OAKLAND — As Israel’s devastating assault in Gaza remained on a temporary pause, Oakland on Monday became the second Bay Area city to signal support for Palestinians by calling for a ceasefire to violence in the region, where thousands of civilians have been killed.
In a unanimous vote, the City Council approved a statement that demands an immediate ceasefire, the “release of all hostages” and the “restoration of food, water, electricity, and medical supplies” that have been throttled by Israel during the country’s prolonged retaliation to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
“I want Jewish children to live as much as I want Palestinian children to live, but we’ve got to acknowledge the imbalance and disproportionate death on one side — we’ve got to,” Councilmember Carroll Fife, the resolution’s author, said of the call for peace.
Hundreds of pro-Palestine attendees Monday celebrated the resolution’s passage, a rare show of support by a Bay Area city after Richmond last month became the first in the country to formally oppose the mass killing of Gaza’s civilians.
But during an emotional and often contentious meeting, the council also faced intense criticism from the city’s pro-Israel residents, because the resolution does not mention Hamas, the militant organization designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and other countries.
“Gaza is in a dire humanitarian crisis that is getting worse with each passing day, with the only remaining hospitals running out of fuel and medical supplies, and over 1.5 million Palestinians facing displacement, homelessness, and starvation,” the statement reads.
The resolution urges federal leaders, including President Joe Biden, to “use their position and influence” to help end violence in the region, a stance that Fife described as “moderate” and “mild” in its provocations given that it withholds more direct criticism of Israel.
It was authored days before Israel and Hamas struck a temporary truce deal that this week allowed each military to return its hostages and prisoners to their families — a short-term ceasefire that the two sides on Monday agreed to extend for at least two more days.
The death toll of Palestinians is now believed to be close to 15,000, or at least significantly more than the last official count — around 11,000 — recorded before officials in Gaza said the healthcare system had collapsed beyond being able to keep track.
Oakland’s institutions, including its school board, had felt pressure for weeks to back a ceasefire statement, while a prolonged sit-in for peace at the city’s federal building earlier this month led to hundreds of arrests.
In Berkeley, meanwhile, a City Council meeting descended into chaos and an early adjournment amid a pro-Palestine protest in the chamber.
Not until the past week did major U.S. cities — such as Detroit, Atlanta and Seattle — formally call for a ceasefire. Few cities in the country have followed Richmond in declaring outright support for Palestine.
Part of the political hesitance stems from the latest spate of violence in the region having been sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which killed 1,400 Israelis, many of them civilians, and resulted in the capture of 239 hostages.
The hundreds of pro-Palestinian advocates gathered Monday in Oakland had no patience for mentions of Hamas, which the broader anti-Zionist movement often characterizes as a distraction from Israel’s ongoing occupation and control of the stateless Palestinian territory.
“Hamas is the justification that Israel uses to commit genocide,” said Sallah Albakri, an Oakland resident at Monday’s meeting whose extended family members in Gaza have fled Israeli airstrikes. “Condemning Hamas without also condemning the apartheid state of Israel is basically encouraging genocide.”
Councilmember Dan Kalb unsuccessfully tried to amend the city’s resolution so that it contained more direct condemnations of the Oct. 7 attack, including a particularly polarizing line that blamed Hamas — and not Israel — for “repression and violence” against Palestinians.
“It’s so true!” Kalb said to ensuing boos and jeers directed toward him by the largely pro-Palestinian crowd. “Acknowledging the murderous attacks by Hamas is not contrary to supporting a ceasefire.”
Kalb’s proposed changes were shot down in a 2-6 vote, with his only ally, Councilmember Treva Reid, saying later she mostly wanted to “support my fellow colleague.”
Nikki Fortunato Bas, the council president, said that if the resolution went out of its way to name Hamas, “then we also would have to entertain the fact that this conflict did not start on October 7,” alluding to Israel’s history of humanitarian offenses in the occupied West Bank.
Across more than 200 public comments, pro-Palestinian attendees at Monday’s council meeting made it a point to call for a “permanent” ceasefire, given the ongoing temporary one, and to approve the resolution “without amendments” — the latter bit a pointed rebuke to pro-Israel speakers.
“There can be no lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians if Hamas remains in power,” said Jonathan, an Oakland resident who said many Jewish residents had not attended Monday’s meeting out of fear for their safety. He didn’t provide a last name to the council.
Other speakers told the Oakland council to focus on local matters and leave political stances toward Israel to the White House, where Biden has echoed Democratic Party leaders in opposing a ceasefire and focusing instead on the military removal of Hamas.
But many other Jewish speakers passionately supported the freedom and rights of Palestinians, likening Israel’s ongoing assault — and decades-long control — of the region to genocide, helped along by longstanding military and financial support provided by the U.S.
“I grew up in a family where we wondered how good Germans could look the other way during the Holocaust,” said Michael Goldstein, an Oakland resident. “This government is not only complicit but actually enabling Israel’s long-term policies.”