Can the Sacramento City Council debate Israel? Not without the danger of violence | Opinion

The Sacramento City Council cannot constructively engage in the debate on Israel’s war in Gaza and the merits of a ceasefire if incidents during and after the last council meeting are any indication.

Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan, who is Jewish, has been somewhat outspoken against a ceasefire and its proponents on social media. During a two-hour public comment period Tuesday’s council meeting, Kaplan was called a proponent of genocide.

Opinion

“None of my colleagues would stand up for me,” she later said about the meeting.

Early the next morning at her Natomas home, Kaplan faced a brief demonstration of banging pots and pans outside her backyard, which is next to a city park. Kaplan said a light beamed into her bedroom window. The intrusion was denounced on social media by Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Councilwoman Caity Maple.

Two other of Kaplan’ fellow council members, Katie Valenzuela and Mai Vang, later advanced a resolution calling for a ceasefire. Steinberg also has been working on a resolution of his own.

This is not an issue where wordsmithing can result in a consensus at a council meeting that could possibly approach civility.

Were the council to place a Gaza resolution on its agenda, all sides can be expected to show up. The meeting also could attract people seeking to exploit the moment into something dangerous downtown.

I fear Sacramento’s version of the distant war.

I hope for a way to channel very real feelings and views about this conflict into constructive and impactful ways. One speaker at Tuesday’s meeting estimated that Sacramento-area residents have lost about 250 loved ones in the conflict so far.

International affairs do belong in the local discourse. The question is how to do it in order to not make matters worse.

Kaplan says she has been a commenter on this topic since it began with the brutal attack in Israel by the terrorist group Hamas, which was also elected as the government leader in Gaza. “I am commenting as Lisa Kaplan, council member as well as being Jewish,” she said.

In December, she said the following on social media:

“Any request for a #ceasefirenow w/o an immediate release - 100% of the hostages #Hamas kidnapped on 10/7 is a position of supporting Hamas & their genocide of Jews. Why are there no demands of the Aggressor (Hamas) to stop hiding behind...innocent citizens they are killing? If you’re protesting & advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza where were you in protesting the innocent killing of Muslims? Check yourself -quit being a hypocrite - maybe take a step back & ask yourself, do you really know what’s going on or are u promoting Hamas & being antisemitic.”

Tuesday night, a council meeting that had been dominated by cannabis seemed to be drawing to a close. Last on every agenda is the public comment period on items not slated for discussion. On this night, 72 people signed up to speak, nearly all of them about Gaza and all of those in favor of a ceasefire.

It did not take long for Kaplan to become a target of speakers, some providing full names, others just a first name.

“You attempted to shame and silence those speaking out against this genocide by saying we are antisemitic hypocrites,” one said.

“Kaplan has been looking down or on her phone distracted, perfectly displaying her obvious contempt for Palestinians,” said another.

Somewhere after this, Kaplan decided to stand up and leave the chambers behind the council’s dais. “I did not believe I needed to personally be the target of their anger,” she said.

The comments continued.

“We know Lisa Kaplan supports genocide from her tweets,” another said.

Kaplan returned after more than two hours of comments were completed and Steinberg was scheduled to close the session in honor of former council member Lauren Hammond, the body’s first black woman, who had tragically died recently. Emotions, and voices, were still running hot and high.

“When I entered the room, that is when chaos started,” Kaplan said.

Steinberg chose against trying to close the meeting in honor of the late Hammond. “I will save it for another time,” the mayor said. “We are adjourned.”

Kaplan, who is married and with two young children, headed home to Natomas. Her backyard is separated from an adjacent park by an iron fence. And at about 1:30 a.m. light pierced her bedroom window, and there was the sound of banging pots and pans coming from the park. She only managed to see two people from a vantage point inside her home. Steinberg has endured similar intrusions, but this was Kaplan’s first.

“I don’t know if these individuals have guns, so I am not going to allow my husband or anybody else to go out and verify who they are,” she said. “ Our husband called neighborhood security and I called 911.”

Soon, the lights and noise were over, and the intrusion over. Kaplan said a police report was filed and provided a number, but attempts to retrieve a copy from the department over two days were unsuccessful.

The mayor has since said he does not intend to refer the proposed resolution by Vang and Valenzuela to a city committee or to place it on the agenda. The prospect of a formally announced council meeting on the subject appears to be over for now.

Personally, I support a ceasefire. I believe it is in the interests of both sides. And I understand why proponents of a ceasefire are coming to city councils because the country has a president and a Congress who think otherwise, in stark contrast to most of the world.

That said, I also fear for the night that Sacramento would put Gaza on center stage downtown given the council’s public comment format that is sure to get out of control, the agenda’s purpose lost in emotions that go back centuries.

A city council that has a horrible budget crisis, homeless crisis and housing crisis is not equipped for the Middle East crisis.

A broader resolution that is carefully crafted in a separate process by local elected officials and religious leaders of Jewish and Muslim faiths would deserve to be heard loud and clear, here and throughout the world. That day may never happen, given how Steinberg says our interfaith community isn’t now talking to one another and how tensions are at an all-time high.

If our community leaders are not finding common ground in private, imagine trying the same in public amid a fury of emotions before the City Council.

If that were to happen, says Kaplan, “you put my life and my family’s life in danger.”