San Jose residents pack city council meeting to demand Palestine resolution
San Jose, CA – On Tuesday, December 5, hundreds of Palestine supporters attended the San Jose City Council meeting in person and online to demand that the council pass a resolution in support of Palestine.
Community members waved Palestinian flags, wore keffiyehs, and brought signs with messages such as “End the genocide.” City staff intentionally blocked off half of the available public seats in the council chambers and diverted community members to overflow rooms. Many attendees were taken aback by this blatant restriction on their right to civic engagement.
Despite this hostile move by the city, Palestine supporters waited patiently for the council to finish its regular agenda items before proceeding to the open comment section at the end of the meeting. Hundreds of people used this open comment section to demand that the city council pass a resolution in support of Palestine.
Speakers came from a wide variety of nationalities and religious backgrounds, including Muslim, Jewish, Christian, atheist, Chicano, Asian, Black, Arab, and indigenous people. Many spoke about the diversity of San Jose, which is made up of over 40% immigrants, and how a resolution for Palestine must be passed in order to maintain the thriving multiculturalism within the city.
Many Palestinian American community members chose to speak, including several who have family members in Gaza, many of whom have been killed by Israel over the last two months. These speakers emphasized that this genocide directly effects the members of the Palestinian diaspora who live in San Jose, and that it is not merely a far-removed foreign policy issue that has no bearing on our local community.
Several speakers also shed light on how the U.S. government spends billions of tax dollars on war while people in the U.S. continue to struggle without basic necessities like healthcare. Noor Lazkani stated, “I demand a divestment from the apartheid state known as Israel and I demand a relocation of those funds to our infrastructure that is crumbling, our education, our schools, our healthcare, and not towards war.”
Community members also pointed out that the South Bay has a direct connection with the atrocities that Israel is carrying out against Palestinians, as many arms manufacturers have large facilities in the area. Mamu Tonantzin demanded, “Do not give Israel weapons of mass genocide, weapons from Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin which are transported by FedEx.”
After more than three hours of public comment from hundreds of community members in support of Palestine, Mayor Matt Mahan concluded the meeting by stating that the city of San Jose's policy is to not comment on issues of foreign policy. Notably, the city council approved former Mayor Sam Liccardo's official travel to Israel in 2019, demonstrating the inconsistent and hypocritical implementation of this policy. The city also unilaterally decided to light up City Hall in blue and white in honor of Israel after the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood by the Palestinian resistance on October 7, a decision that was made without any public input.
The strong showing at the City Council Meeting indicates that the people of San Jose stand with Palestine, despite the city government's attempts to silence them.