Iran War: Council Violates Its Own Sanction Against International Proclamations

City Council Breaks Pledge Against Passing Resolutions Addressing International Problems

Council’s Record: 

Ukraine War is Not Acceptable

Gaza Genocide is Acceptable 

Iran War is Not Acceptable

Breaking News

Tonight, the City Council attended to business they have in the Middle East by a condemnation of President Trump’s war in Iran in the form of an official City of Emeryville resolution.  The unanimous decision tonight was a remarkable and newsworthy event after the same council majority said in December 2023 that international proclamations such as this are outside the scope of the Emeryville City Council's work.  Now these same council members, without explanation, have voted for a City of Emeryville international proclamation.

As remarkable as it is, tonight’s 180 degree council turn around is even more confounding; before their refusal to vote on the Israel/Gaza war (because the proposal was an “international proclamation”) the Council voted unanimously for an earlier international proclamation, the Russia/Ukraine war.  Got that? 

Here’s a step by step synopsis of the wild pendulum swing:

1)   May 16, 2023: The Emeryville City Council unanimously said YES to a resolution condemning the Russian war against Ukraine, an international proclamation.

2)   December 5, 2023: The Council Majority said NO to a single council member’s proposal for Council support for a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel war against Gaza.  The council majority said NO because it would be an out-of-bounds “international proclamation”.

3)   May 19, 2026 (tonight): The council unanimously said YES to a resolution condemning the US war against Iran, another international proclamation.

Emeryville citizens would be forgiven their confusion given the council majority’s ambiguous lack of cogency on this score.  These three points, taken up by the same politicians, beg explanation.  But they’re not talking, except for the council member that supported all three resolutions, Kalimah Priforce, who stated simply, “Human lives matter and any time we have an opportunity to recognize the sanctity of human life we should take it.”  

Former Emeryville Mayor John Bauters brought the Russia/Ukraine war proclamation to the council while council member Priforce brought both the Israel/Gaza war ceasefire proclamation and tonight’s US/Iran war proclamation to the council.  The vote for the Russia/Ukraine proclamation was 5-0 in favor, the Israel/Gaza ceasefire proclamation proposal failed 1-4 (Mourra, Kaur and Welch dissenting) and the US/Iran war proclamation passed 5-0.

Council members who voted against the US/Gaza ceasefire proposal publicly explained they could not vote for it because it was “international” and therefore not in the scope of work to be performed by the Emeryville City Council.  Council member David Mourra was especially forceful in his explanation as to why he appeared to be a hypocrite for his reversal.  He told the Tattler it was a “mistake” in retrospect for the Emeryville City Council to meddle in the Russia/Ukraine war and that he would not make that mistake again.  That is why he said he voted against council member Priforce’s proposal to have a proclamation in favor of an Israel/Gaza ceasefire. 

To be precise and so readers understand, we state again: council members Sukhdeep Kaur, Courtney Welch, John Bauters and David Mourra, with their own public statements and actions, have all made it clear they are against the council taking a stand in international politics with international proclamations but they are also in favor of doing exactly that.

The Tattler will attempt to get the four council members who’s voting record has been in direct contradiction with their earlier votes and we will report what they say.

Emeryville's City Council cares about the welfare
of this Ukrainian child.

....but not this child from Gaza.

The City Council wants everyone to know they 
care about this Iranian child.

Emeryville City Hall Celebrates 'Peace in the Park' While Supporting the War in Gaza

 'Peace in the Park' : Government Propaganda

City Council Likes War Depending on Who is Being Killed

“Government propaganda is the systematic dissemination of information and ideas by a government to influence public opinion and behavior in order to promote a particular agenda. It often uses emotional appeals, selective facts, or misleading information to shape how people perceive political realities.“ -Wiki

Despite the City Council’s refusal to support a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, the City of Emeryville held a city wide celebration of world peace in October, seemingly oblivious to that two year war that has killed some 70,000 Palestinians including 20,000 children.  The City is instead focused on celebrating world peace by hosting an event in Christie Avenue Park filled with fun and frivolity, 7500 miles away from the war.  To people not paying close attention, the message received would be that Emeryville likes peace.  That was probably the idea.

Emeryville’s counter factual anti-war propaganda campaign has recently taken the form of the City sanctioned event October 18th called “Peace in the Park”, an event that represents the antithesis of an earlier Council majority vote to not allow council discussion of peace in Gaza.  This Council majority is so pro-war, they will not even allow discussion amongst themselves of a proposal to resolve they are against the killing of Palestinian children.  The five Council members made it be known they are against  Ukrainian children being killed however.

