Daysog Reconciles Council Position With His Congressional “Peace” Platform
by Larry Freeman
At a contentious Jan 2, Alameda City Council meeting Vice Mayor Tony Daysog – who is a local candidate for The U.S. Congress –faced an issue elemental to his platform and campaign, involving calls for a Gaza Ceasefire.
Daysog, who has consistently staked out a position as “fighting for a better, fairer more just and peaceful world,” as his website posts, found himself in two differing domains of the Gaza Ceasefire issue, one as a member of The Council and another as a prospective member of Congress.
The marathon Council meeting rolled deep into the night, as Daysog and the rest of the Council heard over five hours of impassioned, pointed, yet generally civil public comment on the City Council’s consideration to sign on to a formal stand on a Gaza Ceasefire. The majority of voices called on The Council to lend its approval of that general goal.
But what Daysog said about his determination to not support a draft letter from Alameda Mayor Ashcraft calling for a Gaza Ceasefire, also resonates on his bid to win the Democratic Primary vote on March 4 as he looks to fill the upcoming District 12 vacancy of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, an outspoken Ceasefire advocate.
Some, as Austin Tam, an appointee of The Alameda Democratic Central Committee who voiced strong support for The Mayor’s letter at the Jan 2 meeting, indicated in a phone interview on January 16th, that he saw a disconnect between Daysog’s Council stance and a part of his peace agenda as a Congressional candidate.
“You know,” said Tam, Daysog “is all about peace. He needs to stand by his peace. He is running for Congress.”
Tam went on to say “the politicians need to heed to our demands…You would think that a City Council would pass it, ” after referencing a number of other City Councils in and beyond the Bay Area who have done so, although in sometimes extremist language.
Following over five hours of public comment, and when the time came for The Council members to finally spell out their positions on the Mayor’s relatively moderate letter, Daysog’s comments took on the flavor of a stump speech as well as a tightly knit rationale on his ultimate decision, as a Council member, to oppose The Mayor’s stance.
During the three minutes granted him to provide his rationale to not lend approval to The Mayor’s letter, Daysog opened with an All American, historical invocation of a famed painting of Normal Rockwell, noted for his folksy, common person depictions of our culture in various walks of life.
Daysog, no stranger to U.S. History, referred to a famed poster depicting an average joe standing and speaking at a public meeting, eyes looking thoughtfully upward as though seeking strength, wisdom and guidance.
It was entitled “Freedom Of Speech” in 1940, a companion to three other broadsides in “The Four Freedoms” series which extolled great American civil liberties when the Nazi and Japanese Imperial Empires executed savage campaigns of conquest and subjugation.
“What we saw before us,” said Daysog, referencing the more than 100 public statements The Council had just heard, “wherever we fall on the issue, exemplified (the spirit of the painting) at its best.”
“Other cities in the Bay Area have fallen far short with this issue, and no matter where we on the city council land,” folks will be proud of how divided council members “worked with each other to figure out what is the best approach.
When it comes to this matter, for me what I am most concerned about is the specific texts (in the meeting and in the Mayor’s Ceasefire letter) that are in front of us” focusing specifically on the words, “ ‘…We seek to amplify the voices of our constituents from across the city who have united to hold vigils and repeatedly addressed us at city council meetings.’ That sentence begins with ‘we seek to amplify the voices of our constituents…. he recounted.
“I don’t agree with the characterization of Israel as a genocidal state.”
Councilperson and Congress Candidate Daysog
“ To me it’s troubling on several accounts,” as again Daysog again referenced the Rockwell image.
“For our democracy to work, (as in the graphic) you need to understand where we come from. I don’t agree with the characterization of Israel as an ‘apartheid state’ and I don’t agree with the characterization of Israel as a ‘genocidal state’, and so for that to have been repeated often….is not a voice that I believe this City Council should be amplifying…”
Daysog cited another reason backing his decision to go against the Mayor’s Cease Fire Letter.
“For this City Council to work –for our town hall to endure– whether it’s that Norman Rockwell picture or not, this Council must continue to always strive to be a neutral arbiter of discussion and discourse, that we can’t take one side over the other, but we need to balance the view and I believe that this letter fails in that regard.”
Tensions grow between Mayor and Vice Mayor
At that point Mayor Ashcraft interjected, saying, “And Vice Mayor, if you are going to quote me, I’d like you to do it completely,” and the she went on to read the full sentence from her letter which Daysog referenced: “Rather, we seek to amplify the voices of our constituents from across the city who have united to hold
vigils and repeatedly address us at City Council meetings, raising concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza ,and calling for an immediate end to the violence.”
(TO ACCESS THE FULL TEXT OF THE MAYOR’S LETTER, CLICK HERE.)
The Mayor then continued to hold the floor saying, “So if you want to remain neutral on that, that is good for your constituents to know …I take it you oppose the stance that our Congresswoman Barbara Lee has taken (an allusion to HR 786) also calling for a response.”
