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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-08-04 City Council EmailsDOCUMENTS IN THIS PACKET INCLUDE: LETTERS FROM CITIZENS TO THE MAYOR OR CITY COUNCIL RESPONSES FROM STAFF TO LETTERS FROM CITIZENS ITEMS FROM MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS ITEMS FROM OTHER COMMITTEES AND AGENCIES ITEMS FROM CITY, COUNTY, STATE, AND REGIONAL AGENCIES Prepared for: 8/4/2025 Document dates: 7/28/2025 - 8/4/2025 Note: Documents for every category may not have been received for packet reproduction in a given week. 701-32 From:Aram James To:Guilherme Ary Plonski; Gardener, Liz; Gerry Gras; Dana St. George; Vicki Veenker; Julie Lythcott-Haims; NicoleChiu-Wang; Rowena Chiu; board@pausd.org; board@valleywater.org; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Kaloma Smith;Jessica Speiser, Educational Leader for California Democratic Delegate, Assembly District 23; Dennis Upton;dennis burns; Roberta Ahlquist; ParkRec Commission; Lori Meyers; Sheree Roth; Donna Wallach; Doug Minkler;Don Austin; Yolanda Conaway; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Supervisor Otto Lee; Seher Awan; Liz Kniss; DavePrice; jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; Diana Diamond; vramirez@redwoodcity.org; Emily Mibach; BradenCartwright; Bryan Gobin; Salem Ajluni; Sean Allen; Sameena Usman; <sammy@envirotekrestoration.com>;Raymond Goins; Council, City; GRP-City Council; DuJuan Green; h.etzko@gmail.com; Human RelationsCommission; Bryan Gobin; frances.Rothschild@jud.ca.gov; Michael Pati; Patricia.Guerrero@jud.ca.gov; PatriceVentresca; pat@patburt.org; Blackshire, Geoffrey; Jasso, Tamara; EPA Today; cromero@cityofepa.org;rabrica@cityofepa.org; Vara Ramakrishnan; james pitkin; Gennady Sheyner; Wagner, April; Justin Zalkin; ladoriscordell; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; Zelkha, Mila; Michael Ybarra;<michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Foley, Michael; Rodriguez, Miguel Cc:Marty Wasserman; Pnina Abir-am; Gizem Sivri; Palo Alto Free Press; city.council@menlopark.gov; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; Mark Turner; CityCouncil; citycouncil@menlopark.org; Michelle Bigelow; boardfeedback@smcgov.org; Bill Newell; Lythcott-Haims, Julie; Figueroa, Eric; Cribbs, Anne; Lotus Fong; Nash, Betsy; Binder, Andrew; Josh Becker; Yusra Hussain; Pat M; Seher Awan; Jeff Conrad; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; Cait James Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Monday, August 4, 2025 10:25:02 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi Justin, FYI: Here is a piece ( see below) I found online thatraises some provocative questions that might assistin opening up the discussion you are looking for. Ipersonally believe history will judge Hamas asquintessential freedom fighters -much like NatTurner is viewed. Nat Turner - Wikipedia https://share.google/30FlrupfbpkbzMLdG I believe history will ultimately judge Israel as aterrorist state, an apartheid state, a genocidal roguestate that must be eliminated. Avram “Eliminate Israel Now” Finkelstein. P.S. A one-state solution is the only just remedy. Are Hezbollah and Hamas Terrorists or FreedomFighters? Let’s Talk Nuance In many Western discussions, groups like Hezbollah and Hamas are quickly labeled as "terrorists," withlittle room for nuance or consideration of context. But is it really that simple? These groups operate in asymmetrical conflicts against vastly more powerful states, often framingthemselves as resistance movements fighting for liberation. Hezbollah, for example, emerged as aresponse to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, and many in the region see them as defenders of their land.Hamas claims to resist Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, a fight many Palestinians feel isnecessary for their survival and dignity. Yes, their tactics—like targeting civilians—are condemned under international law, and those actionscannot be ignored. But at the same time, we need to ask why these groups exist in the first place. Whatconditions of occupation, systemic oppression, and power imbalance give rise to them? Can we dismissthe context of ongoing displacement, blockades, and military aggression that fuels their support amongoppressed populations? International law acknowledges the right to resist occupation, yet non-state actors in asymmetrical warsare held to standards that even powerful states routinely violate. When the global community calls oneside terrorists but excuses or justifies state violence that kills far more civilians, it raises uncomfortablequestions about double standards. So, are they terrorists, freedom fighters, or something in between? What does it mean to fight forliberation in an asymmetrical conflict, and how should the world frame these struggles? On Mon, Aug 4, 2025 at 9:41 AM Roberta Ahlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote: Hear Rashad Khalidi today on Democracy Now. Amy Goodman Sent from my iPhone On Aug 4, 2025, at 9:14 AM, Justin Zalkin <jzalkin@gmail.com> wrote: Hello — I see some exceptionally bright people on this thread who have differingperspectives. For the folks who think Israel should immediately declare a ceasefire, what are your perspectives on Hamas? And what do you anticipateHamas would most likely do with a ceasefire period? Hopefully everyone views famine among Gazans as horrible (regardless of who is to blame). My fear is that a cessation of hostilities that leaves Hamasgoverning would not lead to a good long term outcome for Gazans (or Israelis). I am curious what others who have studied the conflict in more detail thinkwould most likely happen if Hamas were to continue governing. All the Best,Justin On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:56 AM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: Subject: Your Stand on the Ceasefire Hi Henry, You were truly the only candidate for the Palo Alto City Council in2024, out of nine total candidates, who had the courage to unequivocally call for a ceasefire. I attended the council meetingthat night and remember your speech very well. Best regards, Avram “ One State Solution” Finkelstein On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 10:31 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:Marty Marty, Express away but the killing and starvation policy must stop, under UN armed supervision, of course. Who is to be the Ikewho said, I will go to Korea during he 1952 election campaign, achieved a cease fire, that holds to this day, despite lack of aformal peace treaty. Best, Henry > On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:19 AM, Martin Wasserman<deeperlook@aol.com> wrote: > > Henry, > > One of my objections to “ceasefire now” is that it places all of the onus on Israel and demands nothing of Hamas, and givesHamas breathing space to regroup and rearm so they can continue their policy of killing Jews.> > Marty > > >> On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:01 AM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Dear Marty >> >> I have expressed my agreement in heron to Council on their general policy of excluding foreign policy issues However, likethe attorney for the holocaust victim who successfully asked the US Supreme for a narrow exception to the statute of limitations, Iargued to Council that there are certain issues that it behooves as as Palo Alto citizens to take a stand: Gaza cease fire now, is one!See council video of several months ago for my full statement. >> >> Best, >> Hillel>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 9:43 AM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:>>> >>> There's no legitimate reason for city government to weigh inon foreign policy issues, especially in highly volatile areas like the Middle East. Such controversial resolutions change nothing inthe Middle East and only promote conflict at home. Unless of course the goal is precisely to create conflict at home.>>> >>> Martin Wasserman>>> >>> >>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 2:14 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>> >>>> Ps>>>> Upon reflection, accept your critique: cease fire requires repetition , will include in writings this topic until achieved >>>> www.triplehelix.net >>>> >>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 11:45 PM, Roberta Ahlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>> >>>>> Ok!>>>>> >>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>>>> >>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 10:20 PM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Agree with cease fire, and permanent treaty above and beyond. Aram, who was present, can assure you that I requestedeach council member individually and publicly to commit Palo Alto to call for cease fire. Video supposed to be available at citywebsite. >>>>>> >>>>>> Best >>>>>> Henry>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 8:49 PM, Roberta Ahlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>>> >>>>>>> Yes- and how about a ceasefire? Less abstract, moreconcrete...? