An Interview with Arturo Gomez, Esq. — Vice President of the Elysian Valley Riverside Neighborhood Council & Tenant Defense Attorney at BASTA Universal!

Q: Who are you & why is your resolution important?

“My name is Arturo Gomez, an LA Native, who serves as both the Vice President of the Elysian Valley Riverside Neighborhood Council & a Tenant Defense Attorney at BASTA Universal!

Of the 99 neighborhood councils in the City of Los Angeles, 3 have passed resolutions in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, while 12 cities in Southern California have followed suit.

While our neighborhood council is relatively small, including 6,000 people in Los Angeles, we put this on our agenda to stand against apartheid.”

Q: Why should local governments & organizations take a stand on this issue?

”It is critical we take a stand on this issue as a local government body given the massive rhetorical shift we are witnessing from the Biden Administration to the Democratic party politicians at the federal & state level.

A city passing a resolution commenting on foreign policy is very rare. You don’t really see that happening in American municipalities. So, when you see a whole host of suburbs clustered within the same geographic region calling for a ceasefire, their members of Congress are taking notice.

With Ukraine, for instance, everything was top-down, but from here, it’s grassroots, bottom-up. While you did not see this happen for Cuba or Haiti, this shows common people have real leverage in stopping the violence. However, Biden is a committed Zionist who refuses to recognize that leverage.”

Q: Why was Elysian Valley later than other LA Neighborhood Councils?

“I did try to jump on this back in November, which was the firstimmediate opportunity to push for a resolution. However, there were a series of events that led to the fight being dragged on over 5 months till March, when it was finally passed.

In the beginning, when we put this resolution in November, there were a couple of board members who were outraged to the point that they refused to show up.

Originally, there was blowback over the language of the resolution regarding the history on apartheid and occupation, so we resisted efforts to strip out the language to the point that the language only covered fundamentals. Still, I maintained red lines included: calling it a genocide, condemning occupation and condemning collective punishment, which our Zionist members were most opposed towards. We ultimately passed the resolution unanimously after a round of amendments.”

Q: Is there an endgame or strategy behind Gaza ceasefire resolution?

“The Biden Administration is clearly backpedaling on its rhetoric regarding the genocide, but that hasn’t really changed their policy position. It’s very clear that they are noticing the bottom-up push since they are noticing their numbers dip in the polls.

The endgame is to pressure the Biden administration to ultimately make a shift in their policy position. They are noticing how key members of their coalition are signaling they won’t vote for him in November, which would contribute to Biden’s main interest of his re-election effort.

We are also noticing members of Congress from pro-ceasefire constituencies making stronger calls for an immediate, permanent ceasefire. Most prominently, Maxine Waters & Linda Sanchez, who represent a good chunk of Southeast LA County and Northern Orange County respectively.”

Q: Strategically, has shaming & passing resolutions made ripple effects?

“Given that uncommitted votes in key states such as Michigan (13%), Hawaii (29%), Minnesota (19%) and North Carolina (13%), states like Michigan and North Carolina can flip as two prominent swing states. If Biden loses these two states, or more significantly, Michigan, it could mean he will lose the election. While there are loyal party members, these numbers could very much spell doom for the Biden campaign. He has yet to change the minds of those who voted uncommitted and probably will continue to see these numbers rise to the detriment of his re-election.”

Q: How can other communities make similar strides? Any advice here?

“To be honest, this first crack took 5 months and because nothing like this has been attempted at the micro-local level with a neighborhood council, but it is clearly more than possible. I recommend passing similar resolutions as the right approach for a push towards action. I also suggest making the language less radial, because there will be efforts to water it down. But once you get to a point where you have a bare majority, just go in for the win.

The only reason why my neighborhood council was unanimous was because it took five months and they didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Persistence and compromise is key, but having non-negotiable demands is even more key. The opposition key that if they killed our resolution, they would get hell for it. Once you have multiple members to agree to the point where you can form a majority, go through a round of amendments so you can get the win. There’s going to be tactical errors and mistakes, but it’s worth the effort.”

Q: Elections are in six months. Do we have time to influence Biden & prevent Trump’s possible second term?

“Personally on Gaza, I think it is inconsequential as to whether Trump or Biden will win especially on this issue. Trump has been very vocal in favor of the genocide, even saying he could “win the war quickly” — which can mean any number of things.

I think the differences between the two Presidential candidates are so negligible here that it doesn’t even matter. You will get the same result with foreign policy. What I am trying to say is that if your goal is simply preventing a second Trump term, you are missing the forest for the trees.

Trump built the wall, Biden finished it. Biden will not challenge Trump’s status quo. You are pitting an ineffectual liberal conservative against a demagogue fascist. In my view, if Biden wants to win the election, he has to stop the election, but some people including myself will not vote for him because he has done enough damage. Still, in this nation, people will settle for scraps.”

Q: What do you make of LA leading with the most students arrested over Gaza encampments & the violent response?

“College campuses have proven that the outrage over the situation in Gaza is symbolic of a larger culture war with the many wealthy, white Los Angeles enclaves known for their affluence. For instance, LA being surrounded by so many wealthy neighborhoods, makes the strong UCLA encampment presence a cultural invasion in their own backyard.

Even though universities are cultural bubbles, as a microcosm of the larger culture wars, it is simply not touching anything outside campus. Unfortunately, student protests, as good as they are, do not stop the carnage as observed during the Vietnam War experience.

The violent response from the police and outsourced brutality to Zionist mobs shows the deep systemic bias against any change in the status quo. There is simply no democratic accountability and even the calls to divest and cut political ties are sadly marginal at best because there are other buyers on the market. Between the occurrences of police brutality toward student protestors and the punishment in the form of canceling speeches and preventing students from graduating, it shows how apartheid even shapes the academic experience at large.”