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Yes, I want to support your work!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oakland has become the first city in Alameda County to call on Congress to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, following weeks of protests<\/a> and acts of civil disobedience<\/a> that have ratcheted up pressure on local officials to take a stand on the Middle East crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Oakland City Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday night calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which has been under assault by Israeli forces for nearly two months following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The resolution, which was introduced by Councilmember Carroll Fife<\/a>, also demands the release of all hostages, unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the restoration of critical infrastructure, as well as respect for international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The resolution condemns a spike in antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks in Oakland and across the country. Fife said she chose language to depoliticize the crisis and focus on peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are not calling for the end of people\u2019s lives,\u201d Fife said. \u201cWe say specifically we want to end antisemitism and Islamophobia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hundreds of people poured into City Hall to speak at the special meeting, which was convened specifically for Fife\u2019s resolution. The vast majority of the roughly 200 public commenters supported the resolution. Of the 1,284 comments filed online, 86% supported the resolution, according to the City Clerk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A small number of Israel supporters who spoke during the public comment period asked the council to include language in the resolution that condemned and called for the removal of Hamas, which killed 1,200 people during its attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere will be no Palestinian Israeli peace with (Hamas) in power,\u201d said Tye Gregory, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council, a San Francisco-based Jewish led organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am deeply saddened, disappointed, and horrified that you would consider a resolution without condemning Hamas, given what has gone on,\u201d said a District 2 resident who identified herself as Juliette. \u201cI urge you, if you want a resolution supporting peace, to include an amendment to condemn Hamas, otherwise this is not a resolution promoting peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scores of speakers urged the council to not accept any amendments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHamas is the justification that Israel uses to commit genocide. Eliminating Hamas without condemning the apartheid state of Israel is basically encouraging genocide,\u201d said District 5 resident Salah Albakri, who added that several members of his extended family in Gaza were forced to flee their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another speaker said they lost eight members of their family in the last two months due to the Israeli military\u2019s bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza. Israel\u2019s bombing campaign and ground invasion has displaced approximately 1.6 million people<\/a>\u2014over 75% of Gaza\u2019s population\u2014and killed approximately 14,000 people<\/a> in Gaza, according to local authorities. UNICEF has reported that roughly one-third of the dead are children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of the people attending Monday\u2019s council meeting also called for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, which the resolution does not explicitly address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dozens of Jewish speakers<\/a> expressed solidarity with Palestinians and objected to Israel\u2019s ongoing military campaign in the Gaza strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to support this resolution for a ceasefire, which neither condemns Israel nor Hamas, but calls for a ceasefire as a first step toward life,\u201d said Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb. \u201cThis is what is important: that we step toward life and away from the culture of war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were several heated moments during the meeting between supporters and opponents of the ceasefire resolution. Several speakers claimed people pushing for language condemning Hamas were promoting \u201cIsraeli propaganda.\u201d Some people referenced Islamophobic attacks in the U.S., including the recent shooting of three Palestinian students<\/a> in Vermont and the murder of six-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume<\/a> in Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There has also been an uptick in antisemitic incidents<\/a> across the U.S., and some speakers at Monday\u2019s meeting said the resolution made them feel less safe. One woman claimed there has been a rise in antisemitic incidents in Oakland, including graffiti targeting Jews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Councilmember Dan Kalb, who has criticized other local ceasefire resolutions<\/a>, said he could support Fife\u2019s resolution because it does not delegitimize the state of Israel. He also thanked Fife for not using \u201chot button\u201d or \u201cdivisive\u201d language, and agreed that humanitarian aid is urgently needed for Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kalb shared that he visited Israel in March and toured a kibbutz near Gaza to learn about water management practices. He said that approximately 50 residents from this kibbutz were killed by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the meeting, Kalb tried to introduce amendments that condemned domestic and international terrorist organizations, acknowledged Israelis and Palestinians as victims of Hamas, and explicitly described Hamas\u2019 role in the Oct. 7 attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDownplaying, or worse yet, rationalizing the Oct. 7 mass murder by Hamas as legitimate resistance is sad, ridiculous, and antithetical to promoting peace,\u201d Kalb said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This caused an uproar among some members of the public who were opposed to these sorts of changes to the resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bas said she respects Kalb but objected to his amendments, saying the roots of the conflict go back \u201chundreds\u201d of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do have to say that if we\u2019re going to entertain putting those facts you mentioned into this resolution, that I do not support, we would also have to entertain the fact that this conflict did not start on Oct. 7,\u201d Bas said, prompting cheers from some attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kalb\u2019s motion to amend the resolution failed in a 6-2 vote, with only District 7 Councilmember Treva Reid joining him. Reid said she supported the original resolution but wouldn\u2019t let Kalb \u201cstand alone in this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Richmond, Oakland is the second city in the Bay Area to approve a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel agreed to a temporary pause in the fighting over the weekend after Hamas agreed to release at least 50 women and children<\/a> who are currently held hostage in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners. The pause was extended for at least two more days on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Activists are continuing to put pressure on other local governments in the Bay Area to pass ceasefire resolutions. Protesters\u00a0disrupted a Berkeley City Council meeting<\/a>\u00a0last week to demand that members pass a ceasefire resolution.\u00a0Berkeley\u2019s Rent Stabilization Board Chair Leah Simon-Weisberg<\/a>\u00a0called for a ceasefire last week, making her the first elected official in Berkeley to do so.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n eli@oaklandside.org<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eli Wolfe reports on City Hall for The Oaklandside. He was previously a senior reporter for San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight, where he had a beat covering Santa Clara County\u2019s government and transportation. He also worked as an investigative reporter for the Pasadena-based newsroom FairWarning, where he covered labor, consumer protection and transportation issues. He started his journalism career as a freelancer based out of Berkeley. Eli\u2019s stories have appeared in The Atlantic, NBCNews.com, Salon, the San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere. Eli graduated from UC Santa Cruz and grew up in San Francisco.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hundreds of speakers weighed in on the hotly debated council resolution during nearly five hours of comments Monday night. by\u00a0Eli Wolfe Nov. 28, 2023, 11:07 a.m. (Oaklandside.org) The Oaklandside is committed to telling stories about what\u2019s beautiful in Oakland \u2014 stories of joy and celebration, neighbors helping neighbors, and legacies… Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/oaklandside.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/large-Oakland-City-Council-Cease-fire-Vote-2.jpg\")
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ELI WOLFE<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n