It began as a now-familiar scene at the Berkeley City Council’s Tuesday meeting. But this week, it had a different ending.
Passionate public comment against Israel rang out. A boisterous crowd cheered, chanted and waved signs. But unlike in other Bay Area cities including Richmond and Oakland in recent weeks, the Berkeley council did not pass a resolution condemning Israel or calling for a permanent cease-fire in the war in Gaza.
Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín announced hours earlier that he would not introduce such a resolution. The measure was not even on the table.
“These resolutions will not end the violence abroad, but they do fan the flames of hatred here at home,” he said in a statement. “That’s a threat I cannot ignore.”
His decision was a notable one in Berkeley, which is known for its left-wing politics. In a display of civic solidarity with progressive movements, the city council displays an American flag, a Pride rainbow flag and a Black Lives Matter banner behind its dais.
Arreguín is no stranger to the complexity of Israel politics in Berkeley. In 2022, he faced protests after returning home from a 10-day trip to Israel with the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area. He called the visit an “important experience for me” and said it would help him “be a more effective public servant for a community with a large Jewish and Palestinian community.”
Earlier this year, Arreguín announced he has ambitions for higher office. He is running for state Senate to represent a large swath of the East Bay, including voters in Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond.
His decision to forgo a cease-fire resolution represented a firm rejection of pro-Palestinian activists who have been demanding that he introduce one and have shown up in large numbers at three consecutive meetings toward that end. Activists have pledged to disrupt meetings until the council introduces such a resolution.
In his statement, Arreguín expressed sympathy for those affected by the violence in the region.
“I share the shock and grief that the Berkeley community has felt over the past couple of months in response to Hamas’s barbaric attack against Israel and the resulting military operation in Gaza,” his statement said. “It is impossible to ignore the suffering that is occurring, just as it is impossible to ignore the disturbing rise in antisemitism and islamophobia spreading throughout the world.”
The statement continued: “The international community must work towards de-escalation, and ultimately a peaceful resolution that guarantees the right of both Israel and an independent Palestinian state to safely exist.”
These resolutions will not end the violence abroad, but they do fan the flames of hatred here at home.
Arreguín’s announcement came a day after the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire in Gaza.” The vote followed hours of public comment, much of it angry and some of it conspiratorial. Jewish councilmember Dan Kalb’s effort to amend the resolution to include condemnation of Hamas failed. Tye Gregory, CEO of the JCRC, called the meeting an “embarrassing night for the city of Oakland.”
Some of the most extreme public commenters in Oakland, including those who defended the Oct. 7 Hamas attack as an act of resistance and not of terrorism, were criticized by prominent Democrats including Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff of Los Angeles.
Arreguín’s decision does not foreclose the possibility that Berkeley will offer a cease-fire resolution in the future; other councilmembers could still introduce one. But Susan Wengraf, a Jewish councilmember who has served 16 years on the body, believes that is unlikely.
“I don’t see any other councilmembers stepping up,” she said Wednesday, citing private conversations she has had with colleagues.
In late October, the Richmond City Council approved a resolution condemning Israel and “affirming Richmond’s support and solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza.” That vote came after a marathon public meeting that was suspended because of shouting and ended after 1 a.m.
Arreguín’s decision faced intense pushback from pro-Palestinian activists who filled the chamber on Tuesday night. Many wore keffiyehs and held signs with messages including “End the U.S. war machine,” “Free Palestine” and “The people demand a cease-fire.” They cheered for public commenters who supported the Palestinian perspective and jeered at those who spoke in support of Israel. They chanted, in rhythm, “Cease-fire now! Cease-fire now!”
The atmosphere in the room eventually reached a boiling point. When the mayor described the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people as “barbaric,” the crowd erupted in a chorus of boos, according to video from NBC Bay Area.
The councilmembers left the room and then returned, but the atmosphere remained chaotic. Eventually they left the chamber and finished the public comment section of the meeting in a separate room, taking calls over Zoom. According to the mayor, protesters went into a bathroom on the other side of the room and banged on the walls in an attempt to further disrupt the meeting.
The council has increased the police presence in the chamber in recent weeks, according to Wengraf, who said she could not provide specifics about the security increase for safety reasons.
Wengraf, a 79-year old former documentary filmmaker, said the rhetoric of public commenters in Berkeley on Tuesday and at Monday’s meeting in Oakland, which she watched, worry her greatly. She attended the Berkeley meeting over Zoom.
“There is so much misinformation, and that concerns me,” Wengraf said. “The other thing that concerns me is there’s denial about Hamas. The scripts don’t include Hamas. They just focus on Israel as the evil aggressor.”
“And there are buzzwords,” she added. “The buzzwords are ‘apartheid,’ ‘ethnic cleansing,’ ‘genocide,’ ‘colonization.’ Those buzzwords are framing the comments.”
Anti-Israel rhetoric wasn’t all. The Berkeley City Council, like others across the region, have been Zoom-bombed with antisemitic comments from known white supremacist groups. Followers of the Goyim Defense League have called in, sometimes impersonating Jews, to spew antisemitic canards about Jewish control over world events and politicians. Tuesday’s meeting included such Zoom-bombers, she said.
At one point Wengraf received a text from Arreguín. “I’m really glad you’re not in the room,” the message said.
Earlier that day, Wengraf had received a threatening fax from the Goyim Defense League. As a result, police came to her house for a safety check.
“It’s a tough time,” she said. “What’s more concerning to me than the individual statements is the growing movement and how this is becoming normalized.”
Arreguín released a statement on Wednesday describing his decision to suspend the meeting and then move it to a quiet room away from the council chambers.
“Speakers exhibited incredible disrespect for the Council, staff and the city’s legislative process. Some speakers even made profane and discriminatory comments about the Mayor and Council,” he said. “The level of unruliness, hatred and vitriol was something I have never seen in my nearly 16 years on the City Council, and will not be tolerated.”
Wengraf said that although she and Arreguín have not always agreed in their years on the council together, she was very impressed by his actions this week.
“On this particular issue he has been really extraordinary. He has shown tremendous courage and leadership, and hopefully he’ll be an example to other cities as we move forward,” she said.
The council received expressions of support from some Berkeley Jews, though there were few Israel supporters in the audience at Tuesday’s meeting.
The “majority of Berkeley’s Jews did not show up to the council meeting last night out of fear for our physical and mental safety,” Ilana Pearlman, a Berkeley resident, said in an email sent to the council and shown to J. “The loud and angry [speakers] would have the public believe that they speak for all of Berkeley, but that could not be further from the truth.”
She added: “Thank you again for not cowering to pressure and hate. We stand with our elected Berkeley officials.”