The Eureka City Council has unanimously approved a letter accusing Israel of genocide, a rare example of an American city government using the heavily disputed term to describe Israel’s conduct in the ongoing war.
Tuesday’s decision comes as an increasing number of Democrats say they believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza — an accusation that Israel and its supporters vehemently reject.
Coming from a small, progressive city in rural Humboldt County, the letter also represents an escalation in rhetoric among municipal officials. At least two dozen Northern California cities, including San Francisco, Oakland and Eureka, approved resolutions calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in late 2023 and in 2024. Those resolutions condemned Israel but did not accuse it of genocide.
Like Richmond and Hayward, Eureka voted in favor of cutting economic ties with Israel. Eureka’s letter specifically addresses CalPERS, a massive retirement fund for the state’s public employees with over $550 billion in its portfolio.
The Anti-Defamation League sharply condemned the Eureka City Council’s decision, saying that council members had been misled by anti-Israel activists, some of whom are antisemitic.
“They’re falling prey to the propaganda war against Israel,” said Marc Levine, director of ADL’s regional office based in San Francisco, adding that his organization will reach out to the city council in the near future.
The council voted 4-0, with one member absent, in favor of sending the letter, which calls on the state pension fund to divest from companies that “facilitate” the “genocide of the Palestinian people” and violate other human rights. The statement uses “genocide” three times to describe Israel’s conduct in the war and also accuses Israel of apartheid — another term that Israel’s opponents frequently use and that Israel firmly denies.
The vote followed a concerted push from anti-Zionist activists in Eureka for public officials to cut economic ties with Israel. Eureka, a city along the far northern coast of California, has a population of roughly 25,000. It is the largest city, as well as the county seat, in mostly rural and predominantly white Humboldt County.
A contingent of strident pro-Palestinian activists have been active in the county since the onset of war. In nearby Arcata, pro-Israel billboards were vandalized twice earlier this year. Cal Poly Humboldt, the public university in Arcata, witnessed some of the most disruptive pro-Palestinian campus protests in the country during spring 2024, as demonstrators barricaded themselves inside buildings, clashed with police and sent the campus into lockdown. Jewish pro-Israel students had fake blood thrown on them and were shouted at as “Zios.” The U.S. Department of Education has launched a civil rights investigation into the university over such actions.
Roughly a dozen pro-Palestinian activists spoke at Tuesday’s city council meeting, which began with a land acknowledgement read by the mayor that included a “commitment to dismantle the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism.” One speaker defended Israel, reading from Scripture.
Pro-Palestinian speakers, many with kaffiyehs, watermelon accessories and Palestinian flags, accused Israel of grave evils.
A woman wearing large watermelon earrings thanked the council for bringing forward the discussion item, condemning what she described as the “settler state of Israel” and the “Zionist regime” which is committing a “Holocaust” against Palestinians.
A man with a red beard and a kaffiyeh draped over his shoulders said Israel was engaged in a policy equivalent to the Nazis “Lebensraum,” a program of territorial expansion to make room for ethnic Germans.
“Lebensraum and Zionism are mirrors of one another,” he said as two women behind him wearing kaffiyehs nodded.
“Zionists are destroying what little credibility that Jews have,” an older woman said.
Levine of the ADL described what he considers to be an antisemitic effort to delegitimize Israel in a phone call with J.
“Councilmembers and community members should see through this facade of being anti-Israel for what it truly is — which is a deep hatred for Jewish people,” Levine said. “It’s unfortunate that the councilmembers looked past that and did not seek additional support to understand what was happening in the community.”
Proponents of a genocide claim against Israel often point to the scale of death and suffering among the civilian population in Gaza. More than 60,000 people have been killed since the onset of war, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Opponents of the label point out that Hamas embeds itself in the civilian population, as well the Israeli military’s efforts to warn civilians prior to strikes and to facilitate the influx of food and humanitarian aid into the enclave. Israel’s stated intent of the war is to destroy Hamas following Oct. 7, 2023, the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history, and to return the 50 hostages, alive and dead, still held in Gaza.
J. emailed the four councilmembers who voted at the meeting and received a response from councilmember Renee Contreras-DeLoach, who, like her colleagues, voted in favor of the letter. During the meeting, Contreras-DeLoach introduced an amendment to change language that referred to “Israeli apartheid and genocide” because she said it sounded as if the council was blaming the Israeli people. The final draft will instead state that the Israeli “government” is committing apartheid and genocide.
“I don’t like that word either,” she said of the word “genocide,” describing it as a “legal term with a legal definition” that is “difficult to track in real time.” Asked whether she sensed any antisemitism in the room during the meeting Tuesday, she replied “no, for the most part no,” adding that one woman, who made the comment about Jews losing “what little credibility” they have, may have crossed a line.
Contreras-DeLoach, who comes from a military family, described Hamas as a “bad actor” and “terrible,” adding, “I think the world is now witnessing and watching what appears to be the complete destruction of Palestine.”
According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, the claim that Israel is committing genocide is gaining credence in the U.S., particularly among Democrats. The poll found that 77% of Democrats believe Israel is committing genocide, while 20% of Republicans say the same.
Levine said he considers it the ADL’s responsibility to “inform” the city council about the issue, adding that he felt the council may have succumbed to “very loud voices” in the community.
“They may have been taken advantage of here,” he said.