The City Council voted to not allow any discussion of a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza (4-1 Priforce dissenting),  December 5th 2023, after they earlier voted unanimously for a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine.  Responding to Tattler questions about that double standard, Mayor David Mourra said the City of Emeryville “should not get involved in international politics, including foreign wars” despite the fact that he himself voted for the ceasefire in Ukraine on the Council.  Follow up questions about the Council double standard went unanswered by Mr Mourra and by the rest of the Ukraine supporting Council majority.

The sparsely attended Peace in the Park event at Christie Avenue Park featured booths and tents calling for world peace with some not for profit organizations, church groups and private companies taking part as well as tents for the Emeryville Police Department and Emery Unified School District. 
 

On a side note, the editor of the Tattler distributed flyers at the event, alerting celebrants of the City’s double standard for resolutions concerning foreign wars.  Taking umbrage with the open leaflet distributing, an Emeryville police officer physically battered the Tattler editor.  An investigation of the incident is currently underway by the police department's internal affairs division. 

Emeryville's 'Peace in the Park' celebration was
sparsely attended despite the City's wall to wall
advertising for the event.

Because no one at City Hall would speak about the Council majority’s support for a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Russia’s war against Ukraine while refusing a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Palestinians in Gaza, it is taken as a self-evident fact that this Council majority dislikes some wars but they like some other wars.  Some would question: is it a matter of the ethnicity of the people that are being killed in the war that determines the Council's support or rejection? Are Palestinian children more expendable than Ukrainian children?   None on the City Council majority that voted against the ceasefire in Gaza would answer that question.  But the whole City Council and City Hall want us to know they are in favor of world peace (at least in the park).

Here's how the votes on the two proposed war resolutions went:

Russia/Ukraine War Resolution (is Emeryville against the war?)

(former) Mayor John Bauters:           YES

Council member David Mourra:        YES

Council member Sukhdeep Kaur:    YES

Council member Courtney Welch:    YES

Council member Kalimah Priforce:    YES

Israel/Gaza War Resolution (is Emeryville against the war?)

(former) Mayor John Bauters:        NO

Council member David Mourra:    NO

Council member Sukdeep Kaur:     NO

Council member Courtney Welch:    NO

Council Member Kalimah Priforce:     YES

Emeryville's Priest: City Council Majority is Wrong on Gaza War Issue

Gaza Ceasefire Refusal Puts Emeryville City Council "On the Wrong Side of History" Says Local Catholic Priest 

Reverend is "Shocked" at the City Council's Loss of Rectitude

The Reverend Aidan McAleenan
of St. Columba Catholic Church
"War leads to war and revenge to revenge. 
We must sit down, talk and listen. 
There is no other way.
We are called to love, that's why
we must call for a ceasefire in Gaza."

Emeryville's City Council majority, continuing on their steadfast refusal to resolve for a ceasefire in Gaza, threatens to condemn the City in the eyes of neighboring municipalities in the Bay Area as an unprincipled city, "on the wrong side of history" as the Reverend Aidan McAleenan of Saint Columba Catholic Church on Emeryville's Oakland border says.   In the six months since the Council majority led by then Mayor John Bauters voted to reject even to discuss the merits of a ceasefire resolution (4-1, Priforce dissenting), most of the nation (minus the Republican Party) has moved on, and now even the famously reluctant President of the United States is calling for a ceasefire.  Emeryville however, has dug in their heels on the issue.

The Israel-Hamas War has so far claimed the lives of more than 37,000 Palestinian people, mostly women and children, almost 1,500 citizens of Israel as well as 105 journalists and over 224 humanitarian aid workers, including 179 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).  With no end in sight for the war and with each passing day, the calls for a ceasefire in the bloody conflict become less and less controversial.

The Saint Columba Church, located on San Pablo Avenue at 64th Street, one block from the Emeryville border, serves as Emeryville's Catholic church.  As the Reverend explains, "Our parish encompasses all of Emeryville and a little of Oakland & Berkeley.  So Emeryville is in our parish."  And that is likely an extra reason why he is pained to see the City Council's recalcitrance on the issue of a Gaza ceasefire.   "It shocks me to the high heaven that those who supposedly represent us all on the Emeryville City Council would vote against calling for a ceasefire [except Council member Kalimah Priforce], he told the Tattler. 

