Hilliard City Council President Cynthia Vermillion resigned her seat after the council faced criticism from Jewish groups for passing a resolution calling for peace in the Middle East on the first day of Passover.
Vermillion was one of four council members out of 7 total members who voted in favor of the resolution. Vermillion said Tuesday she thinks the division caused by the resolution was becoming a distraction.
"In the aftermath of the peace resolution that Hilliard City Council passed on April 22nd, there have been continued distractions during council meetings and within the community," Vermillion said. "I am concerned these distractions will have a negative impact on the city administration and staff in their day-to-day work to ensure Hilliard continues to be a shining community in Central Ohio."
Vermillion is not stepping down from city council and said she will serve the remainder of her four-year term. Tina Cottone is now the new president.
"As a council member, I will continue to work hard on behalf of the city and its residents and to accomplish many great things for Hilliard," Vermillion said.
WOSU reached out to Vermillion but she declined to comment further.
Vermillion and the city faced backlash from Jewish groups after passing the resolution but faced dual pressure from pro-Palestinian groups to call for a ceasefire. The April resolution also said the council stands against "anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian and anti-Israeli bigotry."
Justin Shaw with the the Jewish Community Relations Council of Columbus, said his group criticized the resolution because of its timing, not because of its message. Shaw told WOSU he hopes the council and city staff will try to do training to learn more about Jewish culture to avoid something like this in the future.
"Our organization. We are pro-peace. We hate to see human suffering. It is truly awful what is happening over there. And, you know, we want to see the end to hostilities just as much as anyone else. But the reality is that the local city councils, they're not going to push the needle on this," Shaw said.
Mazen Rasoul, a Columbus attorney, spoke at the meeting Tuesday after Vermillion resigned. Rasoul is helping represent the dozens of protestors arrested at demonstrations on Ohio State University's campus last month.
Rasoul said he is still optimistic despite the council pushing Vermillion out of her leadership role.
"I'm an optimist because despite council members explicit efforts to make us go away, to make us shut up, we are here to stay. We are not going anywhere, and our community and movement is becoming more organized, more diverse, stronger, bigger and louder," Rasoul said.
