It’s now 0-for-4 (at least) for those asking the Arlington County Board to pass a resolution in support of a Gaza ceasefire or take other steps to intervene in the ongoing Mideast conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Until they take a stand, county leaders are guilty of “material complicity,” said Aasim Rawoot, who led a delegation to push for a ceasefire resolution at the July 22 County Board meeting.
Apparently “some lives matter more than others” to board members, Aasim said, noting an earlier resolution condemning anti-Semitic acts.
The July 22 meeting marked at least the fourth time activists have pressed Arlington elected officials this year for such a resolution. Earlier in the year it appeared they might have had a shot, but board members apparently decided among themselves behind the scenes that they were not going to get involved.
“We don’t do foreign policy,” County Board Chairman Libby Garvey said in response to Rawoot’s comments.
“Were there something we could do now that would make things better, we would do it,” said Garvey, the only board member to respond to the request. “Nothing we could do now would make it better.”
To Rawoot’s comments that the Arlington government was profiting off the warfare because the county is home to the headquarters of Boeing, RTX (Raytheon) and to offices of other military contractors, “feel free to demonstrate there,” Garvey said.
It was a statement from the dais that might have left mouths agape among economic-development staff who get paid to maintain cordial relations with the county’s Fortune 100 residents like Boeing (#52) and RTX (#55). But Garvey was unbowed.
“We encourage you to take the message there,” she said, noting that she had protested against some (unspecified) businesses in the past.
