A member of the Berkeley City Council has been accused of applying a political litmus test regarding support for Israel to a sitting Berkeley commissioner, who was dismissed when he did not provide a sufficient answer.
According to a Dec. 14 article in Berkeleyside, Cheryl Davila, elected to the City Council last year, last month dismissed Transportation Commissioner Ben Gerhardstein after he declined to state a position on whether Berkeley should divest from companies that do business with Israel.
Gerhardstein, who was appointed to the commission by former Councilmember Daryl Moore, provided Berkeleyside with an email chain backing up his assertion.
“You indicated that a non-transportation issue was important to you in selecting a transportation commissioner,” Gerhardstein wrote to Davila on Nov. 27, after he had been removed from the commission. “During our first meeting, you noted that as a Human Welfare and Community Action Commissioner you authored a recommendation to Council to divest from companies benefiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, which raised your profile.
“You said that the issue was important to you and you asked whether I was pro-Palestinian (and supported divestment) or a Zionist. You noted that you were asking all potential District 2 commissioners this question and suggested that you were only interested in appointing divestment supporters to commissions.”
In a written response to the Berkeleyside story, Davila did not dispute the charge, but framed it as an attack on Palestinian rights. “Every council member replaces the appointees of their predecessor,” she wrote. “That’s standard practice in Berkeley politics, and this is no different. [Gerhardstein] is one disgruntled guy, who disagrees with my position on Palestine. For this to be considered newsworthy is another reflection of the ongoing suppression campaigns to smear anyone who supports Palestine. The campaign to silence support for Palestinian rights is how I came to be a councilmember in the first place.”
Davila is an outspoken proponent of BDS (the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel). According to the City of Berkeley’s published record of campaign contributions, her campaign drew financial support from local anti-Israel activists U.C. Berkeley lecturer and SJP founder Hatem Bazian (currently under fire for anti-Semitic tweets from earlier this year), Barbara Lubin of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, and Donald Wagner from Friends of Sabeel. While serving as a member of the city’s Human Welfare and Community Action Commission in 2015, Davila sought to pass a Berkeley City Council resolution supporting divestment from Israel. The resolution was defeated by a vote of 5-2.
Davila did not respond to J.’s request for an interview.
Ilana Kaufman, the East Bay-based Public Affairs and Civic Engagement Director for the Jewish Community Relations Council took note of the Berkeleyside story, and said in a written statement: “Councilmember Davila’s publicly stated goals are to create unity, support affordable housing, treat homelessness and mental health with compassion, ensure positive youth engagement, expand sustainable environmental practices, and increase economic suitability for all. These are important goals for District 2 and vital civic priorities for the entire city. However, we know enough to be deeply troubled and encourage the Berkeley community to pay attention to what happens in City Hall, and how it happens, and to find meaningful ways to get more involved, including by serving on commissions or running for office.”
Chery Davila also took money from anti-Israel activists as far away as Texas. Strangely enough, very few of her contributors actually live in District 2 in Berkeley.
Cheryl Davila isn’t a “Two states for two people” activist. She promoted last weekends anti-Israel rally endorsed by extremist groups that called for the end of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.
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Berkeley’s Jewish community, especially those in District 2 need to be made aware of the extremists in their local government
Is Davila aware that if Berkeley did as she wished and adopted a BDS ordinance, that the city would be unable to contract with the state (as per AB 2844)? She’s putting her loyalty to the anti-Semitic BDS movement above her responsibilities to the City of Berkeley.
The children are comprehending that BDS is more important, because what is happening, and has been allowed to occur by our parents, is JUST WRONG!
GO GO BDS.
I think it’s funny that while the left has this bizarre fake world in which Jews should be afraid of people like Trump while it’s leftists like this racist councilmember who are the people in this day most likely to try and throw Jews into camps.
Yep support for Israel and Jews is a political litmus test American Jews have to pass to fit in with their friendly lefty mcgoyersons. Heck they already supported admitting Iran,a country whose leaders every day publically work for the extermination of Israeli Jews. It’s only Israel after all. Working to murder Jews in Israel is hardly a crime to American Jews. We’re the bad Jews and deserve it after all
Now they allow this kind of crap without so much as a half hearted protest. I mean it’s only Israeli Jews this horrible woman is trying to starve out.
I guess if she patted someones butt instead of firing someone for failing to advocate for racist jew hating violence it might have generated some action. But you know it’s only Jews. It’s okay to pick on Jews.
You wonder why Israelis are more afraid of lefty American Jews than Christian fundamentalists.
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Apparently you don’t know any Jews, because jews have been against zionism since inception.
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GO GO BDS
The vast majority of Jews consider themselves Zionist and support the self determination of the Jewish people.The minority that doesn’t is considered as much of a fringe group as “Jews For Jesus”
self determination, does not mean, claiming lands of peoples 2000 yrs ago as family and inherited!! Likewise, the jew, comprehends what ‘zion’ is and/or willing to evolve when finding out and realizing why and what for. The integrity of Jews exceeds accepting what many want to believe. A jew is not a separate species by birth. 100% human being and 100% as equal and equally capable to be jewish without having to claim israel or any association to the monstrocity.
The reason israel even exists in Palestine is for that location “zion”. It’s not for peace, freedom or self determination because all of those needs and wants are met, in many places all over the earth. Israel most definitely DOES NOT exist as a Jewish state, so that rant is a complete farce.
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When you are ready to move on up to the big picture of Judaism, Sion, Ha Shem, etc, rather than the media and biased sides, let me know.
if you want a scary side; look up temple institute, rabbi glick and/or richman and the red heifer burnt offering. That is what ‘zionism’ is actually about and the claims of self determination, is the a lie ya of the self determined nomads ranting diaspora of 2000 yrs ago.
