolic and insulting comments and attempts to fire people who have Opinions that are different than the conventional Jewish community This is a human rights issue because honestly, we do not need intervention from israel or any other country To come and tell us how our police force should be run Counterterrorism militarization militarization of police. We don't need any help To to shoot and kill unarmed civilians and demonstrators We don't need any help from a country whose human rights abuses are documented And has a record that is as bad as our own And so my hope is that will actually be the Durham that I know we are And I know that your hearts are in the right place already and i'm just hoping that we do the right thing I think we need to run our own affairs And we have a lot of work to do without help from a country that surely has not a lot to offer in this regard So thank you Thank you We'll now hear from ron barron Followed by beth brook Followed by deba rosinstein And then we will hear from dr. Livonia allison and that will be our last speaker I'm lenn moron 208 north driver's street. Um, I've been in Durham 15 years now I'm originally israeli and i'm jewish And I want to speak very strongly in support of the resolution tonight I spent a long of much of my life in israel working with palestinians. I grew up around palestinians Um, I was lucky to to do so my grandfather was one of the chief officers of the peace agreement with between egypt and israel I'm in 2014. I was in hypha during the gaza war We had a small demonstration opposing a war We were saying slogans. I'll read them in hebu in english The as of a beshderot, you're a daughter of sotichyot in gaza and in sterot girls want to live Shalom robonim al-gufot shul mafginim Pieces not built on demonstrators bodies We were surround our small demonstration was surrounded by over a thousand right-wing demonstrators Including activists in a center-left party of a labor party Blicks were thrown at our heads It was a miracle that no one was killed The police Barely intervened two days earlier with a demonstration a palestinian demonstration for the same cause Which people were tear gassed shot with rubber bullets And beaten by the same israeli police. The israeli police is one of the most racist police forces on the planet and I don't think we should have anything to do with them at the same time in the same time flame Our darn police was busy tear gassing people in the streets And i'm glad to see things have gotten better since and i applaud chief davis for saying that no police exchange will result Will take place I urge you to make this formal policy tonight and to have nothing to do with israeli police ever again. Thank you Thank you um Now we'll hear from beth brook We have two minutes miss brook Thank you um, i'm here as an american jew i've seen you at school And i'm just in support of this statement um I want to just repeat that the demilitarized coalition is stating emphatically that we reject any support that comes from a place of anti-semitism We're an interfaith community that believes in demilitarization of police here and abroad And one step is stopping our well documented participation in police exchanges. We know that chief lopez went on a trip We know that chief davis Headed up the exchange program when she was in atlanta. This is a time to pass it to policy before anything has a chance to start here I also want to present y'all with this letter from American muslims for palestine friends of sabila north america and jewish voice for peace an interfaith clergy letter to durham Which has already been turned into the clerk it's been signed by 50 rabbis of jewish voice for peace rabbinical council and 72 religious leaders additional religious leaders in durham and north carolina and the united states so i want to give you all this statement in support of Um The the campaign Demilitarized term to pass on campaign and in support of your proposed policy. Thank you very much Thank you. Ms. Brooke. You may hand that to the clerk Dr. Allison welcome. You have two minutes. Thank you very much. I know I have two minutes, but uh, I had the occasion to turn on my tv That ended up at c span three And I had to stop and listen because it was a group of persons hosted by j street a non profit jewish advocacy group then the next person was The palestine liberation organization And I heard some fantastic speakers Speaking about how terribly they have treated The palestinians and I'm here to thank you all that I came out tonight. I don't even need to be here But I hope and I thank those of you who put this together Because at this point in time it reminds me of two gentlemen that I had an opera jewish Cecil sheps UNC chapel hill Organized something to help us try to figure out how we're going to improve the representation of black health professionals bitty greenberg another Chair of the social work at chapel hill and I was glad to come up here and say something positive But you know, this is about peace This is about doing what's right Not what's wrong, and I'm glad the police situation and all that came up and brought me out Because I wouldn't you know We recently celebrated mod luther king basically He was against militarism Racism and above all poverty You know it's so much that's happening to Right now in those of us who hear saying do your thing and stand on it when you do something, right? You're not anti-israel But if they're doing wrong you have to stand up and say it I'm not going to take much time But I have some articles that I want you all to read and I want to recommend North Carolina resident of racial subordination hindering blacks the story is here gentrification at this point Do what you're doing. What's right? The peace problem the peace league started long time ago. They were almost at it. Thank you dr. Allison. We were almost at it till they pulled somebody up and they Thank you dr. Allison Um Is devil excuse me is deborah rosin stein here? Is rosin stein and miss rosin stein? I'm not sure what it is, but you'll tell me and we're glad to have you Please tell us your name and address. Thanks. Um, my name is Deborah rosin stein. I live on davis road in hillsboro north