What's at stake:
Advocates are calling on the only Democrat who represents Fresno in the United States House of Representatives to advocate for a ceasefire in Palestine and put an end U.S. aid to Israel.
For 40 days, Kareem wasn’t able to communicate with any of his family in the Gaza Strip, including his grandmother.
The 28-year-old Palestinian engineer in Fresno felt anguish not knowing if they were alive. Kareem asked to only be identified by his first name out of concern that his public statements could endanger his family in Palestine, as the Israeli government has cracked down on free speech and public critique.
Those 40 days felt like 40 years, Kareem said.
“This genocide is not just another conflict happening thousands of miles away. This genocide is closer than you think,” Kareem said. “It’s affecting your neighbors, your colleagues, your friends, your teachers, your doctors and your engineers.”
Kareem bore the details of his family’s strife in the Gaza Strip right outside U.S. Rep. Jim Costa’s office in downtown Fresno during a Friday news conference organized by the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the local Palestine Liberation Group.
Costa has failed to make himself available to local Palestinian, Arab and Muslim community members and advocates who say they have been trying to meet with him for the last five months.
Despite advocates with CAIR Sacramento Valley/Central California and Palestine Liberation Group communicating with Costa’s staff and even making appointments with Costa’s appointment scheduler, neither have led to an actual meeting with Fresno’s only Democrat in the United States House of Representatives.
“Every meeting that was tentatively scheduled was canceled or pushed further out without adequate explanation or reason,” said Samai Muñoz, a member of the local Palestine Liberation Group, at the Friday news conference. “This is not only an insult, but a violation of the values of democracy in this country.”
Costa’s communications staff did not answer questions about why he hasn’t met with constituents or advocates from the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities.
Communications Director Anthony Camacho instead forwarded a general statement from Costa blaming Hamas for the thousands of Palestinian and Israeli lives lost since Oct. 7. He also said he supports Palestinians in a two-state solution.
“As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I co-led efforts to open the Rafah border crossing, allowing vital humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Costa’s statement read. “Now, I’m pushing to force a vote on my bipartisan bill to build on our efforts and secure the vital support they need.”
Costa’s voting record separates him from many Democrats
In February, Costa voted in favor of a standalone bill that would have sent $17.6 billion in aid to Israel, which included replenishing missiles for Israel’s Iron Dome, $3 billion in additional weapons procurement and $1 billion to develop artillery and critical munitions. The bill fell 37 votes shy of the two-thirds minimum to pass the House, with most Democrats voting against it.
Back in November, Costa again broke with most of his party, voting in favor of censuring fellow Democrat U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib — the only Palestinian American in Congress — over her criticism of Israel at the time.
Costa was one of only 22 Democrats, and the only one from California, to support censuring Tlaib. He voted the same way as Rep. John McCarthy on the matter, too.
Costa’s refusal to meet constituents with loved ones directly impacted by Israel’s siege on Gaza comes at a time when national tide and political pressure has strongly shifted in recent months.
“We think it’s shameful and disgraceful that Representative Costa is so far behind what we’re seeing on a national level,” said Sukaina Hussain, a deputy executive director at CAIR’s Sacramento Valley/Central California office.
Before last month, President Joe Biden avoided using the word ceasefire. But in late February, he told Washington media, while notoriously holding an ice cream cone, that a ceasefire would be hammered out by early March.
Three weeks later, not only has that failed to pan out, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear the Israeli military will launch another invasion into the Gaza Strip, this time Rafah, the southernmost part of the strip sharing a border with Egypt.
More than a million Palestinians have fled to Rafah since October, as Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip began in the north and has continued south. Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have all called on Netanyahu to pump the brakes and not move forward with a Rafah invasion.
As of Friday, the Gaza Health Ministry told media that Israel has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians since October, two-thirds of whom were women and children. The Israeli government told media that about 1,200 Israeli people were killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, and the Israeli death count has largely remained stagnant since then.
Israel’s five-month siege on the Gaza Strip has also claimed the lives of 90 Palestinian journalists and over 150 United Nations workers, besides laying waste to at least 30 hospitals and every single one of the Gaza Strip’s 12 universities.
Political pressure grows across the nation
With the rising Palestinian death toll, more support has formed across the United States for a ceasefire locally and nationally, as more than 70 U.S. cities have passed ceasefire resolutions.
Fresno isn’t one of them, but the growing list of California cities that have passed resolutions calling for an end to the violence includes Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Long Beach, Richmond, Cudahy, Montebello and Pomona.
Madera also passed a ceasefire resolution, and there are hopes that Kerman could do the same. Additionally, Gov. Gavin Newsom put out an open letter, calling for a ceasefire in Palestine.
Besides the Fresno City Council avoiding a ceasefire vote, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer also created controversy when he flew an Israeli flag at Eaton Plaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which he did without consulting the local Jewish community in Fresno. In his remarks that day, Dyer failed to acknowledge Palestinian civilian suffering and chastised pro-Palestine protesters at the event.
Frustrations from Palestinian residents in Fresno grew over him siding with Israel in its occupation of Palestine. While he pushed back against criticism initially, he later apologized to the Palestinian community at a news conference in December, but he notably excluded the same Palestinian activists who had been urging city officials to take action.
Costa’s refusal to meet with Palestinian, Arab and Muslim constituents after five months and in the face of worsening conditions in Gaza stings especially during the holy month of Ramadan.
“He’s so out of touch with his constituents and it shows,” said Kareem, the local engineer with family in Palestine. “He’s not willing to meet with us outside of the month of Ramadan, so he’s definitely not going to meet with us during the month of Ramadan — although we encourage it and we still hope to meet with him.”
After more than a month without being able to communicate with his family in Gaza, Kareem said he was able to get back in touch with them just two weeks ago. They told him about all they’d gone through, from fleeing northern Gaza to constantly being on the move due to the scale of Israeli bombardment — and it wasn’t just his grandmother.
“We heard how my cousin’s babies contracted Hepatitis due to the lack of healthcare and basic human essentials,” Kareem said. “We heard how they were so desperate to the point where they had literally eaten grass, and they got poisoned because of it. We heard how much weight they’ve been losing due to the starvation inflicted by Israel.”
Besides community members wanting Costa to engage with them, along with supporting a permanent ceasefire, they’re also keen on the United States ending weapons aid to Israel, something that overshadows any last-minute humanitarian relief Biden cobbles together.
“I have to go to work every day,” Kareem said, “knowing that my hard-earned money is being taxed to fund the weapons being used to kill and destroy my family’s lives.”