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The Jewish people lived in this land 2000 years before the Arab conquest. We are the indigenous people and we are home to stay. And this is a source of inspiration to indigenous people across the globe
Thanks YOU Muslim troll and possible future terrorist.
Apparently you do not know the first thing about Jews. 95% of Orthodox Jews support Israel more than any other Jewish group. You pick a small sect who doesn’t and that proves?
well it should hardly come as a surprise that this anti-Israel devila nut job got her council seat with the help of other anti-Israel nut jobs like BDS Cal berkeley witch doctor hatem bazian (aka bazi the nazi). It also should come as no surprise that this anti-Israel devila nut job seems to be more pro-occupied with using her council seat to promote the BDS agenda as opposed to being a public servant for far more relevant civic matters to berkeley. but hey, berkeley does make people pay more money for soda then most any where else in the country so we can’t say they’re not getting any thing done that’s vital for the public good. i mean really, when it comes to the soda tax you should see my before and after photos.
Davila’s list of contributors include Ellen Brotsky , the Jewish Voice for Peace activist
best known for her assault on a 78 year old Holocaust survivor.
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Wow. You really need to take a step back. Because someone supports human rights for Palestinians does not equate to wanting to “throw Jews into camps”. Davila has a right and a responsibility to choose commissioners who can represent the positions that the people who elected her believe she holds and will act upon. She didn’t fire dismiss this person because of a particular position on a particular proposal. She realized that this person did not really empathize with those who are oppressed under Israeli occupation and from this, she seems to have inferred that this inability to empathize with the oppressed could influence this commissioner’s stance on other issues. Doesn’t seem like a conspiracy to me. Seems like the way people do politics.
“Davila has a right and a responsibility to choose commissioners who can represent the positions that the people who elected her believe she holds and will act upon.” Am I missing something, or did Berkeley’s divestment bill not pass a few years ago? Looks like the City has already spoken about this issue.
While Davila is preoccupied promoting her own political agenda she is ignoring all the civic matters that the city of Berkeley really needs to focus on.
Davila, herself, is a far cry from what the city of Berkeley needs.
I am not sure what you want her to do. As far as I can see, she is attending to the variety of issues that come up for all councilmembers as well as taking initiative on homeless issues and housing and policing issues (pepper spraay, Urban Shield, etc.) If you are in her district, just call her. She is very willing to chat with people.
Didn’t Cheryl Davila appoint you as a Commissioner? Shouldn’t you have disclosed that vital bit of information?
My bad, you are right. I am on the Police Review Commission.
Were you asked about your position on BSD as a prerequisite for the appointment?
Nope.
Maybe it’s because the name (((prichett))) doesn’t resonate with whatever it was that made Davila interrogate Gerhardstein on this issue?
No, Andrea, that’s disingenuous and you know that. Davila does not merely support “human rights for Palestinians”. She also openly calls for the elimination of the rights of the Jewish people in the indigenous Jewish homeland. For over 70 years, the Palestinian Arabs and their enablers–including the BDS Movement– have insisted that”Palestinian rights” require denying Jewish rights. How’s that working out so far for them? Maybe it’s time to try something different?
You know, I hear you saying this but that is not my experience. Cheryl is not conspiring to deny Jewish people their rights. Like so many others, she recognizes that freedom and justice are the necessary ingredients for lasting peace. I have not heard her say anything about denying Jewish people their rights and I would be very interested if you can actually find such a quote. What is true is that she has spoken publicly and unapologetically for the rights of Palestinians and does not consider these to be mutually exclusive. There is room enough for everyone to have their human and civil rights.
Andrea– the BDS movement, at its core, is *entirely* about denying the Jewish people our national rights. BDS refuses to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state anywhere in our indigenous homeland– that’s why they (and Davila) chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” Ask Davila whether she supports peace between the Jewish state of Israel and a future Arab state of Palestine. We both know the answer to that question. There’s not a single organization promoting BDS that does support it. And even the far left of the Zionist political spectrum such as Ameinu and Americans for Peace Now rejects BDS.
Now if you don’t believe me on this, please read the words of BDS leaders themselves. http://www.stopbds.com/?page_id=48. When BDS leaders say “end the occupation” they are not just referring to Ariel and Maalah Adumim– they mean Tel Aviv as well.
Well I wonder what your solution is? What do you propose? How can we affirm and protect the rights of Palestinians, too? My understanding is that BDS is a non-violent way of pressuring Israel to acknowledge the rights of Palestinians and to end the occupation of Palestinian lands. As John F. Kennedy once said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable”. I appreciate the BDS movement for keeping the issue of Palestinian rights in the media and minds of Americans.
Your understanding of BDS is accurate only if you agree with the definition of all of Israel as “occupied Palestinian land”. Because that’s what Davila’s “river to the sea” chant means.
The alternative is supporting two states for two peoples which, as I already noted, all BDS groups oppose. The alternative is not supporting the mythical “right of return” for generations of descendants of Arab refugees from the war they started in 1947. The alternative is stopping the delegitimization against the existence of a Jewish state within any borders at all. The alternative is supporting genuine peace, not hiding the jargon of jihad behind the language of liberal values.
A few years back, Cheryl attended an anti-Israel rally on Sproul plaza where the students called for intifada- the previous intifadas led to endless suffering and death on both sides. She didn’t denounce the call for violence. She didn’t walk away. She didn’t urge peace or mutual co-existence. She sure didn’t seem like a peace and justice activist when I saw her.
I support boycotts as a nonviolent tactic with a built-in democratic aspect to them. BDS fails by this measure, as it has been around for years without garnering widespread support, mostly relying on lobbying top-down organizations to impose it. When people have a chance to vote on it, it proves divisive and ultimately unpopular. Even in Berkeley.
BSD also fails due to its unclear and shifting goalposts.