ALBANY — The Albany City Council is taking a slower approach than other Bay Area cities in deciding whether to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas: instead of bringing the matter before the entire council, city leaders first want to form an ad hoc committee.
On Monday evening, the City Council passed a resolution introduced by Mayor John Miki to create a committee of two councilmembers that is now tasked with discussing and possibly crafting a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East.
“I did not bring this lightly and understand this is a divisive issue and it’s a divisive issue whether or not we talk about a resolution we might put forward,” Miki said during Monday’s City Council meeting. “I would not ask us as a council to move into items that are completely out of our control, but I feel right now this is already a divisive issue in our community and we do have the opportunity to raise our voices.”
Some residents concerned by the loss of life in Gaza have been calling for the council to act for months, while others have argued such a resolution would stoke antisemitism in the community.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel started its counter attack after Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7. Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 360% increase in antisemitism in the U.S. over a three-month period following the October attack, according to a January press release.
If the Albany council decides to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire, it would join a regional trend first kicked off by neighboring Richmond which passed a resolution in October stating its support for Palestinians in Gaza. Since then, other cities across the Bay Area, including Oakland and San Francisco, have passed ceasefire resolutions. Gilroy’s elected leaders, meanwhile, voted against a similar resolution.
Some speakers during Monday’s meeting noted ceasefire resolutions have not led to an actual end to violence in the Gaza strip, despite coming from larger cities. Instead of spending time discussing the Middle East, some residents suggested Albany officials should leave the issue to the federal government and focus on local matters.
“I personally have very strong beliefs on foreign policy in places like Ukraine but I wouldn’t ask you to deal with it,” said Francesco Papalia, a longtime Albany resident who called the effort a misuse of city resources.
Other community members, including Miki, Vice Mayor Robin Lopez and Councilmember Aaron Tiedemann, argued the divisive issue has become localized. Residents have turned out to community meetings and written thousands of emails for months now advocating for and against a ceasefire resolution, said Miki, who said he empathizes with residents who’ve expressed concerns for their own safety.
The council ultimately voted 4-0 in favor of establishing the ad hoc committee, with Councilmember Jennifer Hansen-Romero abstaining from the vote after arguing the issue was outside of the city’s purview. Lopez said he was also apprehensive to support the resolution out of concern for the safety of the two councilmembers who will sit on the body. Miki and Tiedemann volunteered to serve on the committee.
That vote came after the council made a proclamation at the start of the meeting stating the city’s support for peace in the Middle East, acknowledging the historical complexities in the region and advocating for a hate-free community locally. Many speakers argued the proclamation did not go far enough in calling for a ceasefire.
“At this point, I think there is a need to do something to address the need in our community, and there is a concern there and the division, it’s not something we can ignore,” Tiedemann said. “As a Jewish person myself, I think there are ways you can write these sorts of resolutions in a way that thread that needle.”