St Columba Church, noteworthy for its quest for "radical inclusivity" as Father Aiden puts it, is unafraid of practicing what is preached.  The church is identified with its yearly growing collection of wooden crosses alongside San Pablo Ave representing those killed by gunfire in Oakland, a large 'Racism is Sin' banner and now a banner calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.  Other churches in the Emeryville area have also loudly called for a ceasefire in Gaza, among them the Berkeley Methodist United Church on Carlton Street.  That church, led by Emeryville resident Pastor Pamela Kurtz had, until recently, a banner out front proclaiming "Love Demands Permanent Ceasefire Now' (since vandalized). 

Banner at the Berkeley Methodist Unified Church
A few blocks from Emeryville.

                  

The City Council moved to refuse even a discussion of a ceasefire resolution in December, a few months after they unanimously approved a resolution calling out Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, a fact not lost on Council member Priforce who invoked it when he made his Gaza resolution discussion presentation to his colleagues.  Noteworthy is that none of the other four Council members, including Mr Bauters will comment publicly why Ukraine is good for the City to opine on but not Gaza.  For the record, there is a large Ukrainian solidarity flag flying on the front of St Columba Church.  Council member Sukhdeep Kaur did ask Mr Priforce at the December 5th meeting how supporting a ceasefire could be seen as unifying for Emeryville citizens after calling it "polarizing".  Mr Priforce explained that by its nature, a resolution IS unifying but he added, "We can choose language that best reflects Emeryville".  That was not enough to sway Ms Kaur and she quickly voted NO along with Mayor Bauters and Council members Courtney Welch and David Mourra.

A moral counterweight to the overly circumspect Emeryville City Council majority, the Reverend McAleenan noted over 140 countries have called for a ceasefire in Gaza.  "Speaking as a northern Irish man who grew up in war and was a second class citizen as a Roman Catholic, I hurt with those who hurt and those who are 'othered'.  Ceasefire is the only way." he said.  Suggesting the City Council majority may be too timid, the Reverend added, "Criticizing Israel is not anti semitic.  We are called in our humanity to call out inhumanity everywhere.  Israel is not the Jewish faith.  All governments need to be held accountable, including our own."

Council member Priforce is an active parishioner at St Columba Church.  

Council member Bauters is running for the position of Alameda County District 5 Supervisor in November and will give up his Emeryville City Council seat no matter the election outcome.  

Mr Bauters and the other Council members against the ceasefire resolution discussion were asked but did not comment for this story.

Emeryville's St Columba Catholic Church
Located at 6401 San Pablo Avenue in Oakland.

Councilman Priforce's Gaza Ceasefire Resolution Idea Fails For Lack of a Second

 

Emeryville City Council Majority Says YES to Ukrainian Children but NO to Palestinian Children

After passing a City Council resolution in support of the people of Ukraine some months ago, Emeryville’s City Council majority said a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in support of ending the mass killing of innocent civilians, was not something they would be willing to consider.  The vote (4-1 Priforce dissenting), came in the form of a refusal to even discuss the merits of the resolution that had been brought to the table by Council member Kalimah Priforce Tuesday night.  The action by John Bauters, who as mayor, led off the opposition by refusing to provide a second to Mr Priforce’s motion, was notable for being his last official act in his two year mayoralty. 

These dead children are not Ukrainian and so the 
Emeryville City Council majority cannot see them.

Council member Priforce’s idea of a ceasefire in Gaza is not a radical idea as it has been taken up by centrists and progressives all across America.  Since Israel’s attack on Gaza after October 7th, over 18,000 Palestinian civilians have perished by many estimates, including some 10,000 children.  The slaughter has brought millions of Americans, over 66%, to demand Israel stop the bombing and for both sides to recognize a ceasefire.   Indeed, most Americans outside of the Emeryville City Council majority can see the humanity of Palestinian children.  The words of current presidential hopeful Dr Cornel West, “A Palestinian baby has the same value as an Israeli baby” has been taken up by large majorities of Americans.  By their vote however, the Emeryville City Council (minus Mr Priforce), can only see the suffering of the Ukrainians at the hands of Russia.    

Hinting he may yet bring the idea back for a future vote before his Council colleagues, Mr Priforce put the resolution idea in moral terms, "To draft a resolution that acknowledges that a ceasefire would save the lives of children in Gaza and Israel reflects the character of our city and our strive towards inclusivity and equity. My proposal is simply that we join our regional neighbors in being pro-active rather than burying our heads in the sand - just as we did when we drafted a resolution over the war in Ukraine”, he said.

After Mr Bauters led his drive to kill the resolution in support of Palestinian children from lethal violence and perhaps as an unintentional counter factual, former Councilwomen and current Planning Commissioner Dianne Martinez approached the podium, calling John Bauters, “The best mayor in the United States of America”.