California city the first in US to condemn Israel attacks in Gaza

On Oct 26, 2023

** PHOTO CREDIT MUST INCLUDE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE ** A woman who gave her name as CJ holds a pro-Palestinian sign during a Richmond City Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, in Richmond, Calif. The Council was scheduled to vote on a resolution calling Israel's occupation of Gaza an apartheid regime and its war against Hamas a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY(REDNA) – A California city has become the first in the US to pass a resolution condemning Israel — accusing the Jewish nation of committing “ethnic cleansing and collective punishment.”

The resolution passed by the Richmond City Council Wednesday states, in part, that Palestinians in Gaza “are currently facing a campaign of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment by the state of Israel.”

That “is considered a war crime under international law,” the resolution stated.

It also calls for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the safe passage of substantial humanitarian aid to Gaza,” as well as an “end to Israeli apartheid and the occupation and blockade of Palestinian land by Israeli military forces.”