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Seven protesters were escorted out of the office of Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne on Tuesday. They staged a sit-in action to demand Ronayne decline to renew the County's investment in Israel Bonds on March 1st. The protesters also demanded that the County Executive schedule a meeting with representatives of the Cleveland Palestine Advocacy Community (CPAC) before the reinvestment deadline of March 1st.
Members of the Cleveland Palestine Advocacy community, a coalition of over 10 organizations championing Palestinian rights in Northeast Ohio, have been asking for a meeting with Ronayne for a year. Ronayne has refused to meet with them.
The protesters were seated arm-in-arm for over 30 minutes waiting for County Executive Ronayne who never showed up.
As they were escorted from the room the protesters chanted, "Divest, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.
Members of CPAC have been giving public comment in opposition to Cuyahoga County's unconditional and unrestricted investment of $16 million in Israel Bonds since April 2024. According to section 5 of the county charter, the county executive has final say in all investments. Ronayne has rarely attended public comment since protestors began speaking in April 2024.
One protestor wrote in a statement “I am here on behalf of all those martyred in Palestine by US munitions and chemical weapons. I am here on behalf of my Palestinian comrades and friends. I am here on behalf of former work colleagues Abdalsalaam Halawa and Saleem Summour, their young children, and their families. I am here on behalf of Jenin and the West Bank. I am here to demand an end to Cuyahoga County’s funding of genocide.”
CPAC member Andrea Doe, when asked about Chris Ronayne’s refusal to meet with Palestinian community members and the counties investment in Israel Bonds, said the following;
“Ronayne will meet with the Jewish Federation all day long. But he'll evade us during public comment and in public spaces. He won't respond to calls and emails from constituents asking for a simple meeting. He leaves his council members out to dry while we ask for simple answers and explain a genocide in any way we possibly can. Put our trauma on full display to a panel of blank stares and inattention. It's racism…I'm done being told that the bare minimum of an elected representative's role is still too much to ask. Chris Ronayne needs to meet with his constituents, and he needs to divest from Israel Bonds.”
The deadline to reinvest $3M of the County's $16M total invested in Israel Bonds is March 1st.