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 1:08 PM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracyunder an innocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century” thesystematic destruction the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent andobjective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlayon institutional and organizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full mediagaze. Rather than the inside pages of the New York Times where v Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling,escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironicallyovershadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust wasoriginated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain byheading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given suchleeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil?>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Sincerely>>>>>>>> Henry Etzkowitz >>>>>>>> Distinguished Fellow>>>>>>>> University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research>>>>>>>> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025>>>>>>>> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County ofCalifornia, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division>>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >> > From:slevy@ccsce.com To:Council, City Subject:332 Forest prescreen Date:Monday, August 4, 2025 10:16:30 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ! Dear Mayor Lauing and council members, I encourage you to give positive feedback along with your comments at the 332 Forest prescreen. As a neighbor (we live at 365 Forest), we and the people who live in our building enjoy the convenience of living close to downtown with its variety of eating and drinking places along with opportunities to shop and visit service businesses. And we are able to do downtown visits without using our car or taking DTN parking places. I know there is high demand for places as they become vacant in our building with almostno time they are empty for both the for sale units and the ones where owners rent them. It is great location for easy access to downtown, Stanford and all of the amenities in both places. As an economist, I understand the challenges of rising construction costs and appreciate the steps the city has taken (for example, in the ECR focus areas) to create conditions that make housing feasible. As I look at the 332 Forest request, it looks similar to the changes in zoning, parking and other conditions that were approved by council in the ECR focus area and that has now brought up the project at 3150 ECR with the large number of BMR units. And the city has recognized how increasing density in desirable areas can help meet city goals by 1) adding a story to the ECR teacher housing project to increase affordability and 2) in their request to Alta Housing to consider adding stories to their housing on the downtown parking lot. With the funding challenges facing 100% BMR projects going forward, I believe that thesemixed use projects that include a BMR requirement as 332 Forest will, are our best nearterm hope for adding housing more affordable to low and moderate income residents. As a downtown resident, I want to add my voice to the importance of adding housing in the northern part of the city where I live and note that along with 660 University that these are the only large housing projects being discussed in the downtown area. Please keep the recent momentum for housing in infill locations going and encourage the owner to submit a formal application. Stephen Levy This message could be suspicious The sender's email address couldn't be verified. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast From:Rebecca Sanders To:Lauing, Ed; Council, City; Planning Commission Cc:Horrigan-Taylor, Meghan Subject:Ventura"s Ice Cream Social This Sunday, August 10 - 2-4 pm Date:Monday, August 4, 2025 10:00:01 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor Lauing, Council Members and Commissioners: This Sunday Venturans will gather for Ice Cream and Cake at Boulware Park from 2-4 pm. We know your time is valuable, but were you available, please consider dropping by. We are delighted to have an expanded park with so many nice amenities. Thank you for supporting us over here in Ventura. Becky Sanders ModeratorVentura Neighborhood Association From:Boyd, Holly To:magdalenac@gmail.com Cc:Bansal, Megha; Horrigan-Taylor, Meghan; Council, City; asdellaporta@gmail.com; rebsanders@gmail.com; clairee44@gmail.com; bmkatz1950@gmail.com; Joye, Ken; Eggleston, Brad; City Mgr; O"Kane, Kristen; Robustelli, Sarah Subject:RE: dogs in children"s playground Date:Monday, August 4, 2025 9:53:33 AM Attachments:image001.pngimage002.pngimage004.pngimage005.pngimage006.pngimage007.png Dear Ms. Cabrera, I am responding on behalf of the City Manager, Ed Shikada. Thank you for your interest in Boulware Park and specifically whether dogs are allowed in the children’s playground. Currently, leashed dogs are permitted in park and playground areas per City of Palo Alto municipal code. While some playgrounds, such as Magical Bridge, have posted more restrictive signage, these are site-specific and not enforceable citywide. We recognize your concern and are evaluating whether additional signage at Boulware would be helpful for clarity and compliance. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact Megha Bansal, Senior Engineer at megha.bansal@paloalto.gov or Sarah Robustelli, Division Manager Open Space Parks & Golf at sarah.robustelli@paloalto.gov. Regards, Holly Holly Boyd, P.E. Assistant Director Public Works Department (650) 329-2612 | holly.boyd@paloalto.gov https://www.paloalto.gov/Departments/Public-Works From: Magdalena Cabrera <magdalenac@gmail.com> Sent: Sunday, August 3, 2025 9:20 AM To: Bansal, Megha <Megha.Bansal@paloalto.gov>; Horrigan-Taylor, Meghan <Meghan.Horrigan-Taylor@paloalto.gov>; Council, City <city.council@PaloAlto.gov> Cc: Angela Dellaporta <asdellaporta@gmail.com>; Rebecca Sanders <rebsanders@gmail.com>; Claire Elliott <clairee44@gmail.com>; Barry M Katz <bmkatz1950@gmail.com>; Joye, Ken <kmjoye@gmail.com> Subject: dogs in children's playground CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello, I have not had an answer as to whether or not DOGS are allowed in the children's playground area and tot lot at Boulware playground. People are bring their dogs and NOT even having them on leashes. WHAT is the policy?????? If a child gets bit by a dog, it will be on the city. respectfully and insistently, Magdalena Cabrera Ventura Neighborhood resident, concerned citizen From:Roberta Ahlquist To:Justin Zalkin Cc:Aram James; h.etzko@gmail.com; Marty Wasserman; Pnina Abir-am; Gizem Sivri; Council, City; Palo Alto Free Press; GRP-City Council; city.council@menlopark.gov; cromero@cityofepa.org; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; Mark Turner; CityCouncil; citycouncil@menlopark.org; Michelle Bigelow; Sean Allen; EPA Today; Dave Price; Gennady Sheyner; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; board@valleywater.org; boardfeedback@smcgov.org; board@pausd.org; Bill Newell; Lythcott-Haims, Julie Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Monday, August 4, 2025 9:41:53 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Hear Rashad Khalidi today on Democracy Now. Amy Goodman Sent from my iPhone On Aug 4, 2025, at 9:14 AM, Justin Zalkin <jzalkin@gmail.com> wrote: Hello — I see some exceptionally bright people on this thread who have differing perspectives. For the folks who think Israel should immediately declare aceasefire, what are your perspectives on Hamas? And what do you anticipate Hamas would most likely do with a ceasefire period? Hopefully everyone views famine among Gazans as horrible (regardless of who isto blame). My fear is that a cessation of hostilities that leaves Hamas governing would not lead to a good long term outcome for Gazans (or Israelis). Iam curious what others who have studied the conflict in more detail think would most likely happen if Hamas were to continue governing. All the Best, Justin On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:56 AM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com>wrote: This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first mail to some recipients. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Subject: Your Stand on the Ceasefire Hi Henry, You were truly the only candidate for the Palo Alto City Council in 2024, out of nine total candidates, who had the courage tounequivocally call for a ceasefire. I attended the council meeting that night and remember your speech very well. Best regards, Avram “ One State Solution” Finkelstein On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 10:31 AM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: Marty Marty, Express away but the killing and starvation policy must stop, underUN armed supervision, of course. Who is to be the Ike who said, I will go to Korea during he 1952 election campaign, achieved acease fire, that holds to this day, despite lack of a formal peace treaty. Best,Henry > On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:19 AM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:> > Henry,> > One of my objections to “ceasefire now” is that it places all of theonus on Israel and demands nothing of Hamas, and gives Hamas breathing space to regroup and rearm so they can continue theirpolicy of killing Jews. > > Marty > > >> On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:01 AM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Dear Marty >> >> I have expressed my agreement in heron to Council on their general policy of excluding foreign policy issues However, like theattorney for the holocaust victim who successfully asked the US Supreme for a narrow exception to the statute of limitations, Iargued to Council that there are certain issues that it behooves as as Palo Alto citizens to take a stand: Gaza cease fire now, is one! Seecouncil video of several months ago for my full statement. >> >> Best, >> Hillel>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 9:43 AM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:>>> >>> There's no legitimate reason for city government to weigh inon foreign policy issues, especially in highly volatile areas like the Middle East. Such controversial resolutions change nothing in theMiddle East and only promote conflict at home. Unless of course the goal is precisely to create conflict at home.>>> >>> Martin Wasserman>>> >>> >>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 2:14 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>> >>>> Ps>>>> Upon reflection, accept your critique: cease fire requires repetition , will include in writings this topic until achieved >>>> www.triplehelix.net >>>> >>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 11:45 PM, Roberta Ahlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>> >>>>> Ok!>>>>> >>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>>>> >>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 10:20 PM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Agree with cease fire, and permanent treaty above and beyond. Aram, who was present, can assure you that I requestedeach council member individually and publicly to commit Palo Alto to call for cease fire. Video supposed to be available at citywebsite. >>>>>> >>>>>> Best >>>>>> Henry>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 8:49 PM, Roberta Ahlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>>> >>>>>>> Yes- and how about a ceasefire? Less abstract, moreconcrete...? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 1:08 PM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracyunder an innocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century” thesystematic destruction the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent and objectiveof atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutionaland organizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Ratherthan the inside pages of the New York Times where v Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalatinggenocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironically overshadowed byfood recipes in the Internet Edition. The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated,condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahuregime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget PolPot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil?>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Sincerely>>>>>>>> Henry Etzkowitz >>>>>>>> Distinguished Fellow>>>>>>>> University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research>>>>>>>> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025>>>>>>>> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County ofCalifornia, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division>>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >> > From:Frank Holland To:Council, City Subject:Re: Reconsideration of Palo Alto’s Endorsement of SB 54 and Sanctuary Policy Date:Monday, August 4, 2025 9:26:31 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear Mayor Stone and Members of the Palo Alto City Council, This is a follow-up to my previous request. I am keen to understand your current position on this issue and the courtesy of a response would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your prompt response. Sincerely, Frank Holland 3163 Ross Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 408-647-5128 On Wednesday, July 23, 2025 at 10:56:10 PM PDT, Frank Holland <dutch_06@yahoo.com> wrote: Dear Mayor Stone and Members of the Palo Alto City Council, I write as a concerned resident to respectfully urge this Council to revisit and reconsider the City’s support for California’s sanctuary law, SB 54 (the California Values Act), and the related policies it has inspired at the local level. While I appreciate the motivations behind the sanctuary framework, it has become increasingly clear that the law is not achieving its intended goals and that it is contributing to deeper national polarization and local confusion about the limits and responsibilities of city authority. SB 54 was designed to foster trust, promote public safety, and ensure more effective use of local resources. However, real-world outcomes tell a different story: 1. Public Safety and Trust: SB 54’s limitations on cooperation with federal authorities have inadvertently led to more large-scale ICE raids in residential and commercial areas: including across parts of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties earlier this year. These high- visibility operations spread fear across immigrant communities and undercut the very trust This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast that SB 54 was meant to foster. Local families are not safer when federal enforcement escalates due to state or local non-cooperation. 2. Resource Misalignment: California has now spent over $50 million in just the past five months to legally and politically resist federal immigration enforcement with a further $120 million proposed. Palo Alto’s moral endorsement of such policies carries weight. These resources could instead support housing, schools, or public safety initiatives that directly benefit residents of all immigration statuses. 3. Polarization and Stalled Reform: When local jurisdictions align unconditionally with maximalist sanctuary policies, they feed into a broader federal-state conflict that paralyzes meaningful immigration reform. Cities known for innovation, inclusion, and pragmatic leadership, like Palo Alto, have a unique opportunity to advocate for a more balanced, solution-oriented approach. I urge the Council to take the following actions: Publicly call for a state-level reassessment of SB 54, particularly around policies that prevent cooperation in cases beyond violent felonies already authorized by SB 54. Support a framework for selective cooperation with federal agencies when due process has been observed and humanitarian concerns have been weighed: particularly for long- term residents and DACA-eligible individuals. Ensure future “Know Your Rights” events provide accurate constitutional context, including acknowledgment of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, which affirms the supremacy of federal law. Palo Alto should not be forced to choose between compassion and compliance. We can lead by advocating for lawful, humane, and practical immigration enforcement and we should not be endorsing blanket policies that are no longer serving our city or our country effectively. I respectfully request the courtesy of a response outlining each Council member’s position on this issue and any intended actions to address the concerns raised above. Thank you for your attention and leadership on this critical matter. Sincerely, Frank Holland dutch_06@yahoo.com From:Justin Zalkin To:Aram James Cc:h.etzko@gmail.com; Marty Wasserman; Roberta Ahlquist; Pnina Abir-am; Gizem Sivri; Council, City; Palo Alto Free Press; GRP-City Council; city.council@menlopark.gov; cromero@cityofepa.org; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; Mark Turner; CityCouncil; citycouncil@menlopark.org; Michelle Bigelow; Sean Allen; EPA Today; Dave Price; Gennady Sheyner; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; board@valleywater.org; boardfeedback@smcgov.org; board@pausd.org; Bill Newell; Lythcott-Haims, Julie Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Monday, August 4, 2025 9:14:42 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Hello — I see some exceptionally bright people on this thread