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Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Supplemental Communications List (content too voluminous to print but will be available in Records Online) October 21, 2015

1. Cindy Shamban 51. Steven Davidoff Solomon 2. Dina Ezzeddine 52. Liz Jackson 3. Marge Sussman 53. Benjamin Lerman, MD 4. Stephanie Roth 54. Robert Gordon 5. Fred Werner 55. Barry Gustin, MD 6. Katharine Samway 56. Dietlaw 7. G. Meir 57. Laura Walklet 8. Youval Dar 58. Laura Sigura 9. (anonymous-Redwood, CA) 59. Yoel Schwartz 10. Nina Wouk 60. Klaus Rotzscher 11. David Kaye 61. Barbara Schick 12. Gabriela Kipnis 62. Leanne Orowitz 13. Dan Cronin 63. G. Weitzner 14. Linda Rothfield 64. Alan Manin 15. Sheldon Whitten-Vlle, MD 65. Eve Hershcopf (2) 16. Wesley Rosenthal 66. Sheldon Whitten-Vlle, MD 17. Issy and Patricia Kipnis 67. Sandra NK 18. Caterina and Jonathan Polland 68. Abby Maimon, PsyD 19. Selma Soss 69. Paul Shkuratov 20. Maureen Clearfield 70. Yehuda Ferris 21. Gila Perach Hirsh 71. Armando Davila Kirkwood 22. Donna Cooper 72. Dan Fendel 23. Janine M. Mogannam 73. Green Party of Alameda Co. 24. Barbara Schick 74. Wilma RK Rader 25. Ian Zimmerman, Esq 75. Liora Brosbe 26. Barry Kanel 76. Dianna Dar 27. H. Milstein 77. Marvin Lewis (2) 28. Yetta Rossofsky 78. Russell Ward 29. Rose G. Schlecker 79. Rochelle Gause 30. Adam Spam 80. July Galper 31. Esther Brass-Chorin 81. Jill Siegel Dodd 32. Daniel Isaacson 82. Jessica Kosmin 33. Jeff Morgan 83. David Spero RN (2) 34. Lenny Kristal 84. Frederica Barlaz 35. Keren Stronach 85. Alice Diane Kisch 36. Robert Cole 86. Anne Gold 37. Felicia Cole 87. Jerry Berkman 38. Dr. Susan Brand 88. Elliot Helman 39. Gabi Klausner-Abrahamson 89. Philippe Assouline 40. Stan Roodman 90. Cheryl Davila 41. Joel Siegal 91. Carol Sanders 42. R. Gubkin 92. David McCleary 43. Allen Mayer 93. Marge Sussman 44. Sophie Hahn 94. Linda Diamond 45. Mike Kurtz 95. Marvin Lewis 46. Mark Brilliant and Lisa Frydman 96. Amy Solomon 47. Roberta Silverstein 97. Barbara Segal 48. Stephen Sperber 98. Norman Postone 49. Helise Cohn 99. Devin 50. Moshe Govrin 100. Marcia Diaz 148. Robert Collins 101. Rebecca Abravanel, Ph.D. 149. Marvin Lewis 102. Anna Packer 150. Karen Platt 103. David Jaffe 151. Marge Sussman 104. Carol Hoffman 152. David R. Evans 105. Ann Gonski, MSW 153. Joe Callahan 106. Martha Larsen (2) 154. Joanne Donsky 107. Fadia Damon 155. Shifra Pride Raffel 108. Andy Cohn 156. Stephen Fisher 109. Kate Doherty 157. Martin Griss, PhD 110. Lorelai Kude 158. Michael Harris 111. Richard Mynick 159. Julia Lutch 112. Larry Waldron 160. Sheree Roth 113. Maris Schwartz 161. Judy Maller 114. Margaret Fouda 162. Seth Watkins 115. Barbara Erickson 163. Marc Estrin 116. Glen Hauer 164. Susan Sholin 117. Jeanie Shaterian 165. Joseph Schechla 118. Dorothea Dorenz (2) 166. Ben Norton 119. Nikki Sachs 167. Candance Malone 120. CJ Kingsley 168. Rebecca Taralom 121. Linda Cedarbaum 122. Ory Sandel 123. Ian Zimmerman 124. Bette Flushman 125. Christopher Jadallah 126. Hatem Bazian 127. Nasira Abdul-Aleem 128. Susannah Nachenberg 129. Susan Blachman 130. F. Procaccia 131. Marilyn Sarig 132. Yaeir Heber 133. Susan David 134. Jon Simon 135. P. Hardy 136. Malka Weitman 137. Jonathan Reinis 138. Andrea Cassidy 139. Carol Denney 140. Ellen Brotsky 141. Norman and Carolynn Licht 142. Clyde Leland 143. Katharine Davies Samway 144. Marc A. Greendorfer 145. Barry Kanel 146. Allen King 147. Barry Gustin, MD, MPH Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 8:47 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: Support for Divestment Resolution and Commissioner Davila

Hi Raquel:

Below is the letter I sent to the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission on September 21, 2015. I was very upset to find that it was not included in the list of letters received that is a part of the Agenda for the October 21, 20015 meeting.

Please confirm that this letter will be sent to the HWCA commissioners before Wednesday night's meeting. I understand that there are a number of other letters sent to [email protected] that also were not included. Please look that the emails at that address to make sure the Commission has a complete record of their correspondence.

Best Regards,

Cindy Shamban

From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 3:07:54 PM Subject: Support for Divestment Resolution and Commissioner Davila

To Members of the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission: My name is Cindy Shamban. I have been a Jewish resident of Berkeley since 1985. I am a strong supporter of former Commissioner Cheryl Davila’s Divestment Resolution which was on the agenda of last week’s Commission hearing. As you know from the over 100 people who attended last week’s meeting, there is strong community support for the divestment resolution. Well over 30 people spoke in favor of the resolution. The range of people

1 represented in the room was truly astounding in that there were people of all ages, many races and ethnicities all united in support of the divestment resolution.

It was with anger I learned at the Commission meeting on Wednesday that Commissioner Davila had been fired by Council Member Moore because of the Commissioner’s refusal to withdraw the resolution. It showed an incredible level of disrespect towards someone who has been working on the Commission with diligence since 2009.

I was disappointed that the divestment resolution with changes was voted down and sent to a sub-committee for reconsideration of a modified proposal in 30 days. While understandable that you would want the support of other commissions, it is unrealistic to think you would be able to get answers within 30 days as they also have to make room on their agendas in order for them to discuss the proposal.

The issue of Israel and Palestine is very important to discuss as a community. There is no reason why this conversation should be censored. Has anyone else ever come before the Commission to direct you not to discuss an agenda item? In addition to Council Member Moore’s dismissal of Commissioner Davila, Council Member Kris Worthington came to speak to suggest that several items, fracking and divestment, do not belong under the purview of your Commission. I doubt he has come before you with this argument in the past. I believe that his comments about Fracking were actually a cover for his having come to remove the divestment resolution from the agenda. It is clear that at least some members of the City Council do not want to have this discussion and is working hard to squelch the proposal at the Commission level.

We are all impacted by the Israeli government’s actions towards the Palestinians and the ongoing Occupation which is support ed by US

2 tax dollars. The Occupation is illegal on the basis of International law and several UN resolutions. The recent experience of the politics of the Iran Treaty exposes the complicated politics of Israel and its influence on US policy and politics.

There are many connections between the treatment of poor people and people of color in Berkeley and the treatment of Palestinians under Occupation as well as Palestinian citizens of Israel treated as second class citizens. The HWCAC Commission is a proper venue for the Resolution because it deals with human rights, exploitation, racism and homelessness all of which harm children disproportionally - all of which impact the lives of poor people in Berkeley and Palestinians under Occupation.

Part of the Commission’s reason for being is for Community Action and by the presence of so many people at the meeting, it is clear that many in the Berkeley community want action on this issue.

The divestment resolution needs to work its way through the City of Berkeley’s process. This is not an issue that the Berkeley City Council can duck by trying to stop it at the Commission level. We are very engaged residents of Berkeley working to ensure that this discussion continues.

I urge you to move this resolution forward in October. If Councilperson Moore has not yet reappointed Commissioner Davila to her seat than I support the Commission to appoint her to one of the open positions for which she would qualify. It is up to the Commission to stand in solida rity with their colleague who has been treated so poorly by Mr. Moore. She has done great service to the Commission since 2009 and to the citizens of Berkeley as well.

I look forward to hearing from you on your plans to move forward on this matter.

Regards,

Cindy Shamban 1621 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94703

4 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Dina Zayour Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 1:43 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: Divest from corporations that profit from occupation and racism , please include my letter in the supplementary Packet

to the Human Welfare and community action commission

My name is Dina Ezzeddine, I am a physician who works in Berkeley and I have two daughters who go to Cal. I was greatly disappointed that the resolution to divest from Israeli companies involved in occupation and colonization of Palestinian people was defeated. In fact, I felt that there was external political pressure exerted on the members of the commission in order to postpone the vote despite overwhelming support from the community. The name of your commission is human welfare yet the performance was typical of political welfare of the powerful and of the lobbyist. Berkeley is THE place not only to deal with these issues, but in fact to lead tin the nation on human rights issues. Berkeley’s history and culture is of standing with the weak and dispossessed against the armed and powerful. We buy organic food and compost more than another place in the nation, yet we send our tax dollars to be used against the occupied and oppressed. This is totally unacceptable and it is absolutely your responsibility to answer to our concerns.

Dina

5 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Marge Sussman Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 5:01 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: HWCAC divestment resolution

This email was sent twice to the HWCAC Commissioners, last time on October 12th, and yet somehow it failed to make it into the packet of emails the commissioners have access to. This doesn't surprise me given the attempts to shut this resolution down but I am sending it to you yet again. Please be sure to get my email to the commissioners before their meeting on Wednesday.

To the HWCAC Commissioners:

I attended your Commission meeting last month in order to voice my support for the resolution brought forward by Cheryl Davila in favor of divestment by the City of Berkeley in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, which has been going on since 1967 in violation of international law. As a Jew, I am outraged that the Israeli government claims its illegal occupation and oppressive policies are done in the name of all Jews. As an American, I am outraged that so much of our tax money is spent to support an Israeli government committed to expropriation of Palestinian land and harsh, apartheid policies. This money could be utilized to solve some pressing problems causing so much suffering among the most vulnerable people in Berkeley.

It was shocking and very upsetting to learn that Darryl Moore had fired Cheryl Davila as she entered the room for the meeting. This is a terrible example of the shutting down of free speech when it comes to criticism of the state of Israel's actions and seems unprecedented in the City of Berkeley.

There were at least 100 people at that meeting from many different communities -- African American, Jewish, Palestinian, Christian -- also in support of this resolution. Many spoke eloquently to you about the issue and why it is completely appropriate for the Commission to address it. The Commission deals with human rights, exploitation, homelessness and racism; the resolution is about how those issues impact the Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation.

The conversation about how we in Berkeley can and should respond to these violations of human rights and international law needs to happen locally and nationally. It was wonderful to hear the beginning of that conversation on Wednesday night.

However, you failed to move this resolution on to the City Council where a fuller discussion among the residents of Berkeley could take place. You also failed to show your support of your fellow Commissioner Cheryl Davila who had the strength and courage to take a stand on injustice and to refuse to give into pressure to keep silent.

6 I'm deeply disappointed in your decision and hope that you will vote in favor of the resolution at your next meeting.

Marge Sussman 1621 Bancroft Way Berkeley CA 94703 510-486-1014

7 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 8:33 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: Please support divestment resolution

Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Flagged

Dear Ms. Molina, Please include the following in the supplementary packet going to the Commissioners of the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission. Thank you.

Dear Commissioners,

I'm writing to you as a Jewish resident of Berkeley (and have lived here for the past 22 years), as I recently became aware of the controversy surrounding a resolution to divest from companies that are profiting from the Israeli Occupation of Palestine. I was completely shocked to hear that Cheryl Davila was removed from the Commission on Human Welfare and Community Action after she refused to withdraw the resolution she had introduced.

One of the reasons I choose to live in Berkeley is because this city has been a leader in the various fights for justice both in our own community as well as around the world. As such, I strongly urge you to pass the resolution that Cheryl introduced and to set an example of taking a courageous position about an issue that needs people of conscience to stand behind.

Divestment is one of the few non-violent strategies that is open to institutions and municipalities as an avenue for change. The Israeli government has illegally occupied Palestinian lands and held its population hostage for decades. The only way they will end that Occupation is if people around the world make it clear that their policies, actions and repressive and illegal tactics are unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated.

Please pass the divestment resolution in accordance with your Human Welfare and Community Action mandate, so that it may be considered by the City Council. Please open up the space for a substantive conversation about Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and the rights of the Palestinian people to live in freedom and dignity. And I also encourage you to reinstate Cheryl Davila, who should not be punished for taking a stand.

Sincerely, Stephanie Roth 1422 Hearst Ave Berkeley

8 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Fred Werner Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 10:03 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: Please delay consideration of Israel Boycott

Please delay any consideration of a boycott of Israel. Regardless of your opinions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this an absolutely terrible time to be even discussing a boycott, for a number of reasons:

1) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is making headlines now because of an ongoing rash of violence against civilians.

2) Any statements or actions that the city of Berkeley takes right now would appear to be in response to those actions.

3) A decision to boycott Israel now would make the City of Berkeley appear to condone, if not outright applaud, the recent violence by individual Palestinians who have killed and injured unarmed Israeli civilians, and who set fire to a 1,000s-of-years-old religious shrine where both Jews and Christians make pilgrimages to pray.

4) A decision to boycott Israel now would also make the City of Berkeley appear to be affirm the false conspiracy theories about the status of the Haram al Sarif (Temple Mount) that have apparently incited some of the recent violence.

5) A decision not to boycott Israel would make the City of Berkeley appear to condone the Israeli police response to the current violence, including home demolitions and deportations, and to dismiss Palestinian concerns about the decades-old occupation of Jerusalem and the West Bank.

6) Either way, you will put the City of Berkeley in a very difficult position by taking a stand in support of violence, oppression, and mis-information, even if that is not your intent.

7) Either way, a decision will inflame tensions within our community here in Berkeley. We are already struggling with difficult emotions and even more difficult conversations with our neighbors, friends, colleagues, and co-congregants. A decision now would make even talking about the issues that much harder, and working together on positive, progressive actions for peace would become far more difficult. You will burn bridges we desperately need right now.

Far more useful right now are clear statements calling for an end to ALL violence and affirming the basic human rights or ALL people (including the rights of safety, security, and self-determination).

Yes, there is a much broader context to the current violence. But a decision this week can't be considered a clear-headed response to that broader context. Please delay consideration of a boycott until either there is a moment of calm, or a moment where there is far more clearly a "right" side to this conflict.

- Fred Werner 640 Panoramic Way Berkeley, CA 94704 510-610-1256

9 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Katharine D. Samway Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 10:44 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: Letter for HWCAC commissioners Attachments: To CommMembers 2015.9.21.docx; To Darryl Moore 2015.9.21.docx

Dear Raquel, I sent a letter via email in support of the divestment resolution to the HWCAC on September 21, but it does not appear in the materials sent to the commissioners. I have attached it to this email. I also sent a letter to council member Moore, which I have also attached. I would appreciate it if my letters could be forwarded to the commissioners. Thank you very much. Katharine

10 9/21/2015

Dear Members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission,

I was astonished and appalled when I heard at the start of last week’s HWCAC meeting that council member Darryl Moore had fired Cheryl Davila from the commission, particularly when one considers that Ms. Davila has served successfully on the commission since 2009. This is the kind of anti-democratic behavior that undermines our community and a just and humane society.

The commission’s scope clearly allows for discussion of human welfare issues in places other than Berkeley, particularly when one considers that Berkeley tax payers contribute to the U.S. giving Israel more than $3 billion a year, almost all of it in military goods and services that kill, maim, and displace Palestinians, most of them children, the elderly, and women—consider Gaza in summer 2014, if you doubt how this money is spent.

The vast majority of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories support the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), which was initiated by Palestinian Civil Society a decade ago. I understand that the commission has the right to modify resolutions. However, the issues that the commission would like a sub-committee to address are unrealistic. For example, to get the support of other commissions before your next meeting in October seems entirely unrealistic, given it would need to be placed on the agenda of other commissions . . . and the HWCAC took almost a year to seriously discuss this item. Also, I am concerned that a revised resolution will be watered down so that it is a nod to political correctness, rather than a strong and principled stand in support of Palestinians who are living under an illegal and cruel occupation. For example, one of the items that the sub-committee is asked to include is positive investment . However, positive investment is a pipe dream as Israel can and does, at will, close down businesses, arrest and imprison Palestinians, cut access to the Internet, and prevent Palestinians from moving freely, even within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

As you saw, well over 100 people attended last week’s meeting, almost all of them in favor of the BDS resolution that Ms. Davila brought to the commission–this is clear evidence of community support for the divestment resolution. Of the more than 30 people who spoke in favor of the resolution, only three spoke in opposition.

There are many courageous people who are willing to stand up on behalf of Palestinians in the face of Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestine. Ms. Davila is one of them, as were the council members who voted for the resolution and the more than 100 people who attended last week’s meeting. I urge you to move this resolution forward in October. If council member Moore has not yet reappointed Ms. Davila to her seat, I ask that you appoint her to one of the open positions.

Thank you.

Katharine Davies Samway

9/21/2015

Dear Council Member Darryl Moore,

I was astonished and appalled when I heard, at the start of last week’s Human Welfare and Community Action Commission (HWCAC) meeting that you had fired Cheryl Davila from the commission. As I understand it, you didn’t even have the good manners to give her this news in person, but did so through the commission’s secretary. How disgraceful, particularly when one considers that Ms. Davila has served successfully on the commission since 2009.

There are many courageous people who are willing to stand up on behalf of Palestinians in the face of Israel’s brutal and illegal occupation of Palestine. Ms. Davila is one of them and another is the Rev. Graylan Hagler who was recently disinvited from making a speech in Rochester, NY entitled, “From Ferguson to Palestine.” Not only was he disinvited, but he has been subjected to numerous hate calls—see a short article about these events at: http://mondoweiss.net/2015/09/graylan-disinvinted-palestine

I am sure that you do not endorse such actions. However, your decision to remove Ms. Davila smacks of political correctness, rather than political courage, of which we are in short supply these days. Please reinstate Ms. Davila to the commission and also support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) resolution that will come to the city council. That is, be informed, brave, and principled. To claim that your decision was based on issues of “process” is disingenuous, particularly in a city such as Berkeley, which has been a beacon of leadership in the struggle for peace and human rights at other times, including the anti-apartheid and anti-war movements.

Thank you.

Katharine Davies Samway

Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:06 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: East Bay resident, I am writing to express my very strong concern on the BDS debate and vote

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message including attachments, if any, is intended only for the person(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and /or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message .

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 11:16 PM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: East Bay resident, I am writing to express my very strong concern on the BDS debate and vote

Dear Secretary and Commissioners

As an East Bay resident, I am writing to express my very strong concern on the BDS debate and vote

I very much appreciate the important work of the commission, and yet I would like to express a few key concerns/points.

The issue of Israel and any geo-politics is so very clearly outside the mandate, scope, and mission of the Commission. How at all does this align with the need to tackle the social welfare needs of our local community?

In reading the proposal, I am sure you can see the bias nature of the statement. This will be seen as deeply offensive and divisive in the Berkeley community. This is a highly complex issue with legitimate issues on BOTH sides! if we are getting involved in the complex debate about the Middle Eastern, and highlighting Israel, can you also pay equal attention to the much graver and much more brutal policies of Syria, Saudi Arabia (who were behind 9/11), Yemen, while also tackling the oppressive polices of Sudan, Somalia and alike. Lets be fair and equal in our criticism!

I hope you will put this issue to rest and let it reside elsewhere where it is meant to be debated.

11 respectfully

G. Meir Resident East Bay

12 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:25 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Attn: Commissioner Jennifer Browne

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Youval Dar [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 9:48 PM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Re: Attn: Commissioner Jennifer Browne

Secretary Wing Wong and Commissioner Jennifer Browne,

I'm a District 5 resident and would like to express my deep concern about singling out Israel in what appears to be unbalanced, unreasonable, anti-peace, anti-Israeli and antisemitic manner. As a Berkeley resident, I find this resolution to be biased, inaccurate and deeply offensive.

Given that the Commission's mission is to identify and address the social welfare needs of the local Berkeley community, the issue of Israel is clearly outside the scope of the Commission.

Perhaps it will better serve our community and be better use of tax money if the commission concentrate their efforts on improving services and assistance programs in Berkeley.

Respectfully, Youval Dar

13 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:25 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW:

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: redwoodca [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 8:50 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Subject:

Please Vote NO on Divestment

14 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:26 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Vote no on divestment from Israel

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message including attachments, if any, is intended only for the person(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and /or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e- mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

-----Original Message----- From: Nina G Wouk [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 8:03 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote no on divestment from Israel

Not only is the city attorney right, that such a vote is outside the purpose of the commission, also the people sponsoring it are mean and dishonest. Nina Wouk 1259 El Camino Real Menlo Park CA 94025

15 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:26 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Divestment

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 7:04 PM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment iy”H

October 18, 2015

Berkeley Human Welfare Commission Secretary

Gentlemen:

Divestment was wrong in 1939 when the Nazis excluded all Jewish business ....it is wrong and frankly an evil concept that the “You” the children of parents who lived through World War 2 and the evil of anti-Semitism need to standup against. The Jews were sent to help the world, and it is very true that they repeatedly met and beat these expectations. Divestment is plain and simple naked ‘anti-Semitism”. Vote against any such action, and you and your children will repeat the benefits for generations.

16 Be Courageous and Strong!

David Kaye

17 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:26 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: BDS Resolution

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Gabriela.kipnis [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 6:37 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: BDS Resolution

Dear Secretary Wong,

Please circulate this email to all members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission.

I am a long time resident of Berkeley. I was born and raised in North Berkeley. I strongly urge the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission to reject the BDS resolution targeting Israel.

Although Israel is not perfect (no country is) it certainly does not deserve to be singled out for condemnation.

Alone among Middle Eastern countries, Israel has a great record for promoting and protecting gay and women’s rights. Israel also protects the rights of its minority communities. Indeed, Israeli Arab citizens have greater political rights (including the right to free speech and to elect members of the Israeli Knesset) than Arab citizens of virtually every other nation in the Middle East.

Israel has long provided a safe refuge for Jews who are persecuted throughout the world. Many Jews from other Middle Eastern countries who faced persecution were forced out of their

18 countries of birth, and found a home in Israel, including many Iraqi Jews, Syrian Jews, Yemenite Jews, Iranian Jews, Egyptian Jews and Moroccan Jews. Given the unique role that Israel serves in providing a safe haven for Jews who have been persecuted in nations around the world, unfairly singling out Israel for condemnation is especially disturbing.

I strongly urge the members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission to reject this ill-conceived and unfair BDS resolution against the nation of Israel.

Sincerely,

Gabriela Kipnis

19 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Please Oppose the pending anti-Semitic vote

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message including attachments, if any, is intended only for the person(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and /or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e- mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

-----Original Message----- From: Laura Steinborn [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 6:06 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Subject: Please Oppose the pending anti-Semitic vote

Elected representatives We live in District 5 in Berkeley and are asking the hateful vote aimed at Jews like us be rejected. A city telling a significant minority to bear the stigma of a public shaming is unacceptable Integrate the revenge effect of unintended consequences on our children for living with a badge of shame as a Jew because the egotistical notion of sending a message to a foreign government. No common sense. The country of this intended tilting at wind mills could care less. However, My Berkeley child will be hurt because she will be feeling the pain of this public bigot driven judgmental error. If the extreme local progressives feel driven to make a PR stunt for their gratification of their egos then let them do so without hurting citizens of Berkeley. Dan Cronin Berkeley voter

Sent from my iPad

20 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: VOTE NO

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Linda Rothfield [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 3:21 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: [email protected] Subject: VOTE NO

On divestment

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

21 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Israel resolution inappropriate, anti-Semitic

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Sheldon Whitten-Vile [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 1:18 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Subject: Israel resolution inappropriate, anti-Semitic

The issue of Israel, and really any geopolitics, is very clearly outside the scope of the Commission's mission to identify and address the social welfare needs of the local community.

Singling out Israel for censure is hypocritical. It has nothing to do with the "Rights of the Palestinians." It is about destroying the Jewish state. It is naked Jew hatred and has no place in civil discourse in this country.

Please do not dignify this genocidal movement with any discussion that is supposed to be about the welfare of citizens in berkeley.

Thank you,

Sheldon Whitten-VIle, MD 801 Rosemount Road Oakland, ca 94610 510-835-0559

22 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Israeli Divestment

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Rosenthal Wesley [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2015 8:47 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Israeli Divestment

I urge you to REJECT the biased and one-sided Israeli divestment resolution. Thanks for your consideration in this regard.

23 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Vote No on Divestment

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Issy Kipnis [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2015 6:04 PM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote No on Divestment

Dear Secretary Wong,

Please circulate this email to all members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission.

We are long time residents of Berkeley. We raised our three children here. We strongly urge the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission to reject the BDS resolution targeting Israel.

Although Israel is not perfect (no country is) it certainly does not deserve to be singled out for condemnation.

24 greater political rights (including the right to free speech and to elect members of the Israeli Knesset) than Arab citizens of virtually every other nation in the Middle East.

Israel has long provided a safe refuge for Jews who are persecuted throughout the world. Many Jews from other Middle Eastern countries who faced persecution were forced out of their countries of birth, and found a home in Israel, including many Iraqi Jews, Syrian Jews, Yemenite Jews, Iranian Jews, Egyptian Jews and Moroccan Jews. Given the unique role that Israel serves in providing a safe haven for Jews who have been persecuted in nations around the world, unfairly singling out Israel for condemnation is especially disturbing.

We strongly urge the members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission to reject this ill-conceived and unfair BDS resolution against the nation of Israel.

Sincerely,

Issy and Patricia Kipnis

1153 Amador Avenue

Berkeley, CA

25 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Vote No on Divestment

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2015 5:37 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote No on Divestment

Dear Secretary Wong,

Please circulate this email to all members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission.

We are long time residents of Berkeley. We raised our two sons here. We strongly urge the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission to reject the BDS resolution targeting Israel.

Although Israel is not perfect (no country is) it certainly does not deserve to be singled out for condemnation.

26 We strongly urge the members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission to reject this ill-conceived and unfair BDS resolution against the nation of Israel.

Sincerely,

Caterina and Jonathan Polland 1412 Oxford Street Berkeley, CA

27 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Vote No on divestment

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Selma Soss [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2015 3:48 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: [email protected] Subject: Vote No on divestment

Having traveled to Israel, and seen the amazing contributions made by the Jewish people; and feeling pride in our ancient history, I fight for Israel !

Vote NO on divestment !

Selma Soss [email protected]

28 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Anti-Israeli initiative

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message including attachments, if any, is intended only for the person(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and /or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e- mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

-----Original Message----- From: Maureen Clearfield [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2015 1:04 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Maureen Clearfield Subject: Anti-Israeli initiative

Hi, I am a long standing resident of Berkeley and feel that divestment is not a simple solution to an extremely complex heart -wrenching situation. If you find group discussions as a possible way for people to not feel so helpless-then we need to organize this. Simple divestment will not be a constructive way to dialogue. Please understand that I am extremely disconcerted by recent events but wish to address our concerns through dialogue and raising awareness. Thank you, Maureen Clearfield

Sent from my iPhone

29 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Vote NO on divestment

Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Completed

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message including attachments, if any, is intended only for the person(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and /or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e- mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

-----Original Message----- From: gila perach hirsh [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2015 6:54 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote NO on divestment

Dear Sirs,

It has come to my attention that the BDS movement, funded by highly questionable sources, has succeeded in demanding your valuable time and attention.

Kindly vote ‘NO’ on this ridiculous and plainly racist objective. Ridiculous because we all need and benefit greatly from Israel, and racist because there are hundreds of serious situations which do require our time and attention. When Israel needs our help, lets do just that, but in the meantime let us listen to her. She has so much to teach us from which we could benefit immensely.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Yours,

Gila Perach Hirsh, Madame Rektor Emeritus Webster University Vienna Privatuniversität

30 If you would be so kind, could you squish BDS like the annoying mosquito that it is? Who needs the itching? Who needs the malaria?

31 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 10:05 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Vote NO on Divestment!

Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Flagged

From: Donna Cooper [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 9:59 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote NO on Divestment!

Good Morning,

I urge you in STRONGEST TERMS to vote NO on the divestment from Israel resolution . This is an biased, ugly, and one-sided resolution that has no place in the Berkeley community. Vicious anti- Israel groups are attempting the hijack the agendas of every organization they can, and it's up to thinking, fair-minded people to show them we will not succumb to their outrageous tactics.

I would appreciate the courtesty of a response to this email. Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards, Donna Cooper

32 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 12:15 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Upcoming BDS Measure

Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Flagged

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Janine Mogannam [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 12:13 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Subject: Upcoming BDS Measure

Dear Commissioner Wong, As a lifelong City of Berkeley consumer, grandchild of Berkeley business and real estate owners, and former intern with the Berkeley Public Library, I am extremely encouraged by the Commission's recent and brave consideration to pass a policy divesting from Israeli corporations. Please join the global movement to stand in solidarity with values of liberation and self-determination by heeding the call to action issued a decade ago by Palestinian civil society boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights. Educators, activists, faith leaders, students, workers and institutions around the globe have seen fit to declare their commitment to working through cultural, economic, and political means to ensure Palestinian liberation. I have always respected and admired the City of Berkeley for its progressive stance and dedication to human and civil rights causes. Berkeley has a legacy of being on the right side of history, and I urge you to ensure the vote on October 21st honors that legacy.

33 Respectfully yours, Janine M. Mogannam

34 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:10 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: URGENT e-mail sent early Oct 15 not included in the packet for a Oct 21 meeting of the HWCAC

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Barbara Schick [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:01 AM To: Capitelli, Laurie Cc: All Council ; Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) ; Berkeley Mayor's Office Subject: URGENT e-mail sent early Oct 15 not included in the packet for a Oct 21 meeting of the HWCAC

It has come to my attention that although I sent the enclosed e-mail to the HWCAC super early Thursday morning Oct 15, it was not included in the packet sent out on friday Oct 16 by the HWCAC. I hope that you will make sure it is included in the packet to be considered by the HWCAC prior to the meeting Wed Oct 21. I am shocked that in Berkeley a communication submitted early Thursday for a meeting the following Wednesday is not included in the packet to be considered by commissioners. Is someone censoring the communications that will be provided to the HWCAC and the public?

Begin forwarded message:

From: Barbara Schick Subject: District 5 Ms. Jennifer Browne: I am Opposed to Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories Date: October 15, 2015 at 12:22:28 AM PDT To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Dear Ms. Browne and other commissioners of the Human Welfare & Community Action Commission,

35 I am opposed to passage of the proposed resolution being considered by your commission to recommend that the Berkeley City Council call for divestment from Israel for the following reasons: i) HWCAC’s role is to advise the Berkeley City Council on the social welfare needs of Berkeley residents and visitors , a task that in itself can be overwhelming. Diverting time, energy, and resources of the HWCAC to the complicated issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will detract from the tasks and accomplishments of the HWCAC. ii) HWCAC’s role is not to advise on international affairs. iii) Biased, unfounded, and inaccurate statements, resolutions, and actions (such as those that have been directed against Israel) can exacerbate, rather than contribute to a just resolution of disputes. A just resolution of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict requires a thorough and unbiased understanding of Middle Eastern politics and history. iv) Divestment boycotts can backfire. For example, in response to boycott pressure, Sodastream relocated from “occupied territory” to pre-67 Israel. A move that caused many Palestinians employed by the previous factory to lose their jobs. So the Palestinians, not the Israelis, suffered from the boycott. v) Israel is being singled out. Many countries, including the US, do not have a perfect record when it comes to the rights of people, yet are not the subject of divestment boycott campaigns to the same extent as Israel. vi) Despite its small size, Israel has made and continues to make many contributions to the world and humanity. When there is a disaster, such as those in Haiti, Nepal, and Thailand, Israel has sent emergency medical teams. Agricultural watering techniques developed in Israel are used world wide, even here in California. How about all the technological advances that have come out of Israel. Divestment resolutions and boycotts would only hamper Israel’s ability to make worthwhile contributions to mankind. Contributions that even Arabs and Palestinians can benefit from.

Please abandon the efforts for the HWCAC to pass any resolution recommending divestment from Israel.

Sincerely yours,

Barbara Schick 818 Indian Rock Ave Berkeley, CA 94707

36 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:12 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Berkeley JCRC -you need to RSVP ofr security reasons

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Zimmerman [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:14 AM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) ; [email protected]; Abraham H. Foxman Cc: 'Ilana Kaufman' ; 'Barry Gustin' ; 'Andrew Upton' ; 'Marvin Lewis' ; 'Barry' ; 'Bruce Gottlieb' ; 'Jared Silverman' ; 'Howard Milstein' ; 'Faith Meltzer' ; 'Roger Becker' ; 'Riva Gambert' ; 'Rossman-Benjamin Tammi' ; 'SWU Rothstein ~ Roz' ; 'Roth A Marc' ; 'Daniel Klein' ; 'Mike Harris' ; 'Stiller, Karen' ; 'Johanna Wilder' ; 'Lenny Kristal' Subject: RE: Meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Berkeley JCRC -you need to RSVP ofr security reasons

This evening I attended the Berkeley subcommittee meeting whose purpose was to consider a re-written resolution connecting Berkeley to the BDS movement to establish the legal nexus to give it jurisdiction to act. Apparently without a direct connection the currently worded BDS resolution would be defeated for vagueness and or lack of relevancy or outside the mandate of the Human Welfare Committee. People from both sides were invited to speak. Following the open discussion the matter was then closed for any further comment and the commissioners debated in public and shared their thinking process. During his share Commissioner McMullan spoke at length and detail about a “very close personal friend” who “was shot by the IDF” and whose image he “could never get out of his mind” “it was captured on film”. He then went on to discuss how offensive the site of Caterpillar demolition trucks were especially those “with armored plating”. He finished his tirade by calling for “an end to war profiteering”.

37 While the last two admissions/statements might not –by themselves- be sufficient evidence of bias forcing Commissioner McMullan to recuse himself, given the undeniable emotional attachment expressed in his first remark about his “very close friend” who was “shot by the IDF” I asked to make a procedural point and was denied. I then asked anyway that Commission McMullan “recuse himself” stating “there was no way given his remarks he could be fair and impartial”. No further deliberations should have taken place until this matter was addressed. The deliberative process was poisoned.

I was told to stop speaking but continued to address the procedural issue stating that “no Judge or decision maker could under these circumstances be fair and impartial and would and must recuse himself immediately”.

No discussion was had concerning my procedural request and I was eventually escorted out of the room.

The transparent, real, substantive and blatant recriminations and unshakable bias evidenced by Commissioner McMullen was made public for all to hear.

It would be highly improper for him to vote: he simply is way too emotionally involved and should under any rule of fair play and jurisprudence be recused.

Were he a man of integrity or someone who respects the boundaries of law and the blindness of lady Justice he would have and should have recused himself voluntarily.

As I left I heard him murmur “because I have a friend”?

“Yes” would have been my response had I been allowed to give one. “Yes” because you admitted to a “very close personal relationship ”and you so stated it yourself in clear and unambiguous words and the “thought” and “image” of your “very close friend being shot” cannot leave your mind.

A self-admitting biased Commissioner violates his oath of office in acting in so unbalanced a way and brings shame upon the integrity and neutrality of the Commission and City Council. He of all people should know better and deserves to be removed for cause.

I intend to file a formal complaint against Commissioner McMullan pursuant to GC 83115

A. Sworn Complaint

The law provides that if you suspect a violation of the Act you may file a sworn complaint with the FPPC (Gov. Code Sec. 83115).

The Act and FPPC Regulations provide that a sworn complaint filed with the FPPC entitles the complainant to certain rights and processes, described below. A sworn complaint must comply with certain requirements. Using the complaint form and providing as detailed information as possible will assist the FPPC in processing your complaint. At a minimum, you must do all of the following:

1. Submit your complaint in writing. 2. Sign the complaint under penalty of perjury. 3. Identify the person(s) who allegedly violated the Act and list the specific provisions the person(s) violated. 4. Describe with particularity the facts constituting the alleged violation and provide any evidence to support the complaint.

38 5. Include names and addresses of witnesses, if known.

The FPPC may only act on complaints alleging violations within its jurisdiction. In order for us to process your complaint, all of the pertinent information the form asks of the complainant must appear on the form, not as an attachment. The complaint must state a specific violation of the act including the date on which it occurred, and must also state how you have personal knowledge of the violation. It may be helpful to contact our Enforcement Division prior to filing a complaint to determine whether the activity presents an issue on which the FPPC has jurisdiction to act. For immediate assistance from the Enforcement Division, call 916-322-

5660 and press 1 or toll free at 866-ASK-FPPC FREE and press 1.

Ian Zimmerman, Esq

Founder and President of The Law Offices of Ian Zimmerman, A Professional Corporation 3030 Bridgeway, Suite 435 Sausalito, CA 94965 415 887-9394 www.GoodCases.com [email protected]

39 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:12 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Berkeley JCRC -you need to RSVP ofr security reasons

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Barry [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:53 AM To: Zimmerman Cc: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) ; [email protected]; Abraham H. Foxman ; Ilana Kaufman ; Barry Gustin ; Andrew Upton ; Marvin Lewis ; Bruce Gottlieb ; Jared Silverman ; Howard Milstein ; Faith Meltzer ; Roger Becker ; Riva Gambert ; Rossman-Benjamin Tammi ; SWU Rothstein ~ Roz ; Roth A Marc ; Daniel Klein ; Mike Harris ; Stiller, Karen ; Johanna Wilder ; Lenny Kristal Subject: Re: Meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Berkeley JCRC -you need to RSVP ofr security reasons

Outstanding legal analysis and argument. Agree 100%. Barry K.

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 20, 2015, at 12:14 AM, Zimmerman wrote:

40 Following the open discussion the matter was then closed for any further comment and the commissioners debated in public and shared their thinking process. During his share Commissioner McMullan spoke at length and detail about a “very close personal friend” who “was shot by the IDF” and whose image he “could never get out of his mind” “it was captured on film”. He then went on to discuss how offensive the site of Caterpillar demolition trucks were especially those “with armored plating”. He finished his tirade by calling for “an end to war profiteering”.

While the last two admissions/statements might not –by themselves- be sufficient evidence of bias forcing Commissioner McMullan to recuse himself, given the undeniable emotional attachment expressed in his first remark about his “very close friend” who was “shot by the IDF” I asked to make a procedural point and was denied. I then asked anyway that Commission McMullan “recuse himself” stating “there was no way given his remarks he could be fair and impartial”. No further deliberations should have taken place until this matter was addressed. The deliberative process was poisoned.

No discussion was had concerning my procedural request and I was eventually escorted out of the room.

The transparent, real, substantive and blatant recriminations and unshakable bias evidenced by Commissioner McMullen was made public for all to hear.

It would be highly improper for him to vote: he simply is way too emotionally involved and should under any rule of fair play and jurisprudence be recused.

Were he a man of integrity or someone who respects the boundaries of law and the blindness of lady Justice he would have and should have recused himself voluntarily.

As I left I heard him murmur “because I have a friend”?

I intend to file a formal complaint against Commissioner McMullan pursuant to GC 83115

A. Sworn Complaint

The law provides that if you suspect a violation of the Act you may file a sworn complaint with the FPPC (Gov. Code Sec. 83115).

The Act and FPPC Regulations provide that a sworn complaint filed with the FPPC entitles the complainant to certain rights and processes, described below. A sworn complaint must comply with certain requirements. Using the complaint form and providing as detailed information as 41 possible will assist the FPPC in processing your complaint. At a minimum, you must do all of the following:

Ian Zimmerman, Esq

Founder and President of The Law Offices of Ian Zimmerman, A Professional Corporation 3030 Bridgeway, Suite 435 Sausalito, CA 94965 415 887-9394 www.GoodCases.com [email protected]

42 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:12 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Berkeley JCRC -you need to RSVP ofr security reasons

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 6:57 AM To: Zimmerman Cc: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) ; [email protected]; Abraham H. Foxman ; Ilana Kaufman ; Barry Gustin ; Andrew Upton ; Marvin Lewis ; Barry ; Bruce Gottlieb ; Jared Silverman ; Faith Meltzer ; Roger Becker ; Riva Gambert ; Rossman-Benjamin Tammi ; SWU Rothstein ~ Roz ; Roth A Marc ; Daniel Klein ; Mike Harris ; Stiller, Karen ; Johanna Wilder ; Lenny Kristal Subject: Re: Meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Berkeley JCRC -you need to RSVP ofr security reasons

I suspected as much.... McMullan.... Gimme a break!

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 20, 2015, at 12:14 AM, Zimmerman wrote:

43 Following the open discussion the matter was then closed for any further comment and the commissioners debated in public and shared their thinking process. During his share Commissioner McMullan spoke at length and detail about a “very close personal friend” who “was shot by the IDF” and whose image he “could never get out of his mind” “it was captured on film”. He then went on to discuss how offensive the site of Caterpillar demolition trucks were especially those “with armored plating”. He finished his tirade by calling for “an end to war profiteering”.

No discussion was had concerning my procedural request and I was eventually escorted out of the room.

The transparent, real, substantive and blatant recriminations and unshakable bias evidenced by Commissioner McMullen was made public for all to hear.

It would be highly improper for him to vote: he simply is way too emotionally involved and should under any rule of fair play and jurisprudence be recused.

Were he a man of integrity or someone who respects the boundaries of law and the blindness of lady Justice he would have and should have recused himself voluntarily.

