Boulder Reporting Lab: Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Boulder City Council has been besieged by people demanding that the council take a position on the conflict in Gaza. 

Those demanding action on Gaza often participate in the “open comment” session at the beginning of each regular city council meeting, where speakers can take two minutes to tell council what’s on their minds. Open comment is meant to be a forum for a diversity of views. But over the last 18 months, speakers with an opinion on Gaza have dominated open comment, vigorously and repeatedly insisting that city council pass a resolution on the conflict in the Middle East.  

In response, on Feb. 15, 2024, city council voted to refrain from taking a position on the Israel-Hamas conflict. With that decision, they wisely followed a decades-old rule that prohibits council from weighing in on an international matter unless it directly affects the city. 

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