Comments made at an Oakland City Council meeting this week are going around the world in a viral video.
The council refused to condemn Hamas for its attack on Israel on Oct.7, but what has social media buzzing is comments made in support of the terrorist organization.
“I support the right of Palestinians to resist occupation, including through Hamas, the armed wing of the unified Palestinian resistance,” said a community member.
That was just one of the comments from Monday’s Oakland City Council meeting. It all started with a resolution to support a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
But, then came an amendment to condemn Hamas from Councilmember Dan Kalb.
“How anybody in the public could think that is legitimate resistance, that’s just nuts! You gotta be crazy to think that!” he said.
"Calling Hamas a terrorist group is racist and plays into the genocidal propaganda that is flooding our media and we should be doing everything possible to combat," said a person at Monday's meeting.
Gov. Gavin Newsom weighed in on X saying, “Hamas is a terrorist organization. They must be called out for what they are: evil.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener called the City Council’s 6-2 vote against condemning Hamas, “Just awful.”
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Councilman Noel Gallo was one of those voting against the amendment.
“I did have conversations with people who wanted to call out Hamas. But at the other end, there were many folks on the other side who wanted to call out Israel for what it’s doing now. For me it’s about a humanitarian cease-fire,” said Noel Gallo of the Oakland City Council.
“The notion that this was a massacre of Jews is a fabricated narrative," said another person at Monday's meeting, who pushed on after being told their time was up. "Many of those killed on Oct. 7, including children, were killed by the IDF."
"People are shocked," said Kalb, "that, somehow, the people on the council couldn’t get up the will to stand up to the people in the room and say, 'listen, what happened Oct. 7 is inexcusable.' It is mass murder, and we shouldn't be afraid to say so."
The council approved the cease-fire resolution, but voted against condemning Hamas.
