Numerous members of the public showed up at Tuesday’s Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting to speak out against a resolution signed off by the board in November that was in support of Israel’s right to security, peace and commitment to combating anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. 

In response, a proposed resolution was sent to the board from the Central Coast Antiwar Coalition. The resolution called for the county to support a cease-fire in Gaza. 

“We call for a halt to all violence in Israel/Palestine, including a return of the hostages Hamas kidnapped and a return of Palestinians illegally detained in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, an end to Israel’s collective punishment of Gaza and an end to Hamas’ rockets into Israel,” the resolution stated.

On Oct. 7, Hamas launched thousands of missiles from Gaza while armed militants killed more than 1,400 Jewish people and took hundreds hostage. The attacks started just before dawn as the seven-day festival of Sukkot was wrapping up.

The Israeli response has killed more than 15,900 Palestinians. 

Omar Figueredo, a organizer for the Central Coast Antiwar Coalition, also spoke to the board directly during public comment to urge for a cease-fire resolution. 

Figueredo also had sent a letter to the supervisors last week calling for a cease-fire. He urged the board to recant its previous resolution and support a new resolution calling for a permanent cease-fire.

“Palestine is several thousand miles away from Santa Barbara, and yet you guys stuck out your neck as county supervisors to make a statement on that. You didn’t have to, but you did,” Figueredo said.

Figueredo went on to state that the Geneva Conventions on the prevention of genocide states that supporting acts of genocide is being complicit in that genocide.

“We are obligated not only to punish genocide but to prevent it, so making public statements in support of a state as it is in the process of committing genocide opens you up to be responsible for that same genocide,” Figueredo said.

Barbara Parmay walked up to the board to make her public comment while wearing a black shirt with “Jews Say Ceasefire Now” written in bold, white letters on the back. 

Parmay stated that she is a Jewish resident of the county who is in support of local Palestinian communities. 

“Many of us fighting for racial justice are appalled that you supported a resolution that left out any mention of the Palestinian people,” Parmay told the board. “These communities are varied, and they include Christians as well as Muslims, and they are your constituents. You have succeeded in adding to the complete erasure of these human beings who must always struggle to be seen and heard.” 

She noted that her Jewish values were the very thing that makes her advocate for human rights and racial justice.

“We have three generations of children who have grown up only knowing Jews in fully armed military gear, coming into their homes in the middle of the night where their parents see their children thrown into prisons on administrative detention with no habeas corpus, without charge, without parental presence and without legal support,” she said.

Linda Foster was one of a handful of residents who spoke to the board in support of the initial resolution. Foster stated that Israel is defending itself, which provoked laughs from the audience, which led First District Supervisor Das Williams to remind the crowd that verbal support or opposition is not permitted during the meeting.

“The terrorist must be extinguished,” Foster went on to say. “War is ugly, and the carnage has been felt on both sides. The Jewish people have suffered remarkably so. The Palestinians have suffered remarkably so.” 

At the end of public comment, Williams thanked both sides for coming to the meeting and speaking out.

“I say on behalf of the board that we will keep our ears and hearts open to the suffering of all peoples — Palestinian, Israeli, Iranian and Ukrainian,” he said.