The horror in Israel and Gaza needs to end

Updated August 22, 2025

The devastation and suffering is unimaginable.

And our community is having a collective traumatic experience:

• Palestinians.

• Jews.

• Muslims.

• People with family and loved ones in the region.

• Neighbors who feel shared humanity.

• Residents who can’t look at their television or feed without seeing it.

• People whose identities are a target of hate and abuse, and are being treated even worse now.

• People with all different hopes and dreams caught in the horror of this conflict against their will.

I am saddened and grieving, especially for Palestinians and Jews who have lost their lives and had their lives shattered.

And I know a lot of people are asking the city to intervene because they feel the federal government has turned its back and is working against people who are oppressed and living at the margins.

And they are left with a deep ache of injustice.

Community members are coming to council in desperation.

This weighs heavy on me.

The situation in Gaza is untenable and unacceptable and it needs to be resolved.

It has gone on for too long.

It needs to deescalate.

It needs to end.

I am wishing for a speedy resolution that parties can accept.

And I hope our congressional representatives and other federal officials will do everything to support that outcome.

Note: These are my remarks from the Boulder city council meeting on August 21, 2025 addressing whether to proceed with further consideration of deselecting financial investments from two companies associated with the conflict. I additionally said I don’t think doing so is the right approach, but I am in favor of broadly updating our investments framework, last revised in 2017, in a way that is comprehensive and global. Here is a recording.