As I left I heard him murmur “because I have a friend”?

I intend to file a formal complaint against Commissioner McMullan pursuant to GC 83115

A. Sworn Complaint

The law provides that if you suspect a violation of the Act you may file a sworn complaint with the FPPC (Gov. Code Sec. 83115).

The Act and FPPC Regulations provide that a sworn complaint filed with the FPPC entitles the complainant to certain rights and processes, described below. A sworn complaint must comply with certain requirements. Using the complaint form and providing as detailed information as 44 possible will assist the FPPC in processing your complaint. At a minimum, you must do all of the following:

Ian Zimmerman, Esq

Founder and President of The Law Offices of Ian Zimmerman, A Professional Corporation 3030 Bridgeway, Suite 435 Sausalito, CA 94965 415 887-9394 www.GoodCases.com [email protected]

45 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:26 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: NO BSD

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 3:41 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: [email protected] Subject: NO BSD

Dear Secretary Wong,

Please vote NO on divestment. BDS is just another transparent act of destruction.

Sincerely, Yetta Rossofsky

46 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Wednsday vote

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 3:53 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Wednsday vote

Dear Secretary Wong, Please vote no on divestment. Rose G. Schlecker

47 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Please vote no to divisive boycotts

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Adam Spam [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 4:28 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please vote no to divisive boycotts

Dear Ms. Browne,

As a resident of North Berkeley's District 5, I am writing to urge you to vote no on the upcoming resolution to boycott Israeli goods and companies at this Wednesday's meeting of the HWCAC. This resolution does nothing to advance the cause of true peace in the region and will ultimately only serve to further a very divisive and hurtful dynamic in our community here at home in Berkeley. Among the many reasons I am opposed to this resolution are the following:

• The issue of Israel, and really any geopolitics, is very clearly outside the scope of the Commission's mission to identify and address the social welfare needs of the local community. • To delve into this complicated debate about Middle Eastern politics, and single out Israel in this way, will create a contentious and distracting dispute that can only detract from the Commission's work improving services and assistance programs in Berkeley. • Finally, this inaccurate, biased, one-sided resolution is deeply offensive and will be divisive in the Berkeley community where there is a wide range of perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I am writing to you anonymously because this issue has in the past impacted my family negatively. My wife is a dual Israeli / American citizen and was associated with the University last year when a similar motion came before the graduate student union. Her support for Israel led to her being isolated from and ostracized by many of her peers. It is so sad for us to be reliving this experience - this time in the city we love.

Please, please vote no. And please vote yes to a different motion that begins true dialog between Israelis and Palestinians here in Berkeley. That's how we can lead the way - through demonstrating coexistence and mutual respect. Not by blindly following a hurtful, divisive, one sided agenda.

Respectfully, A resident of your district

49 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Please drop divestment resolution and continue your focus on Berkeley's Human Welfare needs

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Esther Brass [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 4:28 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please drop divestment resolution and continue your focus on Berkeley's Human Welfare needs

Dear HWCAC Secretary Wong,

I would appreciate your forwarding the letter below to the Commissioner representing my district, Commissioner Browne. Thank you, Esther Brass-Chorin

Dear Commissioner Browne,

I was dismayed to hear that the City of Berkeley's Human Welfare & Community Action Commission (HWCAC) is considering a resolution, Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories.

Instead of helping the Commission address the Berkeley community’s welfare and assistance needs, this resolution distracts from the HWCAC’s mandate and is divisive. There is a wide

50 range of opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Berkeley, yet this resolution seems to me quite biased, or at best, one-sided. This resolution certainly does not represent my views and values.

I do not see how the Commission could devote resources to develop a statement on this complex issue that truly represents the range of citizens of Berkeley, nor is it the job of HWCAC to do so.

I hope that the Human Welfare & Community Action Commission will not be distracted from its challenging tasks, and be able to focus on continuing its good work -- devoting its attention to addressing our city’s human needs, among them, hunger and poverty.

I appreciate your attention,

Esther Brass-Chorin October 19, 2015 Berkeley, 94707

51 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:27 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Vote "No" on upcoming resolution, Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 4:35 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote "No" on upcoming resolution, Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Dear Ms. Dunner,

I am writing you to urge you to vote "No" on the upcoming resolution about divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories.

I am "left-wing" when it comes to Israeli politics, by both American and Israeli standards. I believe an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank is necessary. I believe a sovereign Palestine is necessary.

However, the HWCAC is not the proper place to be considering this resolution. From what I understand, you in this leadership position are meant to focus on helping the people in Berkeley that need the attention paid to economic and racial justice for all. By singling out the Israel-Palestine issue -- among all of the many egregious injustices occurring in the world -- you gravely undermine the integrity of your commission.

Even if your commission did focus on correcting international injustice as part of it's mission, it appears that you are reducing the complexity of Israel/Palestine to a simplistic and politically expedient social action campaign. The resolution with which you are being presented contains information that is inaccurate, biased, and more importantly, one-sided. Frankly, in taking up this resolution your commission sounds naive, hypocritical, and insidious.

52 Passing the resolution will be divisive in the Berkeley community and counter-productive to achieving a just resolution to Israel-Palestine. Please vote "no" on the upcoming resolution about divestment from Israel.

Sincerely,

Daniel Isaacson Berkeley Resident and Homeowner

53 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 9:17 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Berkeley BDS debate Wednesday night

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Jeff Morgan [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 9:12 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Berkeley BDS debate Wednesday night

Wy Wong Secretary Berkeley Human Welfare Commission

To all concerned:

I am a Berkeley resident who does not support Berkeley’s meddling in the affairs of any foreign country, including Israel. Berkeley is a city that would do better to focus exclusively on the domestic, city-wide issues that affect all of its residents here locally. The issues being discussed in Israel are complex—both culturally and historically. And the fact that any debate on Israel at all has made it to a Berkeley governing body is absurd at best and pathetic at worst. Let the Israelis deal with their own domestic issues, which they do fairly well considering the fact that they are surrounded by nations, governments and—yes—terrorist groups--calling for their demise.

The 800-pound gorilla in the room here is, of course, blatant anti-Semitism, which seems to be finding a new voice in Berkeley. Let’s remember that the world is home to many nations such as China and Russia—and of course Syria--that are engaged in far more aggressive actions toward minorities in their midst. Yet we don’t hear much about this in the current debate. It would be nice to know that Berkeley is spending more time on such critical issues as local homelessness, public transport and waste disposal—rather than wasting time engaged in a public debate without end, without reason and without relevance to reality on the streets here at home.

Jeff Morgan Berkeley, CA 94710

55 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 9:34 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Berkeley JCRC -you need to RSVP ofr security reasons

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Lenny Kristal [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 9:32 AM To: Zimmerman Cc: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) ; [email protected]; Abraham H. Foxman ; Ilana Kaufman ; Barry Gustin ; Andrew Upton ; Marvin Lewis ; Barry ; Bruce Gottlieb ; Jared Silverman ; Howard Milstein ; Faith Meltzer ; Roger Becker ; Riva Gambert ; Rossman-Benjamin Tammi ; SWU Rothstein ~ Roz ; Roth A Marc ; Daniel Klein ; Mike Harris ; Stiller, Karen ; Johanna Wilder Subject: Re: Meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Berkeley JCRC -you need to RSVP ofr security reasons

Hello Ian,

May I respectfully request that you do NOT take any action at this point please.

Can we find the time to talk soonest? - Again what is the best number to get you this morning (and or you can call me).

All best

Lenny

On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 12:14 AM, Zimmerman < [email protected] > wrote:

57 This evening I attended the Berkeley subcommittee meeting whose purpose was to consider a re-written resolution connecting Berkeley to the BDS movement to establish the legal nexus to give it jurisdiction to act. Apparently without a direct connection the currently worded BDS resolution would be defeated for vagueness and or lack of relevancy or outside the mandate of the Human Welfare Committee.

People from both sides were invited to speak.

Following the open discussion the matter was then closed for any further comment and the commissioners debated in public and shared their thinking process.

During his share Commissioner McMullan spoke at length and detail about a “very close personal friend” who “was shot by the IDF” and whose image he “could never get out of his mind” “it was captured on film”. He then went on to discuss how offensive the site of Caterpillar demolition trucks were especially those “with armored plating”. He finished his tirade by calling for “an end to war profiteering”.

No discussion was had concerning my procedural request and I was eventually escorted out of the room.

The transparent, real, substantive and blatant recriminations and unshakable bias evidenced by Commissioner McMullen was made public for all to hear.

It would be highly improper for him to vote: he simply is way too emotionally involved and should under any rule of fair play and jurisprudence be recused.

Were he a man of integrity or someone who respects the boundaries of law and the blindness of lady Justice he would have and should have recused himself voluntarily.

As I left I heard him murmur “because I have a friend”?

I intend to file a formal complaint against Commissioner McMullan pursuant to GC 83115

A. Sworn Complaint

The law provides that if you suspect a violation of the Act you may file a sworn complaint with the FPPC (Gov. Code Sec. 83115).

916-322-5660 and press 1 or toll free at 866-ASK-FPPC FREE and press 1.

59 Ian Zimmerman, Esq

Founder and President of

The Law Offices of Ian Zimmerman,

A Professional Corporation

3030 Bridgeway, Suite 435

Sausalito, CA 94965

415 887-9394 www.GoodCases.com

[email protected]

60 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 10:54 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Attn: Commissioner Jennifer Browne

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Keren Stronach [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 10:52 AM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Attn: Commissioner Jennifer Browne

Dear Secretary Wing Wong and Commissioner Jennifer Browne,

I live in District 5 in Berkeley and would like to express my deep concern about the Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories resolution. I see this international issue as outside the scope of the Commissions mission, which is to address the social welfare needs of the Berkeley community.

Morally, targeting Israel for human rights abuses, given the state of all the countries surrounding it is ridiculous and offensive. Israel is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, where many religions and different people have a voice in government - from the Bahai’s who have their world center in Haifa, to the Druze, the Beduins (SF Ambassador was a Moslem Beduin), Christian and Moslem Arab-Israeli’s and Jews, among others. And, there are many organizations within Isreal and the Palestinian territories advocating for a two state solution which would give Palestinians statehood and a voice. These efforts are stymied in part by radicals uncompromising voices amongst Palestinians as well as among segments of the Jewish population. However much we deplore the situation of the Palestinians, it is complicated and difficult to solve – even with the best of intentions. However, there are many groups and individuals in government and outside the government in Israel advocating for a two state solution. Any divestment from Israel would harm all people’s living in Israel – from Palestinians to Arab Israeli’s Jews, Bahai’s, the Druze, among others.

Moreover, targeting Israel for human rights abuses given the state of the world is ridiculous. If we want to start divesting from countries with civil right abuses, let’s consider China and its treatment of the Tibetan people. Or Boko Haram with its indiscriminate and horrific killing of innocent civilians in Nigeria and beyond. Or the 61 atrocities by the Syrian government on its people, the rape and abduction of Yazidis by ISIS, the beheadings with no due process and stonings in Afghanistan and in Saudi Arabia, freedom of the Press in Iran, gay rights in all the Arab countries, a woman’s right to choose the person she wants to marry (in Iran the legal age of marriage has gone down to age 9!). Let us look at human rights abuses here in the US with our unequal justice system for low income African Americans versus wealthier White counterparts, our broken Democracy that is distorted by money and denies entire groups of people from voting (such as convicted felons), etc.

The goal should always be to strive for a just society where people are treated respectfully and fairly. Unfortunately, we live in a world where enlightenment values of tolerance and individual rights are not practiced uniformly. Singling out Israel, given the far more horrific human abuses taking place in numerous countries around the world, makes no sense and is destructive to the many peoples who live there. More importantly, I do not see its relevance to the scope of the Commission’s work.

Respectfully,

Keren Stronach, MPH 815 Shattuck Ave Berkeley 94707

62 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 11:14 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Reject the divest from Israel resolution on 10/21

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message including attachments, if any, is intended only for the person(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and /or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e- mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

-----Original Message----- From: Robert Cole [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 11:12 AM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Reject the divest from Israel resolution on 10/21

Dear Commssion,

It is ethically imperative that you reject the proposed divestment resolution. It is both irrelevant to your mission and that of the City of Berkeley and very wrong-headed. It is irrelevant because it attempts to leverage the City as a tool in a partisan political cause that has nothing to do with Berkeley. I consider that cause to be wrong, but one's views of the merits are irrelevant here. It is wrong-headed, regardless of one's views of the merits, because it is one-sided, readily lends itself to anti-Semitism, and is harshly divisive of our community. It gratuitously inflicts real damage on our community and the larger world, all for no legitimate reason. Thank you for considering this letter.

-- Robert H. Cole 2959 Piedmont Ave Berkeley 94705

63 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 11:21 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Reject the divest from Israel resolution on 10/21

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message including attachments, if any, is intended only for the person(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and /or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e- mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

-----Original Message----- From: Felicia Cole [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 11:17 AM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Reject the divest from Israel resolution on 10/21

Dear Commission,

It is imperative that you reject the proposed divestment resolution. It is not the cities role to take international political positions and impose them on Berkeley based on one's views or merits when those views or merits are irrelevant to Berkeley public policy. This is not the place to hash out international issues.

Felicia Cole 43 Maryland Ave. Berkeley 94707

64 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 11:53 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: israel

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Susan Brand [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 11:40 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: [email protected] Subject: israel

I have lived in this community for over 40 years. I live in District 6 and to target Israel, with all that is happening in the world and all of the needs we have locally, is misguided. While, like others, I have issues with Israeli policies, there are many countries that we have issues with and to single out Israel is unconscionable.

Thank you, Dr Susan Brand 793 Cragmont Ave Berkeley, ca 94708.

65 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 1:40 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Attn: Commissioner Jennifer Browne

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Gabi Klausner-Abrahamson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:54 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) ; Wong, Wingyin ; '[email protected] Subject: Attn: Commissioner Jennifer Browne

Dear Secretary Wing Wong and Commissioner Jennifer Browne, I live in District 1 in Berkeley and would like to express my deep concern about the Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories resolution. I see this international issue as outside the scope of the Commissions mission, which is to address the social welfare needs of the Berkeley community.

Moreover, targeting Israel for human rights abuses given the state of the world is ridiculous. If we want to start divesting from countries with civil right abuses, let’s consider China and its treatment of the Tibetan people. Or Boko Haram with its indiscriminate and horrific killing of innocent civilians in Nigeria and beyond. Or the atrocities by the Syrian government on its people, the rape and abduction of Yazidis by ISIS, the beheadings 66 with no due process and stonings in Afghanistan and in Saudi Arabia, freedom of the Press in Iran, gay rights in all the Arab countries, a woman’s right to choose the person she wants to marry (in Iran the legal age of marriage has gone down to age 9!). Let us look at human rights abuses here in the US with our unequal justice system for low income African Americans versus wealthier White counterparts, our broken Democracy that is distorted by money and denies entire groups of people from voting (such as convicted felons), etc.

Respectfully yours,

Gabi Abrahamson

67 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 1:40 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: BDS vote

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Stan Roodman [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 11:57 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Subject: Fwd: BDS vote

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Stan Roodman Date: October 20, 2015 at 11:51:51 AM PDT To: "[email protected]" Subject: BDS vote

Please do not vote for the BDS resolution. BDS is evil and will do no good but only spread antisemitism. Thanks for your help. Stan Roodman,Ph.D Lived in Israel for total of 1 year since 2008 and loved every minute.

Sent from my iPhone

68 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 2:59 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Please stop this resolution

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Joel Siegal [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 2:54 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Joel Siegal Subject: Please stop this resolution

Dear Commission Wong,

The City of Berkeley's Human Welfare & Community Action Commission (HWCAC) is considering a resolution, Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories, that recommends that the Berkeley City Council call for divestment from Israel.

The resolution, which is scheduled to come up for a vote on October 21st , is supported by groups that seek the elimination of the State of Israel, the same groups whose actions at the Oakland Port prevented an Israeli Zim cargo ship from docking last year. Clearly, their singling out of Israel from other nations underscores the political nature of their campaign. Their hope is to radicalize the Bay Area and make it hostile to supporters of Israel. To this end they are seeking to co-opt the good and important work of the HWCAC, which advises the Berkeley City Council on the city's social welfare needs, and turn the Commission into an extension of their anti-Israel protest apparatus.

1. The issue of Israel, and really any geopolitics, is very clearly outside the scope of the Commission's mission to identify and address the social welfare needs of the local community.

69 2.To delve into this complicated debate about Middle Eastern politics, and single out Israel in this way, will create a contentious and distracting dispute that can only detract from the Commission's work improving services and assistance programs in Berkeley.

3. Finally, this inaccurate, biased, one-sided resolution is deeply offensive and will be divisive in the Berkeley community where there is a wide range of perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Why I'm I writing to you today?

I am a sixty year old civil rights attorney. I proudly call myself a “red diaper baby” as my father was a union organizer and official in the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union. As a civil rights lawyer for over thirty years, I have been blessed to have represented hundreds of workers at Administrative hearings and in Superior and Federal courts throughout the State of California . I have represented unions and community groups. I have walked on hundreds of picket lines, and participated in hundreds of boycotts. I happily can compare my credentials as a progressive with any other person.

As you can see from my letterhead, my office is in the San Francisco financial district. Seven years ago, when my oldest daughter was to start school, our family needed to move from San Francisco. Many of our friends fled the City to the “safety” and better schools of Marin County and Lafayette.

We, my wife, and two young daughters, however are a multi-racial and multi-national family, with strong roots in liberal and progressive politics. For us, there was only one logical place to move, Berkeley.

I write to you today to urge that you, the city attorney, and all city council members to do everything within your power to defeat the resolution scheduled on November 17th at the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission which is essentially a BDS resolution which will create divisiveness and anti-Semitism in Berkeley .

In short, I ask that we as a city take the B.S. out of the BDS movement.

As you know, the Regents of The University of California, for the first time, recently publically acknowledged the necessity of addressing the problems of anti-Semitism on UC campuses. The Regents rejected the proposed statement of principles against intolerance on the grounds that it did not address the problem of anti-Semitic bigotry. The Regents announced the formation of a working committee to draft a new statement which will address the problem.

Similarly, the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission agenda item on November 17th, is part of an Orwellian campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel through the BDS movement. Lest you or the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission have any doubt of that proposition, I urge that you review a number of recent pro-BDS books that argue for the ultimate BDS solution, i.e., the dissolution of the Jewish State. I refer you specifically to the writing of the BDS founders Omar Barghouti and Judith Butler, The Case For Sanctions Against Israel (2012) andDeconstructing Zionism (2013), and several of the essays in The Imperial University (2014), as examples of writings confirming the desire for the ultimate final solution, an end to a Jewish State in Israel. These writings demonstrate that the ultimate goal of BDS is the final solution and the end of the Jewish State in Israel .

What’s more, BDS makes zero economic sense for Berkeley, a city known for attempting to better the lives of its citizens and the lives of all on the planet.

Passage of BDS in Berkeley will have negative, profound economic consequences, as well as creating a hostile anti-Semitic environment. Should a BDS resolution succeed in Berkeley, the city attorney will need to guarantee that all Intel Pentium and Celeron computer processing chips from personal computers (desktops, lap tops, and notebooks) be eliminated from every office, school, and presumably every home in Berkeley, as all of this technology was developed and or manufactured in Israel. Berkeley will need to insist that all Microsoft operating systems be boycotted since this technology is heavily reliant on Israel Research and Development. Similarly, the algorithm that is used today for sending emails was developed by an Israeli who worked at Ben Gurion University in 1980. The city will need to operate without email.

As you know, the city attorney has just one victory in federal court regarding warnings on cell phones. If BDS is passed this victory is meaningless, because all cell phones will need to be eliminated in Berkeley because the technology of cell phones developed in Israel has been installed in over one hundred million devices. Berkeley will also need to eliminate texting because this technology was also developed in Israel.

All Facebook accounts in Berkeley will similarly need to be eliminated as the built-in and add-on applications are Israeli developed. I know that my block uses Facebook as part of our emergency preparedness in the event of an earthquake. If BDS is passed, however, Facebook in Berkeley will need to shut down.

I applaud your efforts at working to clean the environment in Berkeley. Passage of the BDS movement, however, will more likely require that electric vehicles not be allowed in Berkele y, because the battery technology was developed in Israel.

I applaud our city’s effort to tax sugar beverage such as soda. Health has always been an important part of living in a progressive city like Berkeley. Passage of BDS in Berkeley will require that Berkeley ban cherry tomatoes, which were developed in Israel. Similarly, water irrigation technology developed in Israel is being utilized all over the world including the third world to grown fruit and vegetables (mostly organic), which coincidentally is helping to eliminate hunger around the globe. Israel right now is working with California scientists on desalinization projects to help eliminate our drought. If the November resolution passes, Berkeley should insist that that research stop immediately.

I am sure that if the resolution passes, the city attorney and local police will spend much time policing and guaranteeing that our hospitals, doctors, pharmacists, and patients stop the use of pharmaceuticals manufactured and developed by Teva, the largest generic drug company in the world. While progressives bemoan big Pharma, Teva has provided lower cost pharmaceuticals. AIDS and HIV drugs, such as AZT and Hypericin based drugs, were in part developed at the Weiszman Institute in Israel. Thus, Berkeley will need to boycott these drugs as well. Similarly, our citizens who suffer from Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy will be precluded from treatment or medication. Copaxone and laquinimod, agents used to fight MS, were developed in Israel . Brain pace makers and Levedopa used to treat Parkinson’s was developed in Israel , as was magnetic cortex stimulators. Similarly, the PillCam used in many surgeries was developed in Israel as was most nanotechnology.

Israeli bandages that saved the life of Senator Gabriella Gifford, and which would be used extensively in Berkeley in the event of an earthquake, were developed in Israel .

71 I could present to you a list of dozens of countries that relied on Israel during national crisis. Haiti during its earthquake, and Nepal during its earthquake, are but two examples of countries which thanked Israel for the medical, technical and human support that it offered during those crises. No doubt, Israel would provide the same support when and if Berkeley needed it during a crisis. Should we really be burning this bridge?

I can site dozens of other examples of why a boycott, divestment and sanction of Israel is contrary to a progressive well-informed community like Berkeley .

I am struck by the fact that the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission should bring this issue to the forefront. I have yet to hear their concerns about Syria , where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed and millions have been forced into refugee status. I have seen no official condemnation of ISIS or Boko Haram. Why is Israel singled out? We have seen, here in Berkeley , that anti-Israel sentiment on campus quickly devolves to anti-Semitism. The proposed resolution, if passed, threatens the same for our entire community.

I implore you to oppose this dangerous initiative and avoid what would, in effect, be on official Berkeley imprimatur of anti-Semitism. It should not happen here.

Sincerely,

Joel H. Siegal

Joel H. Siegal, Esq. Attorney at Law 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 800 San Francisco, CA 94104 Telephone: (415) 777-5547 Facsimile: (415) 777-5247 http://www.litigateforjustice.com

72 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 2:59 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: HWCAC

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: R Gubkin [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 2:53 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: HWCAC

Dear Mr. Wong,

This email is to clearly express my strong concern and opposition to the Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories that the HWCAC wants to present and propose. The proposed resolution is offensive and inaccurate, and will ignite tension, division and turmoil among the city of Berkeley residents and its supporters.

In addition, since when the issue of Israel is within the scope of the Commission's mission to identify and address the social welfare needs of the local community? It is the Commission's duty to work on improving the welfare of its residents and not to create a divisive and contentious city. In Berkeley, there is a wide range of perspectives about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Commission's resolution is biased, one-sided and dangerous to the present and future of this community.

Regards, RG

73 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 3:23 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Divest-from_Israel resolution

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message including attachments, if any, is intended only for the person(s) or entity(ies) to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and /or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e- mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

-----Original Message----- From: Allen Mayer [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 3:20 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Re: Divest-from_Israel resolution

Please vote NO on divestment.

This resolution is biased and simplifies a complicated problem in a hateful manner. Boycotts such as these are not designed to solve problems nor to bring people to together, but rather to stigmatize people.

Thank you,

Allen Mayer

Sent from my iPad

74 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 3:56 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Request that HWCAC not consider Divestment item

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Sophie Hahn [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 3:56 PM To: attorney ; Manager, C ; Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) ; Berkeley Mayor's Office ; Maio, Linda ; Moore, Darryl ; Anderson, Maxwell ; Arreguin, Jesse L. ; Capitelli, Laurie ; Wengraf, Susan ; Worthington, Kriss ; Droste, Lori ; All Council Subject: Request that HWCAC not consider Divestment item

Dear City of Berkeley Elected and Appointed Officials, and members of City Staff,

I am writing to urge the HWCAC Commission, City Council and the City not to consider the divestment item on the HWCAC agenda for this week, either removing it from consideration or abstaining from voting on the item. While Berkeley has taken important stands on issues of State, National and International concern in the past, it is customary – and most effective - to take a stand only when local public opinion is overwhelmingly unified and such action would not sow tensions among communities within Berkeley. Berkeley residents of goodwill have a wide variety of heartfelt opinions and perspectives on the very complex questions the resolution seeks to address.

Thank you for your consideration,

Sophie Hahn

Berkeley Resident 75 Sophie Hahn [email protected]

When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That is my religion. Abraham Lincoln

76 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 8:00 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Vote no on Divestment!

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Mike Kurtz [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 4:42 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote no on Divestment!

Not a Berkeley resident but I do spend a lot of time there (good restaurants), please Vote no on Divestment!

Thanks, Mike Kurtz

77 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 8:00 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Mark Brilliant [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 8:07 PM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Dear Wing Wong, Jill Donner, and members of the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission,

As residents of District 1 in Berkeley, we are deeply concerned about the increasing homeless population in the parks within walking distance of our house, the decreasing stock of affordable housing in our city, and the growing income polarization that contributes to each of these problems - and many more - in Berkeley and beyond. We are heartened that our city has a Human Welfare and Community Action Commission to attend to pressing local issues such as these, not the least of which is because of the death threats we and our six- and three-year-old children recently received from a homeless man while walking along the bike path a block from our house on the way to our local park (on Berkeley Way, between Acton and Curtis). As the HWCAC no doubt knows better than we do, homelessness, affordable housing, and living wages (among many other local social welfare issues pertaining to the least advantaged in our beloved community) are most pressing and vexing matters. They require the undivided attention of those charged with the awesome and noble responsibility of addressing them. For that reason, we are puzzled by - and object to - the HWCAC wading into turbulent geopolitical waters that strike us as well beyond its primary purview - as well as a divisive distraction from the urgent tasks at hand closer to home. We therefore urge you to reject the Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories resolution.

Thank you for your consideration.

Mark Brilliant and Lisa Frydman 1382 Hearst Ave. 78 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 8:00 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Vote on Divestment

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Roberta Silverstein [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 9:39 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote on Divestment

I am a Berkeley resident and urge you to please vote "no" on the divestment vote. . It is a biased and on-sided resolution.

Thank you, Roberta Silverstein

80 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 8:00 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Divestment vote - October 21st

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 9:44 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment vote - October 21st

I live in Berkeley and urge you to vote "no" on the divestment vote.

Thank you, Stephen Sperber

81 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 8:00 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Please reject resolution “Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories"

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Helise Cohn [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 10:07 PM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: Maio, Linda ; [email protected] Subject: Please reject resolution “Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories"

Dear Commissioners Wong and Dunner (please forward to Ms. Dunner),

I am a 13-year resident of Berkeley and a member of its very diverse Jewish community. I am writing to respectfully ask that HWCAC reject its resolution entitled “Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories," to be considered on October 21. This Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a contentious and complex issue that has eluded remedy by the international community. Passage of this local resolution will have no impact on the international dialog needed to solve this conflict. In fact, its passage will be polarizing and demonstrate disregard for the wide range of opinions held by Berkeley's Jewish and non-Jewish community. As a resident, I do not wish to be represented by Berkeley commissioners in this way.

Please consider:

Thank you for considering my letter. Helise Cohn 1364 Tomlee Dr. 82 Berkeley Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 8:01 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: 21102015 Concern about DBS

Importance: High

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 10:32 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: 21102015 Concern about DBS Importance: High

Dear Mr. Wong,

84 Regards,

Moshe Govrin CEO/President Moshe Govrin & Co. Int"l Kidron 43 4458100Alfei Menashe ISRAEL +972-(0)9- 7653984 +972-153-97653984 +972-(0)505693468 [email protected] http:\\govrinmo.wix.com\new-era-approach

Skype: govrinmo

Save a tree. Do not print this message if not really necessary. We want back Ron Arad Please be respectful when forwarding email USE BCC: for all recipients and remove ALL email addresses Including mine when FORWARDING

85 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 8:01 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Israel resolution

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Steven Davidoff Solomon [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 11:32 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) ; Capitelli, Laurie ; Wong, Wingyin Subject: Israel resolution

To whom it may concern:

With the rise in homelessness in Berkeley, the increasing cost of living and the presence of a man who has twice attempted to abduct schoolgirls on our streets in the past few weeks, I am very disappointed to see that the HWCAC has chosen to spend its time debating a resolution on Israel. As a member of District 5, I am concerned about our local affairs and do not see how this affects or should be taken up by the Berkeley administration. In addition, I find the resolution patently offensive and discriminatory for its ahistorical nature and singling out of the Jewish homeland for special targeting out of all of the countries in the World. I would hope that the HWCAC would be more considerate of the many Israelis and Jews who make this city a home – indeed that is its purpose. I hope that our district council members act appropriately to properly ensure that the HWCAC carries out its mission in Berkeley.

Thank you for your consideration,

--S

Steven Davidoff Solomon (it used to be just Steven M. Davidoff) Professor of Law University of California, Berkeley -- School of Law N.Y. Times "Deal Professor" http://www.nytimes.com/column/deal-professor

86 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] on behalf of Liz Jackson Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 8:57 AM To: Molina, Raquel P.; Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin; attorney Subject: Correspondence re: First Amendment Right to Boycott & Divest Attachments: Letter to HWCAC - 10-21-15.pdf

Dear Ms. Molina, Ms. Wong, and the City Attorney,

Please see the attached correspondence to the HWCAC members and consider forwarding to the commission members before this evening's meeting. The letter addresses legal issues that are likely to be raised at the commission meeting.

Thank you for time and attention.

Warm regards, on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild – San Francisco Bay Area and Palestine Legal,

Liz Jackson Berkeley, CA

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Liz Jackson Staff Attorney | Palestine Legal Cooperating Counsel | Center for Constitutional Rights PalestineLegal.org Phone: (510) 206-6800 Follow us on Twitter: @pal_legal

NOTE: We are now Palestine Legal! Check out our new website, and please direct emails to [email protected].

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This email does not by itself establish an attorney-client relationship, and may not constitute legal advice.

87 Via Email

October 21, 2015

Re: The First Amendment Right to Boycott and Divest for Social Change

Dear Members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission, and the Berkeley City Attorney,

On behalf of the National Lawyers Guild San Francisco-Bay Area (NLG SF-BA) and Palestine Legal, we write in support of the resolution, “Divestment From the Israeli Occupation” (the “resolution”). Specifically, we write in response to the September 21 letter from Marc Greendorfer of the Zachor Institute to the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission (HWCAC). Greendorfer’s claims that the resolution would violate the law are based on serious distortions of both law and fact, and have no merit. The people of Berkeley, through our representative government have an indisputable First Amendment right to make the ethical choice to boycott and divest from the Israeli occupation.

As background, we are attorneys and residents of Berkeley. The organizations we represent – NLG SF-BA and Palestine Legal – are both civil rights and racial justice organizations, with the mission to advance the constitutional rights of vulnerable communities.

The Divestment Resolution is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Boycotts and divestment have long played a significant role in U.S. history, and the Supreme Court has held that political and human rights boycotts are protected under the First Amendment. In the landmark Supreme Court civil rights case NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co.,1 a local branch of the NAACP boycotted white merchants in Claiborne County, Mississippi to pressure elected officials to adopt racial justice measures. The merchants sued NAACP for interference with business. The Supreme Court found that “the boycott clearly involved constitutionally protected activity” through which the NAACP “sought to bring about political, social, and economic change.”2 It concluded that the boycott constituted a political form of expression under the speech, assembly, association and petition clauses of the First Amendment. Indeed, the Court pointed out that “speech on public issues” – like Israeli policies and Palestinian human

1 458 U.S.886 (1982). 2 458 U.S. 886 at 911 3 458 U.S. 886 at 913 (quoting Carey v. Brown, 447 U. S. 455 (1980)). rights – “occupies the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values”3 and is entitled to special protection.

The Federal Export Administration Act applies to a boycott by a foreign country, and does not apply to the divestment resolution or other BDS Activity.

The Zachor letter argues that support for BDS violates the anti-boycott provisions of the Export Administration act of 1979 and the regulations promulgated thereunder (the “EAA”).

The Federal Export Administration Act4 enacted by Congress in 1979, was a rider to legislation regulating US exports and it was intended to protect US businesses and exporters from being forced to cooperate with the Arab League’s boycott of Israel. Specifically, the anti-boycott law prohibited participation in a boycott in cooperation with a foreign country whose policies were hostile to those of the United States. In no way did that legislation apply to grassroots boycotts undertaken as a matter of social, political or moral conscience; nor could it, under core First Amendment principles enunciated by the US Supreme Court, as discussed above.

The remainder of the Zachor letter is inflammatory, baseless, and factually inaccurate.

Zachor’s letter is replete with Islamophobic characterizations of “BDS leaders and supporters” as participating in “the persecution and slaughter of LGBT persons and religious minorities” and “institutionalized misogyny” and in terrorist activity.

While urging Berkeley to retain its international reputation “as a leader in the fight to protect LGBT, women’s and minority rights…,” the author fails to disclose that his own advocacy is in direct opposition to Berkeley’s progressive tradition. Marc Greendorfer has, for example, filed amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing against the right of gay people to marry, and for the right of businesses to deny female employees access to birth control.

The letter contains gross errors in fact, stating for example that Berkeley’s previous ordinance divesting from apartheid South Africa differs fundamentally from the current divestment resolution because the previous resolution was in compliance with existing US sanctions. In actuality, Berkeley’s 1979 ordinance preceded US sanctions (first imposed under the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act. of 1986) by seven years.

3 458 U.S. 886 at 913 (quoting Carey v. Brown, 447 U. S. 455 (1980)). 4 Export Administration Act (“EAA”) of 1979. For more information, please see the memo from the National Lawyers Guild, Impact of Federal Anti-Boycott and Other Laws On BDS Campaigns, October 2009, analyzing the application of anti-boycott law to BDS campaigns, available at http://palestinelegalsupport.org/download/bds/boycott/NLG_BDS_legal_memo.pdf The letter makes global and derisive conclusions about complex issues without argument or citation. For example, Zachor dismisses as “ludicrous and contrary to demonstrated fact” the widely accepted position that Israel’s regime in occupied Palestine meets the definition of “apartheid” under International Law. As authority he cites a single utterance by Richard Goldstone that “There is no apartheid in Israel.” This ignores the fact that many high-ranking Israeli officials, including former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, themselves characterize the regime in the occupied territories as apartheid.5 It also ignores the 300-page report issued in 2009 by The Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa, and re-issued in book form in 2012, which concluded after a two-year study by an international team of scholars and practitioners of international law that Israel’s occupation regime meets in every respect the legal definition of apartheid.6

For these reasons the Zachor letter should not be taken seriously. It should be condemned by the HWCAC in particular for its inflammatory depiction of BDS supporters, which include hundreds of Berkeley residents who have identified themselves as such to the HWCAC and to the public.

The Zachor letter follows a pattern of baseless legal threats aimed to suppress debate about Israel/Palestine.

Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights recently published a report, “The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: a Movement Under Attack in the U.S.,” documenting the concerted efforts by Israel advocacy organizations to suppress speech critical of Israel.7 We have attached an executive summary of the report for your convenience, because it provides important context to understand the baseless allegations that boycott and divestment are unlawful. Over an 18 month period, Palestine Legal responded to nearly 300 incidents of suppression, including 159 incidents of false accusations of anti-Semitism based solely on speech critical of Israel. The report documents a pattern of baseless legal claims arguing that boycott and divestment are unlawful, similar to the claims levied by Mr. Greendorfer here.

* * *

We are eager to be a resource to the city of Berkeley and the HWCAC. As residents representing local organizations that have studied the relevant constitutional,

5 Israeli Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak stated: “As long as in this territory west of the Jordan River there is only one political entity called Israel it is going to be either non-Jewish, or non- democratic. If this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state." See also, e.g., former Israeli Attorney General Michael Ben Yair : "[In 1967] We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society… We developed two judicial systems: one – progressive, liberal – in Israel; and the other – cruel, injurious – in the occupied territories. In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories immediately following their capture. That oppressive regime exists to this day"; and former Education Minister Yossi Sarid: “What acts like apartheid, is run like apartheid and harasses like apartheid, is not a duck - it is apartheid… What should frighten us, however, is not the description of reality, but reality itself." 6 See full report at http://www.alhaq.org/attachments/article/236/Occupation_Colonialism_Apartheid- FullStudy.pdf 7 See http://palestinelegal.org/the-palestine-exception/ civil rights, commercial and regulatory issues for years, we can provide more information and answer questions. We can be reached through Liz Jackson at [email protected], 510-206-6800.

Thank you in advance for protecting the First Amendment values at the heart of our city. Warm regards,

Liz Jackson, Palestine Legal Berkeley, CA

Matt Ross, National Lawyers Guild – San Francisco Bay Area Berkeley, CA

Palestine Legal is an independent organization dedicated to protecting the civil and constitutional rights of people in the United States who speak out for Palestinian freedom. Founded in 2012, Palestine Legal provides legal advice, advocacy, and litigation support to college students, professors, grassroots activists, and affected communities who stand for justice in Palestine.

Palestine Legal is a ﬁscally sponsored project of the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) nonproﬁt organization.

]

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a nonproﬁt legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

This report was made possible in large part by the generous support of the Bertha Foundation, which has championed Palestine Legal and CCR’s work to support advocates for justice.

If you would like to support Palestine Legal and CCR, go to palestinelegal.org or CCRJustice.org to make a donation toward providing legal assistance to activists for Palestinian rights.

September 2015 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

Design by Design Action Collective Cover photo: Wellesley Students for Justice in Palestine Credit: AP Photo/Seth Perlman Credit: Students participate in a protest in support of Professor Steven Salaita on Sep- tember 9, 2014 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ver the last decade, a justifes, and otherwise supports dynamic movement in discriminatory Israeli government Osupport of Palestinian policies. human rights, particularly active Fearful of a shift in domestic in US colleges and universities, public opinion, Israel’s fiercest has helped raise public awareness defenders in the United States—a regarding the Israeli government’s network of advocacy organizations, violations of international law, as public relations firms, and think well as the role of corporations and tanks—have intensified their the US government in facilitating efforts to stifle criticism of Israeli these abuses. Tis activism, fueled government policies. Rather by Israel’s increasingly destructive than engage such criticism on assaults on Gaza, presents a its merits, these groups leverage robust and sustainable challenge their significant resources and to the longstanding orthodoxy in lobbying power to pressure the United States that excuses,

PALESTINE LEGAL & CCR | 2015 1 INCIDENTS OF SUPPRESSION RESPONDED TO BY PALESTINE LEGAL, BY TACTIC

160 160 2014 Total: 152 2015 Total: 140 140 140 Campus related: 136 Campus related: 112 Non-campus related: 16 Non-campus related: 28 120 120

100 100

80 80

60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0

Other* Other* Legislation Legislation of Events for Terrorism for Terrorism

Ofﬁcial Denunciation Ofﬁcial Denunciation Bureaucratic Barriers Criminal Investigations Bureaucratic Barriers

Cancellations and Alterations False Accusations of Support Threats to Academic Freedom False Accusations of Support False Accusations of Antisemitism False Accusations of Antisemitism

*Cancellations and Alterations of Events, Administrative *Threats to Academic Freedom, Lawsuits and Legal Sanctions, Lawsuits and Legal Threats Threats, Criminal Investigations

Incidents often fall in multiple categories, therefore totals by tactic exceed the total number of incidents.

TOTAL INCIDENTS RESPONDED TO BY PALESTINE LEGAL, BY STATE

3 2 1 5 43 15 5 3 9 13 7 2 29 2 101 2 2 1 8 2 3 2 4 January 1, 2014 - June 30, 2015 4 Total Incidents: 292

11 *Map does not reﬂect 13 nationwide incidents.

