Politics & Government
Bay Area City Is First In U.S. To Officially Back Palestinians
The city also accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" supported by military aid by the U.S. government.
RICHMOND, CA — The Richmond City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution supporting Palestinian people living in the Gaza Strip after a fractious meeting that lasted well into the night.
With a 5-1 vote, the council passed the "Resolution Affirming Richmond's Support and Solidarity with the Palestinian People of Gaza," which was put on the agenda by Mayor Eduardo Martinez and Vice Mayor Gayle McLaughlin.
Councilmember Cesar Zepeda was the sole dissenting vote.
Find out what's happening in Berkeleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The resolution says Palestinians are "facing a campaign of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment by the state of Israel" and "the state of Israel would not be able to maintain an apartheid regime without enormous military aid provided by the United States every year," among other things.
The resolution drew praise from the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Bay Area chapter and condemnation from the Jewish Community Relations Council, both of which sent out press releases Wednesday.
Find out what's happening in Berkeleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"This resolution signifies a step forward in acknowledging the suffering of the Palestinian people and the urgent need for change," said Musa Tariq, CAIR-SFBA policy coordinator. "We hope that this resolution serves as an inspiration to other communities to address and raise their voices against the injustices occurring in Palestine and around the world."
The JCRC said the meeting descended into chaos and confusion and was marked by a lack of decorum.
"Hamas had a great night in Richmond, with five hours of chaos and unrelenting repulsive speech against Israel and Jews. The council demonstrated profound ignorance and incompetence," said JCRC Bay Area CEO Tyler Gregory. "Richmond could not bring itself to condemn mass murder against Jewish civilians and is not a safe place for Jews. There will be consequences for this taxpayer-funded circus."
The resolution is in response to the war between Israel and Hamas, which attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people and taking hundreds of hostages, prompting deadly airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
