The Richmond City Council has passed a resolution supporting Palestinian people living in the Gaza Strip after a fractious meeting that lasted well into the night. 

With a 5-1 vote, the council passed Tuesday the “Resolution Affirming Richmond’s Support and Solidarity with the Palestinian People of Gaza,” which was put on the agenda by Mayor Eduardo Martinez and Vice Mayor Gayle McLaughlin. 

Councilmember Cesar Zepeda was the sole dissenting vote.

The resolution says Palestinians are “facing a campaign of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment by the state of Israel” and “the state of Israel would not be able to maintain an apartheid regime without enormous military aid provided by the United States every year,” among other things. 

The resolution drew praise from the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Bay Area chapter and condemnation from the Jewish Community Relations Council, both of which sent out press releases Wednesday.

“This resolution signifies a step forward in acknowledging the suffering of the Palestinian people and the urgent need for change,” said Musa Tariq, CAIR-SFBA policy coordinator. “We hope that this resolution serves as an inspiration to other communities to address and raise their voices against the injustices occurring in Palestine and around the world.”

‘Not a safe place for Jews’

The JCRC said the meeting descended into chaos and confusion and was marked by a lack of decorum.

“Hamas had a great night in Richmond, with five hours of chaos and unrelenting repulsive speech against Israel and Jews. The council demonstrated profound ignorance and incompetence,” said JCRC Bay Area CEO Tyler Gregory. “Richmond could not bring itself to condemn mass murder against Jewish civilians and is not a safe place for Jews. There will be consequences for this taxpayer-funded circus.”

The resolution is in response to the war between Israel and Hamas, which attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people and taking hundreds of hostages, prompting deadly airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.