2 THE PALESTINE EXCEPTION TO FREE SPEECH INCIDENTS OF SUPPRESSION RESPONDED TO BY PALESTINE LEGAL, BY TACTIC universities, government actors, punishment or other burdening of and other institutions to censor advocacy for Palestinian rights and or punish advocacy in support of received 68 additional requests Palestinian rights. In addition, for legal assistance in anticipation high-level Israeli government of such actions. In the first six figures, led by Prime Minister months of 2015 alone, Palestine Benjamin Netanyahu, and wealthy Legal responded to 140 incidents benefactors such as Sheldon and 33 requests for assistance Adelson and Haim Saban have in anticipation of potential reportedly participated in strategic suppression. These numbers meetings to oppose Palestine understate the phenomenon, activism, particularly boycott, as many advocates who are divestment, and sanctions (BDS) unaware of their rights or afraid campaigns. of attracting further scrutiny stay silent and do not report incidents These heavy-handed tactics of suppression. The overwhelming often have their desired effect, majority of these incidents—89 driving institutions to enact a percent in 2014 and 80 percent variety of punitive measures in the first half of 2015—targeted against human rights activists, students and scholars, a reaction such as administrative sanctions, to the increasingly central role censorship, intrusive investigations, universities play in the movement viewpoint-based restriction of for Palestinian rights. advocacy, and even criminal prosecutions. Such efforts The tactics used to silence advocacy intimidate activists for Palestinian for Palestinian rights frequently human rights, chill criticism of follow recognizable patterns. Israeli government practices, and Activists and their protected speech impede a fair-minded dialogue on are routinely maligned as uncivil, the pressing question of Palestinian divisive, antisemitic, or supportive rights. of terrorism. Institutional actors—primarily in response This Report, the first of its kind, to pressure from Israel advocacy documents the suppression groups—erect bureaucratic barriers of Palestine advocacy in the that thwart efforts to discuss United States. In 2014, Palestine January 1, 2014 - June 30, 2015 abuses of Palestinian rights and Legal—a nonprofit legal and Total Incidents: 292 occasionally even cancel events or advocacy organization supporting programs altogether. Sometimes *Map does not reflect 13 nationwide incidents. Palestine activism—responded the consequences are more severe: to 152 incidents of censorship, universities suspend student

PALESTINE LEGAL & CCR | 2015 3 groups, deny tenure to faculty, or often lodged without evidence. In fire them outright in response to 2015, for example, the anonymously their criticism of Israel. Meritless run website Canary Mission lawsuits and legal threats, which published a list of organizations and come from a variety of Israel activists it accused of supporting advocacy groups identified in this terrorism, including campus Report, burden Palestinian rights chapters of the Muslim Student advocacy and chill speech even Association, which it refers to as a when dismissed by the courts. “virtual terror factory.” The website Campaigns by such groups have seeks to “expose” individuals and even resulted in legislation to student groups as “anti-Freedom, curtail Palestine advocacy, criminal anti-American and anti-Semitic” to investigations, and filing of charges schools and prospective employers. against activists. Official Denunciation: In response Specifically, the Report documents to outside pressure, institutional the following tactics employed to actors sometimes pronounce official undermine advocacy for Palestinian disapproval of the legitimate views rights. and actions of Palestine advocates, frequently by unfairly characterizing False and Inflammatory Palestine activism, particularly Accusations of Antisemitism support for BDS, as improperly and Support for Terrorism: The “delegitimizing” Israel or as Israel advocacy groups identified uncivil, divisive, or not conducive here devote considerable resources to dialogue. Such misleading to monitoring the speech and framing, promoted by certain Israel activities of Palestinian rights advocacy groups and predominantly advocates and falsely accusing them reserved for speech in support of of antisemitism, based solely on Palestine, barely masks the officials’ their criticism of Israeli policy, in underlying disagreement with the order to undermine their advocacy. viewpoint of Palestine activists. In Such conflation silences meaningful late 2014, for example, University conversation about Palestinian of California president Janet rights and distracts from genuine Napolitano denounced a campaign forms of hatred and antisemitism. which asked student government Some groups also accuse Arab- candidates to make an “ethics American, Muslim, and other pledge” to refuse free trips from Palestine solidarity activists of Israel advocacy groups as violating supporting or sympathizing with principles of “civility, respect, and terrorism—an inflammatory charge inclusion.” Her predecessor, Mark

4 THE PALESTINE EXCEPTION TO FREE SPEECH Yudof, likened a peaceful protest critical of Israeli policy often come against a talk by former Israeli under attack, forcing organizers soldiers to hanging nooses, drawing to cancel, move, or substantially swastikas, and vandalizing a campus alter the programs. Israel advocacy LGBTQIA center. groups frequently contend that programs lack “balance” or are Bureaucratic Barriers: antisemitic. For example, in the University officials routinely spring of 2015, the Missouri erect administrative obstacles or History Museum decided, after abruptly alter school policies so as receiving complaints from Israel to hamper student organizing for advocacy organizations, that Palestinian rights. These measures an event on solidarity between include creating impediments activists working for justice in to reserving rooms and forcing Ferguson, Mexico, and Palestine students to obtain advance approval could not proceed unless organizers for events, pay security fees, removed references to Palestine. In and attend mandated meetings 2012, the University of California’s with administrators. Though Hastings Law School withdrew seemingly neutral, these policies its official support of a conference sometimes target and frequently entitled “Litigating Palestine” after disproportionately burden speech being pressured by Israel advocacy in favor of Palestinian rights. For groups. example, in 2014, administrators at the City University of New York’s Administrative Sanctions: College of Staten Island repeatedly Universities often respond to called members of Students for complaints from Israel advocacy Justice in Palestine and their faculty groups by investigating and advisor into meetings to question disproportionately disciplining them about events and social media students and student groups for postings, urged the group to hold events and actions in support of events alongside Israel advocacy Palestinian rights. For example, groups, and instructed members Loyola University Chicago to submit promotional flyers for launched an investigation into official authorization. the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in Cancellations and Alterations fall 2014, after students lined of Academic and Cultural up at a Birthright Israel table to Events: From campus lectures ask questions that highlighted and community discussions to art the discriminatory nature of the and film exhibitions, public events program, which excludes non-

PALESTINE LEGAL & CCR | 2015 5 Jews. After a lengthy investigation, because it deemed his personal university administrators ultimately tweets criticizing Israel’s 2014 suspended the SJP group for the assault on Gaza to be “uncivil.” remainder of the year for failing San Francisco State University to register the “demonstration.” launched an investigation of Yet the administration chose not Professor Rabab Abdulhadi in to suspend the campus Hillel spring 2014, forcing her to defend chapter for similarly failing to a research trip to Palestine, after register its tabling event, instead an Israel advocacy group accused merely requiring the chapter group her of abusing taxpayer funds and to meet with administrators to meeting with “known terrorists.” In review school policy. In spring fall 2014, the AMCHA Initiative, 2014, Northeastern University an Israel advocacy group, issued a in Boston suspended a student blacklist of more than 200 Middle group after members distributed East Studies professors it declared flyers describing Israel’s policy of to be “anti-Israel.” demolishing Palestinian homes. Public outcry and the threat of Lawsuits and Legal Threats: legal action, however, forced the Israel advocates also initiate university to reverse course and lawsuits, administrative civil reinstate the group. rights complaints, and other legal threats that hamper and intimidate Threats to Academic Freedom: advocates for Palestinian rights. Israel advocacy groups often Israel advocacy groups have filed target academics critical of Israeli at least six complaints with the policies or supportive of Palestinian Department of Education (DOE) rights. Campaigns against faculty asserting that, merely by tolerating — from Columbia University to campus events and protests the University of California at that criticize Israeli policies, Los Angeles — sully reputations, universities violate Title VI of the instigate university investigations, Civil Rights Act, which prohibits and can even lead to termination discrimination by programs of employment. For example, the receiving federal funds. Each of University of Illinois at Urbana- these complaints was ultimately Champaign, succumbing to dismissed. In 2011, five Olympia pressure from Israel advocacy Food Co-op members, with the groups and donors, summarily support of the Israel advocacy dismissed Professor Steven Salaita group StandWithUs, sued sixteen from a tenured faculty position at of the Co-op’s board members for the outset of the fall 2014 semester voting to boycott Israeli goods,

6 THE PALESTINE EXCEPTION TO FREE SPEECH claiming the board had exceeded Pennsylvania again in 2015. its authority. Even when they do not succeed, these protracted legal Criminal Investigations and battles drain emotional, financial, Prosecutions: Local and federal and organizing resources and law enforcement officials have generate bad publicity, driving questioned, investigated, and in some individuals and groups to some cases prosecuted Palestine refrain from openly supporting rights advocates based on their Palestinian rights. speech criticizing Israel. For example, in spring 2014, police Legislation: Lawmakers, questioned three Northeastern sometimes at the behest of Israel University students in their homes advocacy groups, introduce after an affiliated student group legislation and resolutions to distributed flyers about Israel’s condemn or restrict Palestine home demolition policies under advocacy, often by linking criticism dorm room doors. Three years of Israel to antisemitism. Eleven earlier, prosecutors in Orange such measures were introduced in County, California initiated a rare 2014 and at least another sixteen criminal prosecution of students in the first half of 2015. Seven of for peacefully protesting a speech the 2014 measures, including one by Israel’s ambassador to the in the US Congress, condemned United States and obtained guilty the academic boycott of Israel verdicts against ten University of after the American Studies California, Irvine and Riverside Association (ASA) passed a students on the charge of boycott resolution. Some bills disrupting a public meeting. went further, proposing to defund universities that subsidized faculty All of these tactics—individually involvement in associations that and in the aggregate—threaten supported a boycott, like the the First Amendment rights of ASA. In 2015, Congress passed people who seek to raise awareness a federal trade bill that included about Palestinian human rights and an anti-BDS provision, and challenge the dominant perspective Illinois became the first state to in this country, which discounts sign an anti-BDS measure into Israel’s discriminatory and violent law. Legislative bodies passed government policies. They further resolutions condemning boycotts in undermine the traditional role Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, of universities in promoting the and Pennsylvania in 2014 and in free expression of unpopular Indiana, Tennessee, New York, and ideas and encouraging challenges

PALESTINE LEGAL & CCR | 2015 7 to the orthodoxies prevalent State Department and the DOE’s in official political discourse. Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Our constitutional tradition should clearly distinguish between cannot tolerate an exception to antisemitism and criticism of the First Amendment simply Israeli policies in their definitions, because Palestinian human rights policies, and legislation. Activists advocacy makes powerful listeners should not be labeled as antisemites uncomfortable. The remedy for or supporters of terrorism based on speech with which one disagrees is their criticism of Israel. more speech, not enforced silence. Even in the face of a variety of Yet, like the successful political and repressive measures, the movement social movements that preceded for Palestinian rights continues to it, the movement for Palestinian draw strength from the force of human rights faces reactionary its ideas and the real prospect that forces that deploy heavy-handed changes to US public opinion— financial, legal, and administrative and one day access to justice for measures to intimidate the the Palestinian people—are indeed movement and discredit its ideas— possible. Legal, political, and ideas that seek to promote justice, educational institutions should equality, and accountability. permit this important debate Today’s educational, governmental, to continue freely, lest they find and legal institutions should themselves on the wrong side of resist these tactics that attempt to history. punish, burden, or chill speech and advocacy supporting Palestinian rights or criticizing Israel. Instead, they should adhere to their stated commitments to provide space for open, robust debate on these vital issues of public concern.

Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) urge universities to review their policies to ensure that they protect academic freedom and to hear the concerns of students targeted by these attacks. Legislatures and government agencies, including the

8 THE PALESTINE EXCEPTION TO FREE SPEECH palestinelegal.org ccrjustice.org

To view the full Report visit palestinelegal.org/the-palestine-exception Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 10:19 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Israel Divestment resolution

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Benjamin Lerman [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 10:13 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Re: Israel Divestment resolution

Dear Secretary Wong,

I write to register my strong opposition to the HWCAC resolution regarding divestment from Israel. This is clearly outside the scope of the HWCAC, which should properly be concerned with the social welfare needs of our local community. Middle Eastern politics are complicated and controversial. If this were actually in the purview of the commission, it would require months of education for the commissioners to be adequately educated on this topic in order to make an informed decision--and even those who share similar goals with regards to achieving a just and lasting peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have conflicting ideas about how this might be achieved. This resolution will only serve as an embittering distraction from the commission's true and important mission. Please do not lead the commission into this quagmire.

Sincerely, Benjamin Lerman, MD

89 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 11:17 AM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: FW: Please vote no on divestment; it's wrong to single out one country

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 11:16 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please vote no on divestment; it's wrong to single out one country

To: Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission

I am a member of the Jewish community who expects our Commissions to be fair to all and not to unfairly single out one particular nation in the world, a nation that lives under constant threat from those that unapologetically seek its destruction.

Anti-Israel activists are doing damage to our long Bay Area traditions of fairness and civil discourse.

It is shocking to hear that the Director of the local Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) said "bringing down Israel really will benefit everyone in the world and everyone in society." Just as unbearable is hearing that American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) recently decried President Barack Obama for inviting "Muslim Homosexuals" to a White House reception.

Please do not support any action that singles out Israel, which, like our good old United States, certainly less than perfect, is the only democracy in its region of the Middle East.

My gay nephew who loves and works towards peace, lives in Tel Aviv, and I urge you not to do anything that would harm his wellbeing.

Singling out his country with such an ugly action from Berkeley will only promulgate the divide, single out Berkeley and not advance peace.

I believe that Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir sadly summed it up well:

Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.

90 Thank you,

Robert Gordon

ACTION CALENDAR November 17, 2015 To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council From: Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Submitted by: Praveen Sood, Chairperson, Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Subject: Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories RECOMMENDATION Adopt a Resolution requesting that the City Manager 1) Examine the feasibility of divesting all City of Berkeley direct holdings in companies complicit in on-going violations of human rights and International Law under Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories; 2) Send a letter from the City of Berkeley to the Board of Directors of CalPERS urging them to implement their existing responsible investment policies equitably and to divest all holdings in companies complicit in ongoing violations of human rights and International Law under Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories; and 3) Amend the City of Berkeley’s Oppressive States Business Policy [Resolutions 60,382-N.S., and 59,853-N.S. – 59,857- N.S. (1999)] to add Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories to the listed areas. FISCAL IMPACTS OF RECOMMENDATION There are no costs associated with the actions recommended beyond amending the policy as appears in city publications. The full list of complicit companies to be barred from investment is very limited, as published by socially responsible investment research firms, faith investors and human rights groups. It is unlikely that the City is directly invested in any of them, and if it is, each of these securities is easily replaceable by comparable investments. CURRENT SITUATION AND ITS EFFECTS The occupied Palestinian territories are controlled militarily by the Israeli government, and the occupation is characterized by overreach and brutality, including the injuring and killing of Palestinian civilians, the destruction of Palestinian civilian infrastructure, a blockade of the Gaza Strip, and the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Many Berkeley community members, including Palestinians and Jews, have long regarded Israel’s oppressive policies as abhorrent, and have testified before our commission, calling on their city government to take action. BACKGROUND The City of Berkeley has not addressed Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories or the oppressive treatment of Palestinians. There is a growing global movement to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinians in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Citizens around the world including Archbishop Desmond Tutu are encouraging divestment in Israel. Israel's violations of human rights and international law have been heavily documented. Israel has refused to comply with UN Security Council Resolutions, including General Assembly Resolution 194, and the 4th Geneva Convention. Palestinian children demonstrators are arrested and held in Israeli prisons and punished as adults, in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Palestinian people are regularly killed and injured in the course of nonviolent political protest. They witness their homes being demolished and their agricultural lands confiscated to accommodate illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Generations have endured these atrocities. The economic and legal discrimination and political evidence of these practices echo what we witnessed in South Africa's Apartheid era. The Human Welfare and Community Action Commission advises the City Council on all matters affecting the social welfare of the community and its citizens and in that capacity, we recommend that the City Council pass the attached resolution. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY There are no identifiable environmental impacts or opportunities associated the action suggested in this report. RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATION The Human Welfare and Community Action Commission advises the City Council on all matters affecting the social welfare of the community and its citizens and in that capacity, we recommend that the City Council pass the attached resolution. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS CONSIDERED None CITY MANAGER The City Manager [TYPE ONE] concurs with / takes no position on the content and recommendations of the Commission’s Report. [OR] Refer to the budget process. Note: If the City Manager does not (a) concur, (b) takes any other position, or (c) refer to the budget process, a council action report must be prepared. Indicate under the CITY MANAGER heading, “See companion report.” CONTACT PERSON [Name], [Title], [Department], [Phone Number] Attachments: 1: Resolution 2: CalPers Letter WHEREAS, the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission advises the City Council on all matters affecting the social welfare of the community and its citizens (Berkeley Municipal Code (BMC) Chapter 3.78.070); and WHEREAS, the occupied Palestinian Territories are controlled militarily by the Israeli governmenti , and the occupation is characterized by overreach and brutality, including the injuring and killing of Palestinian civiliansii, the destruction of Palestinian civilian infrastructureiii, a blockade of the Gaza Stripiv, and the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; and WHEREAS, human rights violations against the Palestinian People have been systematically committed by the Israeli government, and have been documented by human rights organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, AlHaq, Defense for Children International, Addameer, B’tselem, Adalah, Badil, and the Israeli Coalition Against Home Demolitions, and certain companies have been complicit participants in these violationsv ; and WHEREAS, according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), “the construction by Israel of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and its associated régime are contrary to international law” and the establishment and expansion of settlements in the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem is also illegal by international lawvi; and WHEREAS, according to the UN General Assembly’s application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to occupied Palestinian territory, the establishment and expansion of settlements “...in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially settlement activities...remain contrary to international law and cannot be recognized, irrespective of

91 the passage of time”vii and the United States has long viewed the settlements as illegitimateviii; and WHEREAS, Palestinian refugees around the world, including many families residing in Berkeley, are denied the right to return to their homes, remain uncompensated for the loss of their homes, and many are barred even from visiting family in Israel and the Palestinian territories, despite the UN assertion “that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property, which, under principles of international law or inequity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible”ix; and WHEREAS, these violations of human rights and international law have resulted in the condemnation of the state of Israel by the international community in the UN Security Council, Human Rights Council Fact-Finding mission in Gazax , and the above mentioned governmental bodies and organizations, which consequently resulted in dozens of resolutions concerning the state of Israelxi; and WHEREAS, the City of Berkeley has not yet addressed Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories or the military regime that has been implemented there, despite a growing global movement to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people; and WHEREAS, the economic, legal and political evidence of these discriminatory practices echo South Africa's Apartheid era, which the City of Berkeley condemned in the strongest termsxii; and WHEREAS, churches, labor unions, students, faculty, and citizens around the world are encouraging divestment from companies that profit from Israel’s ongoing occupationxiii; and WHEREAS, more than 1000 African-American artists, intellectuals and activists, including Cornel West, Angela Davis, and numerous Berkeley residents, along with African- American organizations including the Black Student Union at the University of California at Berkeley have expressed solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine, announced their support of the global divestment campaign to hold Israel accountable for its human rights violations, and established connections between the plight of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and African-Americans facing discrimination in the United Statesxiv; and WHEREAS, the City of Berkeley has an ethical investment and procurement policy based on the following ordinances, resolutions and directives: • Nuclear-Free Berkeley Actxv • Oppressive States Business Policyxvi • Divestment from Gun Manufacturers and Tobacco Companiesxvii • Divestment from Publicly Traded Fossil Fuel Companiesxviii and these strictures do not come at the expense of the safety, liquidity or yield of the city’s investments, and were recognized as necessary for assuring that our investments represent our community’s concerns and values; and WHEREAS, CalPERS has an advanced socially responsible investment policy, including signing on to the UN Principles for Responsible Investmentxix, and assessing investments based on human rights behavior as required by the UN Global Compact, but CalPERS fails to implement their human rights policies with regard to severe human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories; and WHEREAS, Berkeley’s Oppressive States Business Policyxx was put into effect in 1999 in order to create a uniform selective purchasing policy for the City of Berkeley, prohibiting the expenditure of public funds for procurement of goods, investments or deposits with business entities which do business with specific government regimes designated by the Council as "Oppressive States." including military regimes and areas under a military belligerent occupation such as the Tibet Autonomous Region and the provinces of Ado, Kham and U-Tsang; and WHEREAS, the Oppressive States Business Policy notes that “the citizens of the City of Berkeley are cognizant of the fact that in the global marketplace the City’s expenditures for services, goods, deposits, and investments subject to this resolution are not substantial enough to have even an indirect coercive on foreign governments and, therefore, the policies established herein represent principally a symbolic gesture rather than an economic threat, a regulatory action or an act to change the domestic policies of any foreign country”; and WHEREAS, the Oppressive States Business Policy notes that “the citizens of the City of Berkeley reaffirm that the right of the people to peaceably assemble for the purpose of petitioning Congress for a redress of grievances, or for anything else connected with the powers and duties of the national government, is an attribute of American citizenship, and, as such, under the protection of, and guaranteed by, the United States”; and WHEREAS, Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian Territories constitutes an Oppressive State pursuant to resolution no. 59,853 NS and should be added to the Oppressive States List. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Berkeley that that the City Manager of the City of Berkeley will examine the feasibility of divesting all direct holdings in companies participating in on-going violations of human rights and international law in occupied Palestinian territories, including companies on the attached list, and will refrain from reinvestment until such time as the people of Berkeley, acting through their City Council, decide that the situation has changed such that divestment is no longer necessary; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution and the attached letter will be sent to the board of CalPERS urging it to implement its existing responsible investment policies equitably and to divest all holdings in companies complicit in ongoing violations of human rights and international law in the occupied Palestinian territories; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that appendix A of Resolution No. 59,853 N.S. is hereby amended to add Israel’s governing military regime in the occupied Palestinian territories to the Oppressive States List with the following delisting criteria: “Israel’s governing military regime in the occupied Palestinian territories shall be delisted at such time as the Berkeley City Council finds that Israel is no longer occupying the Palestinian Territories in a way that is inconsistent with the values of the people of the City of Berkeley”.

Draft letter to CalPERS re: Divestment from companies complicit in the brutal occupation of the Palestinian territories To the Board of Directors of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System: The people of the City of Berkeley through their City Council, and in accordance with the attached resolution, request that CalPERS divest all holdings in companies complicit in on-going violations of human rights and international law in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The

92 occupied Palestinian Territories are controlled militarily by the Israeli government, and the occupation is characterized by overreach and brutality, including the injuring and killing of Palestinian civilians, the destruction of Palestinian civilian infrastructure, a blockade of the Gaza Strip, and the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. CalPERS has an advanced socially responsible investment policy, including signing on to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, and assessing investments based on human rights behavior as required by the UN Global Compact which quotes the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights but has thus-far failed to implement your human rights policies with regard to severe human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories. We recommend that CalPERS divest from companies who: 1 Provide products or services that contribute to violent acts that target either Israeli or Palestinian civilians; 2 Provide products or services that contribute to the maintenance of the Israeli military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; 3 Provide products or services that contribute to the maintenance and expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories; 4 Provide products or services that contribute to the maintenance and construction of the Separation Wall. Many alternative investments exist which do not violate our collective values. We urge CalPERS to divest from Israel’s brutal occupation or Palestinian territories. It is time to stand up for human rights and international law and make a positive change for the future.

93 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 12:41 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Subject: My personal statement RE Item 5 on the agenda tonight

Dear Acting Secretary Molina:

I am a Berkeley physician, and I am not sure if I will be able to make the hearing tonight. I may have hospital duties this evening. Consequently, just to be sure that my voice is heard, please accept my prepared statement on Item 5. I would appreciate it if each of the individuals on the commission receive my prepared notes, and that they notes be made part of the permanent electronic records, accessible through the City of Berkeley's website.

Much thanks,

Respectfully,

Barry Gustin, MD Berkeley, CA

STATEMENT TO HUMAN WELFARE AND COMMUNITY ACTION COMMISSION BERKELEY, OCTOBER 21, 2015

BDS demands social justice and human rights for Palestinians outside of Israel. But the ultimate goal of BDS is not to create a Palestinian state living in peace and mutual recognition alongside Israel, but rather to have a Palestinian state take the place of Israel.

I ask the Commission to consider, what rights should there be for people who are sworn to kill you; people who have never recognized your right to exist or to live in that land; people who do not accept the Jewish state of Israel, and yet demand rights to their own Islamic state?

Several years before there was a dispute over West Bank land, there was a 1964 Palestinian Liberation Organization charter calling for the return of all Palestine from the Jordan River to the sea. That meant all of Israel. Nothing has changed since then.

The Palestinians, and Arabs in general, have repeatedly, since 1948, rejected Israel's right to exist; and consequently refuse to live in peace side by side with Israel by accepting a two-state solution. They refused peace when Israel unilaterally handed back Gaza. Instead, Israel received thousands of deadly rockets for their peace offering. And Palestinians will do that again, sending more rockets into the heart of Israel, into their

94 airport and main cities just a few miles away from the West Bank, if Israel gives back these territories without a peace treaty in place.

Palestinian demands for social justice have nothing to do with what they call "the occupation" or Jewish "settlements". These demands are just the first phase in their zero sum end game of destroying Israel and wiping out the Jewish people.

Their leader Abbas who has continually rejected a two-state solution said that not one Jew will live in the future state of Palestine. Between 1948 and 1967 when Jordan annexed and controlled the West Bank, there was no Palestinian outrage, and there was no world or U.N. condemnation. It was only after Israel captured Gaza and the West Bank in 1967 that Palestinians protested. The conflict is about hating Jews, not two lands for two peoples. And with Palestinian terrorism, suicide bombing, incitement of their people to hate and kill Jews, and a political propaganda campaign predicated on lies and historical revisionism, the Palestinians have spawned the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish BDS movement that we are discussing here in Berkeley tonight.

Palestinian Arabs who did not flee Israel in 1948, now numbering about 1.7 million people, presently live freely and happily in the democratic state of Israel as Israeli citizens, while Abbas and his cabinet foster an apartheid mentality amongst Palestinians outside of Israel: no Jews, no Christians, no infidels, no non-believers. A culture of death has been created in Gaza and the West Bank, and today we see the effects of their leader's incitement to violence, as innocent freedom and peace-loving Israelis are savagely butchered in the streets of Jerusalem.

Israel is fighting for her life, as she has done so many times in the past 70 years. Israel's right to exist, like that of the United States, Jordan, Egypt, and 152 other states on the planet is self-evident and unquestionable. The Jewish people have just as much right to national self-determination in a portion of their historic homeland as any other people-- the Japanese, the Russians, the French, the Turks, or the Egyptians-- have in theirs.

Instead of boycotting products from Israel or divesting from companies that do business with Israel, BDS should instead be demanding that the Palestinian people first recognize Israel's statehood. At the same time BDS would best occupy the moral high ground if they would ask the Palestinians to stop lobbing rockets at Israeli towns and stabbing innocent Jewish men, women and children on Israel's streets. At that point, the peace process can begin, but not before.

Thank you.

Barry Gustin, MD Berkeley, CA

95 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 1:33 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote no on divestment

Please vote no on divestment. The BDS movement is hateful and destructive.

1 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Lara Walklet Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 1:04 PM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Tonight's meeting

Dear HWCAC Secretary Wong and committee members:

In lieu of my attendance tonight at your meeting, I would like to make a brief comment about Action Item 5: "Israel's impact on the city of Berkeley.” I am opting to send this email instead of attending in person because I fear that the environment at the meeting will be hostile, intimidating and more upsetting than I can personally bear. I lament that this is the case.

As a Berkeley native and lifelong resident, as well as an educator in the Jewish community here in the Bay Area, I am concerned by the committee's suggestion that Israel be officially boycotted by our city council. Put aside the fact that it regularly alarms me to see that Israel is singled out disproportionately for its political climate to any other country in these types of measures: in my lifetime, I only recall Tibet (and the "enemy," China) being mentioned with as great a frequency. As someone who is very invested in Israel - culturally, emotionally, spiritually - it is hurtful to me that the city that raised me would not only encourage measures which are demonizing Israel, but moreover, that the city council's meetings on this issue feel physically unsafe to attend (from previous experience). I am proud of Berkeley's national and global reputation as a liberal, progressive city but at the same time, I am ashamed with the way Berkeley is known for its particular, passionate fixation on Israel and Palestine.

I disagree that, by Berkeley's citizens and our representatives taking sides in boycotting Israel, the welfare of the city will be improved/affected in a positive way. I can foresee, however, the very negative implications this stigmatization of Israel would have on the local Israeli and Jewish community. I also do not understand how this official condemnation would help to improve the contentious relationship our citizens may have with Israel, and with those who do not hold the same views about Israel. Citizens here need forums to reconcile our differences, instead of having one determined group have its voice endorsed, especially when it relates to the policies and practices of a country other than our own. Additionally, I feel it necessary to mention that the timing of your committee's recommendation is particularly upsetting, given that over 150 stabbings and intentional hit-and-runs were perpetrated against Jewish Israeli citizens, by their fellow Arab Israeli citizens, in the past two weeks alone.

In my work with local Jewish teenagers, who engage in an exchange program with Israeli teens from the border city of Kiryat Shmona, I regularly strive to inform our students about both Israel's civil triumphs and failures. I think it is in practical programs like mine that we can address these grievances presented by the HWCAC regarding Israel, not through a culture of top-down boycotting and polarizing demonetization.

I urge you not to add to the culture of unequivocal condemnation of either side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in tonight's meeting. I request that you consider alternate approaches to boycotts, that at least for me and my community, do not represent the values we hold or with which we were raised.

Respectfully yours, Lara Walklet

510-280-4058--

2 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Laura Sigura Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 1:02 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: tonight's vote

I am urging you to vote NO on divestment.

This is not the solution to a very complex and long standing situation.

Not the least, is the fact that Israeli Arabs would be very hurt by such divestment. So if anyone truly cares about the people living in that region, please vote NO.

Laura Sigura, MSW, Care Manager 200 Channing Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 v: 650-688-3031 f: 650-688-3029

A division of Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties

4 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Jesse Schwartz Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 12:21 PM Cc: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Re: Divestment

Berkeley Human Welfare Commission Secretary I am a Jew. My people have dwell in the Holy Land for millennia. In 70 CE and in 132 CE the Jewish people revolted against Roman oppression .In both cases the revolt were barbarously suppressed and tens of thousands of Jews were exiled. Now after 2000 years of exile we are returning. The land until recently was a “howling wilderness”: it was not as though we have pushed this or that people out-there was nothing there. We built up the land . We built with towns and cities and factories and farms, schools and universities. Naturally enough people from the surrounding lands flocked to it- from Jordan, from Syria,from Lebanon and from Egypt. These people have no historic base and no roots in the Land. They are a none people, a none nation. The resolution before you has nothing to do with social justice. It is a weapon. A weapon in a campaign to destroy an indigenous people who are returning to their Land. Now I know that the commission has a special place in its heart for indigenous people. I say why not begin at home. Why not began with the ground underneath our feet: it was stolen from the Ohlone Indians.

I wish therefore to add an amendment to the resolution before you -that the Berkeley City Council formally apologize and make reparations to the Ohlone nation. Yoel Schwartz

5 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Benjamin Lerman Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 10:10 AM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Israel Divestment resolution

Dear Secretary Wong,

Sincerely, Benjamin Lerman, MD

10 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Klaus Rotzscher Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:22 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: BDS

VOTE NO ON DIVESTMENT ! Klaus Rotzscher Pettingell Bookbindery 2181 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94704-1421 +1-510-845-3653 [email protected] www.pettingellbookbindery.com www.florentinecollections.com www.facebook.com/Number1Bindery www.pinterest.com/pettingellbook

11 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Barbara Schick Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:01 AM To: Capitelli, Laurie Cc: All Council; Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Berkeley Mayor's Office Subject: URGENT e-mail sent early Oct 15 not included in the packet for a Oct 21 meeting of the HWCAC

Begin forwarded message:

Dear Ms. Browne and other commissioners of the Human Welfare & Community Action Commission, I am opposed to passage of the proposed resolution being considered by your commission to recommend that the Berkeley City Council call for divestment from Israel for the following reasons: i) HWCAC’s role is to advise the Berkeley City Council on the social welfare needs of Berkeley residents and visitors , a task that in itself can be overwhelming. Diverting time, energy, and resources of the HWCAC to the complicated issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will detract from the tasks and accomplishments of the HWCAC. ii) HWCAC’s role is not to advise on international affairs. iii) Biased, unfounded, and inaccurate statements, resolutions, and actions (such as those that have been directed against Israel) can exacerbate, rather than contribute to a just resolution of disputes. A just resolution of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict requires a thorough and unbiased understanding of Middle Eastern politics and history. iv) Divestment boycotts can backfire. For example, in response to boycott pressure, Sodastream relocated from “occupied territory” to pre-67 Israel. A move that caused many Palestinians employed by the previous factory to lose their jobs. So the Palestinians, not the Israelis, suffered from the boycott.

12 v) Israel is being singled out. Many countries, including the US, do not have a perfect record when it comes to the rights of people, yet are not the subject of divestment boycott campaigns to the same extent as Israel. vi) Despite its small size, Israel has made and continues to make many contributions to the world and humanity. When there is a disaster, such as those in Haiti, Nepal, and Thailand, Israel has sent emergency medical teams. Agricultural watering techniques developed in Israel are used world wide, even here in California. How about all the technological advances that have come out of Israel. Divestment resolutions and boycotts would only hamper Israel’s ability to make worthwhile contributions to mankind. Contributions that even Arabs and Palestinians can benefit from.

Please abandon the efforts for the HWCAC to pass any resolution recommending divestment from Israel.

Sincerely yours,

Barbara Schick 818 Indian Rock Ave Berkeley, CA 94707

13 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 5:22 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: VOTE NO

VOTE NO ON DIVESTMENT. THANK YOU. leanne orwitz

14 Molina, Raquel P.

From: jsp Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 11:12 AM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Israel vote in Barkeley

Please vote NO on this anti-semitic, anti-Israel proposal. The worlde will thank you.

15 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Alan Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 3:34 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote NO on Divestment

Vote NO on divestment!!

Do the right thing. Treat all nations alike. If you pass this unjust ruling aimed at Israel... without also taking similar actions against other countries which actually harm their citizens , then you will be unmasked as an anti-Semite.

There will be peace in the region, via a two state solution, as originally proposed in 1948, only when the Palestinians end their failed campaign of hatred and intolerance.

Alan Manin Clayton, CA

16 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Eve Hershcopf Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 2:07 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Letter on Divestment Resolution - please include in supplemental packet for HWCAC Attachments: Letter to HWCAC 10-17-15.doc

Dear Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Members, I've requested to have my letter (attached) included in your Oct. 21 meeting packet, but I wanted to send it to you directly in case it is not included the packet. Thank you. =Eve Hershcopf

From: Eve Hershcopf [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2015 4:20 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: Letter on Divestment Resolution - please include in supplemental packet for HWCAC

Dear Ms. Molina, I've attached and also pasted in below a letter to the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission that I originally sent to the HWCAC email address on September 22, 2015. My understanding is that this letter did not get included in the published packet of materials but that a supplemental packet is being prepared. I would very much appreciate your ensuring that my letter is included in the supplemental packet for HWCAC commissioners. Thank you.

=Eve Hershcopf

-----Original Message-----

From: Eve [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2015 4:34 PM

To: [email protected]

Subject: Divestment resolution

Dear Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Members,

I'm writing as a concerned citizen and a person who thinks that it is important for our community to undertake a serious discussion of the pros and cons of a resolution calling for divestment from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

While I personally support such a resolution, I know there are other members of the community who do not. It is not only appropriate but essential that the Berkeley community have an opportunity to weigh in on this topic at the City Council level. In order to enable such a discussion to take place the HWCAC should approve the resolution and move it forward. I'm disappointed that the resolution was defeated and that a vote was put off for 30 days, at the earliest, when the item has been on the Commission's agenda since October 2014. I urge you to pass the resolution at your Commission meeting next month.

As several others have noted, the HWCAC is indeed a proper venue for the Resolution because the Commission deals with human rights, racism, homelessness and exploitation of vulnerable people, especially children. The Israeli occupation involves all of these issues, and impacts the lives of poor people in Berkeley by channeling public resources that could be used to address these issues in Berkeley, and instead provides military and other aid to Israel, and to the companies that profit from the occupation.

17 I respect the Commission's work on many important issues, and I recognize that this issue is a political "hot topic" that the Commission may prefer to avoid. But delaying a discussion is both unfair and unwise. I believe that the HWCAC has the responsibility -- and the courage-- to live up to its charge as the Community Action Commission by passing this resolution.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Eve Hershcopf

18 October 17, 2015

Dear Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Members,

I respect the Commission's work on many important issues, and I recognize that this issue is a political "hot topic" that the Commission may prefer to avoid. But delaying a discussion is both unfair and unwise. I believe that the HWCAC has the responsibility -- and the courage-- to live up to its charge as the Community Action Commission by passing this resolution.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Eve Hershcopf Molina, Raquel P.

From: Sandra NK Sent: Friday, October 16, 2015 3:16 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: Sandra NK Subject: Let Justice Prevail

Letter written to Mr. Moore on 9/24/15

Mr. Moore

While a young Palestinian girl lay bleeding to death at a checkpoint in Hebron yesterday, Israeli soldiers who shot her minutes earlier stood by laughing and even dragged her around for some perverse reason. Obscene and violent illegal Israeli settlers joined them in their joy and even took pictures of the teenager as she coiled in pain.

A Palestinian ambulance which arrived to the scene five minutes after the shooting was not allowed to reach her. After forty minutes, Hadil Salah Hashlamoun, was finally transferred to a hospital in Jerusalem where she died from her injuries. This happened a few hours after a 21 year old Palestinian man was killed by the Israeli "Defense" Forces when they raided his home in the middle of the night. This is a common occurrence in the brutally occupied Palestinian West Bank.

Due to such a horrific existence for millions of innocent Palestinian civilians, you should know that I, along with many others, commend and have outmost respect for Ms. Cheryl Davila for having the courage and heart to take a stand against the brutal apartheid Israeli Government. This is a government which many South Africans who lived through apartheid have said is much worst than what they experienced in South Africa. I realize that there are many "powerful" Zionists in Berkeley who have put pressure on you and I realize that you are protecting yourself and your job but in the end it is Ms. Davila who will sleep well at night and sadly unless you stand for truth and justice I doubt very much that you ever will. I know that in your heart you surely must realize how wrong you are to have fired the humanitarian, Cheryl Davila, the woman you personally hired. So many people are well aware that you simply kowtowed to the masters that be but I pray that you will redeem yourself. Do your homework about this insane issue that is destroying not only the lives of Palestinians but so many others throughout the world and simply do the right thing.

Sincerely,

Sandra NK

20 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Abigail Maimon Sent: Friday, October 16, 2015 1:32 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Resolution falsely addresses majority in Berkeley

Hello Commissioner-

I am a Berkeley resident and have lived here for half of my life. The main reason I decided to buy my home here, after renting 10 different apartments throughout the city, getting to know it very well, is it's diversity. Not only do I appreciate the diversity of culture, race, background, language but I enjoy the diversity of thought and expression. While a call for divestment from any conflict ridden region is a method to bring attention to a complex situation, if the City of Berkeley were to formally commit itself to one side of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, it would be asserting divisive and antagonistic standards and polarize the city's population, potentially causing a significant opening for acts of anger and hate. The City has been generally promoting quite the opposite since I've lived here! The HWCAC's job, from my understanding is not to take stances on geopolitical conflicts, but to help improve the social welfare of the people of Berkeley. A statement of divestment would not only be stepping outside of the commission's mission but it would be excluding a significant portion of the city's population, and frankly quite offensive, since the conflict is extremely complicated. Being a mental health professional, it is disappointing that a commission created to serve the welfare of it's people is putting time and resources to consider making such a statement of rejecting some of it's population outright.

Concerned resident, Abby Maimon, PsyD

21 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Paul Shkuratov Sent: Friday, October 16, 2015 1:03 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote No on Divestment against Israel

I'M asking you to vote No on Divestment against Israel. We need to support Israel.

Thank you, Sincerely, Paul Shkuratov

22 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Yehuda Ferris Sent: Friday, October 16, 2015 9:25 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: vote no on divestment

Rabbi Yehuda Ferris

Chabad of the East Bay Camp Gan Israel Berkeley, CA click on the dancer for Chabad Berkeley

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlo ok prevented automatic download of this picture from the In ternet. www.chabad berkeley.org

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.

Click on the Gan Israel logo for camp info

24 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Armando Davila Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2015 11:34 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Fwd: Letter to HWCAC

Dear Human Welfare and Community Action Commission,

As a lifetime Berkeley resident I am both ashamed and appalled at the reluctance to face the issue that Divestment represents. The legacy of this city is partially it's environmental and social justice consciousness. The issue of divesting from Israel is both of these issues. War and illegal occupation are both environmental unsustainable and the consent of the murder and oppression of larger numbers of people is moral reprehensible. The action of sudden removal of Cheryl Davila and the removal of this issue is an obvious and unfortunate response to a world in crisis.

I urge you to not only restore Cheryl Davila's position to HWCAC but to also face this issue of whether to Divest or not fully in a mature human fashion by bringing it fully to the residents of Berkeley and within the commission.

I hope you have the bravery and the insight to stand for fairness in a world in crisis.

Armando Davila Kirkwood West Berkeley Resident

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.

25 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Dan Fendel Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2015 7:49 PM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote no on divestment!

I very strongly urge a “NO” vote on the upcoming proposal for divestment from Israel. This proposal is being pushed by people whose goal is, simply, the elimination of Israel. Not “justice.” Not “an end to violence” (as witness the calls for violence this week by the UCB branch of “Students for Justice in Palestine”).

The level of hatred and anti-semitism among the primary backers of this proposal. For it even to be coming to the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission is a disgrace, as this has nothing to do with the mission of this Commission.

This must be rejected.

Dan Fendel

26 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Jim Harris Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2015 1:18 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Letter to Commission regarding divestment from apartheid Attachments: Green Party Letter to Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission.pdf

Alameda County Green Party Letter to Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission

We strongly urge the commission to send to the city council a proposal for divestment from corporations that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and oppression of the Palestinian people. This is especially urgent as Congress continues its course of supporting unconditional military aid to Israel even as Israeli leaders insist on unending military occupation.

We recall that the movement to end apartheid in South Africa had strong support among university students, including at UC Berkeley. Today’s movement against Israeli apartheid has similar support among student governments that have passed resolutions supporting divestment. We again reject calls for “constructive engagement” (echoing the Reagan-era politicians that supported apartheid in South Africa) that is just another way of supporting the status quo, but instead we are supporting actual nonviolent but real consequences for crimes against humanity perpetuated by the Israeli regime.

We hope that the city of Berkeley will follow its long tradition of supporting peace and justice, and stand by those in Berkeley that have been victims of the Israeli military occupation of their homeland by supporting a comprehensive divestment strategy against those corporations that profit from the misery of others.

