firing<\/a> a commissioner and approving a new one for failing to make required adjustments to the resolution. O\u2019Brien alleged the new commissioner holds Zionist beliefs.<\/p>\n\u201cI saw a lot of the same problems that we all know (are) going on in the city,\u201d Gaith said, speaking about his time on the commission. \u201cIt\u2019s not just the Zionist takeover of council. It\u2019s also a pro-developer, runaway upzoning of our communities. It\u2019s not helping small businesses. It\u2019s bringing in draconian technologies such as Flock \u2026 which are incredibly disastrous for our societies.\u201d<\/p>\n
When contacted by The Daily Californian, Tregub did not comment on the allegation of appointing a Zionist commissioner but said in an email that he was proud to appoint or retain \u201ccommissioners who bring with them deep expertise, valuable lived experience, and a spirit of collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing the allegation of Zionist and developer lobbies taking over the council, Tregub said he helped create the city\u2019s Public Financing Program, which matches donations of up to $60 to candidates running for certain offices in Berkeley with six times as much in city funds. Tregub noted Gaith could also benefit from this program.<\/p>\n
While Gaith spoke at length about his experiences in Palestine, including the moment that inspired him and his brothers to open Jaffa Coffee Roasters in Berkeley, he also discussed his perspective as a small business owner and as someone in the Bay Area tech scene.<\/p>\n
Several minutes were devoted to issues facing small business owners, with Gaith sharing some of his experiences running Jaffa Coffee Roasters. He alleged private developers were in part responsible for discouraging small businesses and affordable housing in the city. According to Gaith, a 2024 ordinance implementing tax exemptions for research and development companies shows the City Council\u2019s disregard for small businesses, which still have to pay taxes and fees.<\/p>\n
The speakers also focused on what it looks like to mobilize for progressive causes in Berkeley. The event resounded with references to Berkeley progressives of previous decades, such as Mario Savio and Maudelle Shirek, and laments for the direction the city has since taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a student of the civil rights movement and civil rights work,\u201d Bazian said. \u201cYou have to use all the tools that are at your disposal. For one, you have to use the legal track \u2026 or organize protests, to be out there, to stop traffic at the bridge, to take over buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaith said a full version of his platform, which covers 20 policies, will be shared with the public soon.<\/p>\n
The conversation ended on an optimistic note, with Bazian and Gaith talking about how their Muslim backgrounds give them faith for eventual divine justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A few dozen spectators gathered Tuesday for a conversation between Berkeley City Council candidate and UC Berkeley alumnus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[189164,2633,35940,4004,124847,14328,340,189165,60990,189161,156456,189166,143,145,144,3783,180804,189163,189162,101,179140,68193,36482],"class_list":["post-482813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-american-muslims-for-palestine","tag-downtown-berkeley","tag-flock","tag-gaza","tag-hatem-bazian","tag-igor-tregub","tag-israel","tag-jaffa-coffee-roasters","tag-kate-harrison","tag-majdi-gaith","tag-mario-savio","tag-maudelle-shirek","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-palestine","tag-peace-and-justice-commission","tag-public-financing-program","tag-safiya-obrien","tag-san-francisco","tag-solidarity-collective","tag-students-for-justice-in-palestine","tag-west-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}