On May 22 SMDP omitted the "ceasefire" in the SMCC "Israel-Gaza Resolution"
I find the omission of the word "ceasefire" in your May 22 article and headline titled "Israel-Gaza Resolution" puzzling. I’m writing as one of 90 pro-ceasefire speakers at the May 14 Santa Monica City Council meeting.
On October 7, 2023 the armed resistance group, Hamas, briefly broke Israel’s 20 year long military control of occupied Gaza and took 240 hostages for leverage in negotiations to free 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, many of whom are held in administrative detention without the right to a trial. 0ne thousand deaths occurred during that October 7, 2023 incursion.
The next day Israel laid siege to Gaza and launched a full scale war on that occupied Palestinian territory. Israel’s still ongoing siege has cut off all access to food, water, medicine, and power to Gaza’s 2.3 million civilians, half of whom are children. Israel has engaged in relentless aerial bombardment and massive destruction of the civilian infrastructure accompanied by ground invasions by Israel Defense Forces. The USA is complicit in the deaths of 40,000 Palestinian civilians, including 15,000 children, not counting those lost under the rubble or starved to death.
In January 2024 the International Court of Justice found it "plausible" that "Israel is violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention regarding Gaza" based upon scrupulously detailed charges brought by South Africa.
On May 7, 2024 Hamas agreed to a ceasefire and exchange of prisoners negotiated by Qatar, Egypt, the United States, and The United Nations,
Israel rejected that offer. It is now bombing 1.6 million refugees in Rafah.
Congress refuses to stop USA weapons shipments to Israel, including 2000 pound bunker busting bombs. Therefore our diverse group of activists have joined together to petition our local leaders to join 100 other California cities to call on Congress for a Permanent Negotiated Bilateral Ceasefire in Gaza.
This is the resolution the Santa Monica City Council passed by a 6-1 majority May 15, 2024.
"Now, therefore, the City Council of the City of Santa Monica does resolve as follows:
Section 1. The City of Santa Monica supports the resumption of a negotiated bilateral ceasefire, which must include humanitarian aid for the immediate provision of desperately needed food, water, medical care, clothing and emergency shelter to Palestinians, the end of Hamas’s rule in Gaza, due process for all prisoners, and the immediate release of the remaining 132 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.
Section 2. The City of Santa Monica is appalled by the acts of violence, vandalism and intimidation against the Palestinian and Jewish diaspora in the United States, and reiterates its condemnation of all antisemitism, anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia and all forms of hate and incitement to violence.
Section 3. A copy of this Resolution be sent to the offices of US Representative Ted Lieu, US Senator Laphonza Butler, and US Senator Alex Padilla.
Section 4. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect."
Dorothy Chapman, Santa Monica resident