Green Party of Alameda County 2022 Blake St, Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 644-2293

27 Alameda County Green Party Letter to Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission

Green Party of Alameda County 2022 Blake St, Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 644-2293 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wilma Rader Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2015 1:00 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Cc: Capitelli, Laurie; Berkeley Mayor's Office Subject: Divestment Resolution before HWCAC

TO: Commissioner Jennifer Browne and the HWCAC Commission:

Our family have been residents of Berkeley, District 5 since 1970. We have always loved our City for its diversity and the amazing variety of its assets including fine public schools (K-graduate level), intellectual and cultural offerings, great markets and restaurants, and its generally progressive ambience. We have also long been engaged in social justice work allied with inter-faith and secular groups in our community.

We are deeply concerned about the Resolution before you recommending that the Berkeley City Council divest from Israel. While we are gravely concerned about the state of affairs in Israel today, we urge you to oppose this resolution.

To begin with, the issue of Israel and really any geopolitics is clearly outside the scope of the Commission's good and important mission to identify and address the social welfare needs of the local community-- which are both multiple and urgent. To dive into this complicated debate about Middle Eastern politics, and single out Israel in this way, will create a contentious and distracting dispute that can only detract from the Commission's work improving services and assistance programs in Berkeley. Finally, this inaccurate, biased, one-sided resolution is deeply offensive and will be divisive in the Berkeley community where there is a wide range of perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In conclusion, please oppose this resolution. Don't tear our community apart in this way. Yours truly, Wilma and Stephen Rader

Wilma RK Rader Attorney/Arbitrator 570 Santa Clara Avenue Berkeley, CA 94707 Tel: 510-527-3048 Fax: 510-527-6676

28 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Liora A. Brosbe Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2015 9:22 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please vote "No" on upcoming resolution, Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Dear Ms. Dunner,

Thank you very much for your leadership with the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission. I am writing you to urge you to vote "No" on the upcoming resolution about divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories.

I am a voting resident of Berkeley since moving to Berkeley over 11 years ago. I am so proud to make my home and raise my 3 children in Berkeley. My spouse and I feel very lucky to live in a place that values human rights and equality through acts of social justice. The HWCAC is evidence of these priorities and I am very proud that our community is investing in this.

However, the resolution that is being proposed has some serious flaws and although it may have important statements to make about human rights and the occupation of Palestine, it is highly inappropriate to be presented for consideration by the HWCAC.

I urge you not to be distracted from the important work that you were meant to do in this leadership position and continue to focus on helping the people in Berkeley that need the attention paid to economic and racial justice for all.

I am a religiously observant Jew that feels very engaged in the complex politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I have lived in the region and volunteered with Bat Shalom, a feminist anti-occupation NGO. I am very comitted to social justice and human rights around the world and give my time and money to projects such as American Jewish World Service.

Having stated these "credentials," I fear that the resolution with which you are being presented contains information that is inaccurate, biased, and more importantly, one-sided.

I have concerns that the resolution will be divisive in the Berkeley community where there is a wide range of perspectives on Israel. Your "no" vote can be an important message that this discussion needs to be brought into appropriate forums where we all can be heard, respected and informed as to be advocates for human rights for all.

Again, thank you for your leadership and attention to this matter. Please vote "no" on the upcoming resolution about divestment from Israel.

Sincerely,

Liora Brosbe Oceanview Resident and Homeowner

29 Molina, Raquel P.

From: dianna dar Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 10:09 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Attn: Commissioner Jennifer Browne

Secretary Wing Wong and Commissioner Jennifer Browne,

I'm a District 5 resident and would like to express my deep concern about the Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories resolution. As a Berkeley resident, I find this resolution to be biased, inaccurate and deeply offensive.

Given that the Commission's mission is to identify and address the social welfare needs of the local Berkeley community, the issue of Israel is clearly outside the scope of the Commission.

I applaud the Commission's work to improve services and assistance programs in Berkeley and hope that the commission will continue to focus on their dedicated work, locally.

Respectfully, Dianna Dar 2210 Rose Street Berkeley

30 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Marvin Lewis Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 4:52 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Cc: All Council; 'Faith Meltzer'; 'Zimmerman' Subject: Stabbing of Jews is wrongly taught as part of religion

To the City of Berkeley Council:

Please do not ban Israeli goods made in the West Bank

While not all Islamist Imams are terrorists, in the Middle East, they are far more common than here in the United States. In the Middle East they are extremely dangerous. My Muslim friends are patriotic Americans who many are willing to accept Israel’s right to exist and sincerely believe that if Israel would only be nice and give the Palestinians a state, that the people and leaders of the West Bank would recognize Israel and all would be wonderful and peaceful. These nice people want you to believe that they are similar to the people Israel must face on a daily basis. It is simply not true. http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5098.htm Here is imam, who on a mosque’s pulpit, from Gaza, extolled Arabs to stab Jews where ever they can find them. This advocacy of a terrible interpretation of Islam has driven some Arabs in the West Bank to hide in waiting and then stab innocent Jews as part of his religion.

The belief that this is a simple issue, and Israel only must “make nice” for a peace to occur, is simply not true. The Mossad, Israel’s CIA, has intercepted communications that clear indicate that the Palestinian leaders (as opposed to many of its citizens) do not want a permanent peace with Israel but merely a better position to destroy Israel once they can prevent the IDF from patrolling their territory. Since the Ben Gurion Airport is less than 6 miles from the West Bank border, it would be destroyed if the IDF cannot patrol the West Bank (Proposed Palestinian state). If missiles come from the West Bank, the state of Israel can be destroyed since the Iron Dome requires more distance between the fired rocket and target to prevent destruction of the target. Only if the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) are allowed to patrol the West Bank to prevent missile sites from being created can Israel survive. For the Committee to demand a Palestinian state, where Israel’s rights to exist is refused by Mahmoud Abbas, and other Palestinian leaders, is to wish for the destruction of Israel. There are Israeli towns right at the border with the West Bank. Is the Council ready to condemn those innocent Israeli citizens a death sentence when, in the middle of the night, while they are sleeping, that Palestinian missiles kill them and their families?

Is the Council really performing an independent investigation of the facts before making such a decision as to ban Israeli goods manufactured in the West Bank? What the council needs to do is to make sure that Palestinians are allowed to be employees of the companies who manufacture the goods, in the West Bank. If Israelis and Palestinians can create an economic partnership, then the eventual peace can finally arrive. If the Council is merely shooting first and asking questions later, are they fulfilling an ethical obligation to get the facts right before endangering all Israelis? The Council should be pushing for Israeli factories to form in the West Bank that hire Palestinians! The they should be helping to make sure that the products are successfully sold if a real and lasting peace is wanted.

The idea that Mahmoud Abbas wants a sovereign state of sitting next to Israel is peace is a myth and misrepresentation, brought about by a misrepresenting, Palestinian leader, who looks upon Israel as a colonial power that must be driven off. To accept any country, which is not led by a Muslim, in the land where Mohammed walked, is a sacrilegious idea to the Palestinian leaders. The leaders of Palestine will never change unless a sophisticated peace plan is enacted. Until Jews and Muslims can interact in forwarding a common goal of economic enterprise, the Jews will always be the intruder, who have no use to Arabs. Eventually, peace will come but it will come when the world attempts to really understand the thinking of Arabs in the Middle East. When the Council of the City of Berkeley is led to believe that a new Palestinian state would act like any other political nation state without investigating reality, a terrible injustice can occur. The Council, by accepting the Palestinian message would be playing a pawn of a terrorist interpretation of Islam. 32 Look at the countries of the Middle East, with the exception of Israel and Jordan. Yesterday, Saudi Arabia condemned an elderly man with a cardiac condition, a punishment of 350 lashes as part of a cruel whipping. What was this the crime that will probably have the prisoner lose his life during a dreadful, torturous death? He was found to possess wine in his home. To condemn any citizen to a Middle Eastern Islamic ruler is to bring back the dark ages where torture and cruelty is as easily accepted as eating a chocolate sundae.

There is no other democracy in the Middle East other than Israel. There is no other court system where an accused can obtain a fair trial. The civil liberties of Arabs and other citizens throughout the Middle East, but outside Israel, is almost non-existent. You want to condemn the citizens of Israel and the West Bank to people who do not respect civil liberties? Where would you personally want to live if you had to live in the Middle East, Israel or an Islamic state that would gladly replace it, with your encouragement.

This is not to agree with Dr. Ben Carson, a Republican candidate for president. Who believes that no Muslim should be an American president. An American Muslim does not usually adopt the mindset found in the Middle East. To fail to understand this simple point can lead to a grave injustice since the people who you listen to are not representative of the leadership of the Palestinian State. http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/172298/palestinian-authority-leader- abbas-praises-hitlers-daniel-greenfield. Abbas has changed positions on the Holocaust many times but would you trust a leader who had such a difficult time deciding whether the extermination of all of the Jews of the world was a good idea?

Sincerely,

Marvin K. Lewis

33 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Russell Ward Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 1:24 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Letter in support of Cheryl Davila and Berkeley divestment from Israel

Dear sir/madam,

I’m writing to express my strong support for any moves to discuss the potential of Berkeley City divesting from companies that are involved in Israel's violations of international law and the human rights of Palestinians. I was appalled to hear of the sacking of Cheryl Davila before the last meeting of the Human Welfare & Community Action Commission just because she was bring a resolution to discuss. This seems a flagrant offense against the principle of Free Speech… if her ideas or speech offends anyone (and I see no reason why they should) let us hear the argument, do not deny her the platform to speak on an issue directly relevant to the commission she was serving on.

As a resident of Oakland with family in Berkeley who support the BDS movement, I think Berkeley City has an opportunity to be world leaders in the non-violent movement for Palestinian human rights. US policy explicitly rejects support of Israel’s expanding settlements into Palestinian territory so it seems absurd to have government bodies doing business with companies that support them.

Berkeley has a proud history of fighting for equality… it is time for Berkley to step up!

I look forward to the meeting on October 21st.

Kind regards,

Russell Ward

Cell 415 624 5895 Landline 510 788 4881 www.awordinyourear.net

34 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Rochelle Gause Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 12:44 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Yes on Divestment Resolution

Dear HWCAC Commissioners,

Thank you for your service to our community. My name is Rochelle Gause. I have lived in Berkeley for 3 years and am a mother of two small children. I want to thank you for considering this important issue. I was a friend of a young American named Rachel Corrie, we did a lot of peace work in our community together. She went to Palestine in 2003 to learn more about the situation and to try to bring international attention to the human rights abuses faced by the Palestinian community daily. She was killed by the Israeli military, run over by an armored bulldozer, while standing with a group of internationals trying to protect the home of a pharmacist and his family, including 5 children, from demolition. Rachel had spent several nights with this family.

I remember hearing about the 2003 resolution passed by the Berkeley City Council in her name while living in Olympia and the huge impact it had on our community and how much it meant to Rachel’s parents. That was 12 years ago and unfortunately the situation in Palestine has only gotten worse. Although the movement to put pressure on Israel to end the occupation and follow international law has grown immensely, including many city council resolutions throughout the world, the Berkeley City council has remained silent. It is past time to act. Last Thursday the Portland Human Rights Commission unanimously passed a similar divestment resolution, I urge you to please do the same.

Cheryl Davila did, what I believe, any community member with a conscience and an awareness of the situation would do by bringing this resolution forward. Unfortunately the repression against these simple principle stands is enormous, as demonstrated by her removal from the commission on the night the vote was to take place. The only way to respond to such a blatant disrespect for free speech is to pass this resolution immediately, to show that Berkeley commissioners will not be influenced by silencing and fear tactics in the face of justice. It really is a small ask, to open this conversation so that divestment can be considered by the city council. 30 Palestinians have been killed in the last month alone. The situation will not improve until the occupation ends and it is simple acts like the passing of this resolution that show that Israel can longer violate human rights with impunity. I hope you do your part.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to to support your efforts.

Thank you, Rochelle Gause

35 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Marvin Lewis Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 12:22 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: All Council Subject: Please do not boycott Israeli goods manufactured in the West Bank http://www.wsj.com/article_email/palestine-the-psychotic-stage-1444692875-lMyQjAxMTE1MzExMzIxOTM4Wj

The above is an attachment that is a “must read” for the Committee before they decide whether to boycott Israeli goods manufactured in the West Bank.

The above attachment makes it clear why Americans, of good faith, find Israel oppressive, when it is simply untrue. The American press has decided to distort reality so that Israel, the real victim, always appears to be the oppressor.

Sincerely,

Marvin Lewis

37 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 11:35 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: (no subject)

Please vote no on divestment. Thank you very much. JGalper

38 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Jill Siegel Dodd Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 11:21 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment Resolution set for hearing on Oct. 21, 2015 Attachments: Letter to Human Welfare and Community Action Commission.PDF

Dear Commissioners:

Please see the attached letter, a hard copy of which was sent to the Commission in today's mail, with a copy sent to the City Council as well.

Sincerely,

Jill Siegel Dodd President Congregation Beth El

Molina, Raquel P.

From: Jessica Kosmin Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 10:28 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Subject: Hope for Peace in the Middle East

Dear Commissioners,

I am saddened that I have to write this email. I am an Israeli and resident of Berkeley. Like you, I want peace. More than you, I want peace. I have a two year old daughter who will probably fight in a conflict I do not want to participate in anymore. I have seen Palestinian suffering and the effects of the occupation at first hand. The only solution to this conflict is what President Obama and the international community have said; two states for two peoples, living side-by-side, in peace and security.

The resolution before you is not about peace or a hopeful future. It does not address the actual barriers to negotiations and root cause of the problems on the ground. It harms Palestinian workers and people of color. Did you know that the majority of the 6 million Jews living in Israel are people of color? The majority of whom had to seek safety in Israel from Africa and the Middle East countries because they were Jewish.

The motion before you is presented by groups who are a very loud minority in both Palestinian and Jewish communities. They do not represent the 70% of both Palestinians and Israelis who want peace and a two-state solution to this conflict (Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research). The groups who you have heard from do not want two states for two people and do not stand for equality. They promote "resistance" at any price which means death and destruction.

Right now my Palestinian and Israeli friends are scared. The new wave of violence is scary. Let Berkeley be a place that stands for peace, equality and democracy for everyone! Don't let it become a place which puts neighbor against neighbor. If you pass this motion, you will send a clear message to the majority of Jewish and Israeli residents that we are not welcome here and you do not accept our beliefs, our religious and spiritual expression and our national identity.

Please do your research and look at what the groups who support this motion are really saying. They believe the Jewish people have no right to self-determination in their historic homeland. They will tell you Zionism is not central to Jewish religious practice and identity, which is has been for 2500 years. Don't give in to the hate. Palestinians and Israelis deserve better, they both deserve their own homelands.

40 B'Shalom, Salaam,

Sincerely,

-- Jessica Kosmin 4153164705

41 Molina, Raquel P.

From: David Spero RN Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 4:41 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: support resolution of divestment in companies profiting from Israeli occupation

Dear Commissioners, I am a Jewish resident of San Francisco who hopes to move to Berkeley soon. I strongly support Cheryl Davila's resolution on divesting from companies who do business with the Israeli occupation of Palestine. This resolution is not divisive or anti-Semitic. I see it as pro-Jewish. The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) does not speak for me or my family or Jewish friends.

Divestment is welcomed by Jews who are distressed and saddened by the crimes Israel commits in our name. If divestment from Israel is divisive, is support for the murder of children and the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank supposed to bring us together? American aid and the American corporations this resolution targets support those horrors in the Holy Land.

I don't want that kind of false unity. I would be thrilled as a Jew if your Commission passed Ms. Davila's resolution. People all over the world would celebrate your action.

Yours for justice and love, David Spero RN 415-987-1401

--- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

42 Molina, Raquel P.

From: frederica barlaz Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 10:00 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote NO on divestment

Do what is right.

43 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Alice D. Kisch Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 9:21 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: A request to vote in favor of the resolution on October 21, 2015

October 12, 2015 To the Members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission:

I am old enough to remember the newsreels that used to be shown in U.S. movie houses right before the feature presentation. One afternoon, when I was at the movies with my mother, I saw a graitty black-and- white film clip of bodies hanging in a European town square. As I watched those limp bodies twisting on their ropes, I somehow knew that I would never forget that image. That was more than sixty years ago, and I have not forgotten.

It was years later that I learned that those lifeless bodies belonged to Jews who had been strung up by rampaging Nazis. And I remember thinking: How could the world have allowed this to happen? How could the world have stood by and watched this happen?

Similar barbarism is taking place again today in the occupied Palestinian territories. And it’s happening not only with the world standing by and watching, but with the financial and diplomatic support of the world’s foremost “super power”. Our country, the United States, is allowing the Palestinian tragedy to unfold before our eyes, and we who pay taxes support these atrocities with our tax dollars.

This time, however, we can actually do something about it.

We are in a position to put a stop to the systematic (and systemic) oppression, brutalization, torture and murder of Palestinians who are guilty of the outrageous crime of wanting to live peacefully on their own land. These folks are being routinely terrorized, 24/7, by Israel, a settler-colonial entity which was put in place by the British, the U.S. and their Allies more than sixty-five years ago.

The City of Berkeley has the unique opportunity to become the first city in the United States to say NO to the unthinkable cruelty which takes place in Palestine every day, all day. I ask you, Members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission: Please put yourselves on the right side of history and declare your opposition to ethnic cleansing and your support of human and civil rights for all peoples, irrespective of religion or ethnicity. Please pass the divestment resolution. Voting YES for divestment is also a vote for the FREEDOM to DISCUSS Palestine and other matters in our city governments.

I wish only to add that I am American and Jewish, and that in the early 1940s several European members of my family were murdered by the Nazis. And then, sixty years later, three family members – a 42-year-old mother, a 44-year-old father and their 9-year-old son -- were shot to death at point-blank range by Palestinian terrorists. “Never Again” really does mean “Never Again For Anyone”. To ignore this precept is to blaspheme the tragic deaths of our loved ones and of all who died needlessly. With cordial regards, Alice Diane Kisch 4 Admiral Drive, #323 Emeryville 94608 44 510-985-0651 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 8:50 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote no on divestment

Vote no on divestment! -- Anne Gold

46 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Jerry BERKMAN Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 8:44 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Cc: Droste, Lori Subject: Palestine Resolution

Dear Commissioners,

I have heard that the HWCAC will be considering a resolution titled " Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories".

I oppose such a motion and also wonder why such a resolution would be raised at the HWCAC. It does not appear to fall within the mission of the HWCAC:

"Mission: Advises the Council concerning social welfare needs. Creates citizen awareness and encourages improved standards. Assists in the administration of the Community Action Program."

This is a very involved issue and has nothing to do with Berkeley's social welfare needs or the Community Action Program.

It is listed on the September 16 agenda as "Conflict in Israel's Impact on the City of Berkeley." I can see no impact from this Middle East conflict on the City of Berkeley.

I also fail to see why Israel is the only country we would worry about. While discussing homes being demolished by Israel, the resolution ignores the fact that Egypt has bulldozed all homes in Egypt within a mile of the Gaza strip. The resolution mentions Israel's blockade of Gaza but fails to mention that this is only effective because Egypt is also blockading Gaza. Why is one objectionable and not the other?

I can't understand why Berkeley should worry about Israel and ignore the general mayhem in the rest of the Middle East, especially in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, etc.

The resolution is both one-sided and quite biased. It should be rejected out of hand.

- Jerry Berkman 3136 Eton Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705

47 Molina, Raquel P.

From: elliot helman Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 8:23 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Support for Divestment from Israel

Greetings,

I am not a Berkeley resident, however, like many progressives, I often look to the City of Berkeley as an exemplar of an inclusive political process.

I urge you to pass the divestment resolution in accordance with your Human Welfare and Community Action mandate. As a proud American Jew, I feel it is particularly important for the many of us who often remain silent on the thorny issue of Israel/Palestine to speak out. The JCRC does not speak for me.

Elliot Helman San Francisco

48 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Philippe Assouline Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 7:54 PM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote no on divestment

BDS is a deceptive group exploiting human rights trigger words to demonize Israel and its people. It helps no one to demonize one side on the basis of lies.

49 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Robert Davila Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 6:54 PM To: Molina, Raquel P. Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Fw: Portland Takes First Step Towards Becoming Occupation Free

Hi Raquel:

Please share with the HWCAC. Gracias.

Peace, Cheryl

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Maxine Fookson, 503-381-7465 [email protected]

Peter Miller, 503- 358-7475, [email protected]

Portland Takes First Step Towards Becoming Occupation Free Portland Human Rights Commission endorses placing companies on a “Do Not Buy” List for human rights abuses in Israel/Palestine

Portland, Oregon - October 12, 2015– Occupation-Free Portland Coalition congratulates the Portland Human Rights Commission (HRC) for their unanimous endorsement of the coalition’s proposal to the City Of Portland Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) Committee to place four companies on the City’s “Do Not Buy List” due to their serious human rights violations in the ongoing illegal and brutal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. The companies are Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, G4S, and Motorola Solutions.

The proposal was brought to the HRC by Occupation-Free Portland, a coalition of religious, social justice and human rights groups working for justice for Palestine. The coalition stated: “We applaud the Portland HRC for this action. This endorsement demonstrates that the HRC continues to be a “moral compass” for human rights in our community. They understand that diverse struggles for human rights and dignity are connected and deserve our local attention and commitment to change.”

Occupation-Free Portland is working to encourage city officials to align our municipal investments with values of human rights. Portland’s City Council recently adopted a Socially Responsible Investment policy that establishes “social and values principles” for consideration in the City's investments. One of the principles in the City’s SRI policy is “concerns about impacts on human rights”. If a company is determined to be committing serious human rights violations, citizens can propose that the city’s SRI Committee recommend to the City Council to move our investments out of that company. If no current investment exists, the City would then commit to not make a future investment in that company until they amend their ways. In doing this, the companies who are profiting from abusive practices will see that their practices are not acceptable to people of good conscience. Occupation-Free Portland’s focus on these four companies’ violations of Palestinian human rights is consistent with Portland’s SRI criteria.

50 Ned Rosch of Jewish Voice for Peace - Portland said "This is a moral first step towards ending the City of Portland's complicity with human rights violations and holding corporations accountable for supporting Israel's illegal occupation."

Occupation-Free Portland will continue to educate the public about the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and will take our proposal to the City of Portland SRI Committee to advocate for the City to take this moral stand.

Roles of each of these 4 companies in the Israeli occupation of Palestine:

Caterpillar sells specially manufactured bulldozers (D9 bulldozers) to the Israeli military. They are equipped with armor and weapons and are used to demolish Palestinian homes, entire villages and agricultural land. These bulldozers are weapons of warfare. Many of us who live in the Pacific Northwest remember that a Caterpillar bulldozer killed an Evergreen University student, Rachel Corrie, when she attempted to stop a home demolition in occupied Gaza.

G4S is a global private security firm. In Israel, they provide security services and equipment in prisons where Palestinians are jailed and often tortured. Palestinian prisoners are frequently held in “Administrative Detention” (meaning they have not been charged with a crime, have not had a trial, and are often denied legal representation). Since the year 2000, Defense of Children International reports that over 8000 Palestinian children have been held in Israeli jails. G4S is an integral part of that jail system.

Hewlett-Packard—provides identification systems that differentiate by religion and ethnicity between Palestinians and Jewish Israelis. Palestinians are restricted in their movement by their IDs and by H-P monitors at military checkpoints—often preventing them from working, going to school or seeing family members. Like the racist passbooks in Apartheid South Africa, these IDs have a harmful impact on Palestinian life and economic well-being.

Motorola Solutions is profiting from the occupation through providing communication systems to the Israeli military and electronic surveillance systems to the Israeli settlements that are illegally built on Palestinian land.

Occupation-Free Portland is a coalition of groups working for justice for Palestine. Groups in the coalition include Jewish Voice for Peace-Portland Chapter; Friends of Sabeel-North America; Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land; the Wider Church Ministry of the Central Pacific Conference, United Church of Christ; Portland Fellowship of Reconciliation; Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights; Veterans for Peace, Chapter 72; Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights; and the International Socialist Organization.

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51 Molina, Raquel P.

From: carol sanders Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 4:45 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment Resolution

Dear Commissioners,

As a long-time Berkeley resident and a member of the Jewish community, I urge you to pass the resolution to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian land and from violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.

I assume you have seen the Action Bulletin from the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), urging Bay Area Jews to write to you in opposition to the resolution. You will note that they offer no substantive reasons as to why divestment is objectionable. Rather they encourage their followers to speak of how “complicated” the issue is, and how “biased…one-sided…divisive…offensive”” such a resolution would be.

These are curious words to describe a nonviolent strategy for influencing a government to comply with international law and restore the freedom of the people it holds under occupation. These words (standard for pro-Israel rhetoric) suggest that we are talking about two relatively equal parties to a conflict, engaged in an intractable and incomprehensible dispute. They imply that to stand for the rights of the occupied people is tantamount to an act of anti-Semitism (hence the word “offensive”), since Israel is falsely identified not as the powerful military state it has become, but as the essence of the Jewish people themselves.

It is not ”biased” for a Commission on Human Welfare to respond to the experiences of an oppressed and occupied people, rather than to bind itself unquestioningly to the narrative of the occupying state.

As for being “one-sided”, that is a term appropriate for describing the conflict rather than the resolution. Israel has one of the mightiest and most technologically advanced militaries in the world. It has held captive for almost half a century now millions of Palestinians, who are without an army, a navy, or an air force, without a plane, a tank, a ship, without modern weaponry of any kind, without a vote, and without a state. That is what is one-sided.

Divisive?. Yes it is divisive, and made more deliberately so by those pro-Israel groups who falsely associate support for the rights of the Palestinian people with anti-Semitism. But in our democratic society, and under First Amendment guarantees, divisiveness is not, as JCRC would have it, the end of political speech; it is the beginning of a necessary discourse..

52 Please pass the divestment resolution in accordance with your Human Welfare and Community Action mandate, so that it may be considered by the City Council. Please open up our municipal space to allow at long last a substantive conversation about Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and our responsibilities.

Sincerely,

Carol Sanders

2127 Browning Street, Berkeley 94702

53 Molina, Raquel P.

From: David McCleary Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 3:52 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: Wong, Wingyin Subject: In support of Cheryl Davila's resolution to divest from the Israeli occupation Attachments: BerkeleyHWCACLetter.pdf

Dear Human Welfare and Community Action Commissioners,

My name is David McCleary and I am a Jewish Ph.D. student in Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley and a proud Berkeley resident. I am also a Head Steward and Statewide Executive Board Trustee for UAW Local 2865, which represents 14,500 student workers in the University of California system. I write to you today about a resolution, authored by recently fired Human Welfare and Community Action Commissioner Cheryl Davila, that calls on the city of Berkeley to divest from international corporations complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. I am strongly in favor of the resolution as originally written by Commissioner Davila, and I urge the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission to pass her resolution and send it to the City Council for consideration. The UAW Local 2865 Joint Council, the main governing body of my union, has also endorsed Cheryl’s resolution as written, in an email to the Commission. Please refer to that letter as well, which I've attached for your convenience.

Israel is engaged in a brutal, prolonged occupation and blockade of Palestinian territories that is as illegal as it is immoral. Israel has demolished over 27,000 Palestinian homes, each demolition considered a war crime by the United Nations, to make room for illegal Israeli settlements. These and other war crimes are carried out using my American tax dollars, in the form of three billion dollars a year in direct military aid. Municipal investments in companies like Caterpillar, which produces the armored bulldozers used to destroy Palestinian homes, make me even more complicit in these crimes. Perhaps worst of all, these crimes are committed in my name as a Jew, because of the false conflation of my Judaism with policies of the Israeli government. This conflation isn’t an accident, but instead is a deliberate strategy of far-right-wing Israelis and antisemites alike to tie my Jewish identity to Israeli policy for their own selfish political reasons.

I don’t oppose the Israeli occupation IN SPITE of my Judaism. Rather, like many Jews, I oppose the Israeli occupation BECAUSE of my Judaism. My relatives fled violence in Eastern Europe. I have a deep understanding of how intolerance and inequality leads to violence. The City of Berkeley needs to take a stand for human rights, as we have so many times in the past. The status quo of occupation and apartheid has serious, life-or-death implications for Palestinian residents of Berkeley and their families. We need to take action as a community to protect the human welfare of Palestinians in Berkeley and beyond, and passing this resolution out of the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission is an obvious place to start.

Sincerely,

David McCleary

Ph.D. Candidate Molecular and Cell Biology UC Berkeley

Head Steward Executive Board Trustee UAW Local 2865

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From: Marge Sussman Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 3:10 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment resolution

To the HWCAC Commissioners:

I'm deeply disappointed in your decision and hope that you will vote in favor of the resolution at your next meeting.

Marge Sussman 1621 Bancroft Way Berkeley CA 94703 510-486-1014

55 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Linda Diamond Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 8:05 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Communication to Ms. Remi Omodele regarding Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Dear Ms. Remi Omodele, As a long time resident and member of Berkeley’s Jewish community and with a daughter living in Israel, I have seen firsthand the face of terror. I want Israeli Jews and Arabs to live in peace. This is the wish I know of many in Israel and many here in the United States. However, I urge you to reject the proposed Divestment from the Israel Occupation of Palestinian Territories because the groups that put forward BDS and say they want a two-state solution are not being honest. Attend any BDS meeting and you will hear them chant for the full elimination of Israel, not two states. Often their protests end up with direct anti-Semitic statements. Clearly there is blame on both sides. However, Israel does not overtly and premeditatedly target civilians, yet that is not the same for those in Gaza or even the West Bank. Israel is the only democracy in the middle east where the LBGT community can live freely, where Ethiopians are part of the very fabric of the country and where a diverse population flourishes. My daughter teaches exercise in many Israeli Arab communities. The women she encounters on a day to day basis are her friends and many Jews and Muslims co-exist peacefully within Israel.

However, the issue of Israel and really any geopolitics is clearly outside the scope of the Commission’s mission. Furthermore, singling out Israel this way will create a contentious and deeply divisive dispute that will detract from your good work of improving services in Berkeley for Berkeley citizens. This one-sided resolution is deeply offensive and will further divide the Berkeley community where there are many diverse perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Do not let the voices of those with a darker agenda than appears co-opt your good work for Berkeley’s citizens.

• Linda Diamond [email protected] Cell: 510-685-2993

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From: Marvin Lewis Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 3:07 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); 'Barry Gustin' Subject: A more accurate version

To those at the Committee, I received an important correction to my earlier submission by those who sent Google Maps proving that I was wrong when I wrote that the Ben Gurion Airport is 19 miles from the West Bank border. In fact, it is only 5.9 miles! Israel averages only approximately 17 miles from the Mediterranean Sea to the West Bank boundary line.

Therefore my email should have read as follows:

To the Berkeley Committee:

Question: Should the City of Berkeley boycott Israel’s goods?

A two state solution is suicide for Israel’s existence as long as the West Bank government will not accept Israel’s right to exist. Missiles flew from Gaza to Israel within days of Israel withdrawing the IDF from Gaza. If missiles rained in from the West Bank, it would nearly impossible to defend the Ben Gurion Airport which is only 5.9 miles from the border, even with the Iron Dome. Israel would not be able to easily exist unless it is allowed to keep its only large airport, safe. Israel should be allowed to exist in peace without the threat of terrorist missiles raining death and destruction on its citizens.

The United States overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan for merely housing America’s enemies, Al Qaida. Israel has the same rights as the United States to protect its homeland. Gaza continually attacks Israel with imported missiles from the terrorist country, Iran. A terrorist organization, Hamas, is behind Gaza’s deadly attacks on Israel. If the Berkeley Committee accepts Israel’s right to exist, then not allowing the Palestinians their state, unless they embrace Israel’s right to exist, is essential. If the Committee does not believe Israel has a right to exist, it should say that so the citizens of Berkeley can decide if such a position is consistent with the values of the citizens of Berkeley. The members of the Committee should ask themselves whether they would rather live in a democratic state like Israel or the usual despotic Islamist state which would most certainly replace it.

Whether Israel intentionally targeted schools in Gaza is highly debatable. For the Berkeley Committee to judge, without a trial, and without hearing testimony of the accused Israeli soldiers regarding their motives, to judge that Israel is guilty of a war crime is an un-American value. Investigative generals from Britain and France came to the conclusion that Israel was innocent of any war crimes. At least it is highly debatable.

The United States accidentally bombed a hospital in Afghanistan. Did the Berkeley Committee discuss whether Berkeley should boycott American goods? Lieutenant Calley order the murder of Vietnam village members and no one demanded the boycott of America’s goods. Hundreds of missiles were flying from Gaza to Israel and tunnels were dug deep into Israel to kidnap women and children with threats of harm if Gaza’s will was not complied with. Who on the Committee even suggested that Gaza goods be boycotted? Gaza admitted they started the war and killed innocent Israelis during the missile attack. Where does that fit into the determination that Palestinians are the sole aggrieved party and Israel alone deserves the boycott of its goods?

Gaza has in its charter that the goal of the state is the destruction of Israel. If the committee goes along with this thinking, are they not complicit in furthering the goal of the Gaza government which is run by a terrorist organization?

58 Abbas recently refused to show any remorse for the murder of an innocent mother and father, whose four children had to witness, with horror, their parent’s death. Is this the hero that the Berkeley Committee wants to award with leadership of a new Palestinian state, bordering on Israel? When Abbas joined with Gaza as one state of Palestine, it made it impossible for Israel to grant the West Bank statehood.

Please do not be influenced by the obvious Islamist fundamentalist desire to destroy Israel so that a Jewish state does not reside in the Middle East.

Tareq Abbas who is the son of the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas no longer wants a two state solution. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.580761 , He and most young people want to merely have civil rights in the occupied territory. This would mean that over a third of young Palestinians want businesses to come to the occupied territories in the West Bank!!

Most sociologists agree that the fastest way to a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israel is that if Israeli businesses jointly conducted by both people are profitable, a new wealth will come to the occupied territories. The country of Singapore has no natural resources and is situated on a small plot of land. On the Charlie Rose show, the late Lee Kuan Yew remarked that this poor third world economy grew into the most fastest growing economy on the planet by having diverse people living and working together. Today, the average income of the citizens of Singapore is higher than almost any other country on earth. http://www.worldsalaries.org/singapore.html is a chart showing that the typical individual makes more money than Americans doing the same line of work.

The committee should be asking Israel to send more businesses to the occupied territories, and not boycott the goods manufactured there, if they desire world peace!!

59 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Idit Solomon Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 12:11 AM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Upcoming resolution - please forward appropriately

Dear Jennifer Brown,

I have recently learned about a resolution being brought to the City of Berkeley’s Human Welfare & Community Action Commission regarding divestment from Israel. Regardless of one's stance on this issue, any geopolitical issue is very much outside the purview of the social welfare needs of Berkeley poor residents to which the Commission is supposed to be focused. Focusing on such a complex issue and singling out Israel will not only distract the Commission from the work is is charged with doing, its one sided nature will divide the community.

This is not the way to create change, promote dialog or improve our community. I urge you to stick to the business of our Berkeley community and stop those who wish to distract and divide us.

Sincerely,

Amy Solomon

584 The Alameda

60 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2015 6:05 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment from Israel

To: Jennifer Browne and Wing Wong,

As a resident of Berkeley for 40 years, I am deeply troubled to hear that the HWCAC is considering a resolution which would involve a divestment from Israel. Please note that I strongly believe that this would be a terrible mistake. Israel is the only Democracy in the Middle East and has constantly tried to bring peace to the area. I am a person who hopes that you will listen to reason and vote against this possible divestment.

Thank you, Barbara Segal [email protected] 733 Santa Barbara Rd. Berkeley, CA 94707

61 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Norman Postone Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2015 11:25 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment proposal

I am writing to voice my very strong opposition to your proposed resolution for divestment from Israel. My understanding is that this commission's work is to focus on the social welfare needs of the local community. I would therefore urge you to focus on this important agenda and not be distracted by international affairs. This is outside your mission. Also in proposing this resolution you need to explain why among all the worlds conflict zones would you choose this one? There are many difficult political situations in the world today. As just one example why not propose divesting from China for its occupation of Tibet and cultural oppression of its people? You know that the list is long. Therefore it is incumbent on you to reflect on and explain your decision to focus on this of all current world conflicts. In terms of the proposal itself you are choosing one side of a very complex situation about which you may not be experts. Finally, in terms of Berkeley a proposal such as this will only be divisive and be damaging to the welfare of our community which you are mandated to attend to. I therefore strongly urge you to withdraw this proposal and get on with your much needed work in our community. Thank you for your consideration. Norman Postone M.D.

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlo ok prevented automatic download of this picture from the In ternet.

63 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Norman Postone Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2015 11:22 AM To: [email protected]; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment proposal

To Wing Wong , Jennifer Browne and the entireHWCAC commission

64 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Devin Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2015 9:17 PM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Upcoming Resolution

Hello. I'd like to share my thoughts about the upcoming Israel-related resolution:

* The issue of Israel, and really any geopolitics, is very clearly outside the scope of the Commission's mission to identify and address the social welfare needs of the local community.

* To delve into this complicated debate about Middle Eastern politics, and single out Israel in this way, will create a contentious and distracting dispute that can only detract from the Commission's work improving services and assistance programs in Berkeley.

* Finally, this inaccurate, biased, one-sided resolution is deeply offensive and will be divisive in the Berkeley community where there is a wide range of perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I ask for your consideration.

Thank you.

65 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Marcia Diaz Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2015 8:06 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment from Israel

Please send a copy of this email to Commissioner Jennifer Browne.

Dear Commissioner Browne:

I have resided in my current home in Berkeley for nearly 40 years and am writing to express my dismay over the proposal from your commission concerning divestment from Israel. I see nothing positive coming from such a resolution and many, many negatives. It is extremely divisive and needlessly pits Berkeley citizens against each other. I am very much opposed to the occupation of Palestinian lands by the current Israeli government and support many organizations working both within Israel and in the United States to influence a change this policy. However, for the City of Berkeley to single out Israel as the worst villain in the world, when there are so many other governments that we have just cause to criticize makes no logical sense. There were no criteria that the commission used to single out Israel and rate it against other nations of the world for this divestment policy. This being the case, the motivation for the commission’s proposal is suspect to the charge of being arbitrary and unreasonable.

Further, I would hope that as my representative from District 5, you would turn the Commission’s energy back to the internal issues which the city has some power to redress.

Sincerely, Marcia Diaz 370 Vassar Avenue Berkeley, CA 94708

66 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Rebecca Abravanel Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2015 1:13 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Commissioner Jennifer Browne, c/o Human Welfare & Community Action Commission Secretary Wing Wong

Dear Commissioner Browne,

I am deeply troubled by the proposed resolution --“Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories”-- that the commission is considering. My understanding of the commission’s purpose is to help advise the City Council on the needs of the under-served in Berkeley….. I’m not sure what this resolution has to do with this mission; it seems completely outside the commission’s scope. In addition, it is disturbing to me for Israel to be singled out in this way…. There are many of us in the Jewish community in the US and in Israel who have been working for peace and justice for many years. I do not agree with many aspects of Israeli policy, but why is Israel being singled out? Will your commission consider resolutions on the Russian occupation of the Ukraine, the actions of Bashar Al Assad, human rights violations in China? Singling Israel out in this way seems odd. Moreover, the text of the resolution is biased, one-sided, and offensive.

As a longstanding Berkeley resident, I urge you to vote against the resolution.

Thank you, Rebecca

Rebecca Abravanel, Ph.D. Research & Statistical Consultant 716 The Alameda Berkeley, CA 94707 Tel./Fax 510-528-5235 (office1)/510-868-6070 (office2)/510-333-5112 (cell) E-mail: [email protected]

67 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Anna Packer Sent: Friday, October 09, 2015 10:46 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Anna Packer Subject: Ms. Remi Omodele

Dear Ms. Remi Omodele and members of the City of Berkeley's Welfare and Community Action Commission, As a long time resident and current homeowner in the City of Berkeley I am writing to ask you to vote NO on the Divestment from Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories resolution. As a single woman on disability, with a PhD no less! I have serious issues with the scope of this resolution which could detract from the many services needed in Berkeley for so many people! My son, also disabled and legally blind, at age 12, is just now learning how to take public transit and learn independent living skills. There are so many of us that need and relay on the services the City has, and many who do not get their needs met! We are just one family! Yet, there are so many pressing needs in our City. As a multi racial family with disabilities, I feel fortunate that we are not homeless! Still, I see so many people in need every day! Honestly, I am really confused why the commission would take up this issue when we have so many things to address in or own wonderful and diverse City. Though this may be off the "point" I drove through Sacramento Street a few weeks ago. This area to me looks like a future 4th street! Meaning that poor people will be driven out even more. I predict that in 10 to 15 years there will be an all white section of town where there is now total diversity. I bring this up as I purchased my home before I was disabled. If I had not, we could not afford to live here. Where would we go? I think the council, in my humble opinion, should work on the issues in our beloved City. When and if every person and child has enough to eat, an affordable place to stay, then we could look out wards at helping other communities. By that I mean, communities here and abroad. I'd like to start with our own "hearth". Please vote No on this. It is perhaps well meaning. Yet, in order to help others I think our own house should be in "order" first. Then, as a community, we decide where to put extra resources. I will add that I feel the housing issues I mentioned and the services needed are not limited to Berkeley. It is an East Bay, and Bay Area issue. Please believe me when I say I feel very much for the the many people in the world that do not have their basic needs met. I say, we get to a point of strength and then vote on where to put our resources. We may have flooding, more drought, more displaced persons in our own City. Let's help others from a position of strength! Thank you for listening. Lastly, there used to be a Church at College and I think Haste that served meals for , yes! 25 cents! Let's bring back this kind of service before we try to save the world! Kind regards Anna Packer 2875 Shasta Road Berkeley, Ca, 94708 PS Please feel free to contact me at any time.