who have differing perspectives. For the folks who think Israel should immediately declare a ceasefire, what are your perspectives onHamas? And what do you anticipate Hamas would most likely do with a ceasefire period? Hopefully everyone views famine among Gazans as horrible (regardless of who is to blame). My fear is that a cessation of hostilities that leaves Hamas governing would not lead to a goodlong term outcome for Gazans (or Israelis). I am curious what others who have studied the conflict in more detail think would most likely happen if Hamas were to continue governing. All the Best, Justin On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:56 AM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: Subject: Your Stand on the Ceasefire Hi Henry, You were truly the only candidate for the Palo Alto City Council in 2024, out ofnine total candidates, who had the courage to unequivocally call for a ceasefire. I attended the council meeting that night and remember your speech very well. Best regards, This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Avram “ One State Solution” Finkelstein On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 10:31 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com>wrote: Marty Marty, Express away but the killing and starvation policy must stop, under UN armedsupervision, of course. Who is to be the Ike who said, I will go to Korea during he 1952 election campaign, achieved a cease fire, that holds to this day,despite lack of a formal peace treaty. Best, Henry > On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:19 AM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com>wrote: > > Henry, > > One of my objections to “ceasefire now” is that it places all of the onus on Israel and demands nothing of Hamas, and gives Hamas breathing space toregroup and rearm so they can continue their policy of killing Jews. > > Marty > > >> On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:01 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com>wrote: >> >> Dear Marty >> >> I have expressed my agreement in heron to Council on their general policy of excluding foreign policy issues However, like the attorney for the holocaustvictim who successfully asked the US Supreme for a narrow exception to the statute of limitations, I argued to Council that there are certain issues that itbehooves as as Palo Alto citizens to take a stand: Gaza cease fire now, is one! See council video of several months ago for my full statement.>> >> Best,>> Hillel >>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 9:43 AM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com>wrote: >>> >>> There's no legitimate reason for city government to weigh in on foreign policy issues, especially in highly volatile areas like the Middle East. Suchcontroversial resolutions change nothing in the Middle East and only promote conflict at home. Unless of course the goal is precisely to create conflict at home.>>> >>> Martin Wasserman>>> >>> >>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 2:14 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>> >>>> Ps>>>> Upon reflection, accept your critique: cease fire requires repetition , will include in writings this topic until achieved >>>> www.triplehelix.net >>>> >>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 11:45 PM, Roberta Ahlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>> >>>>> Ok!>>>>> >>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>>>> >>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 10:20 PM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Agree with cease fire, and permanent treaty above and beyond. Aram, who was present, can assure you that I requested each council memberindividually and publicly to commit Palo Alto to call for cease fire. Video supposed to be available at city website. >>>>>> >>>>>> Best>>>>>> Henry >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 8:49 PM, Roberta Ahlquist<finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Yes- and how about a ceasefire? Less abstract, more concrete...? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 1:08 PM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under aninnocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century” the systematic destruction the civil institutionalenvironment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if notIsraeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages of the New York Times where v Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling,escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironically overshadowed by food recipesin the Internet Edition. The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resistedin the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of theholocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil?>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Sincerely>>>>>>>> Henry Etzkowitz >>>>>>>> Distinguished Fellow>>>>>>>> University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research>>>>>>>> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025>>>>>>>> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California, DowntownCourthouse 191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division >>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>> >> > From:Aram James To:Veenker, Vicki Cc:Josh Becker; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; Jeff Rosen; Jessica Speiser, Educational Leader for California Democratic Delegate, Assembly District 23; Jay Boyarsky; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; h.etzko@gmail.com; Gerry Gras; Gardener, Liz; Lotus Fong; Roberta Ahlquist; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; ParkRec Commission; Ed Lauing; editor@paweekly.com; Dave Price; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright; jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; Diana Diamond; Donna Wallach; Seher Awan; Zelkha, Mila; Nash, Betsy; dcombs@menlopark.gov; Mark Turner; Sean Allen; CityCouncil; <michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Michael Pati; dr.michaelcybarra@gail.com; Drekmeier, Peter; Doug Minkler; Dana St. George; Daniel Kottke; Dan Okonkwo; Baker, Rob; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Bryan Gobin; Candice Brooks; Lythcott-Haims, Julie; Don Austin; Yolanda Conaway; Jeff Hayden; Raymond Goins; Gennady Sheyner; Wagner, April; Figueroa, Eric; sharon jackson; Yusra Hussain; Human Relations Commission; Council, City; GRP- City Council; city.council@menlopark.gov; cromero@cityofepa.org; Jeff Conrad; Friends of Cubberley; Binder, Andrew; james pitkin; Barberini, Christopher; Enberg, Nicholas; Patricia.Guerrero@jud.ca.gov; Sheree Roth; Lori Meyers; Shikada, Ed; boardfeedback@smcgov.org; Kaloma Smith; HRW Silicon Valley; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; District3@sanjoseca.gov; District4@sanjoseca.gov; District5@sanjoseca.gov; District9@sanjoseca.gov; board@pausd.org; Marina Lopez; Marty Wasserman Subject:What Gaza tells us about the Democratic Party Date:Monday, August 4, 2025 8:22:55 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi Vicki, This one is for you!! Just Say No To Genocide!!! It's not too late to show some courage! Saveyour soul along the way! Aram Subject:Date:From:>Reply-To:To: Sunrise Movement Logo Hey Gerald, “Gaza is a losing issue for Democrats — But not for the reasons you think”. This is an email about Gaza, but also about a toxic pattern among Democratic Leadership. Not only is it morally bankrupt, it’s driving away young voters that we desperately need to defeat MAGA authoritarianism. That’s the message of our new TikTok video. Standing up for Gaza isn’t a losing issue because it’s an unpopular stance. It’s a losing issue because Democratic leaders cling to a deeply unpopular position. Just 8 percent of Democratic voters support Israel’s assault on Gaza. EIGHT PERCENT. After enormous pressure, 27 Democratic Senators voted this week to stop sending weapons to the Israeli military. But, party leaders continue to parrot AIPAC talking points, shame college students for standing up for human rights, and avoid the truth about what’s happening in Gaza. Like on many issues — party leaders are taking cues from big donors and political “wisdom” instead of actually listening to where people are at. It’s morally bankrupt, and strategically backwards. That’s why they are hemorrhaging young voters that we desperately need to bring in if we’re going to defeat Trump and the forces behind him. We need change. We need new leadership. That’s where we come in. We’re organizing to elect a tidal wave of new leaders to Congress in 2026 and kick failed party leaders out of power. We’re organizing people power, building media that shifts the narrative, and readying an ambitious electoral program to win elections. This work takes resources, and we can’t do it without you. Watch the video, then chip in to our 2026 Primary Challenger Fund. Every dollar gets us closer to building the next generation of unapologetic leaders. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: Contribute $5 Contribute $10 Contribute $27 Contribute $50 Contribute $100 Give another amount Best, Team Sunrise Sunrise is a movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. If someone forwarded you this email, sign up here to get updates from Sunrise. You may also click here to receive fewer emails from Sunrise, or if you no longer wish to receive emails from Sunrise please unsubscribe. Donate to support the movement » Paid for by Sunrise PAC, 712 H St NE Unit#626 Washington, DC 20002. From:Aram James To:rabeh morrar Cc:Rebecca Eisenberg; Martin Wasserman; Guilherme Ary Plonski; h.etzko@gmail.com; Council, City; Palo Post; Office of the Provost; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Shikada, Ed; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; snug.bug@hotmail.com; Emma Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette Kiernan; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton-Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah; Justin Axel-Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Gennady Sheyner; Lauing, Ed; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Braden Cartwright; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; Mickie Winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman; jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; Tim James; Marina Lopez; Mark Turner; GRP-City Council; Jeff Conrad; jsylva@scscourt.org; Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Rosen; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; josh@joshsalcman.com; Josh Becker; Sean Allen; Seher Awan; Drekmeier, Peter; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; ParkRec Commission; Donna Wallach; cromero@cityofepa.org; Raymond Goins; Rose Lynn; Roberta Ahlquist; Binder, Andrew; Cait James; james pitkin; Daniel Barton; Dana St. George; Angel, David; David Piper; Lythcott-Haims, Julie; Vicki Veenker; Reckdahl, Keith; Jessica Speiser, Educational Leader for California Democratic Delegate, Assembly District 23; Ed Lauing; Michael Ybarra; Doug Minkler; Figueroa, Eric; editor@almanacnews.com; editor@paweekly.com; Dave Price; Emily Mibach; Wagner, April; Donna Wallach; Don Austin; Pat M; board@valleywater.org; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; District3@sanjoseca.gov; District4@sanjoseca.gov; District5@sanjoseca.gov; District9@sanjoseca.gov; Zelkha, Mila; sharon jackson; Carla Torres; Gardener, Liz; Gerry Gras; Zelkha, Mila; Yusra Hussain; Palo Alto Free Press; Lewis james; board@pausd.org; Supervisor Otto Lee; rabrica@cityofepa.org; Nash, Betsy; Yolanda Conaway; Lori Meyers; Sheree Roth; DuJuan Green; Dennis Upton; dennis burns; Anna Griffin; Cribbs, Anne; Templeton, Cari; EPA Today; Diana Diamond; vramirez@redwoodcity.org; Gennady Sheyner; <michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Burt, Patrick; Holman, Karen (external); Kaloma Smith; Friends of Cubberley; Michael Pati; Foley, Michael; city.council@menlopark.gov; marlo.custodio@gmail.com; Linda Jolley; Patricia.Guerrero@jud.ca.gov; Patrice Ventresca; Liz Kniss; Dan Okonkwo; Baker, Rob; Steve Wagstaffe Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 11:15:59 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Rabeh Morrar: Thank you for your profoundly moving comments! Avram Finkelstein On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 10:38 PM rabeh morrar <rabehmorrar@gmail.com> wrote: Hello,I am writing these lines and feeling unsafe about my life as I live in the West Bank in Palestine.I wonder about the amount of inhumanity and ignoring the suffering of 5 million people in Gaza and the West Bank. What I find most painful is the widespread denial—or dismissal—of Palestinian humanity. Framing this situation solely as a war on “Islamist extremism” erases the millions ofordinary people who have nothing to do with Hamas or any militant group—people like my family, my students, and my neighbors—who are trying to survive in unlivable conditions.We are not extremists. We are not “human shields.” We are teachers, doctors, parents, and children. Israel’s sustained military assault plunged the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza into a humanitarian catastrophe of historic magnitude, with the United Nations now confirmingthat the worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding . According to UN-backed food security experts, two out of three famine thresholds have already been breached, and there ismounting evidence of widespread starvation, acute malnutrition, and hunger-related deaths. With over 60,000 people killed (more than 60% of them are children and women), 90% ofthe population displaced, and essential services on the verge of total collapse, what is unfolding in Gaza is not merely a crisis — it is, in the words of the UN World FoodProgramme, 'unlike anything we have seen in this century.' In addition to the mass killing of civilians, now recognized by leading Israeli human rightsorganizations such as B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel as constituting genocide, Gaza has also witnessed a deliberate and systematic cultural genocide aimed aterasing its ancient identity and collective memory . Where I live in the West Bank, our lives have become hell because of the daily attacks ofSettlers and more than 1000 checkpoints. Peace cannot come through domination. Peace cannot come while entire populations aredehumanized or forced to choose between submission and annihilation. Lasting peace requires mutual recognition of suffering, justice, and dignity for all. I do not expect we will agree on all matters. But I hope we can hold space for complexity, for empathy, and for the idea that protecting one people’s safety should never requireanother’s devastation. On Mon, Aug 4, 2025 at 3:44 AM Rebecca Eisenberg <rebecca@rebecca4water.com>wrote: That is correct. There is no Peace as long as there is fear. Continuing to enable Islamist (which is different from Muslim) extremists is enabling fear. Under Islamist law, all women are slaves. All LGBTQia2S+ are murdered. All nonconformists are tortured and killed. None of you would survive under Islamist law. Islamist law - particularly Sharia law, which is what Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, the Taliban and the other terrorists groups linked to the Islamist Republic of Iran (which is the terrorist group that currently holds Persians captive in their own country) -- deprives women, LGBTQia2S+ people, and all non-Islamist Muslims of all fundamental human rights. Islamist terrorists have killed millions and millions of Muslims throughout MENA in literally every single company they invaded and conquered by force, which is every country they rule or attempt to rule. Look at a map and you will see how many: dozens. Israel is the only country in the entire North Africa and Middle East region where Jews are allowed to LIVE. Let me repeat that: Every single Arab country in NAME has ethnically cleansed Jews. Although a huge number of Jews had been living in the 22 countries that surround Israel when the UN created Israel in 1948, there are virtually zero Jews living in any of those countries now. They were expelled from the countries. No one ever offered Jews a right of return to Iran, Iraq, Morocco (where dozens in my family lived before being ethnically cleansed, whereupon they settled in Chile), Yemen, Lebanon (which used to be, and can again, be a diverse and advanced nation, if they can get rid of Hezbollah), Jordan, Egypt, and every other Arab country that surrounds Israel. All of those Jews were forcibly removed. None of those Jews have any right of return. It is only Israel where Jews are allowed to live. Meanwhile, Israel offers equal rights to all people regardless of race and religion. Anyone would know that by visiting Israel. If you have not been to Tel Aviv in the past 10 years, you have no standing whatsoever to comment about it. Here are some fast facts: 1. Unlike the US and most other countries, Israel has TWO official languages: Hebrew and Arabic. 2. The signs in every city are in at least two languages: Hebrew and Arabic. In many cities, including Israel's largest city Tel Aviv, signs are in three languages: Arabic, Hebrew, and English. Go find that anywhere in the US. 3. Israel has some of the highest quality health care programs in the world, and this universal healthcare program is provided to every single resident regardless of religion, meaning that millions of recipients of Israeli top healthcare are Muslim, Christian, Hindu or other religions. 4. Israel completely pulled out of Gaza in 2007. At that time it forcibly removed all Jews from Gaza -- there has been no right of return for the Jews that were ethnically cleansed out of Gaza. Gaza does not allow Jews to live there. Neither does the West Bank. I do not support the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but I point out that in any other context, people of other religions are called immigrants and not colonists. 