Photography courtesy of Julian Lucas
Mount San Antonio College Protest Fall ©2023
Published Thursday 1/25/2024 | 1:05pm PST
The City Council of the City of Pomona hereby supports Congressional Resolution H.R. 786, and joins other cities in calling on Congress and the Biden administration to demand: an immediate ceasefire; an immediate release of all hostages Hamas took on October 7, 2023; urgent safe passage and delivery of substantial and sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza; and a lasting political resolution that protects the lives, health, and security of all innocent civilians.”
On Monday, the City Council of Pomona voted to approve a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Israel/Palestine in response to a broad coalition of advocates who had begun lobbying the Council at Council meetings starting in mid-December. During this time, advocates for ceasefire had also submitted a petition with over 300 signatures to the City asking for a resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Forty people spoke in favor of the resolution and one spoke against.
Those who spoke in favor included young and old (including one 7 year-old), Arab-Americans, White, Latinx and Black. They identified as Muslim, Jewish, Christian. Some identified themselves as Palestinian, with relatives in either Gaza, the West Bank or both. One man identified as a son of an Israeli national, and a local professor emeritus declared he was the descendant of Holocaust survivors and was aligned with Jewish Voice for Peace. The speakers included professors, teachers, medical doctors, lawyers, mothers and fathers, students, a City Council candidate and the undocumented. Many were associated with Cal Poly Pomona as former alumni or in other capacities. One Latinx speaker spoke about the importance of “brown and brown unity.” Some noted their frustration at sending so much money to bomb Gaza when the need is so great right here in the City. Many spoke about the need to address both Islamophobia and anti-semitism.
A few of the speakers requested that the City contact Congresswoman Norma Torres urging her to also ask for ceasefire on a national level.
The sole speaker who opposed the resolution identified himself as Jewish and stated that the act of singling out Israel/Palestine was anti-semitic since the City had not addressed other wars and conflicts in Northern Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine.
While the vast majority of speakers voiced their gratitude to the City for putting the resolution on the agenda, many stated that the resolution did not go far enough. In response to these public comments, Mayor Sandoval and other Council members asked staff to redraft on the spot. Acting City Manager Anita Guiterrez quickly edited and amended parts of the resolution to satisfy the Council.
The description “many thousands of innocent civilian Israeli and Palestinian lives” was changed to the more specific “over 30,000 innocent Palestinians.” The new draft also noted that 85% of Gaza infrastructure had been damaged, that 1.9 million people had been displaced, and that the toll should be referred to as “collective punishment" by Israel. In addition, the redrafted resolution called for the need for humanitarian aid.
All of the Council members voted to adopt the resolution except for Council member Robert Torres, son of Congress member Norma Torres, who abstained, stating, “I will not be forced into a position.” He mentioned his irritation at comments directed at him on social media. Robert Torres is currently running for a higher office, California State Assembly member for District 53.
In approving this resolution, Pomona joins the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, Cudahy and Long Beach in asking for ceasefire.
During the discussion of the resolution, Council member John Nolte, expressed the regret felt by many in the room. “It’s hard to be here and not be able to do a lot,” Nolte said. “We’re doing what we can.”
Julian Lucas is a traditional darkroom photographer, a purveyor of books, and writer, but mostly a photographer. But don’t ever ask him to take photos of weddings, quinceñeras, birthdays. He’ll charge you 100,000,000. Julian is also the owner and founder of Mirrored Society Book Shop, BOOK-STORE, and publisher of The Pomonan.
Pamela Casey Nagler, Pomona-born, is an independent scholar, currently conducting research on California’s indigenous people, focusing on the Spanish, Russian, Mexican and US invasions between 1769 and the 1860s. The point of studying this history is to tell us how we got here from there.
