Mayor Breed and local Jewish group unhappy with SF Supervisors' ceasefire resolution
On 1.9, SF's Board of Supervisors decided to try their hand at global politics when—after hearing hours of impassioned and some inflammatory public comments—they approved a resolution imploring a ceasefire in Gaza. The resolution's lauded a “compromise” by mainstream media, but others (including SF's Mayor London Breed and the Bay Area's own Jewish Community Relations Council) argue it's imbalanced, divisive, and extraneous to the Board's jurisdiction. Excerpted comments below.
From San Francisco's Mayor Breed:
San Francisco Mayor London Breed took the rare step on Friday of speaking out against a cease-fire resolution by the Board of Supervisors, criticizing the body for taking up “complex matters over which we have absolutely no jurisdiction.” …
“Like my recent predecessors in this office, I almost never comment or take action on non-binding resolutions from the Board of Supervisors. This one warrants an exception,” Breed said in her statement. “What happened at the Board of Supervisors during this last month did not reflect our values. While I support the need for community members to be heard, the process at the Board only inflamed division and hurt.”
She continued, “People verbally attacked and degraded individual members of the public. Legislators were targeted for attempting to offer their views. Many outside San Francisco do not draw the distinction between eight district supervisors and the official view of San Francisco. So let me be clear: what happened at the Board of Supervisors does not speak for or on behalf of the entire city.”
Read the whole thing here.
From the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) Bay Area:
President Peskin's revised resolution that was ultimately adopted included the denunciation of Hamas and the need to remove this terrorist organization from power. We also appreciate that inflammatory condemnations of Israel were removed from the original resolution introduced by Supervisor Dean Preston.
We also commend Supervisors Mandelman, Stefani, and Dorsey, who voted 'no' on this resolution, recognizing these municipal votes have no foreign policy impact.
However, these changes do not take away from the pain this process has spawned for the Jewish community and others who have been traumatized by the Israel-Hamas war. Both yesterday and today in City Hall, some made vitriolic statements calling for the violent destruction of Israel and denied the atrocities of Hamas, including mass sexual violence.
We hope other major cities will learn the painful lessons our city has endured — this division is unnecessary and avoidable.
Read the whole thing here.
From news commentary website Power Line:
San Francisco supervisors wrapped their resolution in a shroud of evenhandedness as they approved a resolution calling for a “sustained ceasefire” in Gaza that condemns Hamas as well as the Israeli government and urges the Biden administration to press for the release of all hostages and delivery of humanitarian aid. You, Mr. Hitler, you have a good point, and you, Mr. Churchill, you do too. Those in the audience did not want anyone to explicate the meaning of their message to innocent bystanders.
For some reason or other the Hamas supporters in the crowd celebrated the passage of the resolution opposed by [others]. It seems to have something to do with the call to “Free Palestine” to keep up the the rapes and the massacres.
Read the whole thing here.
From local newspaper Manteca Bulletin:
It’s always nice to know that a city has its own house in order to the point that they can dabble in the business of countries, states, or even other cities.
Why else would San Francisco that has trash on its streets that could be stacked up halfway to the stars devote energy to the Board of Supervisors stepping into the Hamas-Israel war controversy by adopting a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip?
The 8-3 vote Tuesday was just the latest in a long history of the city-county channeling a city-nation — think Vatican City — by entering international frays.
There is really no harm done except perhaps making sure elected leaders can do their bit to help drive a wedge between city residents in areas that they have no control. …
The problem with taking the old adage of “all politics are local” to the extreme to include a war on the other side of the world is the ripple effect.
Elected leaders conducting pointless town square debates passing toothless resolutions sooner or later will poison the common goodwill pool for residents. …
But the resolution is hollow just like one would be for Jerusalem or Beirut city governments calling for a moratorium on illegal drug use in San Francisco.
Both would mean absolutely nothing as the fury they are born in signifies nothing.
San Francisco officially as a city can’t alter the course of the Hamas-Israel war but they should be able to change the trajectory of drug abuse, homelessness, and property crimes in their own city.
After all, that’s what they were elected to do.
The bottom line is it accomplishes nothing besides making an empty statement.
Read the whole thing here.
Related:
Explicit antisemitic imagery in local pro-Hamas flyer deeply disturbs Jewish leaders
Berkeley dean: “Never in my life” has antisemitism so pervaded local colleges
LA Council perspective: One-party politics spurs offensive racist sensibilities
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