The central committee of the Colorado Democratic Party on Monday night rejected a resolution on the Israel-Hamas war that called “for a return of hostages, a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and (an) initiation of negotiations for a lasting peace.”
Fifty-five percent of the more than 250 members of the committee who participated voted against the resolution. Just over 40% supported it, with 4.5% abstaining.
The proposed resolution condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel, which killed roughly 1,200 people, as well as what it characterized as the “disproportionate military response by Israel” that’s killed more than 35,000 Palestinians and wounded tens of thousands more. It also condemned the settlements and settler violence that have escalated against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The state Democrats’ rejection reflected a broader reluctance to weigh in on the conflict, even symbolically, among several city councils in left-leaning cities this year. The Denver City Council rejected a cease-fire proclamation in February, Boulder’s council decided not to consider a resolution the same month, and Longmont’s council did the same in May. But the Glenwood Springs City Council approved a cease-fire resolution unanimously in February.
The Democratic central committee’s vote on its resolution, which had received preliminary support from another party committee last month, came after brief speeches from 10 supporters and 10 opponents. Supporters said the resolution was a balanced response that sought peace for Israelis and Palestinians while calling out both Hamas’ attack and Israeli’s subsequent military campaign.
“There’s a lot of horror going on,” said Jeri Shepherd, the resolution’s proponent. “We can send a clear message to our voters, to our base and to the president that we need to find another way.”
Opponents criticized the resolution as divisive, unhelpful and misguided. Critics included University of Colorado Regents Ilana Dubin Spiegel and Callie Rennison. Pro-Palestinian protesters had demonstrated outside of both regents’ homes in recent weeks.
“I think we can all agree that the amount of suffering in the world is unbearable and unjust,” said Dubin Spiegel, who is Jewish and accused the protesters who came to her house of antisemitism. “Unfortunately, instead of focusing on coming together to grieve and work through our intense emotions and opinions, this resolution creates division.”
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The vote followed a surge of lobbying that had urged committee members to reject the resolution, including from the pro-Israel group Stand With Us Colorado. In an email viewed by The Denver Post, the group called the resolution “unproductive and divisive” and accused it of bias against Israel.
In a statement Monday night, Stop Antisemitism Colorado celebrated the resolution’s defeat and called the document “dangerous.” The group’s co-founder, Dawn Reinfeld, wrote that the group was “outraged (that) party leaders would even consider running a resolution when antisemitism is skyrocketing.”
State Rep. Iman Jodeh, of Aurora, accused opponents of spreading misinformation about the resolution. In a statement Tuesday morning, she said she was disappointed in her fellow Democrats and had hoped they would adhere to “the values that define us as Democrats, that we believe in human rights for all, without prejudice.”
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