A California city is being criticized by local Jewish leaders for becoming the first in the US to publicly condemn the state of Israel, accusing it of “ethnic cleansing.”
The statement comes in two weeks following the horrific Hamas attack that claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Israelis, most of whom were civilians.
Richmond, California, a city about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of San Francisco, voted 5-1 in favor of a resolution that they say recognizes suffering Palestinians but accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing.
“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.”
Mayor Eduardo Martinez, a Democrat, claims he voted for the resolution because he believes American taxpayers are to blame for what he called an “apartheid state.”
Mayor Eduardo Martinez, a Democrat, claims he voted for the resolution because he believes American taxpayers are on the hook for what he called an “apartheid state.”
“The people of the United States, whose government and taxpayer dollars directly support the Israeli military, have an immediate moral obligation to condemn Israel’s acts of collective punishment under the apartheid state,” Martinez said. NBC San Francisco.
The city added that they “affirm the city’s support and solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza.”
However, the resolution has angered local Jewish groups, including a condemnation from the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco.
“The resolution promotes propaganda, weaponizes historical inaccuracy and accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing and apartheid in Gaza,” the statement said.
“The resolution was amended during the proceedings but remained inflammatory and biased. The vitriol from the resolution’s supporters was also notable.”
Despite his inflammatory rhetoric, Mayor Martinez claims the shocking resolution promotes peace.
“This proclamation chooses human lives over politics,” Martinez said.
He also claimed that it was not anti-Semitism to refer to Israel as an ethnic cleanser and an apartheid state.
Richmond, California, a city about 20 miles north of San Francisco, voted 5-1 in favor of a resolution that they say recognizes suffering Palestinians but accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing.
The resolution has angered local Jewish groups, including a condemnation from the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco
“I reject the idea that speaking out against Israel’s military and right-wing government is anti-Semitic,” he added.
‘We must never remain silent when it comes to any group. The Palestinian people are currently experiencing what the United Nations calls war crimes by the State of Israel.”
However, one woman who spoke before the resolution’s adoption compared his council to the Third Reich.
“To see the Richmond City Council propose this (resolution) is an abandonment of the Jewish community,” one woman said. “You hate Jews,” said one resident. “You are the new Nazis.”
They did receive a compliment from the Arab Resource and Organization Center in San Francisco.
“We are with you as the tide changes in the US, as more and more decision makers reflect the cry of the masses and rise up in support of Palestinian freedom,” the group said in a statement.
“We still have a long way to go and we’re proud that the Bay Area is leading the way.”
It comes just as the rhetoric remains white-hot and incidents of anti-Semitism are increasing in the aftermath of the attacks.
There was much uproar during the public comments, with one woman speaking prior to the resolution’s adoption comparing the Council to the Third Reich.
Despite his inflammatory rhetoric, Mayor Martinez claims the shocking resolution promotes peace
Many have called for an end to US aid to Israel as the country defends itself against Hamas terrorists, who have been holding about 200 people hostage since their brutal massacre on October 7 that left 1,400 people dead.
But many see their protests as benefiting Hamas, which carried out a brutal terror attack on the Jewish state on October 7.
Earlier this week, Israel staged a 45-minute screening of video footage recovered from the bodycams and smartphones of dead Hamas gunmen, showing the brutality of their October 7 raids.
The footage showed segment after segment of civilians being shot, stabbed, tortured and burned, according to journalists who attended the screening.
Their corpses were positioned for all to see: bound, gagged and riddled with bullet holes and knife wounds.
Others were beheaded with knives – and one victim was partially decapitated with a garden hoe as he lay with a gunshot wound to his stomach.
A young girl was seen hiding under a desk, waiting while the terrorists decided what her fate would be. Moments later they shot her at close range.
One clip showed Hamas’ moment terrorist threw a grenade at a father and his son.
A corpse lies covered on the ground in an Israeli kibbutz after a massive attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip
The explosion kills the father, who lunges forward into the turf, while the young boy is covered in blood.
The child is dragged in and forced to sit next to his brother, whose eye is a bloody mess – either from shrapnel from the grenade blast or from torture.
One of the boys sobs, “Why am I alive?” while the ruthless terrorists stand by his father’s body.
Another dark piece of footage showed unsuspecting IDF soldiers being beheaded as their headless corpses lay in the street, while a contingent of female soldiers was taken out by a grenade before being shot at close range.
The journalists also said they witnessed sheer panic, terror and destruction at the Nova music festival, where more than 250 civilians were massacred.
Some victims hid in containers, others in portable toilets, but all were found and shot or brutally beaten before being taken hostage.
Over the past three weeks, President Joe Biden has offered his full support to Israel since 1,400 people were killed in a terrorist attack nearly three weeks ago.
He has stepped up the deployment of U.S. forces — sending two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups to the region — and last week he advocated offering financial aid.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen speaks during a Security Council meeting about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
Forensic investigators sift through the rubble of an Israeli house burned to the ground by Hamas
Israel is preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza, from where Hamas terrorists launched their attack.
Its forces have virtually laid siege to the tiny Palestinian territory, choking off the supply of food, fuel, water and medicine except for a small number of aid trucks arriving from Egypt.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister has said Hamas is ready to release civilian prisoners, while also saying the world should support the release of 6,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli incursion into Gaza began last night and the death toll in Gaza has risen by more than 7,000 civilians – 3,000 of them children – according to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry.