Hundreds testify at San Marcos meeting as residents press council on Gaza ceasefire resolution

Hundreds of residents filled San Marcos’ council chambers for more than three hours on Tuesday to press the City Council to adopt a nonbinding resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an arms embargo on Israel and recognition of Palestinian sovereignty.

The hearing featured sustained appeals from students, religious leaders and longtime residents who asked the council to express solidarity with civilians caught in the conflict. Organizers framed the measure as a symbolic statement of the city’s values and — for some speakers — as a means to protect local residents, including international students, from retaliatory actions.

“I'm here to ask you to strongly consider passing a resolution calling upon our federal government to stop supplying weapons at our expense to the Israeli military,” said Scott Cove, who identified himself as a resident of the Victory Gardens neighborhood. "We should come together to reject all forms of hate and bigotry," he told the council.

Organizers and students said the resolution is intended to prompt Washington to follow existing legal restrictions such as the Leahy Act and to reduce U.S. material support that speakers said is being used in ways that violate international law. "We are asking our city to uphold basic human rights, international law and constitutional freedoms," said Yancy Arevalo, an organizer with Palestine Solidarity SMTX.

Local academics urged the council to endorse the resolution on prudential and moral grounds. "It strikes me that this is a much more complicated issue than the oversimplifications that seem to be coming out in public discourse," said Thomas Doyle, professor of political science…