Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: CEASEFIRE RESOLUTION FOR THE ISRAELIPALESTINIAN CONFLICT Date: January 9, 2024
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council of the City of Cotati adopt a resolution calling for an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire and permanent resolution to the conflict.
Background
At the December 12, 2023 City Council meeting, Cotati residents requested that the City adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during Citizen’s Business.
The City Council subsequently directed staff to return with a resolution at the next City Council meeting (January 9, 2024).
Analysis/Discussion
Palestine was among former Ottoman Empire territories placed under the administration of the United Kingdom by the League of Nations in 1922 following World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
During administration by the United Kingdom, the British Mandate expressed support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and from 1922 to 1947, large-scale Jewish immigration took place, mainly from Eastern Europe, with the numbers swelling in the 1930s with the Holocaust and Nazi persecution of Jewish people in Nazi controlled areas of Europe.
In 1947, the United Nations (UN) took over the issue of Palestine from the United Kingdom with the UN proposing to terminate the Mandate and partition Palestine into two independent States, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish, with Jerusalem internationalized.
In 1948, Israel proclaimed its independence, triggering a war with its Arab neighbors which ultimately resulted in the initial territorial expansion of Israel and displacement of Palestinian Arabs. Subsequent wars and on-going conflict have continued to this day, as outlined in a brief history of the conflict here1.
The latest round in the long history of violence between Israel and the Palestinians began on October 7, 2023 with the incursion of Palestinian armed groups into Israel at multiple locations adjacent to the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of Israelis and the taking of hostages, many of which are still being held by armed Palestinian groups. An infographic from the United Nations on the conflict is attached to this staff report, as well as US House Resolution 786, referenced in the proposed resolution.
Currently, the Gaza Strip is administered by Hamas and the West Bank is administered by the Palestinian National Authority.
If the attached resolution is approved by the City Council, a copy will be sent to Sonoma County’s Supervisors, the Sonoma County Mayors and Council members Association mailing list, California State Assemblymembers, Representatives, and Governor, and United States’ Representatives, Senators, Vice President, and President.
Financial Considerations
None.
1 https://www.un.org/unispal/history/
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.