Sacramento City Council passes Gaza cease-fire resolution

By Web staff

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — The Sacramento City Council voted to approve a resolution calling for an immediate bilateral cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas War, following almost seven hours of discussion on Tuesday.

The resolution passed just before midnight in a 6-1 vote, with Lisa Kaplan being the sole member dissenting.

The meeting got started around 5 p.m. with lines of people waiting to get into the council chambers.

Many offered their thoughts during a public comment period that lasted hours. Commenters gave a wide range of thoughts on all sides of the issue.

The meeting was marked by heated discussion and disruptions, prompting Mayor Darrell Steinberg to call for a recess twice.

The police department said the mayor and council ordered the chambers to be vacated shortly after 9 p.m.

Officials said officers gave multiple disbursement orders to the people who remained in the chambers with the hope that they would exit on their own accord.

Several people refused to leave and 12 were arrested, the police department said. Police said those arrested would be charged with unlawful assembly.

Some in attendance supported the resolution as it was. Others said they supported a cease-fire but wanted amendments to the resolution.

Still, others called for the council to be fully present before making any decision. Council member Mai Vang was not present at the meeting, citing a prior family commitment. The District 2 seat remains open.

Steinberg, who introduced the resolution, said he felt a duty to act on the issue. He acknowledged that although Sacramento can’t change the situation in the Middle East, the city can try to model the behavior we want to see elsewhere.

According to the resolution text, it calls for:

An immediate and permanent bilateral cease-fire by Hamas and Israel The immediate, unconditional release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza New leadership on both sides, so the conflict can be resolved diplomatically The Biden Administration to send and facilitate the entry of unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza The immediate, unconditional release of all Palestinians held without charges or trial in Israeli prisons The resolution had the support of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Sacramento Valley/Central California and some Jewish leaders in Sacramento.

The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region’s board voted to officially oppose the resolution.

Steinberg, who is Jewish, said after the vote that he had mixed feelings.

“I think it is unfortunate that we weren’t able to hear from everyone tonight and yet we heard from almost 80 people,” he said. “And in the end, we passed a resolution which does represent the beginning, the beginning of what I hope is some healing and some coming together between our interfaith communities, which have had a long history of working well together. And it’s broken apart really since Oct. 7.”

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