68 Molina, Raquel P.

From: David Jaffe Sent: Friday, October 09, 2015 7:43 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: israel divestment issue

Dear Remi Omodele,

I am writing to oppose the commission's resolution "Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories."

The situation in Israel and the middle east in general is quite complex and nuanced. While I am highly critical of some of Israel's policies and actions, I am also critical of the Palestinian leadership and their actions, particularly Hamas, but the PLO as well. Neither side is without blame.Taking a stand purely on one side is simplistic. If a resolution must be passed (and I don't think one should be), it should call upon both sides to meet at the bargaining table and push for peace.

However, more to the point, Berkeley has pressing issues that are much more appropriate to the HWCAC, including homelessness, poverty, crime, the welfare and mental health of our youth and adults, and the interrelationship of these things. These are issues on which HWCAC could have a direct impact. It will take hard work, but it is essential to try. In contrast, the Divestment issue is far outside what the HWCAC should be spending its time with, will not accomplish anything positive, and is a distraction from these essential concerns.

Finally, the resolution is divisive and destructive to thoughtful discussion between the various members on all sides of the issue. There are arguments on both sides of the BDS debate, but having the City of Berkeley take a stand will not contribute anything positive to these discussions.

I urge you to reject the resolution and turn your attention instead on making Berkeley a great place to live for all its residents.

Dr. David Jaffe District 6

======David A Jaffe, D.M.A. Composer Website: jaffe.com Facebook: david.a.jaffe Twitter: @David_A_Jaffe YouTube: DavidAJaffe Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user4036037 LinkedIn: dajaffe

69 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Carol L. Hoffman Sent: Friday, October 09, 2015 5:59 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Israeli divestment resolution

Dear Ms. Remi Omodele,

I am a member of your district and wish to convey my strong opposition to the resolution, Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories, that is before HWCAC.

My opposition is based on the following:

1. This resolution is outside the scope of the Commission’s mission to address the social needs of the local community. It is not enough that there may be refugees or Palestinians living in our community. There are also Israelis living in our community. Neither’s “social needs” will be improved, reduced or affected by this resolution. If the City were to divest, presumably, the City would incur costs and perhaps losses or lost opportunities that will affect the City’s budget, which is more closely related to the “social needs” of the people in our community.

2. This resolution singles out Israel, when there are so many regimes with human rights abuses worse than Israel’s, such as Syria, China (in Tibet and internally), and most Middle Eastern countries. Passing this resolution will only detract from, and undermine, the work the HWCAC does. The political issues involved in Israel and the occupied territories are complicated and it is doubtful that each member of the Commission is fully informed about the history and evolution of the situation there to make a fair decision. I, for one, would not support the ongoing work of the HWCAC if it passes this resolution. You will lose all credibility of being a fair and balanced Commission.

3. There is a wide range of opinions about the Israeil-Palestinian conflict in our community. There are moral arguments on both sides. It will be deeply offensive and divisive to make this a policy of our City government.

Thank you for your serious consideration of my concerns. I hope I can rely on you to reject this Resolution.

Carol Hoffman 601 Euclid Avenue Berkeley, CA 94708

71 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Ann Sent: Friday, October 09, 2015 5:39 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment

Commissioners

I am a tax paying Berkeley resident and a social worker in Alameda County. Every day I encounter families living in disturbing conditions of poverty and distress. I constantly run up against the lack of affordable housing, inadequate transportation, seriously deficient access to affordable care giver support for frail elders, barriers to purchasing healthy food in poor neighborhoods, absence of public health services such as dental and optometry care....and on and on. I find it absurd and disturbing that your committee would waste time and public funds discussing international issues that are outside your purview as public officials. There are not enough hours in the week nor dollars in the city coffers to address the needs of our poor, elderly and sick citizens. So where are you finding the time and dollars to engage in this highly politicized debate? Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely Ann Gonski, MSW 94707

72 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Martha Larsen Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2015 2:48 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment from Israeli Occupation

Dear Commission:

I am very disappointed that the Israeli divestment resolution was defeated and regret that a vote was put off for at least a month. The item has been on the agenda for a year! There is doubt that others will get on board who will change the discussion.

The HWCAC Commission is a proper venue for the Resolution because it deals with human rights; exploitation; racism; homelessness; children suffer disproportionally - all of which also impact the lives of poor people in Berkeley. There have been increased killings by Israeli military and settlers of Palestinian in Jerusalem just this week.

Berkeley an appropriate place to start the conversation which needs to be had locally and nationally.

All Berkeley residents are impacted as our tax dollars are used to support the Israeli Occupation and military to the detriment of our own communities.

Truly all Americans a taxed to support the occupation!!!

Many in the Berkeley Community want action on this issue.

Sincerely,

Martha Larsen,

I am not a Berkeley resident, but I respect this community as creative, as innovative and just.

As Wind carries prayers for Earth and All Life,

may respect and love light our way.

May our hearts be filled with compassion for others

and for ourselves.

73 May peace increase on Earth. May it begin with me. [Tibetan prayer flag]

74 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Fadia DAMON Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2015 8:22 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment vote

Hello,

As a Palestinian and a Christian, I urge you to pass the “Divestment from Israeli Occupation” resolution on October 21, 2015 and take a step towards justice for Palestinians.

Palestinians have suffered under Israeli occupation for decades. They are denied basic human rights and freedoms, their land is being confiscated by Israel for illegal settlements and the Palestinians in Gaza are imprisoned regularly bombed and denied a normal existence and lack many human rights and basic necessaties.

It is imperative that we as humans stand for justice especially for those silenced by occupation and oppression.

Please vote for the divestment and let Berkeley go down in History as the brave city that stood on the right side of history.

Thank you so much for your consideration Fadia Damon

75 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Arty Cohn Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2015 7:39 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Subject: Do Not vote for Divestment from Israel

76 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Kate Doherty Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2015 3:41 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divest from Israel and Reinstate Cheryl Davila

Dear Members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission,

I was completely scandalized at the HWCAC meeting that began with council member Darryl Moore firing Cheryl Davila from the commission without notice and in a manner that reeked of censorship. This blatant affront to freedom of speech is not the kind of leadership the city of Berkeley needs or deserves.

The commission’s scope clearly allows for discussion of human welfare issues around the world and particularly issues with which the money of Berkeley tax payers is directly involved. When Berkeley divested from South Africa a precedent was set and to censor the prospect of even discussing divestment from Israel because it is an unpopular idea with council member Moore is a grave injustice and completely interferes with the entire mission and purpose of this commission.

As you saw, at that meeting there is a lot of support in the community for this resolution, hundreds of people showed up and many spoke. Divesting from Israel is the right thing to do. The time is now to take a stand for Human welfare. The time is now to end the needless suffering of the Palestinian people. Having visited Palestine last year and witnessed for myself the brutality, injustice and the start of the horrific siege on Gaza we all witnessed in the news last year, it seems unbelievable that a commissioner moved to open a dialogue would be treated so harshly. The treatment of your colleague shows me how urgently you need to take a strong stance and resist the temptation to hesitate moving this issue forward.

Don't let your colleagues voice by silenced and be strong in your resolution to stand up to the bullies on the council who are creating a culture of fear. Your action in October is critical please move forward with courage.

Thank you.

Kate Doherty

77 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Armando Davila Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2015 9:47 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment and Cheryl Davila

Dear Human Welfare and Community Action Commission,

I hope you have the bravery and the insight to stand for fairness in a world in crisis.

Armando Davila Kirkwood West Berkeley Resident

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.

78 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Lorelai Kude Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2015 8:42 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Subject: Vote NO on Divestment

To: Berkeley Human Welfare Commission

Dear Commissioners:

I am appalled to learn that Anti-Israel activists tried and failed to pass a divestment resolution through the Berkeley Human Welfare Commission during the Jewish High Holy Days. Thankfully, only 3 commissioners voted for the ugly, biased and one-sided resolution, and it was sent to a subcommittee to be re-worked. Many people in the Berkeley Jewish Community felt blind-sided and betrayed by the both the timing and the content of the resolution. Be assured that those of us who oppose this disgusting, disrespectful and purely anti-Semitic resolution will be robustly represented at the October 21st meeting. I strongly urge the commissioners to vote against divesting, and to stand up against the aggressive bullies in this community who would have you think that a vote to divest is a vote for peace and justice. Nothing could be further from the truth. Divestment has been proven to directly and immediately harm the Palestinian community, many of whom are now unemployed due to BDS's efforts to destroy honest, diverse and just businesses which are providing jobs and economic security for thousands of Palestinian families. The goal of BDS is to create and exacerbate problems, not to solve them. I moved to Berkeley from Jerusalem, Israel two years ago. I have first-hand knowledge of the deceit and destruction wrought by pro-BDS activists. I will be on hand to educate the commissioners and the community and to prove that those who have shown support for divestment are being cynically manipulated by professional operatives whose goal couldn't be further away from peace and justice and "Human Welfare" if they tried.

Respectfully, Lorelai Kude

79 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Richard Mynick Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 11:21 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Re: Divesting from Israel's Occupation of Palestine

Dear HWCA Commission:

I've been a Berkeley resident for 32 years, & am also a member of the Jewish community here.

I'm writing to express my support for the Divestment resolution introduced on Sept. 16 by (former) Commission Member Cheryl Davila, and also to express my dismay at Ms Davila's termination.

The City of Berkeley has established an "ethical investment policy" that calls for divestment from several types of corporations — among them, those that do business with “oppressive states.” In terms of its human rights violations, Israel is indeed an oppressive state, much as South Africa was under apartheid. This basic truth is not yet sufficiently widely appreciated in the US, largely because the "mainstream media" tends strongly to whitewash the misdeeds of US government allies -- and Israel is officially an important ally, though this has nothing to do with the "virtuousness" of its policies. (Consider for a moment the remarkably benign coverage given to other US allies with terrible human rights records, such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain or Egypt, to appreciate how this works.)

Anyone who paid attention to Israel's bombing of Gaza in the summer of 2014 must realize that something is terribly wrong when the world's 4th most powerful military unleashes the latest in modern weaponry against a population that doesn't even have an army or an air force. What happened in Gaza was essentially a high-tech massacre of defenseless people. About 25% of the dead were children. This took place in an area whose boundaries & imports are 100% controlled by Israel, and that many have rightly described as "the world's largest open-air prison."

Regarding Berkeley and the issue of divestment: just as it took years to build a movement capable of pressuring South Africa; and just as it took years to win civil rights for blacks in the US, it will take a long time to build a movement capable of pressuring Israel. But the movement must start somewhere, and must be built, step by step. As a Berkeley resident, I want to see my city government demonstrate the courage & principle to be on the right side of this issue -- and in fact, to be a leader in standing up for human rights. And a policy of divesting city assets from corporations which profit from Israel's unjust occupation of Palestine would be a great step in the right direction. It would be comparable, for example, to city councils passing resolutions of support for the actions of Rosa Parks or Nelson Mandela (which actions, let's not forget, were also deemed "controversial" in their time).

Let's also note that US taxpayers are essentially sending over $3.2 billion of their tax dollars yearly to Israel, and that this money goes mostly to Israel's military. This is an outrage, & an insult to every thinking US citizen. I don't want to see another nickel of my tax money going to help Israel commit savage crimes like what we all witnessed in 2014. This money can be far better used here at home for a multitude of constructive purposes.

I'd also like to note that the HWCAC is an appropriate venue for this resolution, because the Commission is supposed to deal with issues of human rights -- precisely the area in which Israel's conduct most deserves censure from the international community. Israel's occupation of Palestinian land has now lasted for 67 years, despite its manifest illegality. Its policy of building settlements in the land it occupies is similarly completely illegal. In its brutalizing & persecution of Palestinians, Israel has richly earned comparisons to Mississippi of the 1950's, & to South Africa under apartheid.

In reconsidering the Divestment Resolution on October 21, the Commissioners have a shining opportunity to get on the right side of an important human rights issue. I very much hope they will examine their consciences, seize this opportunity, and take a stand we can all be proud of.

Sincerely, Richard Mynick Berkeley Resident

80 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Lawrence WALDRON Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 10:12 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Support BSD

Just as anti-Vietnam War opinion grew from local community groups, not from the top down, so American public opinion demanding justice for Palestinians must do the same. Israel and its partisans may only wake up when they face the political and economic consequences of BSD.

Please go on record supporting the Boycott, Sanction and Divest movement.

Larry Waldron 1932 Yosemite Rd. Berkeley CA 94707

81 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Maris Schwartz Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 8:27 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Anti-Jewish Activity

Hello, My name is Maris Schwartz, and I am writing to express my deep disappointment with the Berkeley community regarding an antisemitic divestment resolution making the rounds through the town's commission. It astounds me that anyone would consider such an ugly resolution based on outright lies and absolute hatred for the Jews. Please do not give this antisemitic group a free pass to say anything it wants. It needs to be called on its lies. This resolution is eerily reminiscent of the 1930's campaign against the Jews in Germany. Don't follow Hitler's footsteps. I am a former New Yorker and a lifelong Democrat. We moved to the Bay Area a few years ago, and I honestly can't believe that such a progressive community can be so hateful against a group of people. I have been to Israel many times, and I can assure you that, for the most part, Jews and Arabs get along! I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. Now, are there pockets of lunatics from both sides creating a violent mess? Yes, without a doubt. Is Israel perfect? No. But it's not the heinous country the BDS movement is painting it to be. Far from it, in fact. Israel is a world leader in virtually every technology -- from medicine to engineering and telecommunications. It also is the only democracy in the Middle East where so many nationalities co-exist. Please, don't believe the BDS lies. Please also discard this resolution. especially if you want the community to have a peaceful co-existence. SIncerely, Maris Schwartz

82 Molina, Raquel P.

From: MARGARET FOUDA Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 4:05 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment: companies which profit from the Israeli occupation resolution

Dear Members of the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission, Please consider a resolution to divest City of Berkeley funds from companies which profit from the Israeli occupation. When I visited Israel and the occupied territories I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. Streets and highways that are closed to Palestinians but open for Jewish settlers, separate schools, armed checkpoints children had tonavigate to attend school, and destruction of Palestinian water sources and farms. Beautiful old trees and homes were uprooted to make way for a 25 foot separation wall and barrier roads. In 2014, Israel bombed Gaza killing more than 500 children. In the US, laws promoting one racial or ethnic group over another are illegal yet we are sending 3 billion dollars every year to Israel to support on going ethnic cleansing. Our policies are not making Israel or us any safer. Divestment is our duty as citizens. We should not profit from injustice. Sincerely, Margaret Fouda 608 San Luis Rd. Berkeley, CA 94707 [email protected] 510 703-5533

83 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Barbara Erickson Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 12:57 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: The commission should support Cheryl Davila's resolution

Dear Members of the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission,

I am a longtime resident of Berkeley and attended your last meeting on Sept. 16. The discussion and reactions of commission members brought home to me once again how poorly informed most Americans are concerning the reality on the ground in Palestine-Israel. In fact, it is a David and Goliath situation, with sophisticated and heavily armed Israeli security forces oppressing a nearly defenseless indigenous population and inexorably robbing them of their land and water resources in defiance of international law. Our mainstream media, however, present a narrative of Israeli victimhood or, at best, of two equal and opposing sides. Both of these views are false, and most of the world is aware of the crimes perpetrated against the Palestinians. This is evident in the many United Nations votes in which the United States and Israel stand in isolation as nearly the sole opponents to Palestinian rights.

The shocking disparity between Palestine and Israel is reflected in our military funding. We give not a cent to Palestinian defense, even though Palestinians are dying and suffering injuries at a rate many times higher than those of Israelis. (Over 2000 residents of Gaza died in 2014, the great majority of them civilians, while only 70 Israelis died, the large majority soldiers.) Nevertheless, because of lavishly funded lobbying efforts on behalf of Israel, our country provides Israel with $10.2 million a day in military aid. The US is now looking at raising that excessive amount even as Congress takes aim at cutting health, education and housing for Americans in need. In spite of the struggles of our citizens at home, the US gives so much to Israel that this exceeds all the military aid we give to the rest of the world combined. This is a scandal that needs to be reported and discussed openly in our city councils, state legislatures and Congress.

Israel supporters oppose any such discussion, and they are now taking aim at Berkeley, where Cheryl Davila had the compassion and courage to ask for a divestment resolution from your commission. These Israel supporters are a counterpart to the Israeli forces on the ground in Palestine—formidably armed with billions of dollars, the support of the Israeli government and a large network of lobbying groups in the US. StandWithUs, which was present and vocal at your last meeting, has assets of nearly $6 million and is backed by that network. Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine, Friends of Sabeel-North America, and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, on the other hand, are true grassroots groups, motivated by a thirst for justice and working on shoestrings, mostly fueled by volunteer labor, with either cramped office space or none at all. And yet, these were the groups who came out in an effort to speak to you about their experiences and journeys and to urge you to hear the truth about Palestine and respond to the call for justice.

It was dismaying to see that Berkeley, which claims to be a progressive city, is also deeply influenced by the monied Israel lobby. Berkeley politicians, fearful of this powerful and reactionary force, worked to suppress free speech, taking the shocking measure of dismissing a commissioner for doing her job and otherwise trying to manipulate the outcome to prevent any discussion of the tragic situation in Palestine and its effect on our welfare. This means that we face the prospect of Berkeley officials siding with the rich and powerful and turning their backs on those who suffer from the combined might of Israel and the US. I hope that in the end this will not come to pass and that Berkeley will proudly stake its claim as a voice for the oppressed, choosing to stand once again on the right side of history.

Barbara Erickson Berkeley, CA 94703

84 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Glen Hauer Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 12:33 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment

Gentlepeople,

Please pass the long-calendared divestment resolution now.

I have lived in Berkeley more than 40 years, am a homeowner in District 2, and am Jewish.

It is time for our city to stop collaborating with occupation and dispossession by ending business ties with the companies that profit from these anti-human policies.

Please do not hide behind procedural and semantic smokescreens to avoid these issues. They are correctly in your court.

Pass the divestment resolution.

******* Glen Hauer

Berkeley, California, USA voice: (510) 859-4277 fax: (510) 225-2089 site: glenhauer.com

85 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Jeanie Shaterian Sent: Monday, October 05, 2015 6:12 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please support the BDS resolution and reappoint Cheryl Davila

Dear Members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission:

I have lived in Berkeley for almost all my long life and am proud of your commission’s active support of human rights at home and around the world.

Please approve the resolution supporting boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) of the state of Israel and present it to the City Council as soon as possible, without further subcommittee study or amendments.

BDS, first used worldwide against aparheid South Africa, is a nonviolent tool to show the corporate and government establishments that we do not condone human rights abuses and discriminatory practices, that we stand in solidarity with the men, women, and children who struggle to live, learn, and love under extraordinarily harsh and oppressive conditions, conditions that our tax dollars, our military, our business investments (all acting in our name) inflict on them. Prominent South African like Ronnie Kasrils and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have joined the call for BDS of Israel. Church leaders within Israel-Palestine support it. Around the world academic, trade union, peace and justice, and religious groups, including many Jewish ones, have joined the movement. This issue deserves a hearing, a hearing at the Berkeley City Council. People are dying, people are suffering, the natural environment in Israel-Palestine has been dangerously compromised as well. Delay on our part prolongs the death and destruction. Please pass the resolution and bring it before the City Council for discussion.

I also urge you to reappoint Commissioner Cheryl Davis if Council Member Moore has not done so already. Her firing was an appalling act of arbitrary power, her response to it moving and admirable.

Sincerely,

Jeanie Shaterian

86 Molina, Raquel P.

From: D Dorenz Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 4:43 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); City Clerk; Wong, Wingyin Subject: Commission for Human Welfare and Community Action oversteps it's mandate

Dear Commissioners and the City Council:

The issue of Israel, and really any geopolitics, is very clearly outside the scope of the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission's mission to identify and address the social welfare needs of the local community.

• To delve into this complicated debate about Middle Eastern politics, and single out Israel in this way, will create a contentious and distracting dispute that can only detract from the Commission's work improving services and assistance programs in Berkeley.

• Finally, this inaccurate, biased, one-sided resolution is deeply offensive and will be divisive in the Berkeley community where there is a wide range of perspectives on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

Sincerely,

Dorothea Dorenz

1200 Neilson St.

Berkeley, Ca. 94706

-- Dorothea

88 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Nikki Sachs Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 8:50 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Resolution to Divest from the Israeli Occupation

October 4, 2015

To: Human Welfare and Community Action Commission

I am a Jewish woman who has been a resident of Berkeley for over 40 years. I was distressed at the actions that happened at the Human Welfare and Community Action commission last month.

In the first place I believe that this commission is a proper venue for the resolution, Divestment from the Israeli Occupation, which I wholeheartedly support. It is time to take steps to bring justice to Palestinians suffering under the Israeli Occupation.

Secondly, This resolution deals with human rights, racism, and the welfare of children, all issues which also affect Berkeley residents. Children as young as 11 have been detained by the Israeli defense forces for hours without of their any parents present. Our tax dollars are being used to support the occupation and these illegal actions. I want to see my community take a stand against the occupation. After all, the word "action" is in the title of this commission .

I would be proud to have the HWCAC Commission pass a resolution supporting divestment from this illegal occupation that has gone on almost 40 years. A conversation on these issues needs to happen locally and on a national level and Berkeley is an appropriate place for this to happen.

Sincerely,

Nikki Sachs

89 Molina, Raquel P.

From: C.J. Kingsley Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 7:59 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: October 21, 2015 Consideration of a Resolution Pursuing Financial Boycotting of the State of Israel

TO: Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Secretary Wing Wong cc: the Commission's General E-mail

Dear Madam Secretary:

Since the HWCAC has decided to turn its attention to international matters, I am a writing as a Citizen of Planet Earth. (I am a member of Berkeley’s Congregation Netivot Shalom.)

Does the City of Berkeley’s Human Welfare and Community Action Commission stand with the people on Planet Earth who seek to wipe the State of Israel off Earth’s map – the goal of the BDS Movement?

In the news, we see millions of people fleeing human rights victimization from MANY countries (none of which is Israel). None of the countries from which millions are fleeing human rights violations is part of the BDS movement dialogue.

If the people behind the BDS Movement were sincerely against humans’ violating the rights of other humans, their proposed resolutions would be targeting the countries of Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea and Sudan which are at the top of the global list for countries that are among the worst abusers of human rights. And then there are: Syria, Somalia, Turkmenistan, Libya, Cuba and Saudi Arabia* (about to execute [a protestor] by crucifixion). How about most of the countries of Central and South America that turn a blind eye to the concerted efforts of drug cartels and deforesters who are wiping out the innocent people in their paths? And why wouldn’t the U.S. of A. be on the list?

I ask you: 1. Who is asking the City government of Berkeley to single out the State of Israel? 2. What Is the Goal of the BDS movement?

You might take a look at this very brief youtube video wherein the founder of the BDS movement says: “A Jewish state in Palestine in any shape or form cannot but contravene the basic rights of the indigenous Palestinian population and perpetuate a system of racial discrimination that ought to be opposed categorically….Definitely, most definitely we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.” -Omar Barghouti, founder of BDS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYvpsGd8K4Y

And, again, I ask: Does the City of Berkeley’s Human Welfare and Community Action Commission stand with the people on Planet Earth who seek to wipe the State of Israel off Earth’s map – the stated goal of the BDS Movement?

90 Respectfully submitted, CJ Kingsley

____ *Of the 197 countries of the world, there are 20, including three territories, considered to be the most societally repressive. Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea and Sudan are at the top of the global list for countries that are among the worst abusers of human rights. To be deemed an abuser of human rights, civil liberties and political rights are the violations assessed, and these particular countries mentioned above have concurrently been on such lists in the previous years

* * * Syria, Somalia, Turkmenistan, Libya, Cuba and Saudi Arabia are more places where people suffer from some of the most severe, systematic abuses of human rights http://borgenproject.org/human-rights-violations/

91 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Linda Cedarbaum Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 7:42 PM To: Zimmerman Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Subject: Re: FW: Does Berkeley want to be known at the "MOST HATEFUL CITY IN AMERICA? 100,000 bumper stickers are in the works!!!! yes. it is

Linda Cedarbaum Cell: 914-420-7997

On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 10:43 PM, Zimmerman wrote:

Pennsylvania Senate Condemns Economic, Social, Cultural Boycotts of Israel as Anti-Semitic

NEW YORK, September 30, 2015:

92 On Friday, September 18, 2015, the Pennsylvania Senate by vote of 49 to 0 passed Resolution No. 136 Session of 2015 Printer's No. 979. The Resolution condemned economic, social, cultural and other boycotts of Israel and growing incidents of anti-Semitism. The House previously passed a similar Resolution.

House Resolution 370 Session of 2015 Printer's No. 1697 was introduced by Matt Baker of Tioga County. The Senate Resolution was introduced by Senator Stew Greenleaf of Montgomery and Bucks Counties.

The Resolutions note the historical fact that the first attempt to boycott Jewish interests in Pennsylvania in the Pennsylvania Colony occurred in 1662 and were rejected when Sir Robert Carr, in 1664, assumed command of the Delaware in the name of the English Crown. Instructions to Carr were that "all people should enjoy the liberty of their conscience," and the proposed boycott of Jewish merchants ceased.

The Resolutions further recognize a strong connection that American Jewry had in supporting the American Revolution. A prime consideration of the Resolutions is The International Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) which has been one of the main vehicles for spreading anti-semitism and advocating the elimination of the Jewish State. Activities promoting BDS against Israel have occurred in Pennsylvania, including on college campuses.

The BDS campaign has utilized animosity and intimidation against Jews, including Jewish students on campus. It was clearly recognized by the Resolutions in the House and the Senate that the purpose of the BDS is to eliminate Israel as home of the Jewish people.

Group boycotts have a long history of condemnation in the United States on both the federal and state level. The Pennsylvania legislature condemned the BDS movement and its agenda as "inherently antithetical and deeply damaging to the causes of peace, justice, equality, democracy and human rights for all peoples in the Middle East."

The House and Senate reaffirmed its support for the State of Israel, recognizing that the Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel. Both chambers condemned all attacks on the people of Israel, supporting Israel's rights to

93 engage in lawful acts of self-defense. They opposed all attempts to deny the legitimacy of Israel as a sovereign state. The Senate Resolution urged the Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth to explore whether the BDS movement in the Commonwealth violates any Commonwealth laws. Both Resolutions have been transmitted to the President of the United States and the members of Congress, the Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Pennsylvania joins a small but growing chorus of states that have acted defiantly to take a stand against anti-semitism and economic boycotts intended to destroy the ability of the State of Israel to function effectively.

Right-click here to download pictures. To help pro tect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.

94 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Ory Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 12:19 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Anderson, Maxwell; Berkeley Mayor's Office Subject: Divestment from Israel resolution

To the Human Welfare & Community Action Commission:

I am a 23-year Berkeley resident and taxpayer.

Never before have I had the displeasure of having to write to any of its Commissions to weigh in on any issue. But it has come to my attention that this Commission has seen proper, under its limited mandate, to consider a "divest from Israel" resolution (and to reconsider the same in a to-be-revised version at its upcoming October 21 meeting). I cannot remain silent.

The resolution -- in any form -- is well beyond the Commission's scope. Per the City of Berkeley website, the "mission" of this Commission is (1) to advise the City Council "concerning social welfare needs"; (2) to create "citizen awareness" and "encourage[] improved standards"; and (3) assist in the administration of the Community Action Program. That is it. In no way does the Commission have a mandate -- or even the prerogative -- to weigh in on foreign affairs.

Even so, there is zero reason for this (or any other) Commission to consider "divestment" from Israel. Indeed, there are at least several dozen countries more "deserving" of such consideration. How about Syria, which has murdered tens of thousands of its own citizens over the past four years? Or Iran, which imprisons and executes dissidents and uses imprisoned journalists to obtain advantage in prisoner swaps? Or perhaps our purported ally Saudi Arabia, which stones homosexuals and practices apartheid against non-Muslims? Or even Russia, which only last year invaded and occupied a neighboring sovereign state? Unfortunately, planet Earth lacks no contenders for awards for human rights abuses and suppression. But Israel is not even in the top 100. Check out Freedom House's 2015 report for information -- you will see that Israel is the only country deemed "free" in the entire Middle East.

Please stop wasting your (and my) time and money. Either get back to the business of improving our city (within the scope of your mission) or disband the Commission.

Ory Sandel 2536 Grant Street Berkeley, CA 94703

95 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Zimmerman Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 10:39 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Subject: This is a REAL CITY OF PEACE ...... not BERKELEY -the smiles tell it all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Z7wwMhsNU

96 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Bette Flushman Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 9:03 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: resolution before City Council/attention Ms. Jennifer Browne, district 5

I would like to voice my opposition to the recommendation before the Berkeley City Council calling for divestment from Israel. I oppose this resolution. Attention to Ms. Jennifer Browne, District 5.

Respectfully, Bette Flushman

97 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Christopher C. Jadallah Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 1:11 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Support Divestment from Israel

Dear Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Members, I write to you as resident of the City of Berkeley and a student at the University of California, Berkeley who is passionate about human rights. The process by which Cheryl was removed by City Councilman Darryl Moore speaks volumes to the undermining of democracy in our towns and cities for the purpose of protecting a foreign country that is in violations of international law and occupying another people. The fact that Councilman Moore removed an African American woman at this time and this period in the history of our community is beyond shocking and frankly outright offensive. The Commission should protest this action and demonstrate resolve by supporting Cheryl's courageous resolution. As to the content of the resolution, I urge the Commission to take the bold step and vote for the measure and send it to the Berkeley City Council so as to allow the city and the community to make a decision on the matter. I do think that Berkeley can lead in this effort just as we led in the past during the Vietnam War, Central American Solidarity Movement and Anti-Apartheid Struggle. The fact that Israel and its supporters have managed to silence Cheryl should not make it possible for them to silence democracy and the Berkeley community on this issue. We affirm that Israel's violations of human rights and 4th Geneva Convention are readily evident, which places obligations upon the Commission to act in accordance with these principles and move to bring the spirit of universal justice into actualization. Lastly, let me point out that the Palestinians are not asking for increased investment, economic cooperation and a golden economic cage but for an end to the occupation. The idea of economic investment in Palestine is the new buzz word, which in reality means a mode of "Constructive Engagement" modeled on Reagan's apartheid era proposals intended at the time to delay if not prevent an end to the oppressive Apartheid state of affairs. Investment under occupation is facility to the occupation itself and acts as an ICU rather than a cure to the condition that brought the patient to the intensive care in the first place. I urge you to adopt the resolution and demonstrate vision, leadership and resolve in a critical period in our history. All the best, Christopher Jadallah

Letter adopted from Dr. Hatem Bazian

100 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Hatem A BAZIAN Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 12:49 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: Hatem A BAZIAN; Kristin Szremski Subject: Supporting the Divestment Resolution

Dear Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Members,

I write to you as resident of the City of Berkeley and a faculty member at University of California, Berkeley as well as in my capacity as National Chair of American Muslims for Palestine and Chair of Northern California Islamic Council. I attended and spoke briefly in the public comments period during the Commission's last meeting and wanted to follow up with urging you to adopt the progressive resolution authored by Cheryl Davila. The process by which Cheryl was removed by City Councilman Darryl Moore speaks volumes to the undermining of democracy in our towns and cities for the purpose of protecting a foreign country that is in violations of international law and occupying another people. The fact that Councilman Moore removed an African American woman at this time and this period in the history of our community is beyond shocking and frankly outright offensive. The Commission should protest this action and demonstrate resolve by supporting Cheryl's courageous resolution.

As to the content of the resolution, I urge the Commission to take the bold step and vote for the measure and send it to the Berkeley City Council so as to allow the city and the community to make a decision on the matter. I do think that Berkeley can lead in this effort just as we led in the past during the Vietnam War, Central American Solidarity Movement and Anti-Apartheid Struggle. The fact that Israel and its supporters have managed to silence Cheryl should not make it possible for them to silence democracy and the Berkeley community on this issue. We affirm that Israel's violations of human rights and 4th Geneva Convention are readily evident, which places obligations upon the Commission to act in accordance with these principles and move to bring the spirit of universal justice into actualization.

Lastly, let me point out that the Palestinians are not asking for increased investment, economic cooperation and a golden economic cage but for an end to the occupation. The idea of economic investment in Palestine is the new buzz word, which in reality means a mode of "Constructive Engagement" modeled on Reagan's apartheid era proposals intended at the time to delay if not prevent an end to the oppressive Apartheid state of affairs. Investment under occupation is facility to the occupation itself and acts as an ICU rather than a cure to the condition that brought the patient to the intensive care in the first place. I urge you to adopt the resolution and demonstrate vision, leadership and resolve in a critical period in our history.

All the best,

Hatem

-- Director, IRDP Editor, Islamophobia Studies Journal Near Eastern Studies Asian American Studies 278 Barrows Hall Berkeley, CA 94720

101 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Nasira Abdul-Aleem Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 11:34 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: outraged at the firing of Cheryl Davita

To Whom it Concerns at HWCAC:

I am a Berkeley Resident.

I am outraged at the firing of Cheryl Davita based solely on her after her refusal to withdraw a proposal for the city to divest from companies complicit in human rights abuses in the Palestinian Territories.

The following lists my complaints:

1) I am both beyond disappointed that the resolution was defeated and that a vote was put off for at least a month when the item has been on the agenda since October, 2014. 2) it is Unrealistic to think that Ms. Davita can get other Commissions on board within 30 days when the item would have to be scheduled for discussion on a City Council meeting agenda, and that is not going to happen in that time frame. 3) The HWCAC Commission is the proper venue for the Resolution of this issue because this issue deals with human rights, i.e., exploitation, racism, homelessness, children suffer disproportionately - the same issues which impact the lives of the poor people who live in Berkeley. 4) This is a conversation which needs to be had locally and nationally. Berkeley is the most appropriate place for this conversation to take place due to Berkeley's long standing, historical record and reputation of leadership in the areas of civil rights, anti-war work, and free speech, i.e., human rights, in particular. 5) All Berkeley residents are impacted because our tax dollars support the Israeli military Occupation and destruction of the State of Palestine, to the detriment of all our own community services, such as our public schools, housing our homeless and low income citizens, veteran services (for homeless and mentally ill vets), services for our mentally ill citizens who roam the streets in search of food and shelter, etc.. 6) The Commission's reason for being is Community Action and many in the Berkeley community want action on this issue-- because of the human rights violations going on in our name (bombers and bombs with USA stamped on them). 7) Not all Jews support this resolution -- as the opposition would have you think by means of spreading false information.

Peace/Salaam - Nasira

102 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Susannah Nachenberg Sent: Monday, September 28, 2015 4:54 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Disappointed in the silencing of an important issue.

Hi HWC chair,

I am a local Berkeley resident and young Jewish American. I have been concerned about the treatment of Palestinians of Israeli government policy for years. I was encouraged that commissioner Cheryl Davila was called to bring this issue to the HWC. While some are insisting this is not a Berkeley Human Welfare issue, if I as a Berkeley resident know that money I contribute to my city goes to paying for these human rights abuses towards Palestinians, this harms me as a Berkeley resident. Please reconsider your decisions. Silencing debate does not ignore the real problems of US-supported and funded occupation, siege and the defiance of international and humanitarian laws.

-Susannah Nachenberg

-- Susannah Nachenberg Organizer, Jewish Voice for Peace Bay Area 805-607-3105 [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/JVPBA

"Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice." – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

103 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] on behalf of Susan Blachman Sent: Monday, September 28, 2015 8:25 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: Droste, Lori Subject: Divestment

Hello,

As a long-time Berkeley resident, I urge the Human Welfare & Community Action Commission to oppose the resolution, Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories, that recommends that the Berkeley City Council call for divestment from Israel.

While I understand your desire to address an important human welfare issue, unless the HWCAC is going to take on every country and business that engages in human rights violations, which includes the US (look at what we do regarding imprisoning Black men & what our businesses do to the environment, such as poisoning the population with Teflon), Germany (see VW), China (which occupies Tibet to this day) and every other country in the world (though perhaps not Denmark), then this seems to be an anti-semitic action, not appropriate for the HWCAC. In addition, this issue is outside the scope of the HWCAC's mission and therefore a waste of staff and commissioners' resources.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely, Susan Blachman 139 Parkside Drive 510-463-1228

104 Molina, Raquel P.

From: francis Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2015 6:37 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

I think considering this resolution is ridiculous, a few months ago the boycott of Soda Stream lead to the loss of job for over 1000 Palestinian in these territories, as a fact these resolutions end up hurting Palestinians more than Israel. Let's also remember that international law says that these territories are disputed territories, not occupied, despite what many would like everyone to believe. Today's Palestinians never had a country, they mostly originated from Arab countries like Saudis Arabia, Egypt, Syria and others. 85% of the so called Palestinians live in Jordan. In the 1920's every encyclopedia in the world if you looked up the word "Palestinian", would tell you that the Jews were the Palestinian population then, that since 1914 Jews were the majority population in Jerusalem... I think it's time for people to stop listening to the propaganda behind this conflict and start looking at historical facts. It's a shame that a city with a university as prestigious as UC Berkeley, even stops for a second to think about this resolution; again let's just look at the facts, Israel has been under attack consistently since its independence, with a direct threat to its survival as a State but also its population; their athletes have been murdered, their citizen bombed daily, they took a desert and turned it to a vibrant society with gardens. They have offered peace at least 3 times with close to 100% of what the Palestinian wanted, and every time, the Palestinian leadership walked out, today the Palestinians themselves don't get along and kill each other between Hamas and Fatah, and people are still trying to say it's Israel fault. Israel gave Gaza to the Palestinian and asked nothing in exchange, the Palestinian not only destroyed all the infrastructure that was left, not only did they elect Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization, but in the end, they fired thousands of missile to the Israeli population for months, before Israel decided to retaliate... So please Israel has no incentive whatsoever to give more territories until the Palestinian accept Israel existence, stop teaching hatred to their children, and finally accept like any other country including Israel, to accept people of other religion and background, and yes including Jews and Christians. Again this divestment won't do much to hurt Israel, but I guaranty you it will hurt the Palestinians more, and Berkeley as a city, Thank you for reading,

Sincerely

F. Procaccia

105 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Marilyn Sarig Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2015 7:24 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Dear Sir / Madam,

It has come to my attention that the Human Welfare & Community Action Committee is considering a resolution that the Berkeley City Council call for divestment from Israel. You may know that the resolution is supported by groups that seek the elimination of the State of Israel, who prevented an Israeli Zim cargo ship from docking last year at the Oakland Port, and who single out Israel from other nations. I am disappointed that these groups are seeking to co-opt the good and important work of the HWCAC and turn the Commission into an extension of their unit-Israel protest apparatus.

I urge you to consider the following:

As a long-time resident of Berkeley, I beg of you to vote against this resolution which seeks to radicalize Bay Area voters and increase anti-Israel sentiment.

Sincerely, Marilyn Sarig Berkeley Way

106 Molina, Raquel P.

From: D Dorenz Sent: Friday, September 25, 2015 11:31 PM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC); City Clerk Subject: re: BDS of Israel

Dear Human Welfare Commissioners:

As a Berkeley resident who happens to be Jewish, I urge you to vote against a BDS resolution that you are being asked to consider.

Why would the City of Berkeley chose to single out Israel as a human rights abuser when the Commission is not considering sanctions of the 20 countries who are listed as the most severe human rights abusers in the world? Of the 197 countries of the world, there are 20, including three territories, considered to be the most societally repressive.

Therefore, if there is going to be a "Divestment Resolution," it must include Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea and Sudan that are at the top of the global list for countries that are among the worst abusers of human rights. Syria, Somalia, Turkmenistan, Libya, Iran and Saudi Arabia are more places where people suffer from some of the most severe, systematic abuses of human rights. Perhaps the Commission should also add sanctions for Iran who has hung 700 of its citizens in the first half of 2015. Israel is not on this list of worst abusers of human rights. And while you are at it, why not indict Hamas in Gaza for war crimes as they launched 3500 rockets into civilian territories in Israel in 2014 and continue to target civilian areas even after a cease fire has been declared.

As a Jewish Citizen of Berkeley, I strongly oppose any vote for a Boycott of Israel. The City of Berkeley has a lot more issues to deal with right here at home and do not need to meddle in international affairs. We have a federal government whose job it is to do that. If the City choses to do a BDS vote against Israel, there will be a lot of animosity toward the city on the part of Jewish residents.

Thanks for your attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

Dorothea Dorenz

Berkeley, Ca.

Cc: Mayor Tom Bates and the Berkeley City Council

107 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Yaeir Heber Sent: Friday, September 25, 2015 3:07 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Subject: Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Dear Mr. Praveen Sood,

I am writing as a concerned resident of your district regarding the currently considered resolution, "Divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories," that recommends that the Berkeley City Council call for divestment from Israel.

It is certainly inappropriate for folks to sit aside idly while injustice occurs. I deeply understand and sympathize with those who desperately would like to do "their part" to act out and stop injustice, helping to give a voice to those suffering at it's hands.

The bottom line is that this divestment plan is not a good means to achieve that goal, and is more likely in fact deeply counterproductive--hurting those it intends to help. I do not want to be part of a city the follows a misdirected trend and ends up hurting those we want to help.

Unlike much of our national politics here in the USA--especially w/ regards to foreign policy as we've seen over the past decade--the Israeli occupation of The West Bank is not a financially motivated move. The occupation costs millions, if not billions of dollars a year, and is not clearly not profitable or convenient for anyone. Big Business is not at play in the settlements as we found it was (sickeningly so) in Iraq. For better or for worse, this does mean we need a different approach than what we would apply to our our politics, where money certainly seems to rule all.

Furthermore, this divestment would potentially affect Palestinian workers more negatively than place any significant pressure on Israeli politics. When a company takes a small financial hit, the first thing to go are low wage workers. We saw this exact same thing happen with the Israeli SodaStream company having to shut down it's West Bank factory due to divestment consequences. 500 Palestinians now go home jobless... is that what we want to achieve?

