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Members of the township’s Muslim community once again on May 14 asked the Township Council for a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Hamas-Israeli war, and once again left disappointed.

This was the second time since hostilities broke out late last year that such a resolution has been called for, although far more proponents showed up at the May 14 meeting than were there at the first attempt in November, 2023.

There were more of those supporters for a resolution speaking at the May meeting, ranging in age from an 8-year-old to high school students to adults.

Still, after more than 40 minutes of sometimes impassioned speeches, the same answer came from the Council – two of whose members are Muslim – and Mayor: We need to “stay in our lane.”

“I am moved by what you say, and I don’t disagree with most of what you said,” Mayor Phil Kramer said. “I respect you for being here, and I admire you for the courage for wearing your keffiyeh and hijabs.”

“I take it as something that is sometime painful to do, and it’s painful this time, to stay in my lane,” said the Mayor, who told the crowd that he is “an American, a Jew and a Zionist.”

Among those who spoke about the personal affect the Hamas-Israeli war has had on them was Board of Education vice-president and Planning Board member Sami Shaban. Shaban said that 35 members of his family in Gaza were killed in the hostilities.

Shaban, who also serves on the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Scholarship Foundation and co-founded the Franklin Food Insecurity and Safety Coalition, said the reason he is so active in the township is because “I believe that in Franklin, we are different. I believe that what drives me to keep working for all these organizations that I work for is because we are different. We set precedents here, we don’t follow other people. We should have been the first ones to call for this, not one of the last ones. We still have a chance to be amongst those that are calling for it.”

“Let’s not be mistaken that what’s going on over there does not have impact over here,” he said.

“By us staying silent, we are basically saying, that’s OK,” Shaban said. “There’s no problem here. Business as usual, we have precedents to uphold.”

“I want all my black and brown brothers and sisters on this panel to see yourself through our eyes,” he said. “You’ve suffered in the same way we have. You’ve suffered the same annihilation of your people. You’ve been told you’re not human.”

“It was people standing up that made change happen,” he said.

Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., Shaban said, “it is not the words of our enemies that we will remember, but the silence of our friends.”

Noting that some residents have erected signs calling for the return of Israeli and other hostages held by Hamas, one woman said, “(T)hey don’t realize that we, too, want the hostages returned. We want the Israeli men and women and children who are held hostage in Gaza to go home, we want the Palestinian men, women, and children who are held hostage in Israel to go home. We want a diplomatic end to this conflict, not more bullets and bombs and blockades and starvation. That doesn’t make anyone safer.”

A high school freshman called on the Council to “recognize the suffering of Franklin residents, and your constituents, who are deeply affected by the death of innocent women and children, which is in large part funded by our government.”

“We call on you to recognize this moment of great difficulty and call for justice,” she said. “A call to stop this humanitarian catastrophe … demonstrates an awareness that can unite Franklin neighbors.”

A man who said he is a 20-year township resident told the Council that “The mental and emotional toll has been unprecedented, leaving many of us hurting.”

“Our conscience compels us to take action,” he said. “For the sake of humanity and to align ourselves with the right side of history, I implore each of our elected officials to call for an immediate end to this atrocity.”

Another resident, who said he’s called Franklin home for 32 years, said, “The war is leaving a mark on all of us, including our kids. When they see kids dying in horrible conditions, losing their parents, they don’t know how to react.”

The Rev. Sonya Redd, president of the Franklin Township Interfaith Coalition, told the Council that sitting back in silence “is just not moral.”

“I think we have to do something in this township to heal the divide that seems to creeping in because of the events around the world,” she said. “We have to do whatever it takes to bring about unity in this community and stand as a shining example. I’m hoping that this Council will have the courage to call for peace, encourage our political leaders to strive for peace.”

Kramer said he doubted the action taken by a town council would have any effect on the world stage.

“The world doesn’t care what a mayor in New Jersey is saying,” he said. “It is not my lane. When we have something about warehouses, taxes, water, road paving, I have experts around the building advising me. I don’t have an expert advising me on world affairs. I don’t know world affairs, and I don’t think it is in my lane.”

Kramer said he also thought such a resolution would be divisive in the community.

“People will disagree, people will be angry about this,” he said. “I don’t know that I would be doing good for the town by calling for a cease fire. I don’t think it would be appropriate for the Council to do that.”

Councilman Alex Kharazi (D-At Large), who is Muslim, said he wants to see an end to the war.

“I pray every day that the war in Gaza will end, and Palestinians and Israelis live in peace next to each other or together,” he said.

“I think it’s time for us to come out of our comfort zone, share our emotion with each other, see the pain that war overseas is causing in our community,” he said. “We’re not going to be having a policy that dictates what happens there, but whatever we say in the Council is basically to help our local community to be united, to heal the wounds and be together.”

Councilwoman Shepa Uddin (D-Ward 2), the Council’s other Muslim member, was visibly shaken by the comments made by the public.

“Stopping the violence is definitely in our heart,” she said. “It breaks my heart to see that there are family members in Franklin that … it just breaks my heart.)

“We do not want to see our residents divided,” she said. “We are stronger together. I really appreciate everyone who’s come out here today … we have to heal.”

“I stand with peace and peace-loving people everywhere,” Councilman Ram Anbarasan (D-At Large) said. “There’s no easy answer to these conflicts. I hear you, I’m with you. Stay tuned, we will try to address your concerns.”

Councilman James Vassanella (D-Ward 5) suggested a town forum to “have an open discussion of how we got to this unfortunate place … these crises that are getting worse every day. Let’s try to understand how we can get along better every day.”

“Maybe as a community we can set an example here by having a dialogue … and I think we have the energy here to do that in a peaceful way,” he said.

Councilwoman Kimberly Francois (D-At Large) said that “Everything that is going on in the world has been affecting me mentally as well. I just want to be able to say that I pray for peace, and I pray for unity, everywhere.”