carolina I wasn't going to speak tonight Until I saw how charged things have become around jewish nish anti-semitism in israel and I knew I needed to speak Uh, um, so while I stand before all of you as a jewish person who's great great grandparents were murdered in their beds Actually in in a pogrom I come before you as someone Who's a human being In this community and in north carolina at this moment and I'm terrified of how militarized our police departments are becoming and I really appreciate Javier and everyone where this where this started from with being about ice and to me. That's what this is about um I hope people here tonight have mentioned that they're scared that you all are being manipulated and that this might spread I hope this spreads Because all of us who care about fighting racism and all of us who care about trying to have democracy Maintained or exist in this country. We need to not have militarized police forces The other thing I want to mention is that people have said why are we picking on israel in particular? I believe this is true. I know it's true for me and others that that i'm in coalition with here that if any other Oppressive government came forward to you all and tried to say we want to train your police force That we would stand up here. I will stand up here again But no one else is doing that right now and no one else is receiving as much aid as we've talked about So I guess uh, what I also want to say is people have mentioned that we want to be a welcoming community I want durham county to be that orange county to be that We can't be a welcoming community If we're being if our police are being trained, uh in military anti-terroristic Tactics, so I say that to you as a jewish person as a woman as a queer person But mostly I say it to you as a human being in north carolina and I'm I'm frightened for what's happening in this country. Thank you Thank you All right, y'all can clap as much as you want Thank you very much Thank you Thank you council members You have heard The speakers and I want to express my thanks to all the speakers I want to especially express my thanks to The young speakers the students who came On both sides A lot of young people and they had very different opinions from each other and I really appreciate the fact that you were starting young to speak your conscience And it's I think it's especially courageous in a In a highly charged and controversial atmosphere and but you did it and you did it very well. So especially want to appreciate you council members, um Any any comments at this point? Let me say that again council members any comments at this point? If I start I want to finish just so you know You have more than two minutes I just want to say that I really appreciate everyone coming out today And sharing their voice and uh speaking up on your truth and recognizing that Everyone's voice does matter here. It's important to us as a council to hear you and um I'm overwhelmed with A joy in a hurt And understanding the tension of how this Statement has this kind of fracturing our community. I'm also overwhelmed With the fact of who I am as a person as a human being Acknowledging that I have to stand in solidarity with the people that I feel that are most impacted and recognizing that The people of color in this country who are Disproportionately targeted whether immigrant Whether black lives whether standing rock whether I mean the list goes on and on The place of which where I come into this is that And I have to stand and say that it's not okay It's just not for us to support a militarized police force Or training of a militarized police force Recognizing that we are trying to decriminalize our police forces here in derm And I think that the information that was shared. I mean, I'm thankful that it was said repeatedly You know the 38 million dollars that's that's paid to israel as aid Bill billion i'm sorry billion dollars as aid and The fact that I really wanted to ask staff about how do we have our City removed from their literature because it shouldn't be on there I um I have no ill will towards israel at all. I mean I honestly and truly I mean As a human being you just have to see that this is this is not okay And it falls in line with the way in which things have happened throughout the course of history and We have to know that this is not this is not for me a religious battle This is a human rights issue and recognizing that you cannot allow your Any armed person to shoot down someone else who was unarmed I'll let the rest of the council say Thank you councilmember freeman Comments, mr. Mayor councilmember middleton. Thank you, sir How did we get here?  How did we get here? Where A declaration of what we hold As sacred and valuable in terms of our policing How did it get conflated with this issue? The united states of america is the only nation in history That has ever written down the words all men are created equal We're the only person that people that only act that actually wrote that down And anytime I take an opportunity to point out where we failed in that I'm not being unpatriotic So the proposition that a critique Of israel as a nation state And as a bona fide geopolitical player on the world stage is tantamount to antisemitism is ridiculous To ridiculous proposition and Anyone who would I'll meet anyone anytime anywhere that would like to debate my record in this city And and point out where it's been anything other than ecumenical And pro-justice I'll have that debate anytime With that said I just went through a campaign many of us up here this went through a campaign And I spoke to literally thousands of people And I got to tell you most of the people I spoke to were not talking about exchanges between our police in israel They were talking about can I get a job Where am I going to live? Are the buses going to be running on time So how did we get here? The statement if you read and I want to exigit the actual statement a little bit then I'll yield The statement first off it we didn't jointly write it although many of us agree with it and agree with the elements of it We didn't pin it as a group. What in the group project? But I want you to look at the statement Firstly