...the plant’s 500 Palestinian employees earned more money in better conditions at SodaStream than they could elsewhere in the West Bank, and that the integration of Palestinian and Israeli workers was like a pilot project for peace.

The company's CEO stated a few years back when faced with the possibility of closing the plant and moving it to Israel:

“I could leave there tomorrow, for me it would be easier, but what about the employees?” he asked in an interview then. “I feel like I have a responsibility there. Those who oppose the factory are using SodaStream and manipulating our Palestinian workers in order to demonize the state of Israel, and I won’t let them.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/world/middleeast/sodastream-to-close-factory-in- west-bank.html?_r=0)

This divestment is taking a "shooting from the hip" approach and is sure to both miss it's primary target as well as injure those it is trying to help.

109 I would much more happily pay a one-cent sales tax, the proceeds of which could go to serious and targeted work being done by progressive organizations on the ground, than see a misdirected piece of legislation like this one put our city on the map as part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

I urge you to consider the true likely affects, and ineffectiveness of this measure and help our city actually find and lead the way to productively make the impact we all wish to see.

Sincerely, Yaeir Heber

2639 McGee Ave.

110 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Susan David Sent: Friday, September 25, 2015 1:36 PM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment Resolution

This message is directed to Mr. Daniel McMullan, Commissioner for District 4

I urge you to vote no on the proposed resolution calling for the City of Berkeley to call for divestment from Israel. There are several reasons, but for me the primary one is that the resolution is one-sided. I do not feel that there is any place for something so biased to be part of this community. Of course, as as long time resident of Berkeley (over 50 years), I am used to the City Council becoming involved in matters of foreign policy and things that really shouldn’t be taking up the time of the Council. And once again this time I feel it is way beyond what I want my representatives to be thinking about and acting on. Thank you, Susan David 2024 Cedar Street Berkeley

111 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Jonathan Simon on behalf of Jonathan Simon Sent: Friday, September 25, 2015 11:06 AM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: No to Divestment

Dear HWCAC Members,

Berkeley has long been a part of my family's and my lives. My grandfather, grandmother, and father all went to Cal. As a child, every time I visited my grandmother in Oakland, we would take a day trip into Berkeley to shop in used bookstores and, most importantly, get an apple fritter at Kingpin Donuts. I attended Berkeley in the mid '90s, studying philosophy and working for several years at MAC on Shattuck. I moved away for work but came back years later with my wife, moving into a tiny apartment near North Berkeley BART so we could save up for a house. Again, we moved away from Berkeley for work and to buy a house in Fremont, but we visited often for friends and food. Berkeley is a part of me and always will be.

Now I have learned that the HWCAC will be voting on a resolution to divest from Israel. I strongly urge you to vote no on this resolution. First, the resolution is outside HWCAC's mission to help the community. There is so much need in Berkeley, and to focus elsewhere is to ignore the problems at home. Second, a yes vote is poison for the community, turning off people who otherwise fully support HWCAC's mission, myself included. Third, this resolution is highly offensive. To so many of us, it feels like an anti-Semitic attack. It transforms Berkeley into an unsafe and unwelcoming community.

Please vote no on the divestment resolution.

Thank you, Jon Simon 510-912-1212

112 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Pamela Hardyment Sent: Friday, September 25, 2015 4:13 AM To: Wong, Wingyin Cc: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: shame on you for bowing down to zionist pressure..we in our millions are all palestinians and we wil fight with every drop of our blood to see this new form of nazism erased from this planet..we are serious and cannot believe the power the zionist and jewish zionist and christian zionist lobby has on you Americans..your society is doomed if you continue to shack up with these evil people, there are only 6 million jews in israel..and yet they impose the worst kind of racist xenophobic apartheid system on our palestinian brothers and sisters and you in particular are supporting this? It has been going on for 67 years..we wil not giv eup til every trace of zionism and its fascist min dset is eradicated..I promise you..You in America give them million s of dollars daily to prop up this vile wicked murderous machine which calls itself the jewish state. Shame on all us jews who wil have nothin g to do with that state that kills babies, women and young men with impunity..you support that!!!!and we christians who interpret the bible in a rational and humane way and are real human beings..the most terrible shame on you til you mend your ways.

Disgusted..disgusted

P Hardy

113 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Malka Weitman Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2015 9:20 PM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: Worthington, Kriss Subject: divestment vote

Dear Mr. Flanders and members of the Berkeley HWCAC,

I am a longtime Berkeley resident and am writing to object to your upcoming vote on divestment from Israel.

Firstly, it is beyond the scope of the Commission and the City of Berkeley to be taking a stand on complex international affairs. Please deal with those matters that are within your mission. Why would the Commission expend time and energy taking a position on matters that will do nothing to improve the welfare of the citizens of Berkeley?

Secondly, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complex and—even if it were appropriate for you to take a stand on foreign policy—I wonder if members of the Commission are prepared to form an educated and unbiased opinion on this complicated question. For example, are you familiar with the history of the region, the history of the Zionist movement, the history of the peace process, the funding streams and goals of the BDS movement, the relationship between BDS and the rise of global anti-Semitism— to name just a few aspects of this issue. Have you consulted with members of the mainstream Jewish community so as to get a balanced view, or are you simply following views that are popular in this area?

Thirdly, be aware that voting for divestment from Israel has implications you may not have considered: It will fan the flames of anger and divisiveness which already surround this issue, alienate many Berkeley residents, and contribute to the epidemic of anti-Semitism that violates the human rights of Jewish students on the UC campus.

Please remove this item from your agenda.

Sincerely,

114 Malka Weitman

2534 Chilton Way

Berkeley, CA 94704

115 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Jonathan Reinis Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2015 4:11 PM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Tom Bates; Tom Bates; George & Doris Krevsky Subject: Boycott of Israel

While the extreme right wing of the Republican party wants to boycott Iran forever because of its stand on israel and terrorism in general, so the extreme left wing wants to boycott Israel. Boycotts are instruments of diplomacy that are overwhelmingly ineffective and cruel to the many inhabitants of a country who may not even agree with the specific policy under question. Additionally, since israel is one of the only Democracies in the Middle East, wouldn't it be more effective to attempt to influence the electoral process to effectuate the goals one wants to achieve? Of course, this would be impossible in Iran or most countries in the middle east because they are dictatorships. Wouldn't negotiation and dialogue be a better solution to solve the world's problems?

Finally, this is not an issue for the City of Berkeley as foreign policy is not a city matter. This is an issue for the citizens of Berkeley to consider in their electoral process to choose representatives to advocate for their values. We, fortunately, live in a Democracy where we don't have to go to war or boycott our neighbors every time we have a disagreement. Let's be respectful of the world community and try to have reasonable negotiations and treaties as our President is doing and has done.

Respectfully,

Jonathan Reinis 860 Spruce Street Berkeley, CA 94707

This e-mail, including any attachments, contains information belonging to the sender which may be Confidential and Legally Privileged. Information is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom this e-mail was sent, as evidenced above. The unauthorized use, distribution, copying or alteration of this email is strictly prohibited. Please notify sender if you are receiving this in error.

116 Molina, Raquel P.

From: ANDREA CASSIDY <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2015 2:02 PM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment from Israel resololution

Dear Commission Secretary Wing Wong

As a Berkeley resident of 37 years, I am dismayed to see the Human Welfare & Community Action Commission straying from its local role to getting embroiled in a complicated debate involving Middle East politics. There are many local Human Welfare issues that need to be addressed rather than straying from the scope of the Commission's mission of identifying and addressing the social welfare needs of the local community. . This is the area the Commission should be addressing to improve the lives of Berkeley residents and visitors. The Middle East disputes are complex and such one sided action by the Commission will not assist in resolving the disputes. It will only serve to create conflict amongst Berkeley residents.

Due to popular campaigns, agencies have been misused to attack Israel unjustifiably. Radical forces have used the UN Human Rights Commission to single out Israel while Iran and North Korea vote to criticize Israel. Surely, the HWCAC can recognize the absurdity of Iran or North Korea even sitting on the Commission much less casting aspersions on a country with many more human rights protections than either Iran or North Korea.

This issue has defied resolution for 60 years even though Nobel Peace prizes have been awarded to those attempting to settle the dispute. It would be irresponsible of the Commission to play into the hands of radical forces which use misrepresentations to sway public opinion. Any such action by the Commission would be highly offensive to many Berkeley residents.

Please refrain from being inappropriately pulled into complex international conflicts which has no good outcome for Berkeley.

Respectfully submitted, Andrea Cassidy

117 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Martha Larsen Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 2:53 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment

Dear Commissioners,

I am very disappointed that the resolution on Israeli divestment was defeated and that a vote was put off for at least a month when the item has been on the agenda since October, 2014. Little can be changed inn 30 days, thus there is no sensible reason for the delay.

The commission that deals with human rights, racism, children suffering is the work of the HWCAC Commission. It is appropriated that HWCAC deal with this. This is a conversation which must be had locally and nationally. Berkeley an excellent place to start the conversation.

All Berkeley residents and all Americans are impacted as our taxes are used to support the Israeli Occupation and military to the detriment of our own communities.

We expect action by the Commission.

Sincerely,

Martha Larsen

As Wind carries prayers for Earth and All Life,

may respect and love light our way.

May our hearts be filled with compassion for others

and for ourselves.

May peace increase on Earth. May it begin with me. [Tibetan prayer flag]

118 Molina, Raquel P.

From: David Spero RN Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 11:29 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: I support the Israel divestment resolution and Cheryl Davila

Esteemed Human Welfare and Community Action Commissioners

I am a San Francisco resident but a Berkeleyan at heart and frequent visitor. I am disappointed that your commission failed to pass the resolution on divesting from Israel. Many thousands of people in the Bay Area, including Jews like me want strong action taken to restrain Israel’s government, which violates human rights and Jewish values each and every day.

I am also outraged at the firing of Commissioner Cheryl Davila for proposing this resolution. That the city would fire a commissioner for acting on behalf of justice betrays everything Berkeley stands for. She should be reinstated immediately.

I believe this resolution is entirely appropriate for your commission. It’s about the health and welfare of the Palestinian people who suffer under occupation, and about community action for justice. It’s also about keeping resources that could be used to help our own people in need, instead of sending them to Israel to fund a brutal and illegal occupation.

I hope the HWCAC passes this resolution as soon as possible. It’s in the best tradition of Berkeley politics.

David Spero Jewish Voice for Peace 405 Serrano Drive Apt 11 L SF CA 94132 415-987-1401

--- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

119 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Carol Denney Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 9:15 AM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: removal of commissioner- for the packet

Dear Human Welfare and Community Action Commissioners,

I am writing to object to the removal of Cheryl Davila from the commission by her appointer, Darryl Moore. This move certainly has the appearance of an effort to stop any discussion of an Israeli divestment proposal before it even reaches the agenda. This is a disturbing message to send to any commission.

Mr. Moore is free to disagree with any proposal and share his views. He is free to vote against the proposal if it comes before him at the city council level. But to remove a commissioner for refusing to withdraw the proposal is an effort to chill free discussion of an issue most community members think is important whether they support a divestment proposal or not. It also is an insult to the years of service Ms. Davila has given to our community on many varied commission issues, which most community members know can be a time- consuming and sometimes tedious effort.

Your commission has an opportunity to send a message to any city council representative wishing to shut down community discussion on potentially controversial issues by making sure Ms. Davila's proposal gets a thorough hearing. I hope you will simply pick up where Ms. Davila left off and honor the discussion she was willing to bring forward so that our community has its best chance to have lively, informative commission meetings where we can elevate, rather than squelch, community discussion about matters of critical import. Mr. Moore has done us the favor of clarifying that this particular issue is one of them.

Sincerely,

Carol Denney 1970 San Pablo #4 Berkeley, CA 94702 510-548-1512

120 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Ellen Brotsky Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2015 8:09 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: I support the Divestment Resolution and Commissioner Davila

Dear Commission Members,

My name is Ellen Brotsky and I have been a Berkeley resident for 25 years. My children grew up her and attended Berkeley public schools. My City Council member is Laurie Capitelli.

I'm emailing to express my support for the Divestment Resolution introduced by Commissioner Cheryl Davila. I was shocked and angered to hear that Cheryl Davila was fired by City Council member Darryl Moore for introducing this resolution and refusing to withdraw it when ordered by him to do so.

Free speech is one of the most important rights we have in the United States. Regardless of one's position on divestment from companies that support the Israeli occupation, it is important to support the ability to full discuss and debate the issues surrounding divestment. Berkeley has a long tradition of supporting free speech and your Commission needs to uphold that.

As a Jewish American who supports divestment, I'm all too familiar with attempts by pro-Israeli supporters to shut down criticism, debate and full discussion of Israel's occupation of Palestine and its violations of Palestinian human rights.

Since the resolution had been on the agenda for a year, its seems like a stalling action to wait 30 days to pass it on to the City Council. The City of Berkeley deserves a full and open discussion of the issues involved.

We are all impacted by the Israeli government’s actions towards the Palestinians and the ongoing Occupation which is supported by US tax dollars. The Occupation is illegal on the basis of International law and several UN resolutions. The recent experience of the politics of the Iran Treaty exposes the complicated politics of Israel and its influence on US policy and politics.

I urge you to support Cheryl Davila and request her reinstatement, and to pass the resolution at your next meeting.

Thank you very much.

Ellen Brotsky 1959 Napa Avenue Berkeley, CA 94707

121 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Eve Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2015 4:34 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Divestment resolution

Dear Human Welfare and Community Action Commission Members,

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Eve Hershcopf

122 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 11:14 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: No divestement from Israel

We are against any divestment from Israel. I urge you to reject the proposal, and the concept. Norman and Carolynn Licht, San Carlos, CA

123 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Clyde Leland Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 5:31 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Israel/Palestine and Cheryl Davila

To the Commission:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you at your September meeting about the resolution concerning divestment from corporations involved in the unlawful occupation of Palestinian land. As I said then, I would like my community to take action on the call that has come from Palestinian civil society, asking those who believe in freedom and justice to endorse and participate in their boycott.

I write now to reaffirm that call, but also to address two other issues of concern: the proposed revisions to the resolution that was introduced, and the removal of Cheryl Davila from your Commission.

The proposed resolution, and very similar resolutions that have been approved by a number of organizations and entities respond to the call from Palestinian society. The point is to have as many individuals, organizations and government bodies as we can join in that call. Thus, while inserting language that clarifies the HWCAC's interest in this issue through "whereas . . . " clauses makes sense, language about responsible investing or other attempts to affect life in the occupied territories would place us (Berkeley) outside the circle of support that the resolution calls for.

I appreciate the motivation expressed by your chair - - to figure out the most effective response our community can give - - and I think the most effective thing we can do is to join with a worldwide movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions. To act independently and invest (as opposed to divest) responsibly is not so effective. Berkeley is not going to change the Israeli government's policies; a worldwide movement might. We should endorse that worldwide movement.

The problem here, of course, is that the City Council is reluctant to take up this issue at all, as they see it as a political liability whichever way it goes. I think that's how democracy works, and Berkeley has reinforced that by establishing the Commission structure, under which issues make their way up to the City Council. Councilman Moore stood that process on its head when he essentially said, "This issue cannot make its way to the council."

Moore's outrageous act is an affront to the concept of democracy. Equally important, it is a shot across the bow of your Commission, an undisguised threat to shut you up if you cross your particular councilperson. I hope you will consider introducing a resolution to the City Council to condemn the firing of Ms. Davila.

If Moore (or Worthington, or anyone else on the council) opposes the divestment resolution on principle (e.g., if he thinks it is an existential threat to Israel or it is motivated by anti-semitism), let them make that argument. But to pull a parliamentary stunt as Worthington tried to, or to wield a bureaucratic axe as Moore did, is not just anti-democratic, it is cowardly.

The City Council should take up this issue, but it won't unless you make them. Please do.

Thank you, Clyde Leland 1416 Milvia St.

124 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Katharine Davies Samway Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 4:18 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please support Cheryl Davila divestment resolution

Dear Members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission,

The vast majority of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories support the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), which was initiated by Palestinian Civil Society a decade ago. I understand that the commission has the right to modify resolutions. However, the issues that the commission would like a subcommittee to address are unrealistic. For example, to get the support of other commissions before your next meeting in October seems entirely unrealistic, given it would need to be placed on the agenda of other commissions . . . and the HWCAC took almost a year to seriously discuss this item. Also, I am concerned that a revised resolution will be watered down so that it is a nod to political correctness, rather than a strong and principled stand in support of Palestinians who are living under an illegal and cruel occupation. For example, one of the items that the sub-committee is asked to include is positive investment. However, positive investment is a pipe dream as Israel can and does, at will, close down businesses, arrest and imprison Palestinians, cut access to the Internet, and prevent Palestinians from moving freely, even within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

As you saw, well over 100 people attended last week’s meeting, almost all of them in favor of the BDS resolution that Ms. Davila brought to the commission–this is clear evidence of community support for the divestment resolution. Almost all of the 30 people who spoke did so in favor of the resolution.

Thank you.

Katharine Davies Samway

125 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Marc Greendorfer Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 4:18 PM To: attorney; Maio, Linda; Moore, Darryl; Anderson, Maxwell; Arreguin, Jesse L.; Capitelli, Laurie; Wengraf, Susan; Wengraf, Susan; Worthington, Kriss; Droste, Lori Cc: All Council; Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Subject: Letter to City Attorney, City Council and Human Welfare Community Action Commission on Proposal to Divest from/Boycott Israel Attachments: Letter to Berkeley regarding BDS support (00039725).PDF

Dear Berkeley City Attorney, City Council and Human Welfare Community Action Commission:

Please see the attached letter regarding the recent Berkeley proposal to divest from/boycott Israel and the risk of violation of federal laws that is associated with the city's consideration of this proposal.

Best regards,

Marc A. Greendorfer

Zachor Legal Institute www.ZachorLegal.org

View our scholarship on our SSRN Author page: http://ssrn.com/author=2133013

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126 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Barry Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 12:35 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Fwd: Your Berkeley Israel Divestment proposal

Please read my attached letter against your divestiture proposal. IMHO you are badly on the wrong side of both the facts and history on this one. Thank you. Sincerely yours, Barry Kanel

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Barry Date: September 21, 2015 at 11:23:53 AM PDT To: [email protected] Subject: Your Berkeley Israel Divestment proposal

Is incredibly misguided and sickeningly anti Semitic. It also displays a total ignorance of the present reality and historical underpinnings of the situation. I have been to Israel. It is a shining example of a modern diverse Democracy --surrounded by medieval hate, misogyny, terror and primitive chaos. That hatred, misogyny, chaos and terrorism that Berkeley by this measure apparently supports. I personally guarantee that I will boycott Berkeley--as will everyone I can persuade also to do so. Rather than being its usual inappropriately busy body, self congratulatory and self appointed "forward thinking and progressive" entity, this ridiculous proposal only brings more shame and ridicule on your city and will in fact ultimately seriously damage your workers and local businesses. Berkeley really needs to rethink its priorities. Huge fail. Thank you for your attention. Very truly yours, Barry Kanel

Sent from my iPhone

130 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Allen King Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 12:30 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: RE Opposed to DIVESTMENT FROM THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION Resolution

Dear Commission Member/s

I am a resident of Berkeley for over 28 years and strongly oppose this resolution. It is not within the mandate of your commission to take a stand on this matter. And, even if it was, it is one sided and based upon selective propaganda and facts, not the totality of the situation. I urge you to vote NO.

Sincerely, Allen King Berkeley resident and taxpayer.

131 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 12:22 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Israel Divestment Measure

Sent previously to Commissioner Wong.

Dear Secretary Wong:

I am a long-time Berkeley resident (30 plus years) and am American born. I am a physician, educator, and I'm very active in local organizations, volunteer and otherwise. I am Jewish, my wife isn't, and my three children were raised Jewish here in Berkeley. All three of them are adult now and are productive members of our community. All three of them have done Birthright, the program that sends young Jewish people to Israel. I have family in Jerusalem, Israel that on my mother's side goes back at least 8 generations according to my genealogy tree.

I have read in its entirety the Israel Divestment Resolution now being deliberated by the City Council. To say the least I am stunned, and I am profoundly saddened. Do I really have to relive the stories I grew up with in New York City told by Holocaust survivors many of whom were my own relatives? This morning I received an email from a friend of one of my colleagues at UC that reflects how I and so many other Berkeley residents feel about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the double standard that is being increasingly applied to the democratic multicultural (20% of Israelis are Palestinian Muslims and Christians) sovereign state of Israel, but which is not being applied to other nations where hundreds of thousands of innocents are being slaughtered.

Please pass this email on to your committee so that all of you can understand what is really happening in that part of the world. And please understand that the BDS movement simply has it wrong, egregiously wrong.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards,

Barry Gustin, MD, MPH Berkeley, CA

From an esteemed non-Jewish professor at UC Berkeley:

"Knowing the obvious, that I am an Indian and not a chief, I would think that their are several main points the city council must consider in evaluating the BDS resolution currently before them. One is the closeness in values between those of the State of Israel and the Berkeley City Council versus the opposite values proposed by those in BDS who would see Israel destroyed. BDS has as its major goal the wish to destroy Israel, a majority Jewish Democratic sovereign state since 1948, and replace it with a Muslim entity that accepts neither Jews nor Christians. A second important consideration is that no one has applied economic sanctions in similar situations to any other country, hence there is an unfair double standard. South Africa endured economic sanctions because they were practicing apartheid. Israel is a pluralistic democracy with equal rights for all with Muslims serving in their Parliament and on their Superior Court. Russia is enduring economic sanctions because it invaded another country that had not attacked it, first. Those that compare Israel with those two examples are simply trying to unfairly destroy Israel.

132 Settlements in the West Bank have been looked upon in the business community, inside and outside Israel, as a means of joining the Israeli population and the Palestinian population by creating new jobs in the occupied territories. Many Palestinians in the West Bank are employed by West Bank Israeli companies, and that has been the case for decades despite beliefs to the contrary. If the war is ever going to end, the focus must change by having the two populations continuing to work together in joint ventures. Abbas has strongly stated that no Jews will live in the future new state of Palestine. This is anathema to peace. Once the occupied territories have new industry based upon cooperation with Israel, the real prospects for peace can be greatly improved. The idea that a new state of Palestine would gain sovereignty absent Jewish businesses and the IDF is not realistic until the Palestinians have accepted Israel’s right to exist, which to date they have not.

A perpetual war as presently exists between Gaza and Israel is obviously not conducive to peace. Similarly, absent peace and Palestinian recognition of the state of Israel, it is highly likely that like Gaza, if Israel unilaterally ceased its security presence in the West Bank, missiles , as in Gaza, would again begin to fly. But this time, it would result in an outright war that would result in the death of tens or hundreds of thousands Palestinians. Why? Because Israel's main population centers and its airport are just within a few miles of the border. This would be the war to end all wars, and the human toll would be unimaginable. BDS policies and activities foster this eventual outcome.

And remember that the Palestinian charter of both Fatah and Hamas call for the destruction of Israel. That is not a foundation for peace but a call for the genocidal murder of what amounts to be about 50% of world Jewry, about 7 million Jews. Those Gaza citizens that openly support peace with Israel are regarded as insurgents and are summarily executed without a fair trial. Would the Berkeley City Council really want a Gaza like state to replace that of Israel? This would be an unthinkable nightmare. What if such a state was placed in the center of the United States? Would any member of the Berkeley City Council look upon this as anything but a nightmare? Yet this is precisely the goals of those in BDS who would want the Berkeley City Council to pass this resolution.

Israel is merely attempting to survive in a hostile environment. It is surrounded by enemies that want to end the Jewish state so that only Muslim states exist in the Middle East. If civilization is going to flourish, we need more Israel’s and less states bent on the destruction of their neighbors. Every act that Israel does is for its own survival. If Israel’s neighbors accepted Israel’s right to exist and ended all hostilities, none of the acts complained of in this piece of suggested legislation would need to exist. This last point is the key to this entire discussion. Any people who are hell bent on destroying another group of people because they cannot tolerate the other’s religion or ethnicity will suffer reactions from the innocent country designed to ensure their safety and security. That is only natural. Unless the Berkeley Council joins the hostile neighbor’s desire for the destruction of Israel, then this proposed legislation should be defeated. If the Berkeley City Council believes that Israel does not have the right to exist and wants to turn Israel over to the repressive society that their neighbors desire, ask if the City Council would accept the People of Gaza along with their police state as a replacement for Berkeley City government? If not, then why would the Berkeley City Council subject the people of Berkeley to such a one-sided unfair resolution supporting the end of the only democratic free state in the Middle East, a state that against all odds has managed to survive until now despite the enmity and hostilities of the countries surrounding it. In effect, how could the Berkeley City Council accept the murder of all Israelis by agreeing with a resolution that has as its ultimate goal not just the end of the so-called "occupation" (which in itself is historically disputable), but the murder of Israelis and the destruction of a sovereign nation."

133 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Robert Collins Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 11:25 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Subject: Firing of Cheryl Davila

Have you no shame? This move, so obviously pandering to the Zionist lobby, is unjust and lacks merit in every way.

Darryl Moore should begin to learn about the criminal treatment meted out daily to Palestinians by a bellicose, bullying, arrogant, and peace-fearing Israel rather than cravenly toadying to Israeli interests in such a knee-jerk manner.

Darryl Moore is on the wrong side of history, and in this, the information age, people around the world now know how little he values integrity and justice.

Robert Collins Brighton, Ontario Canada

135 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Marvin Lewis Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 10:02 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Vote to Boycott Israeli Products

To whom it may concern,

Police brutality claims in the major cities of the United States have been huge. While investigation shows that only 2000 of the claims in 2006- 2007 of the over 200,000 claims were valid, that is still a scary statistic. The number has increased dramatically until recently when cameras on policemen have dramatically reduced police brutality. (Matthew Hickman (2006-06-26). "Citizen Complaints about Police Use of Force". Bureau of Justice Statistics. Archived from the original on 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2007-08-27.)

The American Civil liberties Union has written numerous papers regarding this alarming situation. (https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices/police-excessive-force) Each year, the ACLU warns us of these serious police brutality statistics. Even the Berkeley Police Department and the Oakland Police Department have been investigated for such police brutality. There has been never been a call to form economic sanctions against the United States of America or any American city due to police brutality. Indeed, such a demand would be considered absurd. Yet where is the outrage when Israel is singled out for such a clamor for economic sanctions? Whereas the demand for cameras has been the rallying cry to prevent abuse in America, only economic sanctions, which would cripple Israel, are recommended for it. Do you suppose there is a dual standard involved?

In 1971, a Stanford psychology professor, Phillip Zimbardo, ran a psychological experiment regarding the interaction between prison guards and prisoners. He selected psychologically tested subjects who tested relatively normal before running an experiment by which the subjects were divided among those who acted as prison guards and other as prisoners. The test was to run 14 days but had to be stopped after 6 days because the guards started demonstrating sadistic brutality, and whereas the prisoners started becoming depressed from the abuse. (prisonexp.org).

This psychological experiment is not being reported to excuse police brutality or suggest that we fail to punish the offenders but rather to demonstrate that this is not always an easy phenomena to address and fix. (Please Google Phillip Zimbardo Stanford Prison experiment for further information.) It is well known that Israel is working hard to address this issue. Ex-members of the Shin Bet, Israel’s equivalent of the FBI, have publically complained to the military to work harder to address this issue. In democracies, like Israel, issues like military soldier’s brutality against Palestinians are exposed by transparent discussions in the open public arena! Israeli President, Bibi Netanyahu, has personally expressed concern over this issue and has commanded his officers to be even more diligent in minimizing this abuse. The U.S. State Department, a credible source, performed an investigation of Israeli forces abuse in the occupied territories and found no systematic abuse based upon political encouragement. (http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41723.htm) It found that Israel was actively attempting to prevent IDF abuse of Palestinians.

On the other hand, the Palestinians have actively sought the destruction of the State of Israel. In the written charter of the People of Gaza, this goal is publically stated. Gaza and the PSA, which control the West Bank of the occupied territories, refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist! Just last year, missiles flew into Israel, killing innocent Israeli civilians while numerous tunnels were dug with the written reason as to capture Israeli women, men and children so as to force Israel to capitulate and permit Gaza to rule Israel. Gaza has specifically placed its own children around rocket launching sites to deter Israel from destroying them. This vote to place economic sanctions against Israel is yet another strategy to end the Middle East’s only democracy and replace it with a Muslim run government which most certainly would not have the civil liberty and democratic protections of Israel. No one has suggested to the Berkeley Council or Committee to place any economic sanctions or boycott of goods produced on The People of Gaza. Syria has abused its 136 citizens by gassing and murdering them and causing millions of refugees. Saudi Arabia has refused to allow any persons who have excessive Jewish blood to enter their country. Has either the Berkeley Council or Committee been requested to prevent Saudi Arabia from selling its oil to Berkeley? Members of the Council and Committee would scoff at such a demand to boycott Saudi Arabian oil. Saudi Arabia is an apartheid state whereas Israel is not. Any reasonable analysis of this vote would see the transparent goal of unfairly and unwisely destroying Israel.

One of the complaints against Israel is that they are occupying the West Bank and this prevents the Palestinian state from effectively asserting statehood. It also is alleged that it prevents the two-state solution which Israel has claimed it supports. Eleven years ago, Gaza suggested that the only way that peace might ever exist is if the IDF and all settlers leave Gaza. Ten years ago, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon commanded the IDF and all Israeli settlements to leave Gaza. Prime Minister Sharon argued that such a good will move would allow significant peace talks. Instead, within days of Sharon’s peace move, Hamas missile sites were placed near the Israeli border and missiles were rained on Israel, killing innocent men, women and children. (Hamas rules Gaza.) Although the leaders of Gaza suggested that this withdrawal would help bring peace before Sharon removed the IDF and settlers, it was only a ploy to spill more Israeli blood. A few years ago, to the fear and horror of Israel, The People of Gaza and the PLA of the West Bank joined and said they were one. They both now call for the destruction of Israel. Removing the settlements and IDF from the West Bank would guarantee that rockets would fall immediately into Israel from the West Bank. The Ben Gurion Airport is only nine miles from the West Bank border. The destruction of the airport would remove all commercial air traffic from or to Israel. Since the airport is only nine miles from the border, using the Iron Dome defense system to protect the airport would be extremely difficult and the airport would fall. If you wish to condemn those that hurt the two state system from developing, thank the neighbors of Israel who have made a two state solution, without Israeli recognition, impossible. To use the occupation of the West Bank as a reason, therefore, to boycott Israeli goods is a mendacious claim.

Part of the legislation to boycott Israeli goods is to end the occupation of the IDF and remove all Israelis from the West Bank. The government has claimed that there will soon be a day where no Jews will live in the West Bank. No Jew dares live now in Gaza or have his or her throat slit, immediately. It is the open desire of the People of Gaza to remove the heads of all Israelis. 90% of the People of Gaza have expressed in a recent PEW poll that the death of all Israelis is a noble goal. Imagine if the Council of Berkeley faced rockets from a neighboring country and threats of murdering you, your family, friends and fellow countrymen for merely existing?

I personally have Muslim friends. While I am now a retired attorney, my file clerk in my law office was a Muslim who was able to take off all of the Muslim holidays along with regular ones. My secretary and I ate lunch at her home with husband and family and we are still good friends. There have been numerous meals shared between us. Most American Muslims are patriotic and law abiding and do not follow the hateful teachings that exist in the Middle East. Those, however, that seek the goals of their brethren in the Middle East are supportive of the destruction of Israel and are all so happy to have American cities, like Berkeley, support their nefarious goal. While there are Muslim governments throughout the Middle East that exhibit despicable conduct, they seek no restraint on these Middle East dictatorships. The proponents of the vote to boycott Israel’s goods claim only Israel should be singled out for because Israel requires a Jewish President and Prime Minister rule Israel. Lest you forget, there are Muslim legislators in the Knesset, a Muslim Justice on the Israeli Supreme Court, numerous Muslim mayors throughout Israel, and Muslim military officers in the IDF, yet they allegedly all count for nothing!! 25% of Israeli citizens are Muslim. They run successful businesses and are respected citizens of their country. Israel is inappropriately described as apartheid! Not only are no Jews in any official capacity as government officials in Saudi Arabia, there are no Jews at all allowed in their country! This is equally true in many Muslim run countries in the Middle East! To repeat, where is the demand to boycott their goods? Many Middle Eastern Muslims hate real democracy and this partly explains their wish to single out Israel for destruction.

The settlements in the occupied territories are the only way peace will ever eventually come in the Middle East. Without Israeli settlements and Israeli businesses hiring Palestinians, cooperation and partnering could never occur. It is only when Israel and Jews appears too valuable to dismiss and destroy, will peace come. A dream, for example, is a West Bank where Palestinians are working on software engineering for Israeli computer products. Eventually, the Palestinians will become managers of the companies and still yet, will have their own companies working

137 with Israeli companies. Peace will be the only way when if this plan occurs. The Palestinians have not advocated any avenues for peace. So far, all result in the destruction of Israel. The creation of a Palestinian state that neither recognizes Israel nor allows the IDF to patrol will soon devote all its energy to kill Jews and destroy Israel. The City of Berkeley is asked to help them destroy Israel. Israel, like all nation states in the world, is not perfect. A democracy exposes its own flaws through debate. There is no cause for the City of Berkeley to join in the attempt to destroy Israel.

While Israel and America share common values of civil liberties, freedom, democracy, capitalism and the rights of the minorities, most Middle Eastern Muslims have a desire to remove all non-Muslims from the sacred ground where Mohammed walked. It is sacrilegious for Israel to exist in their minds. The legislation that boycotts Israeli goods is no more than another strategy to further that end. Democracy and civil liberties existing in Israel is a threat to all totalitarian Muslim Middle Eastern countries.

If you believe that Israel does not have a right to exist and you want to replace the Israeli government with the harsh totalitarian governments which are typical of the Middle East, ask yourself if you would want you and your family to live in such a society? Most likely, the People of Gaza would take over Israel if it were destroyed. No independent court system, no accountable police, no democracy, no civil liberties, and torture and fear would be the daily diet. The Arabs of Israel could leave Israel but chose to stay rather than join one of these repressive neighbors. Would you want to be ruled by Syrian officials, Egyptian, Kuwait or those of Saudi Arabia, etc.?

Instead of trying to destroy Israel by preventing it from selling its products, think of what Israel has done for you and the world. In the field of science, medicine, computer engineering and software, Israel has contributed a huge disproportionate amount. Since the Nobel was first awarded in 1901 approximately 193 of the 855 honorees have been Jewish (22%) while Jews make up less than 0.2% of the global population. This disproportionate degree of scientific achievement is based upon the Jewish openness to ideas and creativity. Anti-Semitism is pernicious to the entire planet. Indeed, the destruction of any group of people is a terrible thing and those that plan such an ending should be thwarted. The cry of, “Never again!!” should be considered before you vote on this pernicious legislation to boycott Israeli goods.

There are those that falsely believe that if Israel is destroyed and all give in to the Muslim desire in the Middle East to make the Middle East only safe for Muslims, then I assure you that next would be the desire for the extremists to forward the Muslim religion to spread and conquer the rest of the world. While this is not the goal of the vast majority of Muslims in America nor in the Far East who are peaceful and respectful, it is the goal of the fundamentalist Muslims. There is a strain in the Middle East that is extremely dangerous and the vote to boycott Israeli goods comes directly from this strain. Be suspicious of the goals of anyone who wishes to destroy Israel’s right to exist. Voting to boycott Israeli goods is just such a move. I would go further and extoll those moderate Muslims who foolishly support the boycott of Israeli goods to understand that they have inadvertently joined with the ideals of the extremists from the Middle East. Israel will remain. In time, peace will come. It will be produced by those that try to work with Israel instead of those who try to destroy it.

Sincerely,

Marvin K. Lewis

138 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Karen Platt Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2015 5:06 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: from Jewish woman re: Davila's resolution

Dear HWCAC: I write to you as a very concerned Jewish resident who attended your 9/16 meeting. I was so disappointed that the resolution was defeated because I feel so strongly that all of us who pay taxes to our government are complicit in one of the worst and longest-standing illegal occupations and violation of human rights ever. Israel has subjugated Palestinians for more than 60 years and apparently none of the governments of the countries involved, including ours, have the will to end this. We the people with consciences must act. As a Jew, I feel it's especially important for me to stand up and be counted. Israel most certainly does NOT speak for me! I want you to take action and I hope you will do everything within your power to make sure that HWCAC reconsiders the resolution soon.

Sincerely, Karen Platt

139 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Marge Sussman Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2015 3:03 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Resolution on divestment from Israeli occupation

To the HWCAC Commissioners:

I attended your Commission meeting last Wednesday in order to voice my support for the resolution brought forward by Cheryl Davila in favor of divestment by the City of Berkeley in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, which has been going on since 1967 in violation of international law.

In addition, all Berkeleyans (and all Americans) are impacted by the Israeli occupation since our tax dollars are used to support it with military and other aid. This money could be utilized to solve some pressing problems causing so much suffering among the most vulnerable people in Berkeley.

While you may believe you need more time and support from other Commissions, there is no way your 30 day deadline will allow for other Commissions to take up the issue.

I'm deeply disappointed in your decision and hope that you will vote in favor of the resolution at your next meeting.

Marge Sussman 1621 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94703 140 510-486-1014 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Dave Evans Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2015 10:25 AM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Retribution for excercising rights in the interests of US

To all involved in this travesty:

California city commissioner fired for proposing Israel divestment

California city commissioner fired for proposing Israel divestment Cheryl Davila had been warned her resolution would cause “turmoil” in famously liberal Berkeley.

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It is because of continuing AIPAC-demanded support for Israel that the United States is getting attacked:

'God knows it did not cross our minds to attack the towers'

'God knows it did not cross our

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet. image minds to attack the towe... Excerpts from a speech by Osama bin Laden addressing the American people in a videotape.

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It is because of AIPAC-demanded US wars for the Oded Yinon Plan, and the US Zionist-neocon's complementary "A Clean Break" plan, that the US Congress has bankrupted the United States on multi-trillion- dollar never-ending wars for Israel.

"Greater Israel": The Zionist Plan for the Middle East

"Greater Israel": The Zionist Plan

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet. image for the Middle East This article was first published on Global Research April 29, 2013. Global Research Editor's Note The following document pertaining to the formation of "Greater Isr...

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142 A New Strategy for Securing the Realm

A New Strategy for Securing the Realm

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet. image . A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm

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While the firing of Cheryl Davila is a seemingly small issue in the larger context of War and Peace, her firing is indicative of the core of the biggest problem the US faces: The extreme influence of Zionists within our government bodies from the grassroots level, all the way to our Executive:

Billionaires Adelson and Saban, at odds in campaigns, unite on Israel and hit Obama

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet. Billionaires Adelson and Saban, image at odds in campaigns, un... Sheldon Adelson and Haim Saban, who will fund much of the next presidential campaign, share a stage.

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Ms. Davila and supporters of her proposal to divest from Israel because of Israel's murderous and illegal behavior are correct. Perhaps you should all be schooled by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and other more enlightened and less fearful of Jewish lobby groups, and do what is right.

Illinois governor to sign anti-BDS bill

This kind of war crime, an act of collective punishment enacted on people trapped behind walls, can only lead to more retribution and isolation of America by an international community that is rapidly distancing itself for the crimes of Israel.

Gaza's dead children - Google Search

Illinois governor to sign anti-BDS Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet. image bill Bill to divest state pensions from companies t hat support calls to boycott Israel would be fir st of its kind

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143 Gaza's dead children - Google Sea

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet. image rch theburningplatform.com 21 350 × 307 - 30 k - jpg bookwormroom.com Dead in children in Gaza At a 960 × 695 - 353k - jpg pipr.co.uk Gaza children. 420 × 280 - 23k -&nbs...

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Sincerely,

David R. Evans Former Sgt. USMC Former Veterans For Peace member, Palestine and Middle East Working Group

144 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Tex Shelters Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2015 10:15 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Firing of Cheryl Davila

Commission Members:

Firing someone you disagree with instead of having an honest discourse over the issue of Israel and Palestine shows how morally bankrupt the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission has become. What use is the Commission if you won't discuss one of the biggest human rights issues of our times?

Yours, Joe Callahan

145 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Joanne Donsky Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 11:39 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please vote NO on the anti-Israel resolution for divestment

Dear Commissioners,

I urge you to vote NO on the anti-Israel divestment resolution.

This is a complex and divisive issue which is beyond the scope of he work of the Berkeley Human Welfare Commission.

If you were to vote on it, it would be incumbent on you to hear from people with different points of view on this issue.

Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. Why is the Commission focusing on only one country— Israel—while so many others around the world have much more terrible human rights records? Israel aspires to democratic values. The fact is that Israel is a very tiny country, the size of New Jersey, that is surrounded by hostile nations on all sides. Israel has a right to protect itself and its citizens.

Please vote No on the divestment resolution.

Sincerely,

Joanne Donsky

146 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Shifra Pride Raffel Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 10:31 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please drop Israel divestment resolution

To the Berkeley human welfare commission, As a Berkeley resident who is also an Israeli, I would like to register my extreme displeasure that you would be considering a municipal resolution to divest from Israel.

The human welfare commission is surely chartered to look after the well-being of Berkeley citizens. I can tell you that my experience in the past few years in Berkeley has been that I feel unsafe as a Jew and as an Israeli given the level of public vitriol around my birth country's right to exist. I beg you to look after my well-being as a Berkeley resident and stop considering a resolution that serves no purpose except to increase the level of demonization of my country and of me.

Thank you, Shifra Pride Raffel, Berkeley resident since 2001 [email protected]

147 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Zimmerman Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 6:53 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC); Wong, Wingyin Subject: Divestment from Israel vote "NO"

Dear Secretary Wong:

As a business owner with clients throughout the Bay area I oppose the one-sided oppressive divestment from Israel resolution that is up for consideration.

