San Francisco supervisor to introduce resolution calling for Gaza cease-fire
SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco Supervisor confirmed he will introduce a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza during Tuesday's Board of Supervisor's meeting.
It comes just one week after Oakland city council approved a similar resolution, and it's expected to bring just as much if not more reaction from the public.
"We're thrilled that it's happening. It's frankly overdue, and I mean, it's been an absolute horror for basically everyone I know to have been watching what's been happening for the past two months," said Samer Araabi with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center
Samer Araabi, with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, said he's happy to see San Francisco officials taking up the discussion of a resolution calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
"We're talking about 20,000 people dead now and over 6,000 or 7,000 of them children. There's absolutely no justification for something like that. It's a moral stain on the collective conscious of everybody so everything we can do to make that end sooner I think is a victory for humankind in general," said Araabi.
Supervisor Dean Preston authored the resolution.
In a draft copy sent to KPIX, the resolution calls for "a sustained ceasefire in Gaza, humanitarian aid, release of hostages, and condemning antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic rhetoric and attacks."
But not everyone is supportive of the resolution. Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said resolutions like this don't help solve the problem but instead can make things worse.
"I don't think that the Berkeley, Richmond, Oakland, San Francisco councils really have much of a role at all to play in retiring the hostages, ending the war or anything like that. So, it gives a platform to all this inflammatory rhetoric and does nothing to help Israelis and Palestinians on the ground," said Gregory.
Tyler said the board of supervisors should spend its time focusing on policy and programs that directly support the local Jewish and Palestinian communities.
Samer said he believes this resolution does that.
"We've had resolutions in support of Armenians, we've had resolutions condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Those things matter, they reflect the will of the people, and I would say they matter more in this case because we didn't finance Russia's invasion of Ukraine but we are financing and providing an ideological justification for the killing of civilians in Gaza," said Araabi.
It is unclear the amount of support this resolution has on the Board of Supervisors. Samer said he is confident the resolution will pass, while Tyler said he is confident it will fail.
The Board of Supervisor's meeting begins at 2 on Tuesday afternoon.
Those with the JCRC said they won't be attending the meeting in person due to safety concerns, instead they will be hosting a vigil in front of city hall at 1 p.m. for the hostages that are still being held by Hamas.