5. Jews and Israel have NEVER conquered any country. They have one tiny country: Israel. 6. Islamists have invaded DOZENS of countries, conquering almost all of them -- and those they have not conquered are still wrought in civil war. Islamists have been the most violent and invasive conquering force on earth in the last century. They have taken over dozens of countries, and when they do, they ethnically purge people of all other religions or practices. 7. The vast majority of people who have been invaded, massacred, murdered, and forced out of their own countries by Islamists are MUSLIMS. Islamists have, and continue to kill, millions of non-Islamist Muslims in all of war-torn MENA, including Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and every other country they currently are in. These civil wars are not between Jews and Muslims. They are waged by Islamic Muslims against other Muslims. 8. It is not racist to criticize Islamist regimes. Islamists represent a minority of Muslims. The most amount of criticism -- even though they are murdered for speaking out -- comes from other Muslims subject to Islamist terror in Iran, Jordan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and everywhere else that is still fighting not to be taken over by Islamist extremists. 9. There is such a thing as anti-Muslim racism. But again, as a reminder, the majority of people speaking out against Islamism are Muslim. 10. The vast majority of black people in Israel and Palestine are Jewish. Black people have equal rights in Israel. The word for black in Arabic means "slave." In Israel, it is the color black. 11. There is racism in Israel like there is racism in the US, Europe, and everywhere else. Racism is ubiquitous. 12. Several hundred thousand Ethiopian - and black -- Jews live in Israel. Israel helped them escape from Ethiopia, where they were being ethnically cleansed by the Islamist extremists. In Israel, they are alive and full citizens. In Ethiopia, they were illegal and killed. 13. Ethiopian Jews escaped terror in their homeland to settle in Israel. They are amongst the most patriotic Israelis. They serve in leadership positions in the IDF and in every other aspect of Israeli life. In fact, they likely have more representation in Israel than black Americans have achieved in 400 years in the area now known as the US. 14. The IDF is made up of 18 and 19 year old young men AND women who are required to serve prior to receiving their (highly subsidized if not entirely subsidized) college education. 18 and 19 year olds are what Hamas calls "children." 15. Even though only Jews are forced to serve in the IDF, the majority of non- Jewish 18 and 19 year olds of all other religions in Israel, including Muslims, Christians, Hindus and otherwise, volunteer to serve. This is how and why the IDF is both young (children in Hamas language) and diverse in every way: gender, sex, religion, race, ethnicity, language, and otherwise. 16. The IDF has special units for autistic people. In Palestine and other Islamist- run nations, it is a criminal offense to be autistic and most are killed. My daughter would be killed not only because she is Jewish, but also because she is autistic and queer. I 17. Israel is the only safe place for queer, neurologically diverse, and female (including trans) people to live in the entire area. Everywhere else they are enslaved or murdered. 17. Jews are indigenous to Judea, which is the area that includes not just Israel, but also Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, Lebanon, Syria, and other nations that surround Israel. The only country in their entire indigenous religion where Jews are allowed to live is Israel. There is nowhere else for Jews to go if Israel is destroyed. 18. Half of all Jews in the world live in Israel. If Israel is destroyed, so will be the Jewish religion and culture -- one of the most ancient religions and cultures in the world. 19. Without Israel, Jews will become like all the indigenous peoples in the Americas. This is why the American Indigenous communities overwhelmingly support Israel. They have lived the genocide that Jews face. 20. There are Israeli hostages who have been held in the least humane and most terrorizing circumstances for almost 2 years. None of these hostages were ever accused of any crimes. They were pulled from their cribs, their beds, their bomb shelters, walking down the street, or at a teenage dance rave. To the extent they are considered military, almost none were actually on duty, and those who were on duty were in positions of merely 'watching.' Almost all of the Israeli military captured and raped and dismembered, tortured and murdered were 18 or 19 years old -- children. 20. Size wise, Israel is the size of a postage stamp on a football field of Arab nations. Jews are not allowed to live anywhere else on that football field other than in the postage stamp called Israel. 21. More than half of all Israeli Jews are Arab. Most of them were ethnically cleansed from the nearby countries. There is ZERO ethnic or racial difference between Arab Jews and Arab Muslims. You would not be able to tell one from the other if not for the religious clothing and hairstyles. Take those off and there is no ethnic difference. This is not a racial war. 23. 13 members of the Israel Knesset are Muslim. 24. Muslims are represented in all levels of leadership in Israel: government, business, academia, medicine, nonprofit,and everything else. Muslims enjoy abundant lives and many are very wealthy. 25. Approximately 25-40% (depending on whom you ask) of Israelis are not Jewish. In other words, Israel is a little more than half Jewish. 26. Israel recognizes same sex marriages. Every Arab country that surrounds Israel considers being LGBTQia2S+ a capital crime, and non cis, hetero folks are murdered by the rulers. 27. The Israeli army, known as the IDF, is comprised of a similarly reflective variety of races, ethnicities, and religions. When you call the IDF terrorists and murderers and genocidalists, you are accusing a huge amount of Muslims, Christians, and Hindus of participating in genocide. 28. Israel provides more equal rights to women than almost all countries in the entire world. Abortion always has been a funded part of healthcare. Israel had a female prime minister 70 years ago -- something that the US still has not achieved. Before Netanyahu arrived and fired almost all the women in highest ranks of govt, women were fully represented in all leadership positions. 29. Israel is a democracy -- in fact, right now more of a democracy than the US (despite its fascist prime minister). 30. 90% of all Israelis - and the vast majority of Jews worldwide - oppose the leadership of Netanyahu. The largest and strongest opposition to Netanyahu comes from Jews in Israel. They know how to oppose a fascist leader (like Trump) without arguing that the country should be destroyed. (Few argue that the US should be destroyed because Trump is a fascist). 31. Judaism is a religion based on ethics, where Jews are commanded to disagree with each other in order to find the most righteous response, words and actions. Jews are expected to disagree with each other, including politically. 32. Islam is a religion based on complete submission to an ideology from a third party (male) prophet. Disagreement is met with punishment including, most of the time, death. There is no freedom of thought in an Islamist society. 33. The vast majority of Jews oppose the war. 34. It is possible to oppose the war without calling it a genocide. It is not a genocide. Genocides cannot be ended with returns of hostages and surrender. The majority of Israelis do not want to annex Gaza. They want an end to the bombing of them and the invasion of them. 35. Hamas is the source interfering with the distribution of aid. Israel has provided more aid to the country that invaded it than any country in a similar situation has in recorded human history. As a reminder, Hamas - which represents a much larger presence than Israel - invaded Israel and murdered, raped, mutilated, and kidnapped thousands of Israelis. Israel is Ukraine. Hamas is Russia. Would Ukraine be expected to feed Russia? Regardless, Israel is doing it anyway in order to have peace. 36. Most Jews and Israelis favor a two-state solution if the Palestinian state would not continue to bomb and invade Israel. That is literally all it would take. But every govt that has taken hold in Palestine has included as its most important goal to destroy Israel. Is it too much to ask that your next door neighbor be refrained from trying to destroy you? 37. The Palestinians, formerly known as the Arabs, have been offered a separate state dozens of times dating back to before the creation of Israel. They never accepted the offer for a separate state. They always insisted on the destruction of Israel. 38. There are 2.1 BILLION Muslims in the world. There are 14 million Jews. There were 24 million Jews before the Holocaust, and now there are 14. That is what a genocide looks like. There are twice as many Palestinians now as there were 10 years ago. That is growth, not genocide. (Although I still oppose the war.) For each Jew there are 800 Muslims. In Israel, the knowledge that for each of them, there are hundreds of people who want to kill them is a part of everyday life. 39. The vast majority of protesters against Israel are white. A large part, if not most, of the black community supports Israel. The history of black and Jewish communities working together in the US is more than a century old. Jews founded the ACLU and co-founded the NAACP. This history informs those who remember it. 40. The only group who voted more strongly for Kamala Harris than Black women in the last election is Jewish women. Jewish women voted for Kamala Harris more strongly than Black men. The preceding facts are facts. They are not propaganda. They can be confirmed by numerous external sources. They were true before October 7 and are true now. They are not taught in schools because - go figure - Jews do not control education. They are not covered in the news because - go figure - Jews do not control the media. The truth and history of Jews and Israel has been erased. This is called ethnic nullification, and is what has happened to Jews. I think it is possible to have these conversations without resorting to name-calling and ethnic slurs. (Islamist is not an ethnic slur. It is using the word they chose for themselves.) Instead of calling it a genocide, because it is terrible but not a genocide, call it a war. It is a war. Recognize the hostages. Try to embrace the fundamental point that those who care about human rights care both about Palestinians and about Israelis. Consider that Islamists do not hide that their goal is to destroy Israel. Recognize that if Israel is destroyed, 7 million Jews would be exterminated (worse than the Holocaust) -- as these Jews have nowhere else to live -- and consider that the destruction of Israel will, infact, render Judaism extinct. Try to recognize that the IDF is made up primarily of teenagers, and that those teenagers are both male and female, and are the most religiously diverse military force in the world. In the IDF are a large number of Muslims, Christians, and Hindus -- especially Muslims. They are fighting with Jews to preserve the only Jewish country on earth, because they too recognize (especially the Muslims, and all of the women) that Israel is the only country in the entire global region where they can enjoy freedom of religion, thought, press, and sexuality, and in the case of all of the women, all of the Jews, and most of the Muslims, is the only country in the entire region where they can live with civil rights. Recent studies by a large number of Jewish and non-Jewish organizations have shown that most people alive today do not understand or recognize what happened in the Holocaust. That may be true for many on this list. Anyone truly informed about the Holocaust would not toss around the triggering words used so blithely by so many white people, in order to defend the most misogynist, terrorist, murderous, colonist, and violent force in world history. They would not defend the violent regimes that enslave all women. They would not defend the ethnic cleansers who consider being gay, or for a woman, speaking in public, a crime worthy of death. They would not support a regime led by a handful of white men who have been stealing from their own people for decades, and who speak on behalf of their holy profit from their skyrises in Quatar, worth a combined 30 billion dollars. They would look at the situation closely and examine all evidence. They would recognize that there is no peace with fear. There is no peace with the enslavement of women and the murder of gays. There is no peace if those who criticize the government are shot to death in public. There is no peace when the forces in charge steal your food, and use the money raised on your behalf to buy more weapons. There is no peace when the people in charge use you as human shields. There is no peace when 60 living or dead innocent people are being held hostage and not returned. There is no peace as long as there is fear. And if you ask me, there is no peace as long as there is god. Israel would survive without god. A large number of Jews are technically atheists which -- guess what? -- is ALLOWED in the Jewish religion. But without god, Islamists would have no way to control the people. Let's get rid of god. Best, Rebecca On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 3:43 PM Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:The way to end the suffering in Gaza is for Israel to defeat Hamas as quickly aspossible. The humanitarian needs of the Gazans can be addressed after the war is over,but trying to address them while fighting is still ongoing merely provides oxygen toHamas and makes the conflict last longer. But I think what's really prolonging the war is Israel's single-minded focus on thehostages. The lives of the hostages are very important, but so are the lives of Israeli soldiers. So far, the number of soldiers killed in the war, about 900, far exceeds thenumber of hostages initially abducted, about 250. Throughout the war, Israel has held its fire in places where it thought such fire might endanger the hostages, thereby costingmore soldiers lives, and giving Hamas terrorists more opportunities to escape. If Israel had gone all out against Hamas right from the beginning with victory as the singular goal, the war would probably be over by now with much less loss of life onboth sides, and global anti-Israel sentiment, which seems to increase each day the war goes on, would have abated. Also, if Hamas saw that Israel was not willing to pay a high price to get hostagesreleased, they would have less incentive to take future hostages. In my view, the way to get the hostages back is not to pay Hamas an exorbitant price for releasing them, but tomake Hamas pay an exorbitant price for keeping them. Martin Wasserman On Aug 3, 2025, at 9:59 AM, Guilherme Ary Plonski <plonski2@usp.br>wrote: Dear Henry, I read your heartbreaking message with the same attention and affectionwith which I read your precious texts on STIS. Like you, all good people must be shocked by the pogrom of October 7,2023, and its consequences. This includes, of course, the tragedy affecting good people in Gaza, regardless of who is responsible.However, this does not make me agree with your analysis. We can include this topic in our regular conversations, if you wish.Right now, the most important thing is to seek to end the suffering of everyone—Gaza residents, Israeli abductees, and those from other countriesequally held hostage by the terrorists. We can all help. Personally, on average every four days or nights, I've been forced to flee toa public underground shelter due to ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. I'd also like to be able to sleep in peace.Shalom from Jerusalem. Em qui., 31 de jul. de 2025 às 17:26, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> escreveu: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the“crime of the new century”systematic destruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent andobjective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight andinternational, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages of theNew York Times where Germany’s 20th century holocaust wasrelegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimesironically overshadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in thelast century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes ofthe holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle theubiquity of evil? > > Sincerely > Henry Etzkowitz> Distinguished Fellow > University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for InnovationManagement Research > Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025 > RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civildivision > Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Veenker, Vicki Cc:Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Conrad; Binder, Andrew; Mark Turner; <michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Friends of Cubberley; Gennady Sheyner; Dave Price; h.etzko@gmail.com; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright; jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; Gerry Gras; Jessica Speiser, Educational Leader for California Democratic Delegate, Assembly District 23; Josh Becker; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; Council, City; CityCouncil; Donna Wallach; Sean Allen; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Lori Meyers; Sheree