We believe this resolution will only hurt innocent workers and their families most of whom have no political ax to grind whatsoever and are simply workers and business owners trying to support their families.

There are better, smarter and more thoughtful approaches that can be taken including constructive dialogue.

Divestment and boycotts are inappropriate and harm many innocent people who simply want to show up each day and do their job.

I therefore urge you to vote "NO" concerning this profoundly unbalanced resolution.

I will be urging all my business, legal and social contacts in Berkeley to pay particularly close attention to this anti- business, and anti-worker resolution.

Ian Zimmerman, Esq. www.goodcases.com

Human Welfare & Community Action Commission

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Mission: Advises the Council concerning social welfare needs. Creates citizen awareness and encourages improved standards. Assists in the administration of the Community Action Program. Total membership is fifteen. Four of the nine council appointees shall be members or officials of business, industry, labor, religious, welfare, education, or major groups and interests in the community, as required by Government Code Section 12736(e); 12750(a)(2), and 12751. Six members shall be representatives of the poor, elected two from each of three districts established by the Council. Elected members shall be elected for terms of four years, serving no more than eight years total. Appointed members shall be appointed for one-year terms which expire December 1st of each year.

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148 communication to a City board, commission or committee, will become part of the public record. If you do not want your e-mail address or any other contact information to be made public, you may deliver communications via U.S. Postal Service or in person to the secretary of the relevant board, commission or committee. If you do not want your contact information included in the public record, please do not include that information in your communication. Please contact the secretary to the relevant board, commission or committee for further information.

The Secretary of the commission is responsible for relaying all communications from the public to the members of the commission. The Secretary’s contact information is listed below.

Secretary: Mailing Address: Wing Wong Human Welfare & Community Action Commission Health, Housing & Community Services Department Wing Wong, Secretary (510) 981-5428 City of Berkeley, HHCS E-mail: [email protected] 2180 Milvia Street, 2nd Floor Commission E-mail: [email protected] Berkeley, CA 94704

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149 Subcommittee Agendas:

150 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 5:26 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please say NO to the hateful anti-Israel divestment resolution!! Thank you.

151 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Stephen Fisher Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 2:40 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Re: Vote No on Divestment from Israel

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to express my dismay at the upcoming scheduled vote about possible divestment from the State of Israel. Berkeley, and indeed the Bay Area as a whole, has far more immediate concerns than a conflict half a world away.

The Human Welfare Commission was designed to affect local human rights issues. While I recognize that the Arab-Israeli conflict is emotionally important to many people it in no way affects Berkeley in any legal, economic, or other tangible way.

Furthermore, the Commission has only heard from a relatively small number of groups and individuals who directly support sanctions and divestment from Israel. I urge the Commission to please hear the other side of the conflict before an unnecessary and divisive vote can occur.

There are many in the Jewish community and beyond who feel that a singular focus on Israel, in spite of the many crises and conflicts worldwide, is an attack on Jews themselves. In light of the many crimes committed by both sides in the conflict, I must agree.

Human rights should be applied universally. If the Human Welfare Commission is to retain an objective perspective, it must apply the language of human rights to both Palestinians and Israelis. Otherwise, the Commission will only promote partisanship and dim the chances of a lasting peace.

Sincerely, Stephen Fisher Resident, Menlo Park

152 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Martin Griss Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 2:28 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Say No to the hateful anti-Israel divestment resolution

How about focusing on real problems in North Korea, Saudia Arabia, Malaysia,..

Stop picking on Israel, trying survive amidst a horde of crazies.

-- Martin Griss, PhD ---- KJ6MIN Principal Research Scientist Director, Disaster Management Initiative Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley http://sv.cmu.edu, ofc=650-335-2805, cell=650-269-4842

153 Molina, Raquel P.

From: DrMike Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 12:49 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: All Council Subject: Human Welfare Commission and BDS

To the members of the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission:

Your mandate is to advise on the social welfare needs of Berkeley residents, not to advise the City Council on foreign policy decisions. A resolution by proponents of the anti-Israel BDS movement is not aimed at helping Berkeley residents, but rather at getting the City of Berkeley to sign on to their agenda. That agenda is utterly and completely opposed to peace between a Jewish state of Israel and a future Arab state of Palestine-- just ask groups such as "Jewish Voice for Peace" (a fringe movement that in no way represents the Jewish community) whether they support peace based on two states for two peoples. Their "river-to- the-sea" agenda is not only anti-peace, it's frankly anti-Semitic, according to the US State Department's definition of anti-Semitism:

What is Anti-Semitism Relative to Israel?

EXAMPLES of the ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel, taking into account the overall context could include:

DEMONIZE ISRAEL:

• Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism to characterize Israel or Israelis • Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis • Blaming Israel for all inter-religious or political tensions

DOUBLE STANDARD FOR ISRAEL:

• Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation • Multilateral organizations focusing on Israel only for peace or human rights investigations

DELEGITIMIZE ISRAEL:

• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and denying Israel the right to exist (http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/fs/2010/122352.htm)

Don't allow these activists to hijack the work of your commission.

Sincerely,

Michael Harris

154 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Julia Lutch Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 12:28 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please - Vote NO!!

The anti-Israel divestment resolution is post-modern, re-packaged anti-Semitism. Berkeley has plenty of its own, local problems that urgently need attention. Berkeley definitely is not in need of a foreign policy.

Thank you,

Julia

155 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Sheree Roth Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 11:27 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Say No to the hateful anti-Israel divestment resolution!!!

Say No to the hateful anti-Israel divestment resolution!!! The Israel-Arab conflict is about 56 Muslim countries insisting that a 57th Muslim-22nd Arab country, to be called Palestine, replace the world's ONLY Jewish country, Israel - which is the size of New Jersey.

Sheree Roth Palo Alto, CA

"The Jews point with pride to the fact that over 500,000 Arabs in the 12 years between 1932 and 1944, came into Palestine to take advantage of living conditions existing in no other Arab state. This is the only country in the Near and Middle East where an Arab middle class is in existence."

Robert Kennedy, June 3, 1948 http://robertkennedyandisrael.blogspot.com/

156 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Judy maller Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 11:27 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please do not support a divestment from Israel Resolution

It will promote division in the community when what is needed is to find ways to come together. My heartfelt thanks for hearing my request, Judy Maller

Sent from my iPad

157 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 11:24 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: "Disvestment" is a a distraction from racism

Dear Human Welfare Commission:

As Martin Luther King famously said, "When people say they are against Zionism, they are really saying they hate Jews."

There is no Arab nation where a Lesbian or Gay man is safe from official government sanctioned oppression. Even the Palestinian Authority provides the death penalty for Lesbians and Gay men.

Saudi Arabia continues to practice African slavery. More than 2 million indigenous Assyrian and Yazidi Iraqis and Syrians have been raped, killed, or exiled in the last two years, at the calls of religious and government leaders.

And the folks who promote "divestment" from Israel have not uttered a peep about these true atrocities occurring just a few miles from Israel's borders. That's because these "divesters" don't want peace or justice. As Martin Luther King said, they want to encourage hatred of Jews.

If you vote for the resolution, you will be an accomplice to hatred.

Sincerely,

Seth Watkins

158 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Wong, Wingyin Sent: Friday, September 18, 2015 8:41 AM To: 'Marc Estrin'; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: Lee, Kristen S.; Molina, Raquel P. Subject: RE: city divestment resolution

Mr. Estrin, You can access to the draft report by clicking here. Please note that this report is still in draft status and our commission will modify it. I can share with you the final report when it goes to council.

Wing Wong City of Berkeley Department of Health, Housing & Community Services Phone: (510) 981-5428 Fax: (510) 981-5450 [email protected]

From: Marc Estrin [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, September 18, 2015 6:15 AM To: Wong, Wingyin ; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: city divestment resolution

Friends,

Can you send me the text of Berkeley’s divestment from Israel resolution which recently resulted in the firing of Cheryl Davila? I want to see if we can get such a resolution passed in our eastern “people’s republic” of Burlington, Vermont.

Thanks for your help;

Marc Estrin

Novels: And Kings Shall Be Thy Nursing Fathers The Prison Notebooks of Alan Krieger (Terrorist) When the Gods Come Home to Roost Tsim-tsum The Good Doctor Guillotin The Annotated Nose Skulk The Lamentations of Julius Marantz Golem Song The Education of Arnold Hitler Insect Dreams, the Half Life of Gregor Samsa 159 Memoir: Rehearsing With Gods: Photographs and Essays on the Bread & Puppet Theater (with Ron Simon, photographer)

Website: http://marcestrin.com

160 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Susan Sholin Sent: Friday, September 18, 2015 7:35 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Berkeley proposal/resolution on Divestment from Israel

Dear Mayor and City Council Members:

Please focus the Commission’s work on the health, welfare and well being of the citizens of Berkeley and avoid involvement in foreign affairs that are beyond the Commission’s scope. In particular:

1. I ask that the Commissioners vote no on this resolution.

2. This resolution has nothing to do with the mission and function of the commission, which is to help identify, create awareness of and encourage improved standards of welfare of the citizens of Berkeley.

3. It is beyond the scope of the Commission and City Council to take positions on complex international relations and foreign policy.

4. The Commission has not performed due diligence or followed its own charter for recommendations.· The mainstream Jewish and Israeli communities have not been consulted on a matter that directly affects them as many have friends and families in Israel. The Commission has only heard from individuals and organizations that support divestment from Israel, who do not represent the views of the vast majority of the Jewish community.

5. Why is the Commission focusing their attention, and parts of multiple meetings, on only one country—Israel—despite the many ongoing human rights concerns around the world?

6. It creates divisiveness in the City which is unnecessary and counterproductive to building the type of City we all want to live in.

Thank you.

Susan Sholin

161 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Marc Estrin Sent: Friday, September 18, 2015 6:15 AM To: Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: city divestment resolution

Friends,

Thanks for your help;

Marc Estrin

Memoir: Rehearsing With Gods: Photographs and Essays on the Bread & Puppet Theater (with Ron Simon, photographer)

Website: http://marcestrin.com

162 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Joseph Schechla Sent: Friday, September 18, 2015 5:25 AM To: City Clerk; Wong, Wingyin; Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Cc: [email protected] Subject: Cheryl Davila Attachments: ETOs-LGs.pdf

Dear friends in Berkeley:

Human Welfare and Community Action Commissioner Cheryl Davila did not risk causing turmoil with the Israel- divestment resolution. She is only applying a self-executing obligation for local governments/authorities under international law. Darryl Moore’s name will go down in history as an accomplice in crime.

ّقCoordinator ● وزف Joseph Schechla Housing and Land Rights Network @ Habitat International Coalition وق ارض وان @ ا ف ادو ول / / Cairo/Geneva/New Delhi Telefax: +20 (0)2 3748–6379 ● Mobiles: +20 (0)122 347–5203; +41 (0)79 503–1485 Web: www.hlrn.org and www.hic-mena.org

ن أل ء اول ق د ن وق ا ن Building our Habitat as a Human Right Counstruir o nosso Habitat como um Direito Humano Construire notre Habitat en tant que Droit Humain Construir nuestro Hábitat como Derecho Humano

Read Habitat III Basics

HIC @ Habitat III

Join us on Linkedin Follow HIC on Twitter Subscribe to HIC News Follow HIC on Facebook Apply for HIC membership See how you can contribute أ وال ارض/ Read Land Times Follow HIC Members on Twitter Log-in to your HIC Member Space Download The Land and Its People

163 Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations of Local Government

Joseph Schechla, Housing and Land Rights Network – Habitat International Coalition

After four years of deliberation, study and documentation of cases, a global collective of legal scholars, UN experts and civil society representatives adopted the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Field of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2011. Applying the legal theory of human rights, extraterritorial obligations (ETOs) of states are defined as “Obligations relating to the acts and omissions of a state, within or beyond its territory, that have effects on the enjoyment of human rights outside of that state’s territory.”1

The Maastricht document draws out principles of international law that establish obligations of a global character, as set out in the Charter of the United Nations and human rights instruments. Those standards of modern statecraft require states “to take action, separately, and jointly through international cooperation, to realize human rights universally.”2 As integral institutions of the state, local spheres of government are likewise obliged.

The Sovereign and Integral State For our purposes, a state is the entity that embodies both the self-determination and sovereignty of its constituent peoples. In the international system, the state asserts and exercises sovereignty and its related rights vis-à-vis other states.

Sovereignty is confined to the recognized territory of the state.3 Although its meanings have varied across history, sovereignty essentially connotes supreme authority within a territory.4 As the subject of sovereignty, the state is comprised of its (1) territory (land, territorial seas and water bodies, and corresponding natural resources), (2) people(s) and (3) institutions. Within their territory, states exercise their sovereignty domestically through the execution of obligations to citizens as defined by law, including treaties and general principles of international law, state constitutions and corresponding legislation. These norms also form an integrated system within which states are obliged to harmonize their laws and practices. As provided in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a state party “may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty.”5

International law recognizes states as integrated systems. As far as the applicability of treaty obligations is concerned, the legal norms that apply to a state consequently apply to its constituent parts within its jurisdiction and territory of effective control.6 Explicitly, this principle prevails whether or not a state is organized within a unitary or federated system. Notably, for example, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates that: “The provisions of the present Covenant shall extend to all parts of federal States without any limitations or exceptions.”7

1 Likewise, general principles of international law also apply to states in their integrity. The International Law Commission has confirmed that the conduct of any State organ shall be considered an act of that State under international law, whether the organ exercises legislative, executive, judicial or any other functions, whatever position it holds in the organization of the State, and whatever its character as an organ of the central government or of a territorial unit of the State.8

From the perspective of international law, whether unitary or federated, the integral state institutions operate within a common framework of the state’s rights (vis-à-vis other states) and domestic obligations. All spheres of government fall within this rubric, including subnational authorities. Where necessary to resolve any contradictions, the classic hierarchy of law prevails in which human rights and other forms of jus cogens are paramount and constantly applicable.9

Subnational (regional and/or local) authorities, including local government, their constituent bodies and personnel are likewise bonded and bound by international law, including general principles and human rights treaties, in their public functions and extensions. Interpreting the human right to public participation, the Human Rights Committee sums up the pervasive nature of human rights obligations in a modern state: The conduct of public affairs…is a broad concept which relates to the exercise of political power, in particular the exercise of legislative, executive and administrative powers. It covers all aspects of public administration, and the formulation and implementation of policy at international, national, regional and local levels. The allocation of powers and the means by which individual citizens exercise the right…should be established by the constitution and other laws.10

The nature of human rights treaty obligations are binding on “every State Party as a whole,” explains the UN Human Rights Committee further: All branches of government (executive, legislative and judicial), and other public or governmental authorities, at whatever level - national, regional or local - are in a position to engage the responsibility of the State Party. The executive branch that usually represents the State Party internationally…may not point to…another branch of government as a means of seeking to relieve the State Party from responsibility for an action incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant.11

All spheres of government, thus, have common human rights obligations, but differentiated roles. Local governments and local authorities (see distinction below) have a greater potential role in the delivery of services and maintaining the local machinery necessary to respect, protect and fulfill the bundle of human rights. Central government institutions, in particular ministries, undertake the principle role in reporting on the implementation of treaties. However, the guidelines on treaty-specific documents to be submitted by states parties under the International Cov- enant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) affirm the essential role that local governments and local authorities play also in the periodic reporting on local implementation of human rights treaty obligations.12

2 “Local Government” or “Local Authorities”? The human rights obligations of subnational public institutions apply whether those are qualified and referred to as “local governments” (LGs) or as “local authorities” (LAs). The two are not always synonymous. The distinction is important not to differentiate between the nature of the obligations, but to distinguish the two categories by their respective political processes.

For the citizen, local governance is the nearest of the various distinctive, interdependent and inter-related spheres of government within a territorial state.13 In unitary states, local governance usually comprises one of two or three spheres of government; whereas, in federal states, local governance constitutes one of three, or sometimes four spheres of government.14

The concept of “spheres” of government offers an alternative to the hierarchy implied by the reference to “tiers” and “layers” of government. That terminology, often portraying local government as the “lowest” form, distorts the perception of more integrated approaches to governance. From the perspective of most citizens, local government/administration is actually the most proximate sphere of contact with the state’s public institutions. From the human rights perspective, local government/administration is also the most-immediate and most-constant duty holder in day-to-day life.

The particular terminology and concepts defining “local administration” and “local government” distinguish the former is a generic term that may or may not constitute “government” as defined in representational terms.15 Both forms of governance possess certain powers conferred upon them by legislation or directives of the higher levels of government. These powers consist, in substance, in regulating and managing certain public affairs and delivering certain public services.

The extent of local governance rights and powers should be analyzed always in the context of relations between local authorities and the central sphere of government and/or regional authorities (in federal states). One of the important features of local “government” is that it has a specific, subsidiary regulatory power for the exercise of its functions, which is, however, subject to compliance with national law.16 Whether or not local administration exercises these regulatory powers and meets the qualification as “government,” the human rights obligations of each sphere of administration remain constant.

“Local government,” or “self-government,” aims at bringing government to the grass-roots and enabling the citizens to participate effectively in the making of decisions affecting their daily lives. As the level closest to the citizens, local government is in a much better position than central government to deal with matters that require local knowledge and regulation on the basis of local needs and priorities. This observation applies whether the local government operates in urban or rural settings.17

According to the UN Human Rights Council’s Advisory Committee (HRCAC), the degree of self- government exercised by citizens and local authorities can be regarded as a key indicator of genuine democracy. HRCAC sees political, fiscal and administrative decentralization to be

3 essential for localizing democracy and its human rights cohort. The UN’s human rights policy think tank asserts also that “democracy is not possible without respect for human rights, and no human rights can be achieved without democracy.”18

“Local authorities” may include forms of governance closely associated with, or directly extending from the executive-branch of central government. However, such models are inconsistent with the more-specific notion of “local government” (or “local self-government”), which involves actual local decision making within a state.

A measure of local decision-making autonomy fosters and enables a concomitant measure local participation and meaningful citizenship for the majority of inhabitants within the subnational units belonging to the territorial state. Thus, the notion of “local authority,” as distinct from “local government,” does not necessarily lend itself to the democratic practices of government. In the modern sense of statecraft, “government” involves citizen participation. Administration defined merely as “authority” inherently does not.

Whichever the configuration of offices and division of duties and functions, the model of “local government” (LG) is understood as preferred in modern unitary states, as well as in federal systems. The constitutive principles of “local government” are aligned with the substantive and process human rights enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights and specific conventions. Democratic local government upholds the organic vertical development of the state. It preserves the state.

In global practice, the majority of cities have elected mayors.19 In some rare circumstances, constituents have declined their right to elect a municipal head, favoring instead appointed local governing councils.20 However, some systems indeed have central authorities assuming mayoral selections by political,21 military22 or royal23 appointment, rather than chosen through constituent elections.

Whether elected, appointed, military or security-state governance, all subnational authority bears identical treaty obligations, regardless of its civil or official status. Its obligations arise from the authority’s status as representing institutions of a state.

Sources and Specificity in International Law Given that international legal instruments apply to both LGs and LAs as well as, equally, constantly and complementarily to central governments, subnational institutions will find guidance on the source, level, nature and scope of their human rights obligations.

This guidance is found especially in the instruments that derive from and further inform the actual practice of implementing obligations specific to particular human rights. For example, within the state’s obligations is to respect, protect and fulfil the human right to adequate housing, which is a human right naturally exercised at a very local level. Respecting, protecting and fulfilling the human right to adequate housing involves the various spheres of government

4 (ministries and regional and local authorities) taking steps, in coordination, to reconcile related policies (economics, agriculture, environment, energy, etc.) within the obligations under Article 11 of ICESCR and related General Comments.24 This human right almost invariably requires the adoption of a national housing strategy also that “defines the objectives for the development of shelter conditions, identifies the resources available to meet these goals and the most cost- effective way of using them and sets out the responsibilities and time frame for the implementation of the necessary measures.”25 Therefore, implementing the human right to adequate housing and its corresponding state obligations entails vertical coordination involving the spectrum of public bodies spanning the range of local, central and any intermediate-level authorities.

In the related matter of the human right to water, the authoritative international law interpretation of corresponding state duties points out the need for analogous coordination among all governmental spheres in order to meet treaty obligations and realize the human right to water and sanitation.26 The UN Independent Expert on the right to water and sanitation has reported numerous examples of good practice in which a state’s holistic approach involves local government’s monitoring and implementation of the treaty-based right.27

Realizing the human right to adequate food has particular implications for local government. Indispensable national strategies require similar coordination among ministries and regional and local authorities to ensure that related policies and administrative decisions are in compliance with the obligations under the same Article 11 of ICESCR.28

The General Comment on the right to food stresses how responsibilities at multiple levels are essential to realizing that right. While “the State should provide an environment that facilitates implementation of these responsibilities,” the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), monitoring compliance with ICESCR, has noted that increasingly local measures are needed to ensure food security (if not also food sovereignty29). In recent years, numerous good practices and policy models exemplify the pivotal role of local decision making and preparedness to ensure the human right to food.30 The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food also has noted the role of local government in ensuring realization of the right to food through integrated national strategies.31

In cases where implementation of the universal human right to social security is decentralized, the treaty-implementation guidance on the subject recognizes the importance of the local spheres of governance. The relevant General Comment advises: Where responsibility for the implementation of the right to social security has been delegated to regional or local authorities or is under the constitutional authority of a federal body, the State party retains the obligation to comply with the Covenant, and therefore should ensure that these regional or local authorities effectively monitor the necessary social security services and facilities, as well as the effective implementation of the system. The States parties must further ensure that such authorities do not deny access to benefits and services on a discriminatory basis, whether directly or indirectly.32

5 The general prohibition against nondiscrimination is an overarching principle of human rights implementation also for LG/LA. Notably, the guidance on implementing the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights specifically obliges local implementation.33

Peremptory Norms (jus cogens) A peremptory norm (also called jus cogens) is a fundamental principle of international law that the international community of states has accepted as a norm from which no derogation is permitted. It is generally accepted that jus cogens includes the prohibition against genocide, apartheid, maritime piracy, slaving, in general (including slavery as well as the slave trade), torture, non-refoulement of refugees and asylum seekers, wars of aggression, population transfer, the denial of self-determination and territorial aggrandizement.34

The International Court of Justice also has referred to such norms as “intransgressible principles of international customary law”35…“fundamental to the respect of the human person”36 and “elementary considerations of humanity, even more exacting in peace than in war.”37 These peremptory norms “are to be observed by all States whether or not they have ratified the conventions that contain them.”38

Local Governments’ Extraterritorial Obligations By way of human rights instruments and declaratory law, as well as through long-established general principles and peremptory norms, international law establishes multifaceted obligations to maintain standards of state behavior. States and their components actually bear at least four such dimensions of obligation in the interstate system: (1) individual obligations, (2) collective obligations, (2) domestic obligations and (4) extraterritorial obligations.

At the same time, each and every human right enshrined in the relevant international Covenants and Conventions corresponds with all of states’ several and joint, domestic and extraterritorial obligations to respect and protect the right. In certain cases, states also can bear a responsibility to fulfill rights extraterritorially. In any case, human rights treaty provisions and peremptory norms govern relations between the state and individual or collective subjects (vertical effect), while simultaneously engaging third-party consequences (horizontal effect) on individual or collective subjects in other state parties and entail legal obligations also in private law interactions of legal persons in their relationships among themselves.39

The two preceding paragraphs above present two different-but-related points: The first concerns the general legal obligation and their component parts in unilateral, bilateral and/or multilateral actions to adhere to a uniform standard of conduct with predictable effect, wherever that effect manifests. Those obligations arise from multiple legal regimes, including human rights, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, general principles and jus cogens. The second point relates to the inherent “universal” nature of obligations corresponding to specific codified human rights, requiring the duty holder (state) to respect, protect and, in certain cases, fulfill the same enshrined human rights when its actions affect, or potentially affect human subjects of those standards in any jurisdiction. Both indicate the obligation of a state bound by the provisions of a treaty or peremptory norm of international law, requiring itself and third

6 parties within its jurisdiction, or area of effective control, to adhere ad minimum to that same standard.

As LGs/LAs constitute organic subjects of treaties and other legal obligations of the state in which they are located, these extraterritorial human rights obligations apply equally to them. The obligation of LGs/LAs to uphold these jus cogens and human rights obligations apply whether or not the central sphere of government has succeeded or failed in upholding its and of those obligations. While central government institutions are primarily responsible for reporting on the state’s performance in external forums, implementation of human rights and jus cogens requires the adherence of all spheres of government. This evokes the principle that the Human Rights Committee has articulated, namely that one sphere of government “may not point to…another branch of government as a means of seeking to relieve the State Party from responsibility for an action incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant.40

Obligations in Situations of Extraterritorial Violations and Breaches As exemplified in “Sources and Specificity in International Law” above, the instruments, jurisprudence and legal literature are replete with norms and guidance for LGs/LAs to implement their individual and domestic dimensions of their obligations to implement human rights and peremptory norms. As noted also, the collective and extraterritorial dimensions of obligations on LGs/LAs arise from both treaty law and general principles of international law. These four dimensions of obligation meet most clearly in the breach of peremptory norms and in cases where human rights violations become gross and systematic, such as in cases of institutionalized discrimination or accompanying grave crimes (i.e., war crimes, crimes against humanity, apartheid, aggression, slavery, refugee refoulement, the practices of colonization, population transfer, torture, genocide, etc.).

Unfortunately, these practices have not ceased since the surge in their codification and prosecution that followed the two World Wars of the 20th Century. However, in an ever more- interconnected world, local governments are in a position to make informed choices, take decisions and establish policies within their responsibility to constituents and other affected parties to apply all dimensions of their existing obligations. Where international law calls on states to take “effective measures” to remedy such situations involving gross violations of human rights, local governments have developed a community of practice in response to that call, in effect, exercising their extraterritorial obligations to apply human rights and peremptory norms in their horizontal dealings with other legal persons, entities and contracting parties.

Apartheid: A decade after long debate, concluding that South African apartheid constituted an international issue due to its effect on regional peace and security,41 the UN General Assembly resolved to request all states to take five specific measures with the objective of compelling the Republic of South Africa to abandon its apartheid policies:

7 (a) Breaking off diplomatic relations with the Government of the Republic of South Africa, or refraining from establishing such relations; (b) Closing their ports to all vessels flying the South African flag; (c) Enacting legislation prohibiting their ships from entering South African ports; (d) Boycotting all South African goods and refraining from exporting goods, including all arms and ammunition, to South Africa; (e) Refusing landing and passage facilities to all aircraft belonging to the Government of South Africa and companies registered under the laws of South Africa…42

This international call to apply the already self-executing extraterritorial obligations of nonrecognition and nonassistance under international law was misappropriated in both popular discourse and UN documents as “boycott” of apartheid South Africa. The term “boycott,” actually involves “an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for social or political reasons.”43 Its etymology derives from the name of a certain land agent ostracized for his evictions of tenants during Ireland’s 19th Century “Land Wars.”44 It is the voluntary nature of a boycott, as continuously defined, that makes it a misnomer. However, the actions and policies deriving from nonrecognition of, and nonassistance to such an illegal situation as apartheid are actually measures fulfilling an erga omnes obligation in international law.

The General Assembly was more explicit in its 1982 Boycott: “an act of voluntarily resolution “Policies of apartheid of the Government of abstaining from using, buying, or South Africa.” The GA declared that “the United Nations dealing with a person, organization, and the international community have a special or country as an expression of responsibility towards the oppressed people of South protest, usually for social or political Africa and their national liberation movements in their reasons.” legitimate struggle for the elimination of apartheid and Obligation: a duty to fulfill, not a the establishment of a non-racial democratic society voluntary choice or option. assuring human rights and fundamental freedoms to all the people of the country irrespective of race, colour or creed.”45 Specifically, the highest authority in the UN system also condemned the policies of certain Western States breaching these norms, “especially the United States of America, and Israel, and of their transnational corporations and financial institutions that have increased political, economic and military collaboration with the racist minority regime of South Africa despite repeated appeals by the General Assembly.”46

In addition to calling on the International Monetary Fund and International Atomic Energy Agency to exclude, terminate and refrain from assistance to South Africa, the GA requested the Secretary-General to instruct all relevant units of the UN Secretariat and all United Nations offices to promote the international campaign against apartheid.47 The Assembly reiterated its call to the Security Council to adopt a separate resolution making noncooperation with South Africa mandatory, to: (a) reinforce the mandatory arms embargo against South Africa; (b) prohibit all cooperation with South Africa in the military and nuclear fields by Governments, corporations, institutions and individuals;

8 (c) prohibit imports of any military equipment or component parts from South Africa; (d) prevent any cooperation or association with South Africa by any military alliances; (e) impose an effective embargo on the supply of oil and oil products to South Africa and on all assistance to the oil industry in South Africa; (f) prohibit financial loans to and new investments in South Africa, as well as all promotion of trade with South Africa;48

With reference to responsibility in implementing international law by other third parties, the As- sembly urged “Governments, international and non-governmental organizations, trade unions and other appropriate bodies to lend their full support to the oil embargo against South Africa.”49

The GA further resolved that all States should “take all appropriate measures to facilitate such action” and “to take action against corporations and other interests that violate the mandatory arms embargo against South Africa or that are involved in the illicit supply to South Africa of oil from States that have imposed an embargo against South Africa.”50

The Assembly expressed serious concern over the cooperation and assistance to apartheid South Africa provided by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, the Federal Republic of Germany and Switzerland.51 However, it reserved a special denunciation of the close cooperation between South Africa and Israel.52

The Security Council ultimately followed suit in 1985, also calling for more specific measures: (a) Suspension of all new investment in the Republic of South Africa (b) Prohibition of the sale of krugerrands and all other coins minted in South Africa; (c) Restrictions in the field of sports and cultural relations; (d) Suspension of guaranteed export loans; (e) Prohibition of all new contracts in the nuclear field; (f) Prohibition of all sales of computer equipment that may be used by the South African army and police;53

The resolution also commended those states that already had adopted “voluntary measures.” While Security Council resolutions are, by definition, enforceable, international legal experts consider such measures in the face of a violation of peremptory norms to be self-executing, with or without specific resolutions to that effect.54

Some citizens already felt the local responsibility to exercise nonrecognition, nonassistance and noncooperation with apartheid before the General Assembly deliberated its first 1962 resolution on the remedial obligations of states in international law. In June 1959, a small meeting at Finsbury Town Hall in London marked South African Freedom Day and launched the citizens’ “Boycott Movement.” Soon after, the first city council to apply its extraterritorial human rights duties in practice was in the English City of Liverpool, “boycotting” all South African goods.55

In the United States, the City of Gary, Indiana began by voting for municipal sanctions against Control Data, IBM, ITT and Motorola, due to their supportive roles in South African apartheid. The Gary Council over-rode the veto of Mayor Richard Hatcher by a 6-to-3 vote in 1975, adopting

9 a resolution was modeled on the selective purchasing resolution already being debated in the Washington DC City Council.56

Both the City and County of San Francisco passed local legislation on 5 June 1978, resolving not to invest “in corporations and banks doing business in or with South Africa.”57 Philadelphia followed in 1982, and Washington DC passed a selective purchasing resolution in 1984. The DC Council resolution passed amid a hail of repudiating voices from the U.S. Congress, accusing the city of inappropriately practicing foreign policy.58 Those protesting voices revealed the sources and thinking behind the failure of the country’s central government institutions to implement their own extraterritorial human rights and jus cogens obligations.

As the movement of local governments exercising their extraterritorial human rights obligations grew, the end of 1989 saw 26 U.S. states, 22 counties and over 90 cities taking some form of binding action to disassociate themselves from enterprises doing business in apartheid South Africa. These took the form of divestment of public pension funds connected to these local governments from South African companies and/or companies doing business in South Africa and, thus, benefitting from the apartheid system.

Encouraged by local and national civil organizations such as American Committee on Africa, the Washington Office on Africa, TransAfrica and the American Friends Service Committee, in cooperation with the UN Centre against Apartheid, these local governments also formulated selective contracting and procurement policies.59 Under local legislation, many public pension funds connected to these local governments disinvested from South African companies. These local governments also exerted pressure via enacting selective-purchasing policies, “whereby cities give preference in bidding on contracts for goods and services to those companies who do not do business in South Africa.”60

The disinvestment campaign realized its expression later at the level of national institutions. Federal U.S. legislation enacted in 1986 is credited as pressuring the South African government to negotiate with the African National Congress, ultimately leading to the dismantling of the apartheid system.61

Occupation, Annexation and Population Transfer Notably, since the 1960s, the General Assembly has applied jus cogens as a basis of calls for states to act in order to remedy illegal situations involving colonization and/or denial of the exercise of a people’s self-determination.62 Since 1971, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has established the Namibia Doctrine, recognizing all states’ obligation under international law to act erga omes to bring about “the termination…and declaration of the illegality” exemplified in the presence of South Africa’s occupation of Namibia.63 This consistent rule of the ICJ obtained also in the contentious 1995 case concerning Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor.64

10 With further specificity in analogous breaches of international law, the ICJ has maintained this standard in its Advisory Opinion in the case of Morocco’s invasion and subsequent occupation of the Western Sahara.65 In that decision, the Court consistently ruled out all six aspects of Moroc- co's claim to territorial or legal sovereignty over Western Sahara.66 Accordingly, the Court again affirmed the call to states “to observe the resolutions of the General Assembly regarding the foreign economic and financial interests in the Territory and to abstain from contributing by their investments or immigration policy to the maintenance of a colonial situation in the Territory.”67

Despite a UN Security Council resolution deploring Morocco’s invasion and calling upon Morocco and participants in the “Green March” immediately to withdraw from the territory, the occupation continues after forty years.68 However, the UN Legal Counsel has further clarified the illegality of external parties’ exploitation or physical removal of natural resources in Western Sahara by applying the UN Charter, General Assembly resolutions, jurisprudence pertaining to Western Sahara and the progressive codification of norms applying to natural resources in Non-Self-Gov- erning Territories.69

A long-standing principle of international law invokes the obligation of non-recognition, whereby states, severally and collectively, are obliged to withhold recognition of an illegal situation. This obligation manifests today in the almost-universal70 nonrecongition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared under Turkish occupation in 1983.71 By 2001, the International Law Commission clarified that the duty of nonrecognition, which applies to situations…such as, for example, attempted acquisition of sovereignty over territory through the denial of the right of self-determination of peoples. It not only refers to the formal recognition of these situations, but also prohibits acts which would imply such recognition.72

The principle of nonrecognition, however seemingly impassive as an “effective measure,” is nonetheless crucial, and its implementation essential. Nonrecognition provides the time- honored legal basis for the specific prohibitions (i.e., noncooperation, nonassistance) that have consequential effect.

The obligations of states, including subnational structures, in situations of extraterritorial violations and breaches are self-executing; that is, requiring no further legislative act, but the political will to exercise them. Although the obligations corresponding to such illegal situations are also human rights treaty based, they also arise from peremptory norms provided in The Hague Regulations (1907) and the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) that “incorporate obligations essentially of an erga omnes character.”

The specificity about the measures that a state and its constituent parts should to take in the case of an illegal situation is provided in General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. In 1980, the Security Council (SC) addressed the colonization of occupied Palestine, calling upon “all States not to provide Israel with any assistance to be used specifically in connexion with settlements in the occupied territories.”73

11 Any means of population transfer (e.g., displacement, expulsion, other forms of demographic manipulation and/or implantation of settler colonies) or territorial expansion, whether carried out by military or other methods, breaches peremptory norms of international law and, in turn, involves multiple gross violations of human rights.74 Accordingly, the General Assembly (GA) has condemned the annexation of Palestinian territory by Israel and further deplored: any political, economic, financial, military and technological support to Israel that encourages Israel to commit acts of aggression and to consolidate and perpetuate its occupation and annexation of occupied Arab territories…75

In doing so, the Assembly has reiterated its call to “all Member States” to apply measures to: (a) …refrain from supplying Israel with any weapons and related equipment and to suspend any military assistance that Israel receives from them; (b) …refrain from acquiring any weapons or military equipment from Israel; (c) …suspend economic, financial and technological assistance to and cooperation with Israel; (d) …sever diplomatic, trade and cultural relations with Israel…76

Because of Israel’s breach of peremptory norms of international law, the GA reiterated its call “to all Member States to cease forthwith, individually and collectively, all dealings with Israel in order totally to isolate it in all fields…”77 and also urged “non-member States to act in accordance with the provisions of the present resolution…”78

Appling the Namibia Doctrine and general principles of international law, the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the illegality of the construction of a wall through the occupied West Bank referred to “erga omnes obligations of humanitarian law that are fundamental to the respect of the human person and elementary considerations of humanity, as well as the right to self- determination.” The Court advised the General Assembly that the current illegal situation has resulted in “an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction” [of the wall in Palestine]. The ICJ reminded that, in the context of war and occupation, The Hague Convention and the four Geneva Conventions “incorporate obligations essentially of an erga omnes character”; that is, binding on all.79

The consequent ruling on the specific question of “Legal consequences for States other than Is- rael” recognized that the “Erga omnes character of certain obligations violated by Israel” engage the following specific obligations: Obligation of all states not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction; Obligation for all states, while respecting the Charter and international law, to see to it that any impediments, resulting from the construction of the wall, to the exercise by the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination is brought to an end; Obligation for all states parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, while respecting the Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention.80

12 Even more recently, the extraterritorial obligations of states to remedy the illegal situation is affirmed in the 2012–13 independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the human rights implications of the Israeli settlements for Palestinians, with reference to “State responsibility for internationally wrongful acts, including third-State responsibility.”81 Moreover, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory has provided further specificity in his report on the conduct of, and obligations of states to prevent and remedy corporate activities in cooperation with the occupation and colonization of Palestine.82

Meanwhile, local governments have been making selective purchasing and procurement choices based on concerns over human rights violations in historic Palestine. These policy choices have involved the refusal of contracts with other cities and companies benefitting from the prevailing illegal situation. Some decisions have been inspired by the anti-apartheid model, while some may have taken their impetus from the current Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, a civil campaign to: end of Israeli occupation and colonization of Palestinian land, institutionalize full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel and respect the right of [reparations, including] return of Palestinian refugees.83

Local governments that have taken decisions not to patronize companies and other entities that benefit from the crimes accompanying Israel’s occupation of Palestine include: Durham NC, USA; Kuwait City;84 Edinburgh, Scotland,85 Marrickville NSW, Australia;86 Bristol, England;87 Buenos Aires, Argentina;88 Lisbon, Portugal,89 Dublin, Ireland;90 and the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil,91 among others.

The Buenos Aires and Lisbon decisions to sever ties with the Mekorot - Israel National Water Company (operating extraterritorially as Mekorot Development and Enterprise) are particularly significant in that the cities’ relationship was with an Israeli parastatal entity that is chartered in Israel to discriminate systematically and materially against the indigenous Palestinian people. Originally formed in 1937 through a joint initiative of the Jewish Agency, Jewish National Fund and “Nir,” a subsidiary of the Zionist labor organization Histadrut,92 from its inception, the Israeli “national” water company Mekorot applies the principles of its founding parastatal organizations (JA, JNF and Histadrut) exclusively to serve beneficiaries whom they categorize as having “Jewish nationality.”93

Buenos Aires’ suspension of a $170m water deal with Mekorot came amid a campaign over the company’s practice of “water apartheid.”94 At about the same time, Friends of the Earth International also joined the campaign against the Israeli National Water Company.95

These developments raise a further aspect of state obligations vis-à-vis entities that exercise institutionalized, material discrimination in breach of human rights and peremptory norms of international. Israeli parastatal institutions, including the Jewish Agency/World Zionist Organization, Jewish National Fund and their affiliates practice their charter-based institutional and material discrimination to the dispossession of indigenous Palestinians and the denial of their inalienable right to self-determination. Meanwhile, they form principal drivers of population transfer (demographic manipulation and settler-colony construction) in Palestinian lands under

13 Israeli jurisdiction and effective control.96 They also operate extraterritorially, registered and operating as tax-exempt charities in some 50 extraterritorial states.97

This situation raises another aspect of states’ extraterritorial obligation to regulate locally registered entities engaged in gross violations of human rights and/or breach peremptory norms of international law. The local and global movements to rescind tax exemption and other benefits from Israel’s parastatal institutions operating internationally seek simply to apply public international law as well as domestic law criteria to them. That would mean treating them as foreign agents while also, at once, they form and represent integral and extraterritorial parts of a foreign state (Israel).

Forty years after the General Assembly made explicit the extraterritorial obligations of states— in all their component parts—to take effective measures against the illegal situation in Palestine, local authorities formalized this principle in a collective statement of principle to guide local policy. In the Final Declaration of the Local Authorities Forum – Free Palestine, Canoas RS, Brazil, December 2012, representatives of subnational governments issued the corresponding call to all fellow local LGs/LAs. The Brazilian and Palestinian municipality representatives in the Local Authorities Forum demanded that: …Brazilian local governments…commit to responsible investment by avoiding contracting with parties that support or benefit from occupation, or violate related prohibitions under international law.98

In December 2014, local government and civil society organizations meeting at Seville, Spain also raised the extraterritorial obligation of local authorities in a declaration that enshrines the principle: Local governments…commit to responsible investment by not contracting with parties and not twinning with cities that support or benefit from occupation or violate related prohibitions under international law.99

The analogous case of Western Sahara has received considerably less attention than its Palestine counterpart. Some governments attribute the imbalance not to a lack of legal guidance, but to a lack of clarity and consensus on undifferentiated imports from Morocco, the occupying power, and the relatively limited attention that the conflict has received.100 The 2012 European Union agreement with Morocco, for example, does not provide specific rules on product labelling, com- plicating selective purchase efforts. Nonetheless, an international civic campaign is promoting boycott and/or ban trade in “conflict tomatoes” and other commodities extracted and exported by that occupier of Western Sahara.101

Cross-border Organized Crime and Trade: Transnational criminal organizations are self-perpetuating associations operating across national borders, using violence, corruption, and fraud to protect and disguise their illicit, profit-driven activities, which ultimately abuse and victimize other parties. Beyond those conducted or enabled by national governments, such activities may involve nonstate actors engaged in trafficking of humans and forced labor, illicit arms trade, and trade in products and goods derived

14 from related criminal activities. Such illicit operations involve many of the same consequences as the gross human rights violations accompanying population transfer, institutionalized discrimination, colonization, occupation and apartheid. Likewise also, much cross-border organized crime has persisted without sufficient international mechanisms to prevent its practice.

