Richmond City Council pulls measure from agenda

Afterward, partisans on both sides claimed victory, shouted at each other on the outdoor plaza, and went home.

The council meeting, which began at 6:30 p.m. June 15, was to have allowed public comment on the resolution, drafted by Richmond Vice Mayor Jeff Ritterman, who is Jewish. As it turned out, nobody had a turn at the public microphone.

The resolution called the May 31 incident, in which nine Turkish citizens died, a “crime against humanity,” condemned “the Israeli attack” and called for “an independent, thorough, credible and transparent investigation into the raid.”

But after 45 minutes of city business about potholes, neighborhood blight and cannabis clubs, Ritterman announced he was referring the resolution to the city’s Human Rights Commission, where it will be studied further.

As to why he chose to pull his own resolution, Ritterman said, “There’s been a lot of opinion expressed in e-mail. It might be difficult to find common ground, but maybe we can find a project to foster Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, who co-sponsored the resolution, concurred, saying she would send the matter to the commission.

This did not sit well with council member Nathaniel Bates, who did not agree with the referral or any other plan.

“We should not even be involved in discussing this item,” Bates said to a chorus of hisses and cheers. “This is a city council. Israel and Palestine don’t give a darn what the city of Richmond has to say.”

Realizing discussion of the issue had ended, activists rose to exit, with some parading up and down the aisles holding Palestinian flags.

Gideon Lustig, deputy consul general of the Israel Consulate in San Francisco, did not know in advance that Ritterman would be pulling the resolution. But he agreed with the vice mayor, saying, “He does not wish such a dispute to occur in Richmond, and that’s the right thing to do. Singling out Israel is never the right thing to do.”

Rabbi Dean Kertesz of Richmond’s Temple Beth Hillel said after the meeting that he’d had several conversations with Ritterman during the previous week, and concluded that the council member is “interested in promoting strong human relations in the city. I told him bringing this proposal would not support that. One side wins, one side loses. It would tear the community apart.”

Meanwhile, out on the plaza with the sun setting, a pro-Palestinian contingent numbering around 30 got into a shouting match with a much smaller pro-Israel crowd. “Israel will lose. Shame on Israel,” they chanted.

Richmond resident Paul Larudee, a pro-Palestinian activist who took part in the Gaza flotilla and later claimed he had been beaten several times by Israeli security forces, attended the meeting. He approved of the council’s actions.

“In general, what the City Council did was a responsible move,” Larudee said. “The resolution was done with the best of intentions, but it needed education on the part of the council and the public. The Human Rights Commission is an appropriate place.”

Pro-Israel activist Bob Pave of Piedmont, who went nose-to-nose with a couple of demonstrators on the other side, saw the council’s decision as a loss for the pro-Palestinian cause.

“These resolutions come up city by city,” he said, “and they get voted down, city by city.”