Star Tribune
Duluth City Council rejects Israel-Hamas war cease-fire resolution
DULUTH — The Duluth City Council last night voted against a resolution calling for an Israel-Hamas war cease-fire, following weeks of intense pleading from dozens of residents to approve the symbolic measure.
Councilors heard about three hours of public comment from a packed chambers that spilled into the hallway, in a night that included a Hebrew prayer, a Quaker hymn sing-along, raised fists and impassioned speeches from citizens and councilors alike.
The vote was a 5-4 split, with Councilors Lynn Nephew, Tara Swenson, Arik Forsman, Terese Tomanek and Janet Kennedy opposing it. It was supported by Council President Roz Randorf and resolution co-authors Azrin Awal, Mike Mayou and Wendy Durrwachter.
It comes three weeks after nearly 46,000 Minnesota voters checked “uncommitted” in the state’s Democratic presidential primary, a push from progressive Minnesotans and members of the Muslim community to send a message to President Joe Biden that large factions of his own party want him to support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
On Monday night, Tomanek said she believes council support of such a resolution would further alienate and harm some in the community who are already afraid.
“People are on edge,” she said, of some of the Jewish community she has spoken to. “If I could vote and know it wouldn’t cause emotional or psychological trauma to people of our city — and it will, and it already has done so — I could possibly vote for it.”
Awal said she met with the Jewish community to revise the resolution to ease some of those concerns. Awal, who is Muslim, said many feel unsafe, with rising Islamophobia in Duluth, which she has experienced herself.
“The voices in our community have been calling for us to take a stand and protect human life,” she said. “This is how a global issue becomes local.”
The majority of councilors said they had heard from many it wasn’t city business; they were elected to prioritize local issues and the city’s own crises, including housing, homelessness and public safety.
Speakers were largely in support of the resolution and numbered close to 50, ranging from University of Minnesota Duluth students and children of those with Jewish and Palestinian heritage. Many said they didn’t support tax dollars going to support the war and didn’t want America associated with the killing of civilians on either side. Some said they were just calling for peace, or recalled past council decisions that took a stand on non-city issues, such as the war in Iraq.
Lyla Abukhodair, a second-generation immigrant who is opening a Palestinian restaurant in Duluth, said Islamophobia prevents her family overseas from obtaining visas to visit Duluth, thereby missing weddings, graduations and holidays. Her family in Duluth has endured racists comments because of its last name, she said.
“I stand before you as a lifelong Duluth resident, a Palestinian lifelong Duluth resident. There are many more of us who share this heritage with me in Duluth. Many people who may relate to our struggle for freedom with their own beautiful, unique story in which so many want to erase,” she said. “Is that local enough?”
Minneapolis, St. Paul, Moorhead and Hastings have passed such resolutions, intended to carry a message to state and federal leaders.
Mohamed Omar is the new board chair of Hennepin Healthcare System, the organization that runs HCMC, making him Minnesota’s first Somali American hospital board leader.
The health care system board permanently appointed Omar to the position Wednesday at their regular meeting. He had served as interim chair since Babette Apland stepped down in September.
Omar has been on the volunteer board for three years, working on the finance, investment, audit and compliance committees. He is the chief administrative officer at the Washburn Center for Children and previously was chief financial officer at the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund.
In a statement, Omar said he was excited to lead a hospital board in the state with the largest Somali American population in the U.S. He said he shared the health system’s dedication to providing “equitable, high-quality care.”
“My commitment is to deepen our community engagement, build more authentic connections between patients and team members, and build a confident future together,” Omar’s statement said.
CEO Jennifer DeCubellis and Nneka Sederstrom, chief health equity officer, praised Omar’s selection to lead the board. They said more inclusive leadership with a commitment to ending health disparities are key to HCMC’s success.
Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando, who is also on health system board, said she was excited to work with Omar. She said county leaders are dedicated to good stewardship of the “state’s last public safety-net hospital.”
“As the first Hennepin County Board Chair of color, I know how impactful it is for our communities to see themselves represented in public leadership,” Fernando said.
DULUTH – The Superior National Forest has lifted its forestwide campfire ban, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, effective Friday.
Recent rain and humidity have improved conditions across the national forest’s 3 million acres, forest officials said in a news release.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has also lifted fire restrictions in Cook, Koochiching, Lake and northern St. Louis counties.
Fire danger is still a concern this time of year, said Karen Harrison, DNR wildfire prevention specialist.
“As leaves fall and vegetation continues to dry out, it’s important for people to be cautious with anything that can cause a spark,” she said.
The national forest imposed its broad campfire ban nearly two weeks ago, after a third wildfire, named for Bogus Lake, was discovered on forest land. No significant fire activity has been reported in recent days for any of those three fires. A fourth fire inside the forest, the 8.5-acre Pfeiffer Lake Fire, started Oct. 17. It was contained within 24 hours, the Forest Service said.
Much of northeast Minnesota is still classified in the “severe drought” stage by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris was asked this week if she thought Donald Trump was a fascist, and she replied ‘’Yes, I do.’’ She subsequently called him the same thing herself, saying voters don’t want ‘’a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.’’
But what exactly is a fascist? And does the meaning of the word shift when viewed through a historical or political prism — especially so close to the end of a fraught presidential race?
An authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is often associated with the far right and characterized by a dictatorial leader who uses military forces to help suppress political and civil opposition.
History’s two most famous fascists were Nazi chief Adolf Hitler in Germany and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Known as Il Duce, or ”the duke,” Mussolini headed the National Fascist Party, which was symbolized by an eagle clutching a fasces — a bundle of rods with an axe among them.
At Mussolini’s urging, in October 1922, thousands of ”Blackshirts,” or ”squadristi,” made up an armed fascist militia that marched on Rome, vowing to seize power. Hitler’s Nazis similarly relied on a militia, known as the ”Brownshirts.” Both men eventually imposed single-party rule and encouraged violence in the streets. They used soldiers, but also fomented civilian unrest that pit loyalists against political opponents and larger swaths of everyday society.
Hitler and Mussolini censored the press and issued sophisticated propaganda. They played up racist fears and manipulated not just their active supporters but everyday citizens.