Fighting such crimes of nonstate actors is the usual subject of cooperation among law enforcement organizations. However, city councils also have emerged as partners in opposing and impeding such crimes within their civilian capacity. More as a factor of deterrence, they build on the precedent of local city councils resolving not to cooperate with South African apartheid and other forms of institutionalized discrimination and dispossession. More recently, concern has mounted over trade in resources and goods derived from prohibited practices originating with actors outside of the domain of the state.

Local government responses to illicit trade illustrate. For example, some local governments have initiated measures to avoid participation in contraband commodities such as conflict minerals.

“Blood diamonds” is a term referring to precious gemstones (also called conflict diamonds, converted diamonds, hot diamonds, or war diamonds) mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army's war efforts, or a warlord's activity. The term is most commonly used in connection with the civil wars in Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. However, in the 1990s, the broader concept of “conflict resources” or “conflict commodities” emerged to mean natural resources extracted in a conflict zone and sold to perpetuate the fighting. In conflicts in Africa particularly, the practice of forced labor in the extraction of the minerals is an aspect of felonious activity that notoriously accompanies the wanton use of force, rape, mass destruction and other war-related crimes.

A prominent contemporary example is in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where various armies, rebel groups, and outside actors have profited, while contributing to violence and exploitation throughout wars in the region. The conflict minerals extracted and traded to finance the warfare include columbite-tantalite, also known as coltan (from which tantalum is derived), cassiterite (tin), gold, wolframite (tungsten), or their derivatives.

In response to the violent situation in Sierra Leone, the Security Council adopted resolution 1306 in December 2000.102 It enshrined the principle that “all States shall take the necessary measures to prohibit the direct or indirect import of all rough diamonds from Sierra Leone to their territory,” and sanctioned the importation of rough diamonds from that country. In an effort to break the chain linking the armed conflict and the illicit trade in diamonds, a subsequent resolution extending the ban instituted a certification-of-origin regime.103 Since the late 2000s, the Security Council also adopted a series of resolutions104 that established an arms embargo and targeted sanctions to thwart the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the country that was fueling conflicts and related human rights violations, killings, the use of child soldiers and sexual violence in the Great Lakes region.

15 In April 2011, Pittsburgh PA (USA) became the first in a series of U.S. cities whose councils passed a conflict-free resolution that banned trade and purchasing of consumer electronics containing conflict minerals.105 St. Petersburg FL followed, passing a resolution in October 2011 that pledged to consider whether electronics contain conflict minerals before making any of the city’s esti- mated $1 million in annual electronics purchases. The resolution, citing the city’s “commitment to human rights and social justice in its governance policies,” also called on electronics companies and other industries to take the necessary steps to remove conflict minerals from their supply chains.106

The next year, Edina MN, a suburb of Minneapolis, passed a similar resolution the next year in July 2012.107 At the end of 2013, Madison WI passed a resolution to adopt conflict-free purchasing policy, urged by a movement of students from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.108

Most recently, in June 2015, Kingston-upon-Hull, England joined the list of local governments resolving to ban purchases of goods containing conflict minerals. Councillor Rosie Nicola lent historic continuity to the local legislative act, explaining that Hull City Council had a history of involvement in human rights issues, traceable to Hull native William Wilberforce (1759–1833) who led the parliamentary fight to abolish slavery.109

Conclusion: Envisioning Local Government’s Extraterritorial Human Rights Policy These applications of extraterritorial human rights obligations on the part of local governments reflect a trend in developing human rights-based governance at the municipal level, including the emergence of human rights cities110 and the “right to the city” movement.111 This trend coincides also with a period in which cities have assumed multiple ties with extraterritorial local governments and other actors, multiplying their opportunities and effect at exercising their human rights obligations extraterritorially.

A Council of Europe-organized “European Campaign for Urban Renaissance” (1980–82) produced the European Declaration of Urban Rights (1982), which inspired the European Urban Charter (1992) a decade later. That Charter enshrined a “right to…multicultural integration, where communities of different cultural ethnic and religious backgrounds coexist peaceably.”112 Recognition of that international dimension of the local urban identity coupled also with a claimed right to “Intermunicipal collaboration in which citizens are free and encouraged to participate directly in the international relations of their community.”113 These locally claimed “rights” reflect no less than the inherent international constitution of many cities participating in the European Urban Charter.

By 1996, the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements adopted the Istanbul Declaration and the Global Plan of Action (Habitat II). One of the Habitat II Agenda’s seven operative sections is dedicated to international cooperation in the development of sustainable human settlements, “guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations” as

16 “crucial to improving the quality of life of the peoples of the world.”114 The Agenda also contained multiple passages emphasizing the essential role of local authorities in international cooperation among municipalities and communities.115

Many of the international law norms referenced here expressed negative obligations in the sense that they require nonrecognition, noncooperation, nonassistance and nontransaction as prohibitions of public conduct that perpetrates, enables or condones human rights violations and other breaches of peremptory norms. However, local governments can—and do—take initiative also to pursue constructive cross-border activities. Such programs of international cooperation among urban or rural local governments are not the explicit expression of binding treaty requirements. However, our focus on local governments’ legally binding ETOs, with an emphasis on the context of obligations of the state, acknowledges such pro-active extraterritorial human rights programming, but leaves it for another discussion.

Understanding the vertical and transversal effects of human rights principles, humanitarian law norms and jus cogens also compels lateral and, by extension, cross-border policy thinking. Artic- ulating the human rights values at stake in recognizing, assisting and transacting with parties that violate human rights and breach jus cogens principles should propel that thinking. The human rights discourse has been demonstrably influential at invoking the extraterritorial obligations of local government. Although this discourse may be prima facie ethical in nature, it coincides with obligations binding on the territorial state and, indeed, all of its constituent parts.

As the Human Rights Committee has observed, “The conduct of public affairs…covers all aspects of public administration, and the formulation and implementation of policy at international, national, regional and local levels.”116 Human rights obligations not only apply locally, but also have extraterritorial effect.

Insofar as nonrecognition of, and noncooperation with illegal situations are self-executing obligations, local LGs/LAs are required—beyond politics, self-interest and equivocating sentiment— to reject dealings with enterprises that violate human rights in their chain. Those include parties that participate in, or in any way benefit from occupation, apartheid, the denial of self-determination, population transfer, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, refoulement of refugees, or any of the other gross violations, grave breaches and crimes discussed here.

LGs/LAs’ selective purchasing and outright rejection to transact with perpetrators and collaborators are not impediments to free trade,117 nor are they merely a consumer’s choice (i.e., “boycott”). Such policies are a requirement of the most fundamental principles of international law and world order. Leaving its enforcement exclusively to relatively remote central spheres of government may flout international human rights law and squander a rectifying opportunity to implement it, with extraterritorial effect, right where we live.

In this spirit, a recent European Council of Foreign Relations has explained the European Union’s imperative to “differentiate” in its dealings with Israel on at least two levels of distinction:

17 (1) Differentiating between licit and illicit aspects of transactions with Israel, rejects those that involve violation of international law and European requirements. To the extent possible, such “differentiation” favors less-lethal dealings among friends and allies; and (2) Distinguishing the obligatory refusal to transact with Israeli-linked parties and practices perpetuating crimes of dispossession, colonization and population transfer (i.e., against the indigenous Palestinian people) from “boycott” which is a voluntary consumer device. Rather, the nonrecognition of, and noncooperation with the illegal situation by operationalizing the accompanying negative obligations to avoid acting as an accessory to the crime derive from the requirements of existing law and “value-based European foreign policy.”118

This gentle reminder of population transfer and related crimes as anathema to contemporary European values may be welcome. Consistent with this reminder, the combined efforts of some local governments already to refrain from collaboration with such violations and breaches so far have constituted a factor of potential deterrence. That compliance is also welcome, while far less than accountability or reparation measures still needed.

Other judicial mechanisms may aspire to the role of assigning liability. Nonetheless, these conscientious civil efforts of local government, whether termed “extraterritorial obligation,” “selective purchasing” or “boycott,” have managed to restrict public institutions of duty-bound states from playing accessory roles that, otherwise, would enable and reward international crime.

From the perspective of international human rights law, the engagement of local governments in upholding norms and standards in their local decision making is only natural and wholly expected. This local aspect of human rights implementation was not contemplated in either the World Charter on the Right to the City (2006) or the Maastricht Principles (2011). However, those documents and, more importantly, debates behind them both have helped clarify much thinking on the subject. Nonetheless, these issues so far remain among the missing links in the current debate toward Habitat III and the New Habitat Agenda (2016).

Although insufficiently heralded so far, democratic local governance doubtless will instruct us on many remaining legal and strategic questions about the extraterritorial application of locally held human rights obligations. In critical mass, human rights governance through “local government” even may defy political gravity and “trickle up.” Rather, in a less-hierarchical configuration, a body of good practice potentially could reach the central sphere of government, as eventually experienced in the global opposition to South African apartheid.

An important lesson from the measures to end apartheid in South Africa, central spheres of liable governments can be relatively slow in making the legal and ethical curve defined by extraterritorial human rights obligations of states. A human rights approach to local government within the state would see the application of human rights and peremptory norms in relations with third parties as a particularly local task, as well as a universal promise, both being enshrined in binding law erga omnes.

18 Endnotes:

1 Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2011), para. 8. 2 Ibid. 3 Figgis concludes that “The unity and universality and essential rightness of the sovereign territorial State, and the denial of every extra-territorial or independent communal form of life, are Luther's lasting contribution to politics.” John Neville Figgis, Churches in the Modern State (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1913, reprinted by Ithaca NY: Cornell University Library, 2009), p. 91. See also Andrew J. Williams, Amelia Hadfield and J. Simon Rolfe, International History and International Relations (New York: Routledge, 2012), p. 101. 4 “A Definition of Sovereignty,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sovereignty/. 5 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969), Article 27. 6 See observations on applicability in territory of effective control: “Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDaW) upon Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties,” A/52/38/Rev.1, 12 August 1997, para. 170; “Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee: Israel,” CCPR/C/79/Add.93, 18 August 1998, para. 10; “Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Israel,” E/C.12/1/Add.27, 4 De- cember 1998, para. 8; “Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Israel,” CERD/C/304/Add.45, 30 March 1998, paras. 4, 12; Letter of Chairperson Virginia Bonoan Dandan to Permanent Representative of Israel H.E. Ambassador M. David Peleg, 1 December 2000; Letter of CESCR Chairperson Virginia Bonoan Dandan to Permanent Representative H.E. M. Yaakov Levy, Geneva, 11 May 2001. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Tor- ture: Israel,” CAT/C/XXVII/Concl.5, 23 November 2001. “Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Israel,” E/C.12/1/Add.90, 23 May 2003, para. 15. “Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Israel,” CERD/C/ISR/CO/13, 14 June 2007, paras. 3, 13, 32; “Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Israel,” CEDAW/C/ISR/CO/5, 5 April 2011, paras. 2, 12, 13, 16, 17, 21–24, 26, 28, 38, 40; Concluding observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Israel, E/C.12/ISR/CO/3, 16 December 2011, paras. 8, 16, 19, 24, 28, 29, 32–33, 35–36; Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Israel, CERD/C/ISR/CO/14–16, 3 April 2012, paras. 3, 4, 10, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29; Human Rights Committee, “Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Israel,” CCPR/C/ISR/CO/4, 21 November 2014, paras. 5, 9, 12, 13, 15–18, 22. 7 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) Article 50. 8 Draft articles on Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, A/56/10 (2001), at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/56/a5610.pdf; and Commentaries, at: http://www.eydner.org/dokumente/darsiwa_comm_e.pdf. 9 Ian D. Seiderman, Hierarchy in International Law: The Human Rights Dimension (Antwerp: Intersentia, 2001); Michael Akehurst, “The Hierarchy of Sources of International Law,” British Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 47 (1974–75), 273–85, at p. 283. 10 HRC General Comment No. 25: Article 25 (Participation in public affairs and the right to vote) (1996), CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.7, 27 August 1996, at: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.7&Lang=en. 11 Human Rights Committee (HRC), General Comment No. 31: “The Nature of the General Legal Obligation Imposed on States Parties to the Covenant” (2004), para. 4, at: http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d/PPRiCAqhKb7yhsjYoiCfMKoIRv2FVaVzRk- MjTnjRO%2bfud3cPVrcM9YR0iW6Txaxgp3f9kUFpWoq/hW/TpKi2tPhZsbEJw/GeZRASjdFuuJQRnbJEaU- hby31WiQPl2mLFDe6ZSwMMvmQGVHA%3d%3d. Also Vienna Convention, op. cit. [supra 5]. 12 “Harmonized guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including guidelines on a common core document and treaty-specific targeted documents,” HRI/MC/2005/3, 1 June 2005, para. 50, at: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/0867ad7cd7b13e4fc1257019004677d2/$FILE/G0542226.pdf. 13 Education & Training Unit for Democracy and Development, “Three Spheres of Government” (South Africa), at: http://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/govern/spheres.html. 14 Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, “Local government and human rights,” A/HRC/AC/13/L.4, 14 August 2014, para. 6, at: http://www.hlrn.org/img/documents/A_HRC_AC_13_L.4_EN.pdf. 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid., para. 8. 17 Ibid., para. 6. 18 Ibid., para. 10.

19 19 Andrew Stevens, “World mayors, their parties and politics,” City Mayors Politics, No. 10 (28 July 2014), at: http://www.citymayors.com/politics/political-parties-mayors.html. 20 “Nine cities reject elected mayors,” BBC News (4 May 2012), at: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-17949950. 21 TV Dozhd, Catherine A. Fitzpatrick, transl., “Russia to Abolish Mayoral and City Duma Elections,” The Interpreter (11 December 2013), at: http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-to-abolish-mayoral-and-city-duma-elections/. 22 “Local Government Acts 2013 and Province-Local Government Relations,” UNDP in Pakistan (undated), at: http://www.pk.undp.org/content/pakistan/en/home/library/hiv_aids/development-advocate-pakistan/local-government- acts-2013-and-province-local-government-relatio.html. 23 Niels Karsten, Lex Cachet and Linze Schaap, “The Dutch Anomaly: Appointed Mayors. Can Appointed Mayors Cope with Role Changes and Societal Demands?” Lex & Localis (14 April 2011), at: http://pub.lex-localis.info/index.php/LexLocalis/article/view/243. 24 CESCR, General Comment No. 4: “the right to housing” (1991), para. 12, at: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CESCR/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/INT_CESCR_GEC_4759_E.doc. 25 As stated in the Global Strategy for Shelter, para. 32. 26 CESCR, General Comment No. 15: “The right to water (arts. 11 and 12 of the Covenant)” (2002), para. 51, at: http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=4slQ6QSmlBEDzFEovLCuW1AVC1NkPs- gUedPlF1vfPMJpdX7m2Tx5L7detnk4aL8Sk%2bOCLoaHsUFVMh6SviNU92S8cbmr- riTaya9N9pSBR%2b0tHiI/LewK1gfET938Og3y. 27 Catarina de Albuquerque with Virginia Roaf, On the right track: Good Practices in realising the rights to water and sanitation (Geneva: OHCHR, 2012), at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Water/BookonGoodPractices_en.pdf; and “Report of the independent expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque: Mission to Egypt,” 5 July 2010, A/HRC/15/31/Add.3, paras. 37, 45, 49, at: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G10/149/35/PDF/G1014935.pdf?OpenElement. 28 CESCR, General Comment No. 12: “The right to adequate food” (art. 11) (1999), paras. 22, 25, at: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=E/C.12/1999/5&Lang=en. -Issue 6 (May 2013), at: http://land ,أحوال األرض/For a definition of food sovereignty, see “Terminology Corner,” Land Times 29 times.landpedia.org/termpage.php?newsid=o2s=&counter=1. 30 Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), The Greater Philadelphia Food System Study (2010), at: http://www.dvrpc.org/food/FoodSystemStudy.htm; DVRPC, Food System Planning Municipal Implementation Tool # 18 (April 2010), at: http://www.ruaf.org/ruaf_bieb/upload/3304.pdf; Victoria Local Governance Association, Municipal Food Security Di- mensions & Opportunities: Municipal Food Security Scanning Report (2010), at: http://www.vlga.org.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/Food%20Security/VLGA.2011-09-06%20Food%20Secu- rity%20Report%201.pdf; Kameshwari Pothukuchi and Jerome L. Kaufman, Placing the food system in the urban agenda: The role of municipal institutions in food systems planning (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999), abstract at: http://newrural- ism.pbworks.com/f/PothukuchiKaufman.pdf. 31 “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter: Mission to Canada,” A/HRC/22/50/Add.1, 24 De- cember 2012, para. 16, at: http://www.srfood.org/images/stories/pdf/officialreports/20121224_canadafinal_en.pdf. In his country mission to Canada, the Special Rapporteur noted that "Numerous municipalities across the country have opposed this restriction [posed in the draft Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union] on the ability of local authorities to promote urban-rural linkages and local economic development through institutional purchasing, and have requested exemptions." “UN food envoy scolds Ottawa's anti-poverty efforts,” CBC News (3 March 2013), at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/03/03/pol-cp-un-food-envoy-slaps-ottawa-on-scrapping-census-and-eu-trade- talks.html. 32 CESCR, General Comment No. 19, “The right to social security (art. 9)” (2008), para. 73, at: http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=4slQ6QSmlBEDzFEovLCuW1a0Szab0oX- TdImnsJZZVQdrCvvLm0yy7YCiVA9YY61Z8YHJWla0qOfZ9fbBAjHL/lLI5gllsqSBbczFKYlRCH3h0ggclCkMPkxlTz7NI9wE. 33 CESCR General Comment No. 16: “The equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights (art. 3)” (2005), para. 42, at: http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=4slQ6QSmlBEDzFEovLCuW1AVC1NkPs- gUedPlF1vfPMJpdX7m2Tx5L7detnk4aL8Sk%2bOCLoaHsUFVMh6SviNU92S8cbmr- riTaya9N9pSBR%2b0tHiI/LewK1gfET938Og3y. 34 Mohamed Cherif Bassiouni, "International Crimes: 'Jus Cogens' and 'Obligatio Erga Omnes'," Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 59, No. 4 (autumn 1996), p. 68. 35 International Court of Justice (ICJ), Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, ICJ Reports 1996, p. 257, para. 79, at: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/93/7648.pdf. 36 Ibid. 20 37 ICJ, The Corfu Channel Case (Merits) (Leyden: Sijthoff, 1949), p. 22, at: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/1/1645.pdf. 38 ICJ, Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, op. cit. 39 Eric Engle, “Third Party Effect of Fundamental Rights (Drittwirkung),” European Law/Europarecht (2009), pp. 165–73, at: http://www.hanselawreview.org/pdf8/Vol5No2Art02.pdf; Malgosia Fitzmaurice, “Third Parties and the Law of Treaties,” Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, Vol. 6 (2002), at: http://www.mpil.de/files/pdf1/mpunyb_fitzmaurice_6.pdf. 40 HRC, General Comment No. 31, op. cit., para. 4. Also Vienna Convention, op. cit. [supra 5]. 41 General Assembly resolutions 44 (I), 8 December 1946; 395 (V), 2 December 1950; 615 (VII), 5 December 1952; 1179 (XII), 26 November 1957; 1302 (XIII), 10 December 1958; 1460 (SIV), 10 December 1959; 1597 (XV), 13 April 1961; 1662 (XVI), 28 No- vember 1961 on the question of the treatment of people of Indian and Pakistani origin in South Africa. 42 General Assembly, “The policies of apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa, A/RES/1761 (XVII), 6 Novem- ber 1962, “Resolutions Adopted on the Reports of the Special Political Committee,” General Assembly – Seventieth Session, p. 9, operative para. 4, at: http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNGA/1962/21.pdf. 43 Edward I. Sidlow, Just the Facts (Cram 101 Textbook Reviews) e-Study Guide for: GOVT. 44 “Boycott” entered the English language in the context of "Land War" in Ireland, derived from the name of Captain Charles Boycott, the land agent of an absentee landlord, the conservative, Anglo-Irish John Crichton, 3rd Earl Erne. As harvests had been poor in 1880, Lord Erne offered his tenants a 10% rent reduction. However, in September of that year, protesting tenants demanded a 25% reduction instead. When Lord Erne refused, Capt. Boycott attempted to evict eleven tenants from the land and soon found himself subject to social ostracism organized by the Irish Land League. In addition, rather than resorting to violence, everyone in the locality joined in shunning tenants who took farms where another tenant was evicted. In turn, Boycott soon became isolated, his workers carried out stop-work actions in his fields, stables and house. Moreover, local traders ceased doing business with him, and the local postman refused to deliver mail. Joyce Marlow, Captain Boycott and the Irish (London: André Deutsch, 1973), pp. 133–142. 45 General Assembly, “Policies of apartheid of the Government of South Africa,” A/RES/38/39 (1983) 5 December 1983, A: “Situ- ation in South Africa,” para. 2, at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/38/a38r039.htm. 46 Ibid., para. 12. 47 Ibid., paras. 13–14. 48 A/RES/38/39, op. cit., “D: Sanctions against South Africa,” para. 1. 49 A/RES/38/39, op. cit., “J: Oil embargo against South Africa.” 50 Ibid., paras. 2–3. 51 A/RES/38/39, op. cit., “D: Sanctions against South Africa,” perambulatory para. 10. 52 A/RES/38/39, op. cit., “F: Relations between Israel and South Africa.” 53 Security Council resolution 569 (1985), 26 July 1985, at: http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNSC/1985/10.pdf. 54 Carlos Manuel Vázquez, “The “Self-Executing” Character of the Refugee Protocol’s Nonrefoulement Obligation,” Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, Vol. 7 (1993), pp. 39–65, at: http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1997&context=facpub; The American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the International Criminal Court, “The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Self- Executing Treaty under US Law?” United Nations Association of the United States of America, at: http://www.amicc.org/docs/Rome_Statute_Self_Executing.pdf; Tom Moerenhout, “The Obligation to Withhold from Trading in Order Not to Recognize and Assist Settlements and Their Economic Activity in Occupied Territories,” Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, Vol. 3, Issue 2, 2012 (2014), 344–88, at: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/18781527/3/2. 55 “The British Anti-Apartheid Movement: 30 Years of Boycotting,” South African History Online, at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/british-anti-apartheid-movement-30-years-boycotting. 56 Anti-Apartheid Committee for Selective Purchasing, ‘’Gary, Indiana City Council Votes for Anti-Apartheid Boycott,’’ 10 Decem- ber 1975, at: http://africanactivist.msu.edu/document_metadata.php?objectid=32-130-1F40. 57 Harvey Milk, The Harvey Milk Interviews: In His Own Words (San Francisco: Vince Emery Productions, 2012), at: https://en.wik- ipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vince_Emery_Productions&action=edit&redlink=1. 58 “D.C. Drops South Africa,” Black Enterprise (May 1984), at: https://books.google.com.eg/books?id=t18EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22&dq=washington+DC+City+Council+selective+purchasing+resolution&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwA2oVChMI4-W7-pSQxgIVxlgUCh12EgAL#v=onepage&q=washington%20DC%20City%20Council%20selective%20purchasing%20resolution&f=false. 59 Richard Knight, “Sanctions, Disinvestment, and U.S. Corporations in South Africa,” in Robert E. Edgar, Sanctioning Apartheid (Trenton NJ: Africa World Press, 1990), at: http://richardknight.homestead.com/files/uscorporations.htm. 60 Chapter: Sanctions, Disinvestment, and U.S. Corporations in South Africa, in Knight, op. cit. 61 See Steven Rose and Hilary Rose, “Boycott of Israel? It worked for South Africa,” "Nature", Vol. 417 (16 May 2002), p. 221; and George Fink, “Did an academic boycott help to end apartheid?” Nature, Vol. 417, Issue 6890, p. 690 (13 June 2002). 62 Consistent with the following principles: “4. All armed action or repressive measures of all kinds directed against dependent peoples shall cease in order to enable them to exercise peacefully and freely their right to complete independence, and the integrity of their national territory shall be respected. 21 5. Immediate steps shall be taken, in Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories or all other territories which have not yet attained independence, to transfer all powers to the peoples of those territories, without any conditions or reservations, in accordance with their freely expressed will and desire, without any distinction as to race, creed or colour, in order to enable them to enjoy complete independence and freedom. 6. Any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. 7. All States shall observe faithfully and strictly the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the present Declaration on the basis of equality, noninterference in the internal affairs of all States, and respect for the sovereign rights of all peoples and their territorial integrity.” General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), 14 December 1960, at: http://www.un.org/en/decolonization/declaration.shtml. 63 “... the subsequent development of international law in regard to non-self-governing territories, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, made the principle of self-determination applicable to all of them”...“the termination of the Mandate and the declaration of the illegality of South Africa’s presence in Namibia [were] opposable to all States in the sense of barring erga omnes the legality of a situation which is maintained in violation of international law […].” ICJ Advisory Opinion on the international juridical status of Namibia, 21 June 1971, paras. 51 and 56. 64 Case Concerning East Timor (Portugal v. Australia), Judgment of 30 June 1995, p. 16, para. 28; p. 102, para. 29, at: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/84/6949.pdf. 65 The International Legal Status of Western Sahara, General List. No. 61, 16 October 1975 66 “…the Court does not support Morocco's claim to have exercised territorial sovereignty over Western Sahara.” International Court of Justice, Western Sahara Advisory Opinion of 16 October 1975, para. 105, at: http://www.icj- cij.org/docket/files/61/6197.pdfI. The Court also cited “the paucity of evidence of actual display of authority unambiguously relating to Western Sahara renders it difficult to consider the Moroccan claim”; that “Morocco cannot, for the most part, be considered as disposing of the [legal] difficulties in the way of its claim to have exercised effectively internal sovereignty over Western Sahara,” para. 103; finally, noting that, “even taking account of the specific structure of the Sherifian State [Morocco], [evidence] does not establish any tie of territorial sovereignty between Western Sahara and that State,” paras. 107, 162. “Thus the Court has not found legal ties of such a nature as might affect the application of resolution 1514 (XV) in the decolonization of Western Sahara and, in particular, of the principle of self-determination through the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the Territory,” para. 162. 67 General Assembly resolution 3292 (XXIX), requesting the ICJ Advisory Opinion, 13 December 1974, para. 4. 68 United Nations Security Council Resolution 380 06 November 1975, at: http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNSC/1975/14.pdf. 69 Letter from the Legal Counsel to the President of the Security Council, S/2002/161, 12 February 2002, at: http://www.arso.org/UNlegaladv.htm. 70 Of UN member states, only The Republic of Turkey recognizes TRNC. 71 UN Security Council resolutions 541 and 550 determined the TRNC declaration of independence illegal and invalid. 72 International Law Commission, “Draft articles on Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts,” A/56/10 (2001), at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/56/a5610.pdf; and Commentaries on articles 40 and 41, at: http://www.eydner.org/dokumente/darsiwa_comm_e.pdf. 73 Security Council resolution 465 (1980), 1 March 1980, para. 3. 74 For example, the accompaniment of forced eviction is defined as a “gross violation of human rights, in particular the human right to housing,” UN Commission on Human Rights, resolution 1993/77, 10 March 1993, para. 1; see also A. S. Al-Khasawneh and R. Hatano, “The human rights dimensions of population transfer, including the implantation of settlers,” E/C.4/Sub.2/1993/17, 6 June 1993, at: http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.Sub.2.1993.17*.En?Opendocument. 75 General Assembly, “The situation in the Middle East,” A/37/123 (1982), 16 December 1982, at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/37/a37r123.htm. 76 General Assembly, “The situation in the Middle East,” A/37/123 (1982), 16 December 1982, para. 13, at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/37/a37r123.htm. 77 Ibid., para. 14. 78 A/37/123 (1982), para. 15. 79 ICJ, Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, General List 131, 9 July 2004, at: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/84/6949.pdfhttp://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1671.pdf. 80 Ibid., p. 138; p. 172, para. 88; p. 199, para. 155–57. 81 “Report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem,” A/HRC/22/63, 7 February 2013, p. 5, para. 17, at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session22/A-HRC-22-63_en.pdf. 82 “Report of the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967: Richard Falk,” A/HRC/23/21, 3 June 2013, esp. pp. 17–19, at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session23/A-HRC-23%20- 22 21_en.pdf; and Richard Falk, “Report of the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,” A/67/239, 19 September 2012, esp. pp. 7–23, at: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N12/515/86/PDF/N1251586.pdf?OpenElement. 83 Palestinian BDS National Committee, “Introducing the BDS Movement,” at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/bdsintro. 84 BDS Movement, “Kuwait authorities exclude Veolia from $750m contract,” 29 September 2014, at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2014/kuwait-exclude-veolia-750m-12712#sthash.XeQ8BxyR.dpuf. 85 BDS Movement, “Scottish city council excludes Veolia,” 21 September 2010, at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2010/edinburgh-veolia-victory-4509. 86 BDS Movement, “Marrickville Council votes to support BDS,” 15 December 2010, at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2010/marrickville-council-votes-to-support-bds-4907. 87 BDS Movement, “Bristol Council approves Motion for Sanctions against Israel,” 2 July 2010, at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2010/bristol-council-approves-motion-forsanctions-against-israel- 747#sthash.9SjOqWwb.dpuf. 88 BDS Movement, “$170m Argentina loss for Israeli water firm Mekorot as BDS spreads southward,” 14 March 2014, at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2014/170m-argentina-loss-for-mekorot-11875. 89 BDS Movement, “Israeli state water company loses Portugal deal and faces global protests,” 21 April 2014, at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2014/mekorot-loses-portugal-deal-11985#sthash.AOEudauo.dpuf. 90 Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, “Dublin City Council motion calls for end to attacks on Gaza and Administrative Deten- tion, and for arms embargo & trade sanctions on Israel,” 15 July 2014, at: http://www.ipsc.ie/press-releases/dublin-city-council-motion-calls-for-end-to-attacks-on-gaza-and-administrative-detention-and-for-arms-embargo-trade-sanctions-on-israel. 91 BDS Movement, “Elbit Systems loses key Brazil deal over Palestine protests,” 3 December 2014, at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2014/elbit-systems-loses-key-brazil-deal-12878#sthash.cQOqW0Kr.dpuf. 92 John B. Quigley, Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1990), “Hewers of Wood: Arab, Agriculture, Commerce and Labor,” Chapter 14, pp. 111–15, and “The National Institutions: Legislation That Makes Israel Jewish,” Chapter 15, pp. 116–20. 93 W. Thomas Mallison and Sally V. Mallison, The Palestine Question in International Law and World Order (London: Longman, 1986), “Juridical Status and Political Activities of the Zionist Organization/Jewish Agency” Chapter 2, pp. 79–141; Roselle Tekiner, “On the Inequality of Israeli Citizens, Without Prejudice, Vol. I, No. 1 (1987), 48–57. 94 Commission des Affaires Étrangères, “La géopolitiques de l’eau” (Paris: Assemblée Nationale, 2011), pp. 130–32, at: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i4070.pdf; Al Haq, Water for One People Only: Discriminatory Access and “Water apartheid” in the OPT (Ramallah: Al Haq, 2013), at: http://www.alhaq.org/publications/Water-For-One-People- -Issue 6 (May 2013), at: http://landtimes.landpe ,أحوال األرض/Only.pdf. See also “World Environment Day, Gaza,” Land Times dia.org/newsdes.php?id=qWw=&catid=ow==&edition=pQ. 95 See Chapter 1, “Water injustice in Palestine: a limiting factor for social and economic development,” in Economic drivers of water financialization (Amsterdam: Friends of the Earth International [FOEI], March 2014) at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2014/friends-of-the-earth-international-statement-11628#sthash.r5dNNMVa.dpufhttp://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Economic-drivers-of-water-financialization.pdf; Water injustice in Palestine: a limiting factor for social and economic development (Amsterdam: FOEI, March 2014), at: http://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Water- injustice-in-Palestine.pdf; “Friends of the Earth International statement on water apartheid in Palestine,” 10 January 2014, at: http://www.foei.org/news/friends-of-the-earth-international-statement-on-water-apartheid-in-palestine. 96 Talia Sasson, “Summary of the Opinion Concerning Unauthorized Outposts,” Prime Minister’s Office, 10 March 2005, at: http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/956aa60f2a7bd6a185256fc0006305f4?OpenDocu- ment&Highlight=0,outposts. 97 As cited, for example, in the parastatal institutions’ own websites: http://www.jnf.org/map.html, www.jnf.org and www.kkla- mericalatina.org, www.wzo.org, http://www.jnf.org/about-jnf/in-your-area/, http://www.wzo.org.il/Zionist-Federations, http://www.jafi.org/JewishAgency/English/Aliyah/Contact+Addresses/Representatives/Europe.htm, and http://www.jafi.org.il/JewishAgency/English/Contact+Us/International+Offices/. 98 “Local Authorities Forum -- Free Palestine Statement,” 27 November 2012, article 6, at: http://www.hlrn.org/img/documents/final%20statement%20LAF.pdf. 99 “Olive Declaration,” International Conference of Seville in Support of Palestinian Rights, organized by Fondo Andaluz de Muni- cipios para la Solidaridad Internacional (FAMSI), United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) and the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), 2–3 December 2014, at: http://www.hlrn.org/img/documents/olivedeclaration.pdf. 100 Ian Black, “Western Sahara's ‘conflict tomatoes’ highlight a forgotten occupation,” The Guardian (4 March 2015), at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/04/western-sahara-conflict-tomatoes-occupation-morocco-labelling-tax. 101 Western Sahara Resources Watch, “Conflict Tomatoes,” at: http://www.wsrw.org/files/dated/2012-02-13/conflict_tomatoes_14.02.2012.pdf; “Saharawi conflict phosphates and the Aus- tralian dinner table,” Sahara Resources Day, at: http://www.sahararesourcesday.info/saharawi-conflict-phosphates-and-the- 23 australian-dinner-table/; Mitchell Anderson, “Canadian Agri-Business Linked to Moroccan Conflict Mineral,” The Tyee (14 Oc- tober 2013), at: http://thetyee.ca/News/2013/10/14/Canadian-AgriBusiness-Morocco/; Eric Hage, “The role of natural resources in the Western Sahara conflict, and the interests involved,” International conference on multilateralism and international law, with Western Sahara as a case study, Pretoria, South Africa, 4–5 December 2008, at: http://www.arso.org/Ha- genPretoria2008.htm. 102 Security Council resolution 1306 (2000), 5 July 2000, at: http://unipsil.unmissions.org/portals/unipsil/media/documents/scres/SCRes_1306_2000.pdf. 103 Security Council resolution 1385 (2001), 19 December 2001, at: http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNSC/2001/51.pdf. 104 S/RES/2198 (2015), 29 January 2015; S/RES/2136 (2014), 30 January 2014; S/RES/2078 (2012), 28 November 2012; S/RES/2021 (2011), 29 November 2011; S/RES/1952 (2010), 29 November 2010; S/RES/1896 (2009), 30 November 2009; S/RES/1857 (2008), 22 December 2008; S/RES/1807 (2008), 31 March 2008; S/RES/1804 (2008), 13 March 2008; S/RES/1771 (2007), 10 August 2007; S/RES/1768 (2007), 31 July 2007; S/RES/1698 (2006), 31 July 2006; S/RES/1596 (2005), 18 April 2005; S/RES/1552 (2004), 27 July 2004; S/RES/1533 (2004), 12 March 2004; S/RES/1493 (2003), 28 July 2003. 105 Raise Hope for Congo, “Pittsburgh Passes First Ever Conflict-Free City Resolution,” at: http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/news/pittsburgh-passes-first-ever-conflict-free-city-resolution. 106 “Resolution of the City Council of the City of St. Petersburg Approving Consideration of the Presence of Conflict Minerals in Electronic Products in Purchasing and Investment Decisions; and Providing and Affective Date,” 3 October 2011, at: http://www.stpete.org/LegisStream/MG278199/AS278200/AS278215/AI280141/DO281299/DO_281299.pdf. 107 Tara Mohtadi, “Minnesota Town of Edina Pledges to Prioritize Conflict-free Electronics,” Enough Project (23 July 2012), at: http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/minnesota-town-edina-pledges-prioritize-conflict-free-electronics. 108 “Enough Project Applauds Madison's Resolution to go Conflict Free,” Enough Project (5 December 2013), at: http://www.enoughproject.org/news/enough-project-applauds-madisons-resolution-go-conflict-free. 109 Hull City Council, “Hull leads the way in fight against Conflict Minerals” press release, 03 July 2015, at: http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=221%2C674011&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&p_id=5940; “Council” [minutes], 18 June 2015, pp. 34–35, at: https://cmis.hullcc.gov.uk/CMIS/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=8UYAGOEVZwOR%2bk2FtnnGuR- wYt4vf8BVNbtlNexpLnH83jNSUDY1Few%3d%3d&rUzwRPf%2bZ3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw%3d%3d=pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMa- QWCtPHwdhUfCZ%2fLUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ%3d%3d&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3d%3d=hFflUdN3100%3d&kCx1AnS9%2fp WZQ40DXFvdEw%3d%3d=hFflUdN3100%3d&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2bAJvYtyA%3d%3d=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&FgPlIEJYlotS%2bY- GoBi5olA%3d%3d=NHdURQburHA%3d&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&WGew- moAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3d. 110 Barbara Oomen and Moritz Baumgärtel, “Human Rights Cities,” The SAGE Handbook of Human Rights, 2, at: http://kks.verdus.nl/upload/documents/Oomen%20Baumgartel%20Human%20Rights%20Cities%20v2%20March%202013.pdf. 111 See “Global Platform on the Right to the City,” at: http://www.righttothecityplatform.org.br/. 112 European Urban Charter, adopted by the Council of Europe's Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) on 18 March 1992, a Session held during the annual Plenary Session of the CLRAE (17-19 March 1992, Strasbourg), A.8, at: https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=887405. 113 Ibid., at A.18. 114 The Habitat Agenda, A/CONF.165/14, 14 June 1996, para. 1, at: http://ww2.unhabitat.org/declarations/habitat_agenda.asp. 115 Ibid., 102, 108, 180 and 197. 116 HRC General Comment No. 25: Article 25 (Participation in public affairs and the right to vote) (1996), CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.7, 27 August 1996, at: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.7&Lang=en. 117 Moerenhout, supra., note 52. 118 Hugh Lovatt and Mattia Toala, “EU Differentiation and Israeli Settlements” Policy Brief (London: European Council on Foreign Relations, 22 July 2015), at: http://www.hlrn.org/img/documents/EuDifferentiation-final3.pdf.

24 Molina, Raquel P.

From: [email protected] on behalf of Norton, Ben Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2015 1:43 PM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Statement on Forced Resignation of Commissioner Cheryl Davila

Greetings,

I am a reporter for the news publication Mondoweiss. I have been in touch with people in Berkeley who attended a commission meeting last night and say Human Welfare and Community Action Commissioner Cheryl Davila was forced to resign from her position by Councilmember Darryl Moore, after seven years of service, because of her support for the resolution "Conflict in Israel’s Impact on the City of Berkeley."

Can the commission please comment on this? Why was Comissioner Davila forced to step down over a resolution she drafted? Is there an official position of the commission on this issue?

Thank you very much.

Best, Ben Norton

-- Ben Norton | BenNorton.com

164 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Cadance Malone Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2015 10:08 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: tonights anti-Israel resolution

In 2011, a group of anti-Israel activists attempted to get a divestment from Israel referendum on the California statewide ballot. The referendum fell far short of the votes needed to even put the issue before the voters. The referendum process is the ultimate in participatory democracy, and so, in practice and in effect Californians have already overwhelmingly rejected divestment from Israel.

I am asking the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission to also reject this resolution. Foreign policy decision are beyond the scope of the commission. Voters have already rejected pension divestment, as have every municipality where this has been introduced. Ohio recently purchased over 47 million dollars in Israel bonds, recognizing that they were an excellent investment http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local/ohio-buys-million-in-israel-bonds/article_8369253c-f234-11e3-a5ec- 0019bb2963f4.html, declaring “This purchase is consistent with our strategy of making sound investments that prioritize the safety and security of Ohioans’ hard-earned dollars.”

Please keep Berkeley politics separate from foreign politics, and reject this inappropriate precedent to co-mingle these issues.

Thank you.

165 Molina, Raquel P.

From: Rebecca Taralom Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2015 9:49 AM To: Community Action Commission (HWCAC) Subject: Please ask the Human welfare Commission to vote NO on divestment

I just learned that the Berkeley Human Welfare Commission is scheduled to vote on a divestment hearing from Israel, the only democracy in the Middle east. Its beyond ironic that while the entire region is exploding- hundreds of thousands have died in Syria- Millions have become Refugees- Yzidis and Kurds face genocidal persecution- Christians are tortured and slaughtered by Isis and yet Berkeley is targeting Israel - the only stable, democratic and pluralistic country in the area.

It is particularly abhorrent that this is scheduled during the holiest days in the Jewish calendar.

Please ask the Commission to vote no on this horribly misguided, ill-timed resolution.

Thank you.

166