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Berkeley Peace & Justice Commission votes 8-7 to send Ceasefire Resolution to City Hall

by Hank Pellissier
The vote was only tight because Berkeley City Hall packed the commission with Zionists
The vote was only tight because Berkeley City Hall packed the commission with Zionists
On September 30 a standing-room-only audience of 300+ citizens at Berkeley Senior Center waited stoically for 4 hours for the so-called Berkeley Peace & Justice Commission to finally pass a “Resolution for an Immediate and Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to U.S. Military Aid to Israel, and Support for Palestinian Self-Determination.”

The measure narrowly squeaked in with an 8-7 majority.

The voting SHOULD NOT have been this tight. The only reason it was close is because Zionists in Berkeley City Hall did every possible slimy maneuver they could to pack the commission with anti-ceasefire candidates who have absolutely no ethical qualifications to be on a board addressing peace & justice issues. They were only chosen because they are Zionist puppets happily voting like their Zionist handlers in Berkeley City Hall want them to.

The 15 commission members are each selected by individual council members, plus the mayor, and the school director. New commissioners include Nimrod Pitsker Elias (appointed by Sophie Hahn on 12/5/23); Robin Mencher (appointed by Susan Wengraf on 1/4/24), and Allegra Guarino (appointed by Rashi Kesarwani on 2/2/24). All three appointees have been obstructionists to peace & justice in Palestine.

Just a month ago, on August 30, councilmember Igor Tregub removed longtime commissioner Diana Bohn (she’s pro-Palestinian) for what seemed, at best, a petty bureaucratic reason. The honest excuse for her dismissal, of course, was that she wasn’t going to vote Zionist, like Igor wanted her too. Additionally, just hours before the meeting, a new anti-ceasefire Zionist was appointed to the Peace & Justice Commission by Councilmember Mark Humbert.

Mayor Jesse Areguin’s appointee - Andrea Cassidy - is also a truth-denying Zionist. At the meeting she ludicrously praised Israel as a very diverse country where there is no apartheid ?!?!?!? A Palestinian American in the audience countered this by holding up his green ID card that prevents him from moving freely in Palestine.

Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission was established in 1986 during the Divest From South Africa movement, to advise City Council and the School Board on Berkeley’s role in peace and social justice issues. In its 38 years of existence it has often performed as the “conscience” of Berkeley, but in the last year, its morality has been poisoned by fraudulent appointees.

As a result, Berkeley has been shockingly absent in the global and national outcry against Netanyahu’s butchery. One hundred USA cities have called for a ceasefire, including local cities Richmond, Oakland, Hayward, Daly City, Pacifica, East Palo Alto, San Francisco, South San Francisco, Albany, Cotati, Davis, and another dozen or more cities in Southern California. Multiple college and university campuses also established encampments in support of Gaza last spring, including UC Berkeley.

Despite all this, the once-progressive city of Berkeley has done NOTHING, except infiltrate its peace & justice commission with genocide enablers.

Shame, Shame, Shame.
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by IndyRadio

The last time Berkeley had a chance to stand up for justice was 2 years ago, when a ticket quota targeting the homeless was revealed, along with the heavy drinking and hateful slurs of their well coifed guardians. LEAKED TEXT MESSAGES The backdrop for their absurd theater hasn't changed, the play is the thing that covers the true story of who rules Berkeley.

Today it is clear that we are confronted with a dangerous cancer that is spreading rapidly through the Middle East, and who will oppose it? Berkeley has a "Peace and Justice" commission, but it was packed with grifters with the intent of terminating it's mission, as you clearly state: "The only reason it was close is because Zionists in Berkeley City Hall did every possible slimy maneuver they could to pack the commission with anti-ceasefire candidates who have absolutely no ethical qualifications to be on a board addressing peace & justice issues. They were only chosen because they are Zionist puppets happily voting like their Zionist handlers in Berkeley City Hall want them to."

The same Royalty of City Hall recently chose to ignore corruption in the Police Department, hired their insiders and gave themselves all raises. It was difficult to have today's measure sent to City Hall, and you will soon see who is in charge, just like you saw when those text messages were revealed.

I will remind you in case if you missed it: City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley thought it was more important to promote her friend, Jen Louis, to the position of Chief rather than look seriously at the massive trove of evidence that was leaked publicly.

The fact that Jen Louis is openly gay does not mitigate the situation one bit. When all are treated equally, the homeless are not kicked to the curb while we pinkwash ourselves and smile.

So here we will post part of what we shared 2 years ago, and there are several independent websites in Berkeley that still have the inappropriate text messages between Berkeley police denigrating the homeless and revealed a quota of tickets they were "unofficially" urged to write up to help ensure the removal of all homeless people from public view in Berkeley.

The city staff, council and mayor found it more important to ensure that all of them, would live at least as comfortably as their counterparts elsewhere on the coast, with salaries above $250,000/yr plus generous pensions that may spell doom for the future of Berkeley. This was the important matter. Justice was kicked to the curb, and nothing was changed except the salaries.

Background:

Don’t Count On Berkeley for Justice

by Jenn
I am glad we were able to pass a resolution for ceasefire out of the commission. I have been totally shocked by Berkeley’s silence over the unequivocal horror of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and general Israeli belligerence in the region. I feel a bit like Ichabod Crane—was I asleep when Berkeley lost its best asset: the political consciousness and commitment to peace and free speech? The reason I moved here and attended UCB? I’m actually embarrassed and disappointed. Genocide, harassment of the unhoused, the killing of People’s Park (which people died for), witch-hunts, surveillance of students, suspensions of beloved teachers from Berkeley High? Yuck. Clearly I need to pay closer attention to our town. It has been my home on and off since 1978. I was happy to see that the political hipster elders and younger progressives were out en masse at the meeting. I even had the pleasure of meeting an 89-year-old Jewish socialist. We have to nurture the spirit of peace and justice. One good thing is how many wonderfully principled young organizers are on the scene. If only profit wasn’t lurking over this town like a bad smell.
by Hank Pellissier
It's deeply disgusting that pro-Israel Zionists at City Hall have packed the so-called Peace & Justice Commission with appointees who are just there to parrot the opinions of the Zio-councilmembers who appointed them.

This is corrupt and everyone participating in this is corrupt. It is a sham, a disgrace. Council members who appoint people with no qualifications except that they are Zionists, are dishonest, and appointees who accept commission posts who know they were only selected because they are pro-Israel, are also unethical.

The only way to fix this is to have a Peace & Justice Commission that IS NOT selected by politicos. The Commission should be composed of recognized leaders in Peace & Justice organizations centered in Berkeley. This group should select its own members.

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