WHY A CEASEFIRE RESOLUTION?

We completely understand that a call for a ceasefire coming from Bakersfield’s City Council—or any city council for that matter—will not stop the genocide ‘israel’ has perpetuated on the Palestinians in Gaza; but there are several reasons why our list of demands includes the City Council’s passing of a ceasefire resolution:

First, we must acknowledge a few things: passing a resolution will not change how the ‘israeli’ army operates. Their brutality knows no bounds and their dismissiveness is recorded when they completely ignored the ICJ ruling implicating their actions as Genocide. Passing a resolution won’t necessarily prevent our tax dollars from going to them. Nearly $4 Billion Dollars is given to ‘Israel’ annually with half going to US and ‘israeli’ defense contractors and weapons manufacturers like Boeing, Northrup Grumman, and Elbit Systems. Bakersfield’s City Council passing a ceasefire resolution will most likely not change this.

The question then is: what’s the point? If the City Council passing a ceasefire resolution has no bearing on what’s taking place on the ground or where our taxes are ending up, then why waste time with asking for it? Well, here are a few important reasons:

Accountability: The citizens of Bakersfield have every right to know—on the record—what side of history their council members stand on. Are they going to stand with a country that is committing a genocide on the Palestinian people, thus alienating themselves from anyone with a conscience and a heart? Are they okay with becoming pariahs of history? Or are they going to stand against genocide, thus taking a stance with humanity, and ensuring that they will be on the right side should this kind of thing happen to their own communities? The goal here simply is to put council members in a position where they must take a stand: yes or no.

Narrative: Bakersfield is known nationwide for two unfortunate notions: its vocal and overzealous right-wing community and its dangerous police force. It is in the city council’s benefit to pass a ceasefire resolution, showing this community and communities across this continent, that Bakersfield is a city that recognizes its systemic flaws—but is also willing to stand for what is right. For us, our core fundamental pillars of Education, Community Outreach, and Direct Action influence every step we take—and this action is but one of many we participate in to make our voices heard, and more importantly, control the narrative outside the influence of bought-out local mainstream media.

Reassurance: A ceasefire resolution would serve to reassure Palestinians, Arabs, and People of Color in this community that, for once, they are not only being heard—they are being supported. It also serves to contribute to an environment in where those who’ve been too afraid to speak out—especially in Bakersfield—know that they are not alone. That they don’t have to be afraid to stand up for what they know to be right while fearing some kind of backlash in response.

It is a worthy reminder that we have drafted a ceasefire resolution proposal [which you can find here] and that we’ve been calling on the Bakersfield City Council to formally introduce it since November 2023. They have continuously evaded and ignored us, which is why we are continuing to ramp up our public actions. This evasion culminated into an illegal assault on Pro-Palestine protesters by Bakersfield Police on March 27th. As a result, as of April 10th, ULFP as an organization has decided to boycott all Bakersfield City Council meetings until this injustice is rectified and unjust charges are dropped. We continue to call on individuals to show up to City Council meetings and remind the Council that Palestine is a Bakersfield issue.

It is important to note, as mentioned before, that insisting on a ceasefire resolution is one of many actions we have decided to take and that this is not the end goal, by any means. Our core demands remain the same and can be found here.

Our actions will continue until these demands are met and Palestine is liberated, because we understand—as Nelson Mandela did, as Malcolm X did, as Angela Davis does, as our community does, and as the entire Global South does—that we will not be truly liberated, until Palestine is. A liberated Palestine is the first domino to a worldwide, global revolution for liberation.