to go to a school that may as well be bombed at any moment. it's a dream knowing that my baby sister is safe and can play with stuffed toys instead of being worried every moment that she could be murdered on a hospital bed. it's a dream. knowing that i use pens to draw and make doodles of anime characters rather than writing my name, family, and address down on my own body. 23,000 palestinians have been killed in the past three months, 7000 being children. kids like me. i also want you to remember that these are not just numbers, a casualty, a consequence of someone's actions. these are lives they were lives of people. kids with toys and friends or adults with children. families spouses, jobs, people with dreams. and futures, just like everyone else in this room. thank you very much. good afternoon. my name is mta ahmed. i'm a registered voter and i work in san francisco. i'm calling on you to pass a resolution in its original form, demanding a ceasefire now is not

controversial or complicated, as you've heard, as an immigration attorney, i have heard from dozens of palestinian families who are scared for their lives and the lives of their family members in gaza, knowing any day could be their last because of what our own president has called indiscriminate bombing of gaza. this resolution recognizes the humanity of palestinians. we must. also acknowledge that our tax dollars make this genocide possible in that silence is not an option. this resolution. is your voice reflecting all of our voices, all of the voices you have heard commenting here and chanting in the streets, recognizing palestinian humanity is also a critical step in ending anti-arab and muslim hate and rising violence in san francisco. so we need you to pass this resolution to speak out in stand on the right side of human rights and the right side of history. thank you. uh,

just like to thank this, uh, board of supervisors for allowing us to speak on this issue. uh, i was also here in early december, and i am not in enthused that we have to be here yet again to explain this issue, but there's plenty of people to explain it. so you have no excuse to feign ignorance or apathy in this situation anymore. i urge you to pass this resolution without any disingenuous bad faith amendments. this is just like a microcosm of what happened in the un when the us voted against a ceasefire, and for what? to add amendments to condemn hamas. hamas is responsible for this violence, and the israeli government, because they have basically gone down this path of war without any conception of the good of the people and as government officials, you should also know, see this as the only way that we're going to get

peace in the future, because this is going to lead to regional war and i don't know, we'll sell a lot of arms and, you know, dumb bombs so we could continue destroying. but no one benefits from that. and we don't support it. so i urge you to vote your conscience. my name is yasmin. i'm a health care worker in the bay and a palestinian. i'm here to demand the permanent ceasefire resolution is put forward to a vote with no racist amendments. we are currently witnessing a genocide that has been ongoing for the past 75 years. what is happening is not complicated. the white supremacy settler state of israel is murdering palestinians, dorsey, shame on you. on your phone right now. um you're succumbing to pressures from racist lobbying groups. the resolution

as is, is the bare minimum that gaza needs. biden is not an adequate moral compass. biden's approval ratings have plummeted since october seventh and is trailing trump in presidential polls. biden's policy is genocidal and will lead to him losing the election. we, as your constituents and donors, will remember how you vote today and tomorrow. a permanent ceasefire resolution is needed immediately. if you believe that all human life is precious, you have the opportunity. to stand on the right side of history. my name is sami. i'm a palestinian voter in district nine with muslim, christian and jewish grandparents. the ceasefire resolution is not complicated and not controversial and should be passed without amendments in the face of genocide, calling for an unconditional ceasefire is the minimum. you should do to affirm the value and dignity of all human life. you have an

opportunity and a choice to represent your values. jews and the diverse voices from all across san francisco by supporting the resolution, as is rejecting the resolution or gutting it via amendments that leave it meaningless is controversial. all the small pro genocide fringe group that is opposed to the resolution is welcome to their disturbing views, but they can't condescend to me about what makes my people safe. if it's 2024, the racist and paternalistic rhetoric has no place in a peace loving society, and unfortunately, the proposed amendments reflect these dehumanized narratives, gutting the resolution is essentially a vote for genocide, and i do not believe these are your values and without amendment. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is carolyn goosen, and i'm here as a district eight resident, a mother, a member of the lgbt community and a city worker to

urge you all to please vote in favor of the ceasefire resolution as originally drafted . i'm also proud to be here. represent urging our elected, our elected public defender, menorah jew, who asked me to also share his support for the resolution as originally drafted . per public defender. rajoo quote, as a public defender, i stand against state violence and oppression and systems that violate civil and human rights, and i urge our u.s. leaders, including our san francisco leaders, to join the international community in seeking immediate and long terme solutions, ending military aggression, calling for a ceasefire and allowing for the return of people to their homes. my heart goes out to people suffering due to the loss of palestinian and israeli lives. othering, especially by leaders, is at the root of violence and oppression, and we must stand against it. end quote. thank you, supervisors preston and ronen, for introducing this. and please, supervisors, vote yes on the original resolution. so that we as a city can demand.

good afternoon, supervisors. my name is sydney simpson. i'm here as. a registered nurse, a parent and an advocate for peace. the ripple effects of war extend far beyond the casualties. and i want to remind you that some of the refugees of this war will become our neighbors here in san francisco. will you be proud of your work here today when they are your constituents? i want to encourage you all to be brave in this moment. as a nurse with deep uncondition commitment to the health and prosperity of all people, i beg that you recommend the resolution as is and prioritize humanity over politics. thank you. salam alaikum everybody. i'm moussa from kera, the council on american islamic relations, and we urge you to vote yes on the

ceasefire resolution with no amendments. when the resolution was introduced on december 5th, the death toll was at 20,000. since then, the number of palestinians killed by israel in gaza has soared over 30,000, including 10,000 plus children. will it take 10,000 more for you to take a moral stand on the israeli war on gaza is a textbook case of genocide in south africa, has filed genocide proceedings against israel at the un's international court of justice. there are dozens of pages demonstrating genocidal intent by israel in the icj filing. its estimated that 25% of gaza's population could die within the next year as a result of israel's blockade and bombardment. israel is starving gaza recent polling shows that 68% of all americans and over 80% of democrats support an immediate cease fire in gaza. this is not a divisive. call. this is a call for basic humanity and dignity. dignity, a holocaust is happening before our eyes. yet the world remains silent. palestinians are not numbers. they are human beings with hopes and dreams. please vote yes on the resolution with no amendments. thank you. my

name is marilyn emerson. my grand parents came here as refugees. armenians fleeing turkey sometime around 1915. so so, um, there is history of genocide in my family background . since when? in the history of humanity has genocide ever been justified? there is no equation. you you supervisors, you know the right thing to do. thank you . so supervisors, my name is charles lewis. i am a born san

franciscan, which means i can walk to the very hospital where i was born. i am a black man, which means my blackness was tried to be weaponized by the jcrc earlier today. and i am a journalist, which means i dig up facts and can refute everything that they try to put out, such as the fact that when this infamous new york times article came out, it was real. journalists who were able to refute all of it that very afternoon and also reported how, when hostages were released from hamas, they did not critically criticize hamas. they criticized benjamin netanyahu, who and it was hostages released who were shot by the idf. now we have heard from two different kinds of south africans. there's one who used his apartheid money to buy twitter and spew real anti-semitism on a daily basis. whereas the majority of south africans are against the genocide happening because they have seen what that looks like firsthand, they know what apartheid is and they are against it, which is why all of

us are against it. and you have to hold up that san francisco legacy. good afternoon motherfuckers. my name is jordan . my pronouns are she her, they them. you haven't run my clock yet and i'm at d5 voter. as a disability rights activist, i say ceasefire right fucking now. no racist amendments. there are many palestinians who are physically disabled and mentally traumatized by israel's atrocities. and even if i was a jew in israel, i'd be in jail for being too disabled to serve in the rape apologists, idf and unable to get health care because i'm unable to fucking work. you work for the people you don't work for the zion nazi baby killing, bitch ass motherfuckers at the jcrc who cry wolf about anti-semitism. when we say free gaza. in fact, the only difference between fucking nazi germany and israel is that israel uses white phosphorus to burn people to death instead of ovens. we

millennials and gen z hate collective punishment. bullshit and i can't wait for all you boomers for bibi to fucking get media like the dinosaurs up yours. pink wash your dorsey, lick my cotton and choke on it. i yield my time. fuck you. good afternoon. i presented in these chambers dozens of times over a nearly 20 year career in this building. until today, i've never been booed. had people put their hands behind my head to signal their distaste for what i am saying, i've never been shouted at or interrupted at this microphone. as you've seen repeatedly today, this behavior is designed to intimidate people . i am not scared. i am a proud jew who wouldn't be alive today without the existence of the state of israel. i believe in israel's right to defend itself. i've mourned every day since october 7th for the young people raped and murdered while dancing

, for people savagely murdered in their kibbutzim, and for the hundreds taken hostage and tortured. i don't claim to know how to achieve peace in the middle east. i hope peace will come, but i won't allow anyone here to pretend that calls for the eradication of israel are calls for peace. i am yisrael hai, up against the most militarized border in the world. why does idf choose hey, hey. hey, my name is francisco da costa. i say from the river to the sea. free palace. stein and i say to you, that right there is where we have the war memorial theater in november of 1945, the united nations charter was signed and. i say to you,

one of resolution is far superior. we're far more powerful, have been passed by the united nations to tell israel and the israeli defense force us to stop harming the palestinians, which they have done for 75 years. so this mickey mouse stuff that you all are doing here goes nowhere. if you really have your heart in the right place, then you can take anybody to a better place. you have failed. thank you very much. i know it sucks for you guys to sit here this long listening to people who are angry with you for good reason when gaza can't wait. and we've

been here a month or more. i know you might feel like this is a losing issue. either way, this is a losing issue. even with all their big toys, they can't do anything but kill innocent people and it looks terrible and we feel it. we're watching it on our phones. we are all losing and yet to lose so much. in the era of wealth hoarding, inequality and climate change, we've already lost so much in this era. in the culture of san francisco, no one has lost more than the people in gaza. and here we are. we are the people of san francisco. you know how unusual it is for this many people to be here. you know, we care enough that we will never forget. i'm yet another queer jewish person who has experienced sexual assault, begging you to not use these experiences against us and treat us like pawns to justify the way our tax money is being used to kill 30,000 people in gaza. nothing could justify the true terror and the us and israel are colluding. and please pass this without the offensive amendments. this just creates further bad faith for people with our government, local and national governments failing. you have the power to show the people you are listening. otherwise we will vote you out in eternal disgrace. shame on the amendment and anyone voting

no. cease fire! now end the occupation. my name is ilana. i am a 24 year. i am a 24 year voter and resident in district eight. i own a business and pay city and county taxes. i am jewish and you have put a target on my back by bringing this to the table in the first place. last night i was called a right wing murderer for doing nothing but being jewish. i do not feel safe here. also. so as a jew, i care for all people. but first and foremost, i care for my fellow san franciscans. i'm i am for the end of this war, but not for this resolution. let me explain why i'm ashamed that all of you, for wasting my tax dollars, as all of you, when you should be focusing on cleaning up our city funding our police, dealing with homeless and drug crisis. please stop wasting my taxes and throw this out. thank you. who i agree. hi my name is brenda and i'm a palestinian

american who's from an orthodox christian family. i am a native san franciscan born and raised here, and i'm a constituent in district four. i support the cease fire resolution without any amendments. this is a genocide. this is not a war. it needs to be treated as such. we are in a state of emergency. my father's family became refugees in 1948 and have been for decades. my family is a part of the fabric of san francisco community. my grandfather on my mom's side served in the us military in the first world war. since. 1940, we have owned a wide range of businesses from corner stores to cafes to properties, all in san francisco. palestinians in this city are doctors, engineers, lawyers, city workers and educators. we are your neighbors. myself i've been in business and a business owner in this city for over 30 years, as well as my brother and my cousins and a lot of my friends. we are your constituents. we are your voters, and it is your duty to represent our concerns, to be

on the right side of history. hello everyone. my name is doctor saba nafisi and i'm a scientist working in biotech, living in district ten, the bay view very proud to be a bayview resident. i want to talk about israel's unjust imprisonment of palestinians. i'm quoting an npr article from the end of november. as of november 1st, israeli authorities held nearly 7000 palestinians from the occupied territories in detention for alleged security offenses, according to the israeli human rights organization hamoked. among those being held are dozens of women and scores of children waiting without trial, and many on the assumptions of being future security issues regarding hamas. in 2009, avner cohen, a former israeli official, told the wall street journal hamas to migrate regret is israel's creation. i want to remind everyone here that what the palestinians are facing right now is a continuation of a 100 year war on palestine, led by

the zionists, outdated dreams of colonization of a land and ethnic cleansing of a people. please let this resolution pass without delay and without supervisor dorsey's racist and factually incorrect amendments. and i want to say i'm really proud to, um, uh, proud of dean preston. hello. my name is nasim nobari. i'm a resident of district six. i'm here to urge you to pass the cease fire resolution. as it is, my mother is jewish and my father is muslim, which makes me both jewish and muslim. and for me, there's no conflict. i'm not pulled between different allegiances because this situation is very simple. it is a very simple question of standing for human rights.

anyone, regardless of their affinities or their belongings, should be able to have the humanity to recognize that genocide and ethnic cleansing are wrong. i ask. each of you to move beyond personal affinities, biases, prejudice, political considerations to find your humanity and integrity, and to stand for human rights, oppose the genocide, cease fire now. hello. my name is nora. i'm a first generation queer tejana, and i'm a proud resident of the mission district. district nine. thank you, supervisor preston and ronen for co-sponsoring this resolution. i'm a part of health care workers for palestine bay area. i'm also a clinical librarian for the sf general hospital library. gaza's hospital system is completely destroyed, and i. think about this every day when i walk into the hospital. what if this happened here in san francisco? all of us would have nowhere to

go. when you pause for your moments of silence, visualize this supervisor walton and the board. you've witnessed firsthand the effects of long time residents being pushed out of their homes to losing childhood friends, to violence and incarceration. palestinians have faced the same since 1948. as a library, it's my duty to educate you all, and i recommend all of you when you go home tonight to watch the documentary 1948. it's a freely available online. it's just the tip of the iceberg in understanding this brutal history. educate yourselves and have the courage and the conscience to pass this resolution. the. hello, supervisor. my name is wheeler freeman and i'm a constituent of district eight and a 30 year resident of san francisco and the bay area. i speak as a black, biracial and indigenous american in full support of this resolution with no war or political semantics amendments.

i've heard voices speak of unprovoked attacks by hamas. however, we all know the history. prior to october 7th, this did not start with hamas, and with the discovery of and knowledge of new facts and contributions to the deaths on october 7th, we must reject these amendments and focus on what is at hand. and this is the end of the genocide against palestinians and a permanent cease fire. human lives should never be up for debate. human humanity should never be up for debate, for debate. but here we are again, and i was here december 5th. vote yes with no amendments. thank you. hi, supervisors. matt sherman, dean preston, um, great to see you all. matt, last time i saw you, you came to a memorial and you

tried to use the death of one of our fellows and twist it into a political ploy. shame on you. you need to make this right. i want to read a few quotes. the children are always ours. every single one of them. all over the globe. and i'm beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality. that's james baldwin. uh, he also says i'm terrified at the moral apathy. uh, angela davis, who graduates from my alma mater, brandeis university, says palestine is a moral litmus test for the world. this is a moral litmus test for san francisco. we are voting, uh, six supervisors in or out this upcoming election. we got, uh, many propositions. the mayor da we are watching and, um, this is one of the things that is going to define, you know, where your morality stands, where your values stand, and, uh, thank you so much. hi. thank you,

supervisors, for listening to us. my name is stacy, and i'm a 30 year resident of district five and a small business owner here to urge you to support dean preston's, um, initial. of fully without any amendments. we have to use the political power that we have here. i have walked precincts in d5 for 30 years since matt gonzales was running for that seat. and i know, as you all do, that the voters in this city way beyond the 68% nationally, support a permanent cease fire resolution. the only people benefiting from this war have names and their raytheon general dynamics leonardo, lockheed martin. and they are not the constituents of this district. we urge you to support unconditional once again, this cease fire resolution. and thank you to dean preston and everyone who is letting democracy happen here. you. are the elected officials that we have access

to. i call joe biden every day since this war started, and yet it is still going on. and he did not get permission from congress. i believe in democracy and. hi my name is kaizen. i live in district six on folsom street. i'm asking to urge you to support the cease fire resolution. um, when then history is taught? when we're lucky, i think we learn about the these atrocities that happen in the past. and i'm sure each of you on the rules committee have had this experience of looking back at terrible things that happened in the past, that we have some distance from, and thinking how could the people in charge have done this and let this happen in other places? and i think i just urge you to think about how, when the history is written about this, how whether you want to be someone who was

supporting acts of evil or whether you want to be, um, taking a stand, standing up bravely and, um, opposing what is a genocide happening in front of us. good afternoon. board members. my name is brilliant, and i am not a resident of sf. i'm a former resident. i come here from the dublin pleasanton area, and i'm here to ask you to vote yes for a cease fire resolution with no amendments. since i've been here last december, i think 10,000 plus people have died. um, i'm just here to amplify the voices of the palestinian people. the journalists, and then those among us here right now. so this issue is absolutely an issue that collects, uh, connects women's rights. it's about race. it's about colourism. um, it's a humanitarian issue. health care workers are dying. kids are

dying. um and this city has the opportunity, just like oakland, to set a precedent for the rest of the bay area. so i hope this will urge the world to have a cease fire now. thank you. hi, there. um, hi. supervisor dorsey, supervisor walton sapphire, who i know stepped out, and supervisor preston, my name is steph. i'm a resident of d1 and i'm here to urge you to vote for the ceasefire resolution without any amendments. we are witnessing a genocide, and it's our responsibility to be a part of ending it all. major human rights organizations, the un and vast majority of countries across the globe have done so. it would be really a shame if this board stood by as a genocide was happening and didn't speak out because it was too complicated. thank you for hearing me. ceasefire now. my

name is martha hubert. i'm a resident of district eight. i was really pleased to be at the vigil we had the other night in norway valley at the town square . i was ashamed that raphael mandelman wasn't there, but it was a lovely sight seeing hundreds. of my neighbors that i didn't even know cared that were caring and, uh, i just can't understand why this is even a question people are dying. what do we have to do to end this? the ceasefire is the only thing. so please vote for the ceasefire and thank you. dean preston. my name is sonia. i'm a bay area resident. thank you all so much for your attention this morning. and this afternoon. sometimes as

an arab american, it feels like i am not always accepted in america. and when i went to the first protest to call for a ceasefire, i. i really looked around at my colleagues and my peers and america, and i saw everybody out there, every religion, every race, every background, every. socioeconomic class, every single person was out. please stand with america and un american values. please stand up for democracy and truth . this was an overwhelming majority to pass this resolution as is, with no amendments. do your job as elected officials, public servants. to be vessels of the american voices. we have stood here today overwhelmed, asking you to pass this to please bring us relief. and tomorrow we will celebrate your victory. we celebrate you and celebrate your success. hi. my

name is gilbert, and all i can say is, uh, stop the occupation. stop the genocide. cease fire now! free palestine, do the right thing. it's justice. and that's what we want. and that's what everyone wants. look into your hearts. do the right thing. free palestine ceasefire now. hi my. my name is murong yao and i'm a resident of north beach in san francisco and a social worker for transitional aged youth experiencing homelessness in the tenderloin and in san francisco. general, i'm here to urge the board of supervisors to vote yes on the ceasefire resolution tomorrow without any amendments that will water down what is already a bare minimum resolution. california sends hundreds of millions of dollars to israel every year for the israeli state to commit

genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid against the palestinian people. while the youth i work with here in san francisco are struggling to get basic needs like food, housing and medical care as again, ceasefire is the bare minimum and you must vote yes to this resolution tomorrow without amendments. and as it is, thank you. good afternoon, supervisors . thanks so much for hearing us out. my name is mohammed. i'm a palestinian. um i'm also an advocate that has worked in the city on criminal justice reform issues. our presence today speaks for itself. you have heard from the overwhelming majority on the support for a ceasefire against genocide. and from your constituents. if you'd . like to vote with your constituents, we suggest and urge and demand that you vote to adopt a ceasefire resolution without amendments. when there's

a genocide happening, your reaction should not be we need to amend the calls to end that genocide. your response should be we need to end a genocide immediately when there are now 10,000 children murdered. you have heard today, outside of this meeting, you've received 30,000 letters of support for the resolution. as is. so i thank you for listening to us. and i thank supervisor preston for bringing this. thank you. i'm steve zeltzer. i produce work week on cpu and pacific as capitalism, race and democracy. uh, my union the pacific media workers guild, is supporting the ceasefire. but a ceasefire is not enough. ceasefire is not enough. we have to stop us military and economic aid to israel. we have to stop the war on the people of this world. truly tens of dollars are going to war. who is that benefiting? its benefit? benefit the war profiteers. when people in san francisco are dying on the

street, can't get health care, and this is going on. this is a crime against humanity. and it's not just in palestine. it's right here in san francisco. when you look at the streets, that is where it's at. we can't even take care of health care in this country. and they have national health care in israel. what the hell is going on? what is going on in this country? we have to change our priorities and we really need a working class party that will stand up for the working people here and the working people in palestine. thank you. yeah. are there any other members of the public who would like to make public comment on this item? i do not see any additional speakers. thank you, mr. clerk. public comment on this item is now closed and colleagues, i'm going to move the amendments. i read into the record earlier. um, i do want to do this in consideration of some of our colleagues who gave important feedback over the holidays to

bring more balance to a resolution that some of us believe is insufficient, insufficiently balanced. currently, um, i do want to remind everyone the amendments that have been moved are additive. they are not watering down. they're adding content and context to provide more balance. um as amended, this resolution would still support a sustained ceasefire in gaza. no reasonable minds can disagree, and i want to reiterate my appreciation to the supervisor, preston and supervisor ronen for an underlying resolution that is less divisive than many others. a resolution, however, can't be rendered unifying or moderate or non-controversial. simply because its supporters say it is . likewise, amendments intended to bring more balance to what i and others view as an unacceptably imbalanced resolution aren't divisive just

because opponents. say that the truth is nothing about this conflict or this resolution was ever going to be unifying, there is enormous pain on both sides. and i know that many of my colleagues have been it has been emotional for many of us to hear from people. um, but it's important, i think, that i hope this is true of colleagues, but i would ask that it's true of all san franciscans, that the disagreements we express over things, that we feel deeply. we don't make those with whom we disagree, bad people. but i want to state one thing clearly. um, i'm not alone in believing that our silence on facts about a terrorist attack, which so shocked the conscience, would be unacceptable for a board of supervisors resolution and it would be unworthy of the city of saint francis. i also want to address represents motions that were made here today that the

new york times has retracted its reporting of december 28th in its a two month investigation on a story that was called screams without words how hamas wept and used sexual violence. on october seventh, i have heard that it was retracted here. i have heard that it was retracted in private conversations. i checked the new york times to look for corrections or retraction. i found no evidence that that was true. i also did my due diligence personally and reached out to a new york times editor to ask about the stories status. the new york times stands by its reporting. the eyes of history are on us here, too, and i know that this is something that wherever we agree, you know, whatever we may disagree, i think there was some agreement on that. but. i'm not comfortable if denialism about gender based violence that will forever burnish october 7th into

the history books is viewed as being on the right side of history. that's the wrong side of history. i think it's important to adopt these amendments. i will support a sustained ceasefire resolution, but not if silence, silence or denialism about october 7th atrocities are part of it. and i'd ask for your support for amendments that bring more balance and further context to this resolution, which, at least for some of us at the board of supervisors was, um, agree. and support vice chair walton. thank you. chair dorsey. and first, i want to just start off by saying that i am truly sorry for anyone who has suffered loss in the region, uh, who has lost loved ones. my prayers are with you and your families and i am really hoping for peace. one day. i also want to thank everyone who came and spoke this

morning and into the afternoon. um, because i know that this is something that everyone is passionate about and this space that was provided today for hearing from everyone, i think is very important. uh i also do want to say that on november 17th, uh, i supported a cease fire via petition to president biden. even. before this resolution was, was introduced. uh, i want to just read a little . buet one paragraph from that resolution calling for president biden, vice president harris, and members of congress to call for a ceasefire. and this was signed by other local and state elected officials here in california. and also members of several communities. but it says, dear president biden, vice president harris and members of

congress, we write to you, in this time of escalating violence, tension and division, to urge you to use all the authority and power of your office to facilitate a long terme ceasefire and end the ongoing violence in israel, palestine by conditioning the future us funding on a genuine path to peace. we watched with horror the violence unleashed by hamas, the horrific killings of 1200 men, women and children on october 7th. the impact that this attack had on a jewish people already on edge from increased anti semitism and a long history of trauma cannot be overstated. we watched with equal horror as israel responded by cutting off food, water and fuel to the entire population of gaza and continue to watch as over at the time, 12,000 men,

women and children have been killed under an indiscriminate and overwhelming bombing campaign. the humanitarian crisis that is the impact of this response is compounded by the increase islamophobia and long history of trauma cannot be overstated, and we watch in horror the rise in anti-semitism and islamophobia in the united states as our communities become increasingly divided. i just wanted to put that in the record , because definitely believe in a ceasefire. uh, also do want to condemn all forms of hate, whether it be anti-palestine, an anti-semitic. islamophobic and, you know, as a black man, i'm 100% know what it's like to be discriminated against, what it's like to be hated, what it is like to have to deal with the

effects of racism. um, and i 100% also agree with supervisor safai when he states that if anyone walks away feeling like they lost or won, then we may be falling short at our attempt to garner peace through our resolution. but i also know that we 100% have to do something and . i really, really just want to state that as we move forward, the 100% focus should be about condemning hate, should be about bringing people together, should be about asking to return hostages. it should be about asking for humanitarian aid, and most certainly to make sure that all violence is stopped. and i would just end with this as we move forward. either way, all

amendments should be weighed in by the full board of supervisors, and not just by this committee. supervisor preston, thank you, chair dorsey. um vice chair walton and , uh, supervisor safai. so uh, and thank you for again for calendaring this and for, um, the. uh, the time, uh, hearing from everyone. i really want to thank everyone who came out to speak today. um, and join my colleagues in extending our condolences to everyone who's lost family, friends and loved ones. um i think that as, um, i believe supervisor safai noted earlier, this is an unprecedented i think, amount of public comment turnout. um, and,

uh, emails. people coming in were here, what, five, five or 5.5 hours later? um wrapping up, uh, public comment. and i think that, um, speaks to how strongly people feel about us moving forward with the ceasefire resolution. i want to say that our resolution does. i think exactly what. what supervisor walton laid out, which was to call for ceasefire, uh, humanitarian aid, um, release of all hostages and condemn hate. i mean, that that is the, um, that's what the original resolution does. um, and i want to talk a little bit about the content and, and, and amendments here. so so, um. the the language of this resolution and, and this was not easy to do. right. but we endeavored to do this in conjunction with and talking with all stakeholders

before introducing it. it was designed to underscore our shared humanity and bring people together in defense of human life. in contrast to the amendments that chair dorsey is proposing, our resolution intentionally did not call. for one side or the other to surrender or to have this board purport to decide, instead of the israeli or palestinian people, what long terme solutions and political structure are appropriate in the region. often we did not include that it was beyond the scope of this resolution. we were seeking the ground that we could hopefully all agree on as many of the public commenters have spoken to, which is a ceasefire, humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages. our resolution has been pending over a month. the only request. for amendments

that we received before friday. a few days ago was supervisor melgar, who originally asked that we withdraw reference to a particular federal bill, which we honored and took that out prior to introducing the resolution and the supervisor, engardio, who requested language more strongly condemning hamas's attack, which, as i'll explain, we in corporated into amends. it's balanced amendments that we have proposed. and supervisor engardio also suggested a call for regime change on all sides, and we did not include that, um, because it was clear to me that that was beyond the scope of this resolution and wou acally lead to loss of support for this resolution because of differing views on that issue. since friday, we've received a series of what i can only

describe as one sided amendments and shifting goalposts. i want to address the claim that our original resolution was one sided because that was a talking point. very unfortunate and an and i would say cynically spread by some. i had so many people who originally said, why are you doing a one sided resolution? and then we said, have you read it? they said, no, and we sent them the resolution and they read it and they said, oh, we're pleasantly surprised. we actually thought you had written a resolution that fill in the blank that, you know, and. all a lot of the things that we've heard from opponents that are not in the resolution. so i want to be very clear on that. i also want to be clear on on what we're talking about, about when

we say one sided, if someone believes our resolution is one sided. i am still waiting for them to point to what is one sided about it. and with all due respect, and again, we've had good conversations with with with supervisor dorsey, with chair dorsey, i, i cannot think of a more one sided amendment than in a cease fire resolution in to call for the surrender of one side right. i it's just that that is one can believe in the surrender of one side. i don't people can have that view. people can articulate articulate that view. but that is by definition a one sided amendment and an amendment that will not bring people together. so i just it it is an advocacy amendment.

for one particular side. um, but it is not not an attempt to find common ground or to make a resolution more balanced. so we believe that the amendments that i have circulated to the committee are consistent with the good faith feedback that we've received from a lot of critics of the resolution, as well as a lot of supporters and all the engagement, while keeping this as a balanced no, not one sided resolution. in and address the concerns raised and focusing. on the things that supervisor walton uh, identified as the purposes of what should be the purposes of the resolution. and we've invited suggestions the whole way through, the whole way through from our colleagues and the public. um, and it is concerning to have this flurry of amendments emerge since since friday, um, the so i'm going. to and with apologies for the time

it will take, but it has been requested and thank you supervisor safai. i think the suggestion that we outline them, i outlined them, uh, in terms of describe them in opening comments, but i will go ahead since you're poised to decide what amendments, if any, to adopt here today. i'm going to go through them, uh, quickly as i can here. um, in terms of what the specific amendments would be, i want to emphasize, um, we are comfortable with the resolution as drafted and moving it forward in that way. the amendments that i am about to read are amendments that address and incorporate some of the criticisms and some of the suggestions. while not betraying . the fundamentals of the resolution. and from our conversation with so many advocates and supporters of the resolution, would maintain in their support while addressing, uh, some of the concerns raised. so i will i will read through

them now, um, at, at page one, line seven, uh, where it says all human life is precious. and the targeting of add the word or indiscriminate killing of. and then that's followed by civilians, uh, at line. ten and 11. um changing wounded, thousands more in the region to wounded, uh, tens of thousands more in the region at lines 12 to 13, change. the 1.7. the. the 1.7 million palestinians displaced since october 7th. updating that number to 1.9 million palestinians displaced the at lines. 16 to 17. um amending the number of remaining israeli hostages in gaza. from

137 to 129. again, these are for accuracy and our updates. and again a reminder that the resolution specifically calls for the release of all hostages. in addition to ceasefire and human an aid in line on page one. still 22 starting in 22 at adding the following language after reference to the un general assembly resolution. uh quote. and on december 12, 2023, adopted. that's the un adopted with a large majority, a resolution demanding an end quote, immediate humanitarian cease fire. the, quote, immediate at un conditional release of all hostages. and humanitarian aid, adding a whereas paragraph f on line page two, line three that states

whereas various international human rights and humanitarian organizations have similarly called for an immediate permanent cease fire release of all hostages and humanity, an aid. adding at page two, line 232 a new whereas. clause that says whereas on on december 9th, 2023, the united states vetoed a resolution in the united nations security council which called for an immediate humanity cease fire and has since continued to refuse to support it to refuse support for any resolutions calling for a cease fire. on page. three. adding. three resolved clauses starting. at page three. line 21 for further resolved, that the san francisco

board of supervisors condemns hamas's attack on israeli civilians, resulting. in the deaths of at least 1200 israeli people on october seventh, 2023. further the resolve that the san francisco board of supervisor condemns the netanyahu regime's attacks, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of palestinian civilians in gaza and further resolved that the san francisco board of supervisors urges the international community to work with palestinian and israeli people to find a just and lasting peace and to conduct a full investigation of the conduct of all parties in this conflict and hold all parties and individuals. who have overseen or engaged in war crimes and international human rights violations, accountable. those are are the amendments we have proposed and. and requested that the committee adopt. that if the committee decides to

either adopt those or to not either. either way, let me be clear that our office has remained open to good faith conversations about balanced it amendments that add an explain in objective ways. um, the. the impact on people's lives. we we've we've been open to that, but we are not receptive of. to val doing some lives over others . we are not receptive to talking in detail about the death of some people, but not in detail about the death of other people. that is not that is not a balanced resolution. and it is. it is also a recipe for dividing people. it is the opposite of the purposes of this resolution. so thank you for the time to, to lay out those amendments, as i said, that have

previously previously been distributed to the committee. i would urge the committee either to adopt those and move this forward with recommendation or to leave the resolution as is. again, these amendments or an attempt, a good faith attempt by our office, by many advocates for this ceasefire resolution to find some common ground and lay these things out in ways that that would hopefully be be more inclusive if they're not received in that way. um, then we understand and are perfectly happy to remain with the original language of the resolution. thank you. thank you, supervisor preston. um, supervisor. safai, thank you. thank you, uh, supervisor preston, for going through your proposed amendment and. chair dorsey, i'm still going through yours. i, i just got these just for the record. i just got these amendments. um from supervisor dorsey at 930 this morning. uh that's when they were sent to the committee members. and as he

said earlier, our part of the rules of brown act, when you're on a committee, do not allow you to have communication with your fellow committee members. um although i believe you can send information in advance if it's your proposal and you just can't get back and forth through the chair to the city attorney, is that correct? that deputy city attorney ann pearson, that is correct. it's not a brown act violation to provide a final copy of amendments that will be introduced, so long as there's no discussion of them. okay. thank you. and again, i listen, uh, this this has been a difficult transition to have this conversation. um, and i know it's been difficult for a lot of the families and a lot of the folks that want to see our body take action on, um, we do have planned recesses and, and we've been on break, but i know, um, every single one of us has taken calls, has met with people, has listened, has tried

to be as as accessible as we can in, um, over the break. but this was the first available opportunity. to have this conversation today. um, just flipping through what i see supervisor dorsey has put forward, um, and not getting into the specificity of some of the things that are talked about. but there is there's there seems to still be a lot of common ground, um, of what has been proposed. and, um, i am a believer in constant communication. i'm a believer in trying to get to resolution and consensus. and, and i agree with what supervisor walton said today. i think this is. something that, you know, listen , i believe in, just for the record, i believe that there will be an amended final version. um, and i think that there needs to be more work done

to that. i don't think that's going to happen today. and i and i agree with what supervisor walton said. um, this is something that should have the full weight and investment from the entire board of supervisors. so it would be my wish. um, that we send this to the full board, um, and have the final have the final round of amendment, uh, there at the full board. that would be my wish. um, and again, i, i do think between now and tomorrow so we can continue to have conversations and hopefully we can get a little closer to the, um, an agreement, i will say, just for everyone that's listening, i think the conversation has shifted away from should there be a resolution and a request for a ceasefire and what that final ceasefire resolution should take. and i think that's a that's a big step. and again, i know that there's a lot of people that want us to do more and want us to move quicker, but i think that's a big step. and i think we're i think we're close. that's that's my personal belief

and i hope that we can do that. um, within the next 24 hours. great thank you. supervisor sophie. i don't know if how close we are, but i will be hopeful. and i do want to, um, address, you know, whether it is something where i wanted to. i know with the colleagues with whom i was working, i think it was no one's intention to be working in bad faith. i think this was something that over the holidays, um, in addition to this being a holiday season, many of us were watching day to day. what was playing out in the region. i'm wondering, i think hoping when this was introduced that we might be in a better place. when we finally took this up, um, the other thing obviously, was also one of the having a major news organization like the new york times do the factual, um, story that it did that for many of us on the board felt was relevant and important.

um i think. okay so there is a motion on the floor. i made a commitment to people. i have worked with this, um, that i would ask the rules committee to consider these amendments and i'm going to ask for a roll call on that motion. there is a motion. uh, we do not need a second at the committee level with only three members. just. just a quick question for city attorney. um, i believe supervisor sapphire moved that we send this to the full board. um, do we need to address supervisor. chair dorsey's amendment motion first? and did he ever make a real motion before supervisor sapphire? i can city attorney me. deputy city attorney anne pearson. i would have to consult with the

clerk, who i think takes better notes of when a motion is made. um and i'd like to do that before answering. generally motions are taken in the order that they're made. um, correct. i believe supervisor dorsey stated his intention to make this motion, and i would have to want to confirm with the clerk, um, to see what he thinks as to the order in which they were made. i think it's worth it. yes, i believe that, uh, chair dorsey did make a motion before the discussion started. thank you. okay. uh, we'd like to take a vote on the motion, please. yes, on the motion to, uh, accept, uh, chair dorsey's, uh, amendments. vice chair walton. no walton. no supervisor. sapphire. sapphire. no. chair. dorsey. a dorsey. i the motion.

fails with chair. dorsey voting. i and vice chair walton and supervisor sapphire voting no. okay thank you, mr. clerk. thank you, mr. chair. as i was trying to say, i believe that this conversation should be taken up at the full board. i do believe there are going to be amendments. i think we're very close. i think in the spirit of good faith would have been better to just send this. and that's the motion that i'm making to the full board without recommendations, so we can continue. the conversation over the next 24 hours as a committee report, and i think it already is, is listed as a committee report. yes. so your motion is to refer the matter without recommendation as a committee report. yes yes. um on that motion, vice chair walton, i. walton, i supervisor. sapphire. sapphire i chair. dorsey dorsey.

no. the motion passes with the chair. dorsey voting no on the matter . thank you. um, this is so this goes to the full board with, uh, without recommendation on a 2 to 0 vote? yes the matter will be referred to the full board as a committee report without recommendation. as a committee report. and i just would like to note to the public that public comment was accepted and closed today. and the board of supervisors will not be accepting additional public comment on this item at the january 9th meeting, which is tomorrow. okay. thanks. thank you, mr. clerk. do we have any other any further business? yep. do we have any further business?

we are adjourned. um, that completes the agenda for today. we are adjourned. thanks.

>> good afternoon, every one. this meeting will come to order. welcome to the january 8th, 2024 regular meeting of the land use and transportation committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. happy new year, every one. i'm supervisor mirna melgar. the committee clerk is john carol, thank you mr. carol. and i would also like to acknowledge matthew from sf gov. tv for staffing this meeting today. mr. clerk, do we have any announcements? >> please, madam chair, please ensure that all electronic devices are silences. if you have any documents to include as part of the files, you should submit them to me over the rail here during the meeting.