Statement: Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
Statement by Supervisor Joel Engardio
Many residents have asked the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
While I believe that a city council should focus on the local issues it has jurisdiction over rather than international matters it cannot control, I supported a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. I voted for the resolution, which passed 8-3. You can read the resolution here.
The resolution is non-binding because the issue is outside the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I encourage residents to petition their congressional representatives and the president who have control over U.S. foreign policy, diplomacy, and our nation's spending.
As city supervisors, our primary job is to focus on city issues like street cleaning, public safety, and housing. Yet there are times we are called to comment on issues outside our jurisdiction — because city supervisors are much more accessible to people than a state or federal office.
This matters when people are in distress and need to be heard. While city supervisors can only act on local issues, residents may want us to represent their views to higher levels of government.
That’s why the Board of Supervisors spent eight hours on December 5 listening to hundreds of people give impassioned public comments about the plight of Palestinians being killed in Gaza. Before the same meeting, a crowd held a vigil outside City Hall for Israeli hostages and spoke out against a rise in antisemitism. Thousands of people sent emails.
Here is a sample of the messages I received:
"The San Francisco Board of Supervisors must call for an immediate ceasefire to stop the mounting death toll. This will also allow life-saving aid, fuel, hospital equipment, medical supplies, and water into Gaza to address the tremendous amount of human suffering brought on by Israel’s relentless attacks on the Palestinian people."
"If the Board of Supervisors truly wants to support peace between Israelis and Palestinians, it must condemn the October 7 massacre, call for the immediate release of all hostages in Gaza, acknowledge that Hamas is an impediment to any sustained ceasefire, and support on-the-ground efforts that bring Israelis and Palestinians closer to a shared future of coexistence and prosperity."
"San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has important local issues to deal with, but if it chooses to inject itself into international affairs, it should strive to be balanced and factual."
It became apparent to me that the Board of Supervisors could not avoid commenting on this humanitarian crisis. The issue was inflaming residents and wasn’t going away. A prolonged debate over this international issue would only create more division and distract us from addressing the local issues we are elected to solve including public safety, housing, transportation, and our local economy.
The resolution I supported and helped write calls for “a sustained ceasefire in Gaza, humanitarian aid, release of hostages, and condemning antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic rhetoric and attacks.”
It “condemns Hamas’s attack on Israeli civilians, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,200 Israeli people on October 7, 2023” and “condemns the Netanyahu government’s attacks resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
The resolution also says “a just and lasting peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people requires new leadership on both sides with a willingness and commitment to negotiate in good faith.”
Read the full resolution here. Find the timeline and voting history for the resolution here.