The City of Bell Gardens unanimously approved a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza last Monday.
Bell Gardens City Council is not alone. The City of Pasadena passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire on March 18 and the City of Montebello passed a resolution in January. Cudahy, another Southeast LA city, was the first city in LA County to pass a ceasefire resolution in Southern California last year. In all, more than 70 cities have passed ceasefire resolutions over the last six months.
“The City Council recognizes that the current humanitarian crisis takes place within a long history and affirms the root causes of the crisis needs to be addressed for a pathway to lasting peace and justice to be developed,” the resolution states.
Bell Gardens Mayor Jorgel Chavez told LA Public Press that the resolution (2024-15) is something that he and other council members were considering for months after taking direct note of neighboring cities like Cudahy and Montebello who have put out their own ceasefire resolutions.
Bell Gardens Mayor Pro Tempore Marco Barcena said he agendized the item for the March 11 meeting. He said that up to the moment the meeting began, he was unsure if the resolution would be approved.
“I literally didn’t have the votes,” said Barcena.
In late January the council began feeling pressure with calls, messages, and emails calling for the Bell Gardens council to put forth a ceasefire resolution. Chavez stated that he felt there originally wouldn’t be enough support from his colleagues last year to pass a motion like this.
The resolution touches on the lives lost both in Gaza and Israel and aligns itself with similar language from US House Resolution 786, calling on US Senators and House Representatives to demand a permanent ceasefire. The Bell Gardens resolution also notes how the “Federal Government holds immense diplomatic power to save Israeli and Palestinian lives.”
To date, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, with the majority being made up of children and women.
According to the World Food Program, the United Nations’ food assistance organization, famine for over a million people is now imminent because of Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.
“We’re seeing the highest hunger level of anywhere else in the world in terms of total numbers,” WFP Palestine Country Director ad interim Matthew Hollingworth said in a statement. “It’s all manmade. It’s shocking how bad things have gotten so quickly, because WFP and other humanitarians can’t reach starving people. It’s a dark mark on the world’s inability to stop this from happening.“
Many of the people who spoke during the public comment portion of the council meeting echoed the sentiments of the resolution, urging the council to pass the motion.
“They are far away but they are like us, they are our brothers and today they need our help. You represent me and you represent the will of the people of Bell Gardens. We want you to speak for us, we want you to pass that resolution,” Santiago Martinez said during public comment.
He also linked the history of injustice towards various indigenous people in the United States to the current suffering in Gaza.
Rocio Barcena, a Bell Gardens resident also spoke, pointing to her children in the room.
“We need to show humanity that we still care, we need to show our children what’s important,” Barcena said.
“How can we go on with our lives knowing that all these people are being killed every day with the support of our government. How can we turn the other way knowing that our tax dollars, our hard-earned dollars are being used to fund this atrocity, this genocide,” Barcena said.
To date there have been more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, with the majority being made up of children and women.
According to the World Food Program, the United Nations’ food assistance organization, famine for over a million people is now imminent because of Israel’s assault on the Gaza strip.
“We’re seeing the highest hunger level of anywhere else in the world in terms of total numbers,” WFP Palestine Country Director ad interim Matthew Hollingworth said in a statement says. “It’s all manmade. It’s shocking how bad things have gotten so quickly, because WFP and other humanitarians can’t reach starving people. It’s a dark mark on the world’s inability to stop this from happening.“
Barcena, who led most of the discussions around creating the resolution, thanked the neighboring cities like Cudahy at the meeting for leading the way and passing their resolutions.
Barcena also said the Bell Gardens resolution was modeled after the Montebello city resolution.
He directly thanked Rida Hamida, founder of the group Latino Muslim Unity, during his statement as well.
Chavez and Barcena told LA Public Press that without Hamida’s guidance and the help of other community groups like California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, this resolution would not have been possible.
Chavez also urged people to take this as an opportunity to push our higher electeds in neighboring SELA cities to take a stand.
“I want to make a call to other cities to make a decision and to weigh in on this because we have to show our neighbors, our brothers and sisters that we stand with them. And at the end of the day, we want to call for peace, and justice,” said Chavez.