12 arrested as Sacramento council OKs cease-fire resolution backed by local Jewish, Muslim leaders
The Sacramento City Council late Tuesday night approved a Gaza cease-fire resolution proposed by leaders in the region’s Jewish and Muslim communities.
“This resolution is not about the Middle East so much this resolution is about Sacramento,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said ahead of the vote, flanked by local leaders of Sacramento’s Jewish and Muslim communities. “We are not at war with each other here in Sacramento. We have a long history of strong interfaith relationships ... these bonds have been tested and in some ways they have been damaged over these past months. Only we together can change that.
“Tonight represents a real effort to try to do just that. This resolution has not divided our community and has not created division in our city. It has exposed the divisions that already exist. And we have an obligation as leaders, no matter our walk of life, to try to make it better.”
The council approved the resolution in a 6-1 vote several minutes before midnight, with Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan voting against it and Councilwoman Mai Vang absent.
Ahead of the vote, close to 80 people spoke to the council. Most opposed the language of the resolution, which follows months of pro-Palestine protesters coming to council demanding a cease-fire resolution, at times shutting the council meetings down. But on Tuesday many of those same protesters said they rejected the resolution Steinberg presented, preferring instead the one councilwomen Vang and Katie Valenzuela wrote in January.
Public comments began around 6 p.m. After people yelled from the audience, Steinberg put the meeting in a recess, then another one around 9 p.m. for the chambers to be cleared.
Protesters persisted, 12 arrested by police
The second recess lasted over two hours, during which more than a dozen pro-Palestine protesters continued to chant and refused to leave.
Additional police entered the chambers shortly before 11 p.m. and arrested a dozen protesters who did not clear the chambers, police said in an overnight news release.
“All but twelve of the protesters left on their own accord,” the Sacramento Police Department said. “The remaining individuals who chose to stay in the chambers and disobey the lawful orders to disperse were arrested for unlawful assembly and failing to disperse and were booked at the Sacramento County Jail.”
Council returned to session just after 11:20 p.m.
Many who spoke during public testimony said they were not happy with the resolution advocating for a “two-state” solution and claimed it misstated the number of Israeli hostages, among other issues. After returning from the two-hour recess, Steinberg said the council changed the reference to the number of Israeli hostages, from “hundreds” in the original resolution to “over 100.”
Some asked the council to delay the vote until a future meeting where Vang was present.
“This resolution denies the Palestinian right of return,” Neda Raheen told the council. “There is no mention of genocidal intent as Israeli government as ruled by the (International Criminal Court) earlier this year.”
Steinberg, who is Jewish, said the resolution is the result of extensive talks with Muslim and Jewish leaders that started in January, and that everyone involved had to compromise.
The Sacramento Valley Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations formally supported it. Basim Elkarra, executive director, said he has lost over 70 family members in Gaza since Oct. 7.
“This resolution is not perfect,” Elkarra, who is also a Twin Rivers Unified School District member, told the council. “It doesn’t have all the details we wanted. In negotiations we don’t always get what we want. However this resolution has a strong and clear call for a cease-fire which is the primary goal.”
While several rabbis and Jewish leaders supported it, notably, the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region formally opposed the resolution.
“This resolution, if passed, may continue to create unsafe spaces for our Jewish community and do nothing to create the lasting peace we all desire,” said Pam Herman, interim chief executive officer, adding that a Palestinian woman who spoke before her brought her to tears. “We urge you to vote no.”
Kaplan, who is Jewish, echoed those concerns before casting her no vote, following over five hours of public testimony.
She said “a failure to call out Hamas in this resolution is an affront to every woman who has ever been a (sexual assault) victim,” and called for her colleagues to abstain.
“I stand for a two-state solution but only if Hamas is no longer in power.”
What does the resolution say?
The resolution calls for “an immediate and permanent bilateral ceasefire.” It also calls for Hamas, a militant Palestinian Islamic organization operating in opposition to Israel, to release all Israeli hostages and for entry of unrestricted humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, an area of about 140 square miles that is one of the most densely populated places in the world.
It also calls for “the immediate unconditional release of all Palestinians held without charge or trial in Israeli prisons.”
It calls for new leadership on both sides.
“That means Hamas and Netanyahu,” Steinberg said. “That should not be controversial.”
Valenzuela and Vang on Jan. 24 proposed a cease-fire resolution, but Steinberg had not placed it on the agenda until Thursday. Vang and Valenzuela both told The Bee on Thursday they were in support of Steinberg’s version.
Dozens ended their public comments with, “No Mai No Vote!”
Vang, during the meeting, wrote on social media she had asked Steinberg to postpone the vote to a future meeting.
“I hoped to be with you tonight and asked the Mayor to postpone this discussion because I had prearranged family commitments and could not be present for the vote,” Vang posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Tuesday night. “The Mayor felt it was necessary to push forward tonight and I was not part of his Brown Act members working on the resolution. Words matter and while I have deep concerns and disagree with several of the whereas clauses, the most important aspect about this resolution clearly articulates the demand for a permanent ceasefire to preserve human life and end the genocidal killing of Palestinians.
“Ultimately, I support this resolution, because now Sacramento joins hundreds of US cities demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”
More than 70 U.S. cities, including Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco, have passed resolutions on the Israel-Hamas war, with most calling for cease-fire, Reuters reported. They aim to pressure President Joe Biden to help end the fighting ahead of the November election.
This story was originally published March 20, 2024 at 12:05 AM.
