After several rounds of drafts and hundreds of public comments, the Santa Clara County Board of Education passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. SCCBOE joins New Haven Unified School District in Union City and Ann Arbor School District in Michigan as one of the first educational agencies to call for a ceasefire in the region.
The resolution specifically recognizes the children affected by the Israel-Hamas war and their responsibility as an educational institution to foster an environment supportive of all students. During the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, at least 33 children were killed and an estimated 40 more were abducted by armed groups. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that at least 10,000 Palestinian children have died since the war began and that another 17,000 are separated from their parents or relatives.
“The SCCBOE calls for a ceasefire for sustainable peace and the release of all hostages in the Middle East, including Palestine and Israel, which demonstrates to Santa Clara County students that leaders can advocate for peaceful conflict resolution for the good of humanity and for the sake of children,” the resolution reads.
SCCBOE is just one of several Bay Area public agencies that have (controversially) called for a ceasefire in the region. Prior to voting on the resolution, the board heard about 180 public comments from concerned citizens, making for a five and a half hour meeting. Some spoke in support of the resolution, but many did so in opposition to the language of the document.
Trustee Grace Mah, whose area of representation includes Los Altos, Mountain View Los Altos High and Mountain View Whisman school districts, suggested removing the words “humanitarian ceasefire” and substituting it with “all people’s peaceful coexistence and the release of all hostages in Gaza,” among other changes. Though Mah later chose not to fight for this amendment after other board members denied her motion, many Israeli and Jewish commenters urged the removal of the phrase.
“Advocating for a ceasefire shows a double standard and is an antisemitic stance, treating Israel differently from other nations,” said Los Altos resident Elinor Tamari. “Much like the chant from the river to the sea, the call for a ceasefire has turned into another subtle way of calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.”
Alternatively, Sameena Usman, government relations coordinator with the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Bay Area and a mother of two students at Mountain View High, expressed her strong support for the board to specifically call for a ceasefire. She mentioned her disappointment with a statement released by school administration that she said sought to protect “only the Israeli or Jewish students.”
“Honestly, this resolution is very simple – it’s not a Jewish issue, it’s not a Muslim issue, it’s a humanitarian issue,” Usman said. “History is going to be judging us for what we do today. You have the power to be able to stand for peace and stand for a ceasefire.”
Ultimately, board president Maimona Afzal Berta said that she could not stand behind a resolution that did not explicitly call for a ceasefire. Berta, who penned the original resolution, made many changes to the original document based on community feedback, but she could not compromise on the language that she felt was central to the resolution.
“Let’s give our students credit. Our words and our choice of words do matter. I’m concerned that the message we send, if we shy away from using precise language, is that we condone violence,” Berta said. “The fact is Palestinian lives in Gaza should not be controversial. It should not be controversial to say all lives have equal worth. … I can’t compromise on a ceasefire.”
Ultimately the board voted to approve the resolution 5-0, with trustees Don Rocha and Tara Sreekrishnan abstaining.
