‘Everyone Is Feeling This’: San Francisco Becomes Largest City to Pass Ceasefire Resolution

San Francisco supervisors approved a resolution calling for an extended ceasefire in Gaza, making history as the largest city to pass such a resolution in the U.S.

The resolution urges the Biden administration to press for the release of all hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid in Palestine.

According to the Associated Press, the resolution was proposed by Aaron Peskin, president of the Board of Supervisors. It was passed by an 8-3 vote Tuesday.

"I don’t know that there’s any way to successfully do that," said Peskin, who identifies as Jewish, acknowledging that no resolution would receive unanimous support, “given how deep the divisions and the hurt and the horror and the pain are.”

The resolution passing also adds San Francisco to the list of dozens of other U.S. cities that have passed similar resolutions, including another Bay Area city, Oakland. While these resolutions have no legal authority, they could pressure other local governments to speak up about the conflict occurring in Palestine.

In addition to urging Biden to take action, the newly approved resolution also condemns the Hamas attack on Israel — actions by the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ongoing hate rhetoric and attacks that are antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic or xenophobic.

Ahsha Safaí, one of the supervisors who spoke in support of the measure and voted for its passage, noted that while “some people think this resolution is not going to do anything…it will allow some people in our communities to feel heard and seen for the very first time.” 

The measure, he added, will "Set a tone. It will send a message around the world."

Preston said in an interview before the vote that the initial board reaction to the ceasefire resolution was mixed, with supervisors resistant to speaking about it, but the momentum has since grown. 

“Everyone is feeling this locally, the pain...grief, and loss,” he said. “It is a major issue not just in the daily lives of people in the Middle East, but in the daily lives of people in our city.”