![Crowds gather on steps of 850 Bryant Street Courthouse calling for drop of charges for 78 Bay Area residents who were arrested during the November 16 Israel-Palestine ceasefire protest that stopped traffic on the Bay Bridge during President Biden’s visit to San Francisco, as court appearances begin in San Francisco, California, United States on December 18, 2023 [Tayfun Coşkun/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/AA-20231218-33217061-33217055-PROPALESTINIAN_DEMONSTRATORS_CALL_FOR_DROP_CHARGES_ON_SF_BAY_BRIDGE_PROTEST-1-scaled-e1703163802176.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
San Francisco has become the largest US city to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The resolution passed in an 8-3 vote by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors yesterday.
It calls for a sustained ceasefire, lifesaving humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the release of all hostages, calling on Congress and US President Joe Biden’s administration to do the same; the condemnation of anti-Semitic, anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic, xenophobic rhetoric and attacks; the condemnation of attacks on civilians by Hamas and by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; and a resolution for a just and lasting peace holding all parties accountable. First proposed on 5 December, the motion underwent several revisions before the Board finally settled on the language of the text.
San Francisco just became the largest city in the United States to pass a ceasefire resolution!! pic.twitter.com/XuEvU9j7cT
— sabrina (@SabrinGh) January 10, 2024
After the motion was passed, Executive Director of Arab Resource and Organising Centre, Lara Kiswany, said: “We are grateful to all the supervisors who have championed this issue, taking it as a critical matter and listening to their constituents facing hate violence.”
Met with roaring applause, the passing of the resolution, however, has no bearing on government policy though it falls in line with American public opinion where some 68 per cent of people agreed with a statement that “Israel should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate.”
READ: Calls for Egypt to transfer 6,000 wounded Gazans abroad