After weeks of protests that included a man covered in fake blood pretending to be dead on the floor of City Hall, the Ojai City Council this week passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and the armed group Hamas.
The symbolic measure was passed by a 3-1 vote, with one member absent, during a special meeting on Monday dedicated solely to the resolution.
The small town of Ojai, with a population of 7,500, joins about 70 American cities affected by the war that has been going on for about five months, according to a Reuters analysis of municipal data. The data showed that more than 50 countries issued resolutions calling for an end to the Israeli bombing of Gaza or calling more broadly for peace, and at least 20 countries condemned the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which led to the counterattack.
Ojai's two-page resolution calls on Congress to demand an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire, for the United States to “cease unconditional military aid to Israel,” and for Hamas to “release all hostages in Gaza in exchange for an agreed-upon number of political sanctions.” prisoners in Israel” and “the return of food, water, electricity and medical supplies to Gaza,” as well as unrestricted access for humanitarian aid.
“I believe it is our duty and moral responsibility as human beings to do everything we can to reduce the suffering of all beings with whom we share this planet,” Mayor Betsy Stix said. Stix voted to pass the measure despite asking attendees at previous council meetings to limit their comments to local issues.
Health authorities in the Gaza Strip say that nearly 30,000 people, most of them women and children, were killed during the Israeli bombing that has continued for months. According to the Israeli government, about 1,200 Israelis were killed and an estimated 240 others were kidnapped when Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israeli towns near the Gaza border on October 7.
In recent weeks, city council meetings in Ojai — a self-proclaimed “International City of Peace” — have been dominated by dozens of impassioned speakers, most of them pro-Palestinian, offering their opinions on the war.
In December, a special council meeting dedicated to discussing a ceasefire resolution was closed – without a vote – after members of the public came out of their seats to argue with each other.
On February 13, the council's regular meeting was interrupted due to a “die-in” protest by pro-Palestinian activists. Cyrus Meyer, 29, an Ojai resident and landscaper, burst into the room wearing a keffiyeh head covering and covered in fake blood. He collapsed to the ground as a woman read the names of children killed in Gaza. The police dragged him from the room.
Dozens of people spoke during the three-and-a-half-hour meeting on Monday, which in many ways turned into a painful debate about the legacy of suffering caused by anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
Resident Aviva Bernat said the decision would not protect Israelis or Palestinians, and would only create harmful divisions in Ojai.
“There is a lot of fear,” said Bernat, who is Jewish. “You brought harm [with] These decisions and these meetings. We don't sleep. We are not fine. Listen to this: We are your Jews. … When we say that we are shaking, that we are not safe, that we have the right to survive, I mean it.”
Judy Lewis, a 12-year Ojai resident who said she is married to a Jewish man and raised three Jewish children in Ojai, came forward to support the resolution, saying she stands “with many, including Muslim residents of Ojai who have been threatened.” And frankly, they feel very afraid of their families appearing in public in your rooms.
She said she was heartbroken that “tens of thousands of people have been killed” since the council met in December, when it was last considered.
Sheila Cohen, an Ojai resident since 1996, said council members “wasted many hours” and should do their job. “Say no to today’s solution proposal and say yes to a decision that takes care of your own business and takes care of the people who have put their trust in you,” she said.
A high school student spoke of her longing for a world at peace and for children in Gaza to feel excited about their future.
Councilman Andrew Whitman, the only vote against the resolution, called it divisive, especially since Israeli society considers “ceasefire” to be a “blow-up word” and “equivalent to saying: Lay down your weapons and die.”
Councilwoman Souza Francina said she also heard the “ceasefire” described as a motivational speech, as well as people blaming the resolution for contributing to anti-Semitism. She described this as “backward thinking.”
“I believe a ceasefire is the best way to stop or reduce anti-Semitism,” she said. “The truth is that violence begets violence.”
