San Francisco must not let antisemitism win – opinion

On January 8, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted in favor of passing a resolution that would demand a ceasefire by Israel that would leave its civilians permanently hostage to the terror group Hamas. After the atrocities of October 7 and the information that has since emerged about the ongoing abuse of the hostages, Israel abandoning them would be unthinkable. Worse, the resolution was passed in a climate of intimidation and the bigoted public harassment of Jews in the meeting room itself. San Francisco owes its citizens better.

Israel and Hamas had a long-term ceasefire in place on October 6. The next morning, Hamas forces stormed across the Israeli border and massacred over 1,200 innocents, raping women, mutilating genital organs, and burning people alive. Moreover, Hamas took 240 living captives, and while some miraculously have been released and rescued, over a hundred remain under Hamas control, where releasees have described rape and excruciating psychological abuse. 

Israel is not fighting the Palestinian people; it is fighting the terrorist group Hamas. If Hamas turned over the captives, there would be a ceasefire tomorrow. What nation on Earth could allow its people to be violated, murdered, and kidnapped without attempting to rescue the survivors? Yet the resolution passed by the Board did not make its call for a ceasefire contingent on freeing these captives, which would extend their nightmare indefinitely.

Dr. Einat Kalisch-Rotem, mayor of San Francisco’s sister city of Haifa, who is still mourning the loss of two family members murdered on October 7 and another held hostage in Gaza, expressed her disappointment in a resolution “that critically targets Israel but glaringly condemns to message the sexual violence against women by Hamas on October 7, and the continuing violence against hostages held for almost 100 days by Hamas.” The resolution, as passed, did not even mention the horrors perpetrated by Hamas through sexual assault on women and girls, as well as on men. How can San Francisco claim to stand up for women’s dignity and not have anything to say about this violent atrocity?

An opportunity to do the right thing

Worse yet, the resolution was passed during proceedings that were marred by frequent heckling and disruptions, some antisemitic, by masked pro-Hamas audience members. While one San Francisco Jewish man spoke, he was heckled with pig noises, which he rightly described as “pure antisemitism,” and targeted with jeers when he described the violence perpetrated by Hamas. “I have never, since I moved to San Francisco, seen this kind of hatred against a minority group ever,” he said. “A public demonstration of hate against a minority group.”

Mayor London Breed now has the opportunity to do the right thing by vetoing the resolution. Allowing such a one-sided statement, passed in the context of such severe public intimidation and harassment, to stand would compromise San Francisco’s integrity and voice. By taking this courageous position, she would ensure that San Francisco sticks to its highest values and denies anti-Jewish hatred.

The writer is a prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and star of the Emmy-nominated Netflix original series, Skin Decision: Before and After.