Richmond City Council Passes Highly Controversial Measure Blaming Israel For Escalating War With Hamas

A pro-Palestinian measure that says that Israel is guilty of ethnic cleansing, and for escalating the war with Hamas, was passed by the Richmond City Council early on Wednesday, causing the majority of residents in the Bay Area city to protest the decision.

The measure, backed by Mayor Eduardo Martinez and Vice Mayor Gayle McLaughlin states:

“The city of Richmond stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza, who are currently facing a campaign of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment by the state of Israel. The state of Israel is engaging in collective punishment against the Palestinian people in Gaza in response to Hamas attacks on Israel.”

“Israel is now engaged in an ethnic cleansing campaign by explicitly requiring 2 million Palestinians to leave Gaza immediately or risk being bombed in their homes by the Israeli army. The city of Richmond calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the safe passage of substantial humanitarian aid to Gaza, the immediate release of all Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and an end to Israeli apartheid and the occupation and blockade of Palestinian land by Israeli military forces. The City of Richmond opposes all existing and any future military aid to Israel.”

While the Richmond City Council measure did acknowledge the attacks by Hamas on Israel, it also blamed Israel for instigating Hamas first.

“1,400 Israelis have been killed by Hamas on Oct. 7 and nearly 6,000 Palestinians have been killed by the state of Israel in this escalated conflict,” continued the measure.

The Hamas-Israel war has, like any war involving Israel and Palestine, sparked a polarizing divide of support around the world and across the country. The United States has backed Israel in the war, with President Joe Biden stating several times that the U.S. will stand by Israel in the fight, with the House passing a bipartisan-backed resolution on Wednesday 410-6 condemning Hamas and supporting Israel. A recent poll also found that over 70% of Americans, including 81% of Republicans and 74% of Democrats, are in favor of sending aid to Israel.

Richmond passes resolution despite wide support for Israel

Richmond residents largely echoed this support, with one resident saying,  “I’m a Richmond resident and of Jewish heritage. I totally oppose this resolution because it is full of lies that will only incentivize the Hamas Nazi terrorists and their supporters and add to the suffering of the poor Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for decades. This resolution supports the goals of the Palestinian dictatorships to kill all Jews and destroy Israel.”

However, despite broad support for Israel, Richmond went against public support of Israel on Wednesday. Richmond City Council voted for the measure in a 5-1 vote following hours of heated debate from pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian residents. Following major outcry from the Jewish community, who called the measure antisemitic amongst other things, Mayor Martinez defended his decision.

“I reject the notion that speaking out against Israel’s military and right wing government is antisemitic,” said Martinez. “We should never stay silent when it comes to any group. The Palestinian people are currently dealing with what the United Nations calls war crimes by the state of Israel. There has not been one single word that says we are against the Jewish people. If it sounds one-sided, it’s because it voices a narrative that has been ignored.”

Despite Martinez’s defense of himself and the measure, outcry continued to grow on Wednesday. The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) said that the resolution was “inflammatory and patently false.”

“Hamas had a great night in Richmond, with five hours of chaos and unrelenting repulsive speech against Israel and Jews,” said JCRC CEO Tyler Gregory on Wednesday. “The council demonstrated profound ignorance and incompetence. Richmond could not bring itself to condemn mass murder against Jewish civilians and is not a safe place for Jews. There will be consequences for this taxpayer-funded circus.”

Cristobal Heinz, a mediator who helps solve ethnic-based clashes of opinion in 10 American states and 2 Mexican states, added, “This is a conflict halfway around the world that is entrenched in decades of strife. The U.S. has always been a supporter of Israel, but Palestinians have also received sympathy for their plight. No one wants this type of fighting, but right now, everyone needs to remember that Israel just had their own version of 9/11 happen to them. They want justice. And the U.S. and other countries who are adamant against terrorism are on Israel’s side here.”

“We shouldn’t forget that most people in Gaza just want to live their lives and are now suffering for what their leaders did. At the very least, no matter the side, we should feel for civilians there caught up in all of this who don’t care about the politics of it all.”

“That said, what Richmond did today in passing this measure was needlessly inflammatory. They likely didn’t mean it this way, but they just basically wrote off Hamas’ terrorist attack as Israel’s fault. That is something that is only going to divide people further, and as we saw from the high tensions of the meeting, it did that in spades. The smarter thing to do would have been to say that their hearts are with the victims on both sides or that they want a return of peace to the region soon. That’s something neutral that both sides of this can agree to. But instead they had to go one of the worst ways possible, and something that went against what the vast majority of people wanted.”

“Richmond is in the wrong here and is only further dividing people with this.”

More on the Richmond measure is expected to come out in the coming days.