JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — At Tuesday night's Jacksonville City Council meeting, supporters of a ceasefire in Palestine made their voices and concerns heard and they called for a resolution from the city, which they want to ask for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict.
Tuesday's meeting wasn't the only one they've been vocal at.
Ryan Delaney, who is Jewish, is co-chair of communications for the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network. He said the group has been attending Council meetings since October 2023, when City Council approved a resolution to "stand with Israel."
This Pro-Palestinian group is asking Council to sign a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“I’m here to ask to pass a permanent ceasefire resolution," said one resident who gave public comment last night.
Delaney addressed the council, saying in part, "Every week that you do not listen to your people, it’s going to get worst for you.”
At last night's meeting, Delaney didn't just call for a ceasefire but he called out City Councilman Rory Diamond for posting a video on his social media account "X", formerly known as Twitter. The video was from March 12 meeting where Delaney was giving public comment.
Delaney addressed Diamond at last night's meeting, saying, “You know, I have to complain about this rule that the City Council has that we can't address specific members, when a specific member last week recorded a video of me. Rory Fiamond over here he said that I am a terrorist and a danger to the Jewish community here in Jacksonville. I am Jewish."
“The tweet that he put out, if you look at the timestamp, it was happened. He tweeted that during public comment. You can see physically that he was, he was on his phone while people were speaking and he was supposed to be listening. He wasn't," Delaney said today.
We did reach out to Diamond and he said he respects public comment and the First Amendment. He also said he will continue to stand with Israel.
“I'm tired of the hate that I'm hearing from that podium, it’s not constructive," said Diamond. "Again, First Amendment exist, they're allowed to have that right. But again, I have the right to stand up and say, No, I'm gonna stand up for the State of Israel. I'm gonna stand up for Israeli brothers and sisters, I'm gonna stand up for our Jewish neighbors.”