Jade Esteban Estrada
District 8 City Councilman Manny Pelaez pulled his signature from a memo calling for a special meeting to consider a Gaza cease fire resolution.
Pelaez in December joined District 2's Jalen McKee Rodriguez and District 5’s Teri Castillo in signing a memo that called for a special meeting to discuss passing a ceasefire resolution. The memo came following months of protests at City Hall and in Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s neighborhood, and a vote was scheduled for Jan. 11.
However, council postponed the Jan. 11 special meeting after Pelaez — a likely 2025 mayoral candidate— said he needed more time to consider the resolution. Then, in an email to Nirenberg this Tuesday, the councilman pulled his signature from the memo, leaving the resolution vote in limbo.
“For reasons that are too numerous to list, I believe that submitting this resolution to a vote that will certainly lose will do more harm than good to the people we all serve,” Pelaez wrote in the letter. “Please know that this was a difficult decision that I have made in the interest of keeping open the doors of important interfaith and intercultural dialogue.”
Three sitting council members must sign a memo to call a special meeting. City Manager Erik Walsh was unavailable for immediate comment on what’s next for a potential ceasefire vote.
McKee-Rodriguez was quick to rebuke Pelaez’s flip-flop on the issue.
“This is one of the weakest moves I’ve ever seen from any councilmember ever,” McKee-Rodriguez tweeted on Tuesday. “If you’re gonna do something stand on it. You had months of testimony, months to consider a special session, YOU volunteered your signature, but got scared of criticism.”
McKee-Rodriguez added: “Anyone but Manny for Mayor.”
In a statement to the Current, the Party of Socialism and Liberation, which helped organize pro-Palestine protests around San Antonio in recent months, said both Pelaez and Nirenberg should refrain from participating on Martin Luther King Day celebrations "as they violate that legacy by standing on the side of genocide, Israeli apartheid and anti-Palestinian racism."This is one of the weakest moves I’ve ever seen from any councilmember ever.
— Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez 🇵🇸 (@theloserteacher) January 10, 2024
If you’re gonna do something stand on it. You had months of testimony, months to consider a special session, YOU volunteered your signature, but got scared of criticism.
Anyone but Manny for Mayor. 😘 https://t.co/FHb3JCJxG0
Pelaez responded to the intense criticism, arguing in a statement to the Current that he rescinded his signature after local religious leaders expressed fears that violence could follow a resolution vote.
"My sole purpose was always to unite, heal and strengthen our city around a single statement of universal human values," Pelaez said. "Instead, this resolution has inspired too many local families of different faiths and backgrounds to express very real fear of property destruction of their temples, homes, and businesses, as well as fearing violence at the hands of people who aim to hurt them because of their national origin or religion. A non-binding resolution must not come at the cost of my constituents' safety and peace of mind."
In a scathing statement posted on X, grassroots group San Antonio for Justice in Palestine said its members will continue to hold protests in light of the councilman's decision.
"We ask those in San Antonio who have organized with us to remember this moment and remember the anger you feel at the cowardice on display," SAJP tweeted. "With that clarity, let's continue to strategize and act in solidarity because we believe that none of us are free until all of us are free."
We hope you are angry with us that our city fails to understand this. Use that anger to fight harder for Palestine. Please share and stay posted for actions. #gaza #CeasefireNOW 🇵🇸 (7/7) pic.twitter.com/hFLvSgVc26
— San Antonio for Justice in Palestine (@SAJP1948) January 10, 2024
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