The Mayor did not specify if she was referring to Daysog’s City Council constituency, his Congressional candidate constituency or both, but either way the comment has implications.
She went on to take issue with Daysog’s mention of “apartheid” and “genocide,” — terms not used in her letter but present in some of the over 500 letters addressed to the council, at more than one rally in front of City Hall and from speakers.
At that point Daysog interjected, “But those are the voices you are amplifying,” and the spirit of a contentious town hall meeting briefly held center stage.
The Mayor took back the floor, saying, “Excuse me, excuse me, but what I am trying to do is come down on the side of humanity, and we can do that.” before continuing with more rationales in support of her position.
That ended Daysog’s Gaza Ceasefire statements at the Council meeting, but it did not end his further defining where he stands on the matter from the perspective of his run for Lee’s Congress seat.
“The situation in Gaza is very tragic and needs immediate attention, particularly in the form of a pause in violence on the part of both Israel and Hamas.”
Daysog
In two succinct email responses asking to elaborate, Daysog wrote, “The situation in Gaza is very tragic and needs immediate attention, particularly in the form of a pause in violence on the part of both Israel and Hamas.”
He did not address questions for this story that sought his views on Hezbollah, Iran and Iranian backed Yemeni Houthi attacks in The Red Sea and other elements of the widening and worsening conflicts in the regions.
As to what Daysog believes broader U.S. policy should be from a Congressional point of view, he drew upon historical perspectives and precedents, which have fostered his “peace candidate” stances and views.
“U.S. policy with respect to Israel and areas of West Bank and Gaza has been clear since the 1990’s as a result of The Oslo Accords and The WYE Agreement.
While both Hamas and Prime Minister Netanyahu and his faction of Israel Government appear not to honor Oslo, it must continue to remain at the heart of U.S. Policy,” wrote Daysog.
“All parties concerned must continue to acknowledge a two state approach (ie. recognize Israel as a nation and nationhood for Palestine (in the) Gaza and West Bank.”
In a related matter, Daysog would go on, in The Council’s last official act before the meeting ended in the early hours of Dec 3, to vote against a motion from Councilperson Tracy Jensen seeking to add The Council’s endorsement to House Resolution 786 (HR 786) which calls for a Ceasefire and currently lies dormant in The House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Council’s HR 786 vote, taken after Councilperson Malaia Vella left not long before midnight, deadlocked at 2-2, effectively ending the matter unless a council person wants to add it back to the agenda or make a new motion in the future.
Spencer also voted against, while Ashcraft and Jensen voted in favor of the motion.
“People all over the world are asking for a Ceasefire. We need something to end the deaths.”
Austin Tam
Tam said he thinks that the motion would have passed had Vella still been there, adding that,” They need to heed the call that the world is asking to have a Ceasefire resolution to end the atrocities going on in Gaza. People all over the world are asking for a Ceasefire. We need something to end the deaths,” a basic premise with which Daysog doubtlessly agrees as a broad view , but with qualifications related to the mass complexities of the issue.
Daysog indicated that it was not a matter of the overarching goal to reduce or end the ongoing bloodshed, as much as specific wording which HR 786 omits.
The official U.S. Congress summary of HR 786 spells out only the following parameters regarding the matter:
“This resolution urges the President to immediately call for and to facilitate de-escalation and a cease-fire in Israel and Palestinian Territories. The resolution also calls on the President to promptly send and facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.”
“HR 786 doesn’t refer to US policy toward Israel and the situations in Gaza\West Bank, i.e. Oslo Accords\Wye Agreement (ie acceptance of two states, renunciation of terror as a form political expression, Palestinian Authority as the institutional vehicle for civil order in West Bank\Gaza (incl. policing of any terror movements, etc.), ” wrote Daysog.
Beyond Alameda, HR 786 has not gained much traction in The House, with just eighteen members, all Democrats mostly from the party’s far left faction, including Barbara Lee’s co-sponsorship.
Daysog recognizes that political shortcoming, saying, “I believe the majority of Democrats have NOT signed onto HR 786 and that’s why it’s been sitting idly by for several months now largely for the reasons I gave, in that it is silent on what is current US policy toward Israel and the situations in Gaza\West Bank.”
Daysog also pointed to other missing particulars from a broader, U.S. policy view, as he hinted at other vexing, byzantine complexities.
“Other elements of Oslo must also continue to be at the center of U.S. policy,” an aspect of Israeli/Palestinian peace also not mentioned in HR 786.
Daysog declined to add to his comments with respect to whether or not supporting some generalized, ‘half a loaf is better than a quarter or no bread at all’ call for reducing or stopping hostilities.
He also declined to comment on other regional conflict problems related to the actions of Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy war issue especially as that ties to Houthi aggressions in the Red Sea and U.S. retaliation.