Residents urge Hayward City Council to call for sustained ceasefire in besieged Gaza Strip

HAYWARD, Calif. — Residents are urging the Hayward City Council to join the push for a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

More than 60 people, including members of the Hayward Community Coalition and the East Bay chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, filled the City Council Chambers on Tuesday night, urging the council to pass a resolution in support of an immediate and long-term ceasefire. Many also called on the council to divest any funds going toward supporting Israel.

“What we are witnessing is not a war, but a genocide,” Valeria Ochoa, Hayward resident and community organizer, told the council. “We cannot and must not stay silent about this … Let’s show the world that the city of Hayward is on the side of humanity and call for a ceasefire.”

The council cannot take action on any items that are not on the agenda because the public needs adequate notice before government bodies make their decisions. Generally, members of the council are not supposed to respond to anything said during public comments, though they can make brief statements.

All of the members of the City Council gave brief comments expressing sympathy for the suffering of people in Israel and Palestine. They encouraged staff to bring back resolutions for the council to consider.

“Ultimately, I want to do what’s right,” Councilmember Dan Goldstein said. “And a ceasefire is the least that we can do.”

Councilmember Francisco Zermeño added that any resolution for a ceasefire should also consider the suffering being experienced by people in Ukraine, Sudan, Ethiopia and the Congo.

“It’s not just this particular corner of the world,” Zermeño said.

Since Palestinian militants broke out of Gaza and killed and captured hundreds of Israelis on Oct. 7, the Israeli military has been relentlessly bombing the civilians of Gaza, killing more than 15,523 people, injuring thousands more and displacing an estimated 1.9 million. There was a brief ceasefire late last month, during which hostages were exchanged, but Israeli forces reportedly arrested more Palestinians than were released during that time. A few days ago, Israel ended the ostensible ceasefire by resuming its aerial assault of Gaza.

Thousands of Bay Area residents have been pushing local elected officials to call for a ceasefire and put an end to the U.S.’s $3.8 billion in annual military aid to Israel. Demonstrators held mass rallies across the Bay Area, took over the Bay Bridge when President Joe Biden was in San Francisco, and protested at their local legislators’ offices, among other things.

Elected officials have responded in a variety of ways. The city of Richmond became the first to pass a ceasefire resolution and Oakland recently followed in its footsteps. At a virtual town hall meeting during the past week, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-17th District) expressed support for a sustained ceasefire, and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-14th District) has called for an end to the extremist settler violence in the West Bank.

Several southern Alameda County community leaders and elected officials, including Hayward City councilmembers Goldstein and Angela Andrews, recently signed onto a letter expressing support for a sustained ceasefire and adding conditions to military aid sent to Israel.

Rather than vote on a resolution as a collective, Sara Lamnin, a member of the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District Board of Directors and one of the people who penned the letter, called on members of the council and audience to work with her to craft implementable policy asks that they can work with federal lawmakers to pass.

“This action will simultaneously minimize the impact on city resources while collaboratively engaging people who oppose the resolution process as well as those who are in favor of it,” Lamnin said. “Let’s build on the trust and momentum needed to change federal policies that are feeding the death and destruction in the Middle East.”

Councilmember George Syrop, who has also been a vocal supporter of a ceasefire, thanked the community for showing up “to stand on the right side of history.” Given the exceptional nature of the violence, he encouraged the council to break from its policy of avoiding speaking on international issues.

“We strayed from this precedent in ’85 against the apartheid in South Africa,” Syrop said, “and I believe it’s time for us to act again in the interest of our community, protecting children over protecting precedent.”

Sonia Waraich can be reached at 510-952-7455.

_{Photo caption: A child holds a sign stating “Stop the massacres in Gaza” in the Hayward City Council Chambers on Tuesday, Dec. 5. Dozens of people attended the Hayward City Council’s regular meeting to urge the city to pass a ceasefire resolution. (Sonia Waraich – East Bay Echo)}