After Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez was called out for posting antisemitic and conspiracy tropes about the mass shooting of Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney, Australia, he issued a “light” apology, expressing ignorance of what the social media posts meant and claiming that he “inadvertently spread content that was factually inaccurate.”
That rings hollow considering Martinez’s long history of taking actions that have also stoked fear in the Jewish community.
At a conference in August, Martinez wore a hat with the letters “DDTTIDF,” an acronym calling for “Death, death to the IDF.” He spoke of an affinity for Hamas, a U.S. designated terrorist organization, whose charter calls for the deaths of all Jews worldwide. Previously, he oversaw the passing of a resolution two weeks after Oct. 7, 2023, condemning Israel and “affirming Richmond’s support and solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza.”
While most Jews feel an affinity for Israel, at the same time, many have complicated feelings about how the Israeli government operates. Protesting against the Israeli government regarding actions of the Israeli government is fair game, similar to our own protests in America against our government. But to conflate Israel with one’s identity in being Jewish, or to spread false information about Jews as some sort of payback against Israel, is antisemitism.
Posting that the mass shooting of Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney was a false-flag operation by Israel to gain sympathy; or that Israel and Israelis are the cause of antisemitism; or that Jewish religious celebrations in public spaces (or even simple Menorah displays) are really attempts to dominate “neutral spaces” all constitute antisemitism. Martinez reposted all those false and dangerous tropes.
As locally elected officials, we are closest to our communities, and understand the need to bring people together, not harm by dividing, and to work in the best interests of our cities. Martinez’s postings do nothing to bring people together in a community. Rather, they make already marginalized groups more fearful, polarize communities and do damage throughout our region.
As an elected official, Martinez’s words carry weight. Not only did those words bring harm to his constituents in Richmond, they also impacted the region, effectively rubbing salt into deep wounds the Jewish community has experienced over the past two years, and throughout history.
This is why we, along with over 80 current and former elected officials who signed onto a Unity Letter, are calling on Martinez to back up his apology with corrective action. These would include:
• Engaging privately in dialogue and learning with community rabbis and local Jewish leaders.
• Issuing a public apology that acknowledges why his statements were harmful.
• Hosting antisemitism education and training for city leadership and staff.
• Adopting a resolution condemning these remarks and affirming that hateful rhetoric has no place in Richmond.
As an elected leader, he needs to take steps to remedy the harm he has caused to members of his community or step down from his role as mayor if he cannot.
Our residents deserve better from their elected representatives, something that we feel is imperative to remaining in leadership. We would not accept racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ+ or ethnic discrimination, or any other form of hate in a leader.
And we won’t accept antisemitism either.
Kevin Wilk is mayor of Walnut Creek. Gabriel Quinto is mayor of El Cerrito. Alex Walker-Griffin is vice mayor of Hercules and chair of the Contra Costa Mayors Conference.