Protestors For and Against Gaza Ceasefire Display Less Empathic Side of Long Beach

The crowd in the Long Beach City Hall courtyard on Dec. 19 was pretty quiet as they gathered in advance of the council meeting at which Long Beach would officially “[call] on our federal leaders to support negotiations that lead to a lasting humanitarian ceasefire in Israel and Gaza, the release of all hostages, the safe passage of food, water, medical supplies, and other life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza, and a peaceful resolution that achieves both an end to the attacks on Israel by Hamas, and the protection of civilian life in Gaza and Israel.”

Then a half-dozen young women began to chant: “Bring them home! Bring them home!” It took maybe 10 seconds for the vast majority in the courtyard to shout them down: “Free Palestine! Free Palestine! Free Palestine!” 

I will be the first to say that Israel is an apartheid state, and as far as I’m concerned Benjamin Netanyahu and his fascist flunkies should be strung up right next to Hamas leaders and militants who planned/committed the Oct. 7 atrocities. And yet this sad spectacle turned my stomach. 

To be sure, voicing solidarity with the Palestinians was directly germane to the proposed proclamation. But the supporters’ fit of chanting was intended as a challenge to the call for the hostages’ release, as if these 150+ civilians — many undoubtedly sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians (for example, you can bet that most abducted from the Supernova music festival were young liberals) — should continue to be held until Palestine is free. 

In other words, fuck the suffering of the innocent until we get what we want.

To be fair, there’s an argument to be made that, in the context of the agenda item that brought these few hundred people out, chanting for the return of the hostages was inapt — because what’s the point in coming out to the council meeting and calling for the hostages to be brought home when the draft text of proclamation declared that “Israel has a right to defend itself” and called for “the release of all hostages”? The point, of course, is that these opposed the proclamation because they opposed the portion calling for a ceasefire and the ingress of humanitarian aid.

In other words, fuck the suffering of the innocent until we get what we want.

There is no question — none — that many Jews in the U.S., Israel, and around the world support both a ceasefire and doing whatever is necessary to bring the hostages home, even if the thorny on-the-ground reality (Israel’s need to defend itself and its citizens, Hamas’ embeddedness within the civilian population, the Palestinians’ right not to be oppressed) means there is no straight line connecting both desires. Of course, the same is true of many Palestinians and their sympathizers: we want freedom for both Palestine and the hostages.

Funny thing is, I didn’t see a single person out front of city hall that day who — at least in terms of their attire, signage, or behavior — expressed support for both.

It’s completely understandable why emotions are running high on both sides; it was completely understandable long before Oct. 7. What’s harder to understand — or at least to accept — is why there would be two opposing sides rather than one unified front supporting a proclamation that “recognizes that Palestinian lives and Israeli lives have the same value, and that all human life is precious,” that “acknowledges the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” that “condemn[s] the attacks on Israel,” that avers that “Palestinian people deserve self-determination” and “Israel has a right to defend itself” and “Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve dignity, security, and to live without harm.”

If you take issue with any of that, you are part of the problem, regardless of the colors of the flag you fly. Most of those who showed up on Dec. 19 are part of the problem, as are the two councilmembers — Daryl Supernaw and Kristina Duggan — who voted against the proclamation on behalf of their relatively monochromatic constituencies.

Nonetheless, Long Beach — one of the most diverse cities in the country — is now on record as unequivocally opposing the infliction of suffering on all civilians, full stop. Some of us don’t want to raise our voices for anything else.