Roth; Lauing, Ed; Shikada, Ed; Reckdahl, Keith; Lythcott-Haims, Julie; GRP-City Council; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; board@valleywater.org; board@pausd.org; BoardOperations; Bill Newell; rabrica@cityofepa.org; cromero@cityofepa.org; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; ParkRec Commission Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 10:42:19 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. From:rabeh morrar To:Rebecca Eisenberg Cc:Martin Wasserman; Guilherme Ary Plonski; h.etzko@gmail.com; Council, City; Palo Post; Office of the Provost; Aram James; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Shikada, Ed; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; snug.bug@hotmail.com; Emma Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette Kiernan; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton-Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah; Justin Axel-Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Gennady Sheyner; Lauing, Ed; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Braden Cartwright; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; Mickie Winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 10:38:55 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Hello, I am writing these lines and feeling unsafe about my life as I live in the West Bank inPalestine. I wonder about the amount of inhumanity and ignoring the suffering of 5 million people inGaza and the West Bank. What I find most painful is the widespread denial—or dismissal—of Palestinian humanity.Framing this situation solely as a war on “Islamist extremism” erases the millions of ordinary people who have nothing to do with Hamas or any militant group—people like my family, mystudents, and my neighbors—who are trying to survive in unlivable conditions. We are not extremists. We are not “human shields.” We are teachers, doctors, parents, and children. Israel’s sustained military assault plunged the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza into a humanitarian catastrophe of historic magnitude, with the United Nations now confirming thatthe worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding . According to UN-backed food security experts, two out of three famine thresholds have already been breached, and there is mountingevidence of widespread starvation, acute malnutrition, and hunger-related deaths. With over 60,000 people killed (more than 60% of them are children and women), 90% of the populationdisplaced, and essential services on the verge of total collapse, what is unfolding in Gaza is not merely a crisis — it is, in the words of the UN World Food Programme, 'unlike anything wehave seen in this century.' In addition to the mass killing of civilians, now recognized by leading Israeli human rightsorganizations such as B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel as constituting genocide, Gaza has also witnessed a deliberate and systematic cultural genocide aimed aterasing its ancient identity and collective memory . Where I live in the West Bank, our lives have become hell because of the daily attacks ofSettlers and more than 1000 checkpoints. This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Peace cannot come through domination. Peace cannot come while entire populations aredehumanized or forced to choose between submission and annihilation. Lasting peace requires mutual recognition of suffering, justice, and dignity for all. I do not expect we will agree on all matters. But I hope we can hold space for complexity, for empathy, and for the idea that protecting one people’s safety should never require another’sdevastation. On Mon, Aug 4, 2025 at 3:44 AM Rebecca Eisenberg <rebecca@rebecca4water.com> wrote: That is correct. There is no Peace as long as there is fear. Continuing to enable Islamist (which is different from Muslim) extremists is enabling fear. Under Islamist law, all women are slaves. All LGBTQia2S+ are murdered. All nonconformists are tortured and killed. None of you would survive under Islamist law. Islamist law - particularly Sharia law, which is what Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, the Taliban and the other terrorists groups linked to the Islamist Republic of Iran (which is the terrorist group that currently holds Persians captive in their own country) -- deprives women, LGBTQia2S+ people, and all non-Islamist Muslims of all fundamental human rights. Islamist terrorists have killed millions and millions of Muslims throughout MENA in literally every single company they invaded and conquered by force, which is every country they rule or attempt to rule. Look at a map and you will see how many: dozens. Israel is the only country in the entire North Africa and Middle East region where Jews are allowed to LIVE. Let me repeat that: Every single Arab country in NAME has ethnically cleansed Jews. Although a huge number of Jews had been living in the 22 countries that surround Israel when the UN created Israel in 1948, there are virtually zero Jews living in any of those countries now. They were expelled from the countries. No one ever offered Jews a right of return to Iran, Iraq, Morocco (where dozens in my family lived before being ethnically cleansed, whereupon they settled in Chile), Yemen, Lebanon (which used to be, and can again, be a diverse and advanced nation, if they can get rid of Hezbollah), Jordan, Egypt, and every other Arab country that surrounds Israel. All of those Jews were forcibly removed. None of those Jews have any right of return. It is only Israel where Jews are allowed to live. Meanwhile, Israel offers equal rights to all people regardless of race and religion. Anyone would know that by visiting Israel. If you have not been to Tel Aviv in the past 10 years, you have no standing whatsoever to comment about it. Here are some fast facts: 1. Unlike the US and most other countries, Israel has TWO official languages: Hebrew and Arabic. 2. The signs in every city are in at least two languages: Hebrew and Arabic. In many cities, including Israel's largest city Tel Aviv, signs are in three languages: Arabic, Hebrew, and English. Go find that anywhere in the US. 3. Israel has some of the highest quality health care programs in the world, and this universal healthcare program is provided to every single resident regardless of religion, meaning that millions of recipients of Israeli top healthcare are Muslim, Christian, Hindu or other religions. 4. Israel completely pulled out of Gaza in 2007. At that time it forcibly removed all Jews from Gaza -- there has been no right of return for the Jews that were ethnically cleansed out of Gaza. Gaza does not allow Jews to live there. Neither does the West Bank. I do not support the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but I point out that in any other context, people of other religions are called immigrants and not colonists. 5. Jews and Israel have NEVER conquered any country. They have one tiny country: Israel. 6. Islamists have invaded DOZENS of countries, conquering almost all of them -- and those they have not conquered are still wrought in civil war. Islamists have been the most violent and invasive conquering force on earth in the last century. They have taken over dozens of countries, and when they do, they ethnically purge people of all other religions or practices. 7. The vast majority of people who have been invaded, massacred, murdered, and forced out of their own countries by Islamists are MUSLIMS. Islamists have, and continue to kill, millions of non-Islamist Muslims in all of war-torn MENA, including Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and every other country they currently are in. These civil wars are not between Jews and Muslims. They are waged by Islamic Muslims against other Muslims. 8. It is not racist to criticize Islamist regimes. Islamists represent a minority of Muslims. The most amount of criticism -- even though they are murdered for speaking out -- comes from other Muslims subject to Islamist terror in Iran, Jordan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and everywhere else that is still fighting not to be taken over by Islamist extremists. 9. There is such a thing as anti-Muslim racism. But again, as a reminder, the majority of people speaking out against Islamism are Muslim. 10. The vast majority of black people in Israel and Palestine are Jewish. Black people have equal rights in Israel. The word for black in Arabic means "slave." In Israel, it is the color black. 11. There is racism in Israel like there is racism in the US, Europe, and everywhere else. Racism is ubiquitous. 12. Several hundred thousand Ethiopian - and black -- Jews live in Israel. Israel helped them escape from Ethiopia, where they were being ethnically cleansed by the Islamist extremists. In Israel, they are alive and full citizens. In Ethiopia, they were illegal and killed. 13. Ethiopian Jews escaped terror in their homeland to settle in