indigenous woman Mazatl Cihuatl rallies pro-Palestine supporters during San Antonio City Council’s public comment session on Wednesday. Credit: Michael Karlis

San Antonio City Council’s Thursday morning meeting descended into chaos after pro-Palestine protesters unleashed loud chants in the chamber, according to social media reports from the Texas Public Radio’s Joey Palacios and San Antonio Report’s Andrea Drusch.

District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur, who has publicly vocalized support for the Palestinian cause on social media, invited Rabbi Mara Nathan of Temple Beth-El and Waheeda Kara of Muslim house of worship Ismaili Jamantkartha to offer invocations before Thursday’s meeting, Drusch posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

However, the invocations were swiftly followed by an “eruption of protests from pro-Palestine protesters,” Drusch reported.

In a video shared by TPR reporter Palacios on X, protesters are seen holding signs and chanting, “Free, free, free Palestine.”

As of press time, council had moved into executive session, presumably closing out its public business for the day.

The shutdown of council’s A Session followed a rowdy public comment session Wednesday. That well-attended session revolved around District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez’s decision to withdraw his signature from a memo calling for a special meeting to debate a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“Are you so easily bought?” pro-Palestine advocate Rene Martinez asked council on Wednesday. “Does your integrity stretch only as far as the nearest opportunity to grab donor dollars? Do you not stand for anything besides ensuring your potential future occupation? Choosing neutrality in the face of genocide is fighting with and enabling the oppressor. Shame on all of you.”

The criticism comes after Pelaez — a likely 2025 mayoral candidate — along with District 2’s Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 5’s Teri Castillo, signed a memo in December calling for a special meeting to discuss a one-sentence resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The meeting was initially scheduled for Jan. 11 but was postponed until February. Then, on Tuesday, Pelaez withdrew his signature altogether, canceling the vote.

Pelaez didn’t attend Wednesday’s public comment session or Thursday’s A session. His chief of staff, Patricia Wallace, told the Current the councilman is “out of town” until Friday.

At one point during council’s Wednesday public comment session, Mazatl Cihuatl and two of her colleagues — all members of an indigenous medical team in San Antonio — gave a presentation equating the struggles of the Palestinian people in Gaza to the near annihilation of Native Americans.

“We are not going to try to appeal to your sense of compassion,” Cihuatl told council. “We are not going to try to educate or reason with you. We understand very well that you are preserving your political relationships and the benefits that you receive from such relationships.”

Cihuatl continued: “We’re not going to try to change your ideologies. There is no time for that. So, instead, we will be absolute thorns in your sides, making your lives incredibly inconvenient. And we’ll do that until you all agree to the ceasefire resolution.”

At the conclusion of the speech, Cihuatl and her two team members turned to the crowd and began chanting “Free, Free Palestine.” Others in the packed rose and chanted along. One woman then approached the dias and began waving a Palestinian flag as an apparently stunned Mayor Ron Nirenberg watched.

Pro-Palestine protesters hold signs and chant slogans during City Council’s public comment session on Wednesday. Credit: Michael Karlis

San Antonio for Justice Palestine core member Sara Masoud told the Current Wednesday that the grassroots organization will continue to make the lives of the council uncomfortable following Pelaez’s decision to pull the plug on the vote.

Nirenberg, Pealez and City Manager Erik Walsh held a meeting Tuesday morning with pro-Palestine, pro-Israel, Muslim and Jewish factions, according to Masoud, who was in attendance. During the meeting, Pelaez argued that a vote on the resolution might have negative consequences, but he didn’t reveal that he planned to withdraw his signature from the ceasefire memo.

“[Pelaez] said that opening this up to a vote would bring a rise in white supremacy,” Masoud said. “I have no idea where he gets that claim from; to us, it’s completely unfounded. We’re already experiencing hatred from white supremacists without a call for a ceasefire.”

Masoud said she’s frustrated that Pelaez didn’t tell the group to their face that he’d changed his mind on the resolution.

SAJP and other groups aren’t giving up hope on a vote, however. Masoud said she and others are working to set up a meeting with District 1’s Kaur to discuss her willingness to sign the memo.

Kaur’s office was unavailable for immediate comment on whether the first-term councilwoman plans to sign on — a move that would provide enough signatures to resurrect the vote.

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This article appears in Jan 10-23, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...