RULES COMMITTEE: 4/24/2024
Item: B.1
File ID: ROGC 24-570
TO: Honorable Mayor & FROM: Toni J. Taber, CMC
City Council City Clerk
SUBJECT: The Public Record DATE: April 24, 2024
April 11 – April 18, 2024
ITEMS FILED FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD
Letters from Boards, Commissions, and Committees
Letters from the Public
1-2. Letters from two members of the public, dated April 11 – 15, 2024, regarding: Ban City-Sponsored Travel to Israel.
____________________________
Toni J. Taber, CMC
City Clerk
TJT/tt
4/15/24, 11 59 AM Mail Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas Outlook https //outlook office365 com/mail/rulescommitteeagenda@sanjoseca gov/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT 1/2 [External Email]
FW: Ban City Sponsored Travel to Israel
City Clerk <[email protected]>
Thu 4/11/2024 4:14 PM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> From: Merfet A
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2024 4:05 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Ban City-Sponsored Travel to Israel
San Jose City Clerk ,
I urge you to take action and ban city authorized travel to Israel. In 2022, the City Council blocked then Mayor Sam Liccardo from traveling to Qatar due to concerns about that country's human rights record, yet said nothing when he made a taxpayer-funded official trip to Israel in 2019. As Israel's extreme violations of human rights grow day by day, I ask that you act consistently and institute a policy ending official City travel to Israel.
Today, residents of San Jose are hurting, witnessing families and innocent civilians being killed by Israel in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Over the past 100+ days, Israel has killed over 27,000 Palestinians, besieged educational, cultural, and medical institutions in Gaza, and committed countless human rights violations against the Palestinian people.
According to the United Nations Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, these violations include the targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure, the intentional deprivation of food, water, and healthcare from the civilian population of Gaza, and the indefinite detention of Gazans without trial.
In 2019, the City Council rejected then Mayor Liccardo’s trip to Qatar based on a report by Amnesty International that Qatar had committed human rights abuses. Here is how Amnesty International described Israel’s human rights record before that country began its military invasion of Gaza:
“Israel’s continuing oppressive and discriminatory system of governing Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) constituted a system of apartheid, and Israeli officials committed the crime of apartheid under international law.” The Amnesty International report further noted that Israel has “imposed arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement and closures that amounted to collective Public Record: 1
4/16/24, 11 01 AM Mail Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas Outlook https //outlook office365 com/mail/rulescommitteeagenda@sanjoseca gov/inbox/id/AAQkADhhYzk3NTk1LTBmZDAtNDc4Yi1hN2Q0LTZjNmZjNTk5MT 1/2 [External Email]
Fw: Ban City Sponsored Travel to Israel
Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Tue 4/16/2024 10:46 AM
To:Rules and Open Government Committee Agendas <[email protected]> From: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2024 7:45 AM
To: Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Subject: FW: Ban City-Sponsored Travel to Israel
From: Melissa Le-Lewis
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2024 3:59 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Ban City-Sponsored Travel to Israel
San Jose City Clerk ,
I urge you to take action and ban city-authorized travel to Israel.
Israel has shown time and again that it is a racist apartheid regime. It does not care about human rights for anyone other than Israelis and its apartheid and genocidal practices are constantly costing US taxpayers money.
I do not support Israel. I know so many San Jose natives who do not support Israel. I want my city council to reflect my values as a member of the Bay Area and a tax paying, voting resident of San Jose.
In 2022, the City Council blocked then-Mayor Sam Liccardo from traveling to Qatar due to concerns about that country's human rights record, yet said nothing when he made a taxpayer funded official trip to Israel in 2019. As Israel's extreme violations of human rights grow day by day, I ask that you act consistently and institute a policy ending official City travel to Israel.
Today, residents of San Jose are hurting, witnessing families and innocent civilians being killed by Israel in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Over the past 100+ days, Israel has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, besieged educational, cultural, and medical institutions in Gaza, and committed countless human rights violations against the Palestinian people. 15,000 children of the deaths have been children. According to the United Nations Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, these violations include the targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure, the intentional deprivation of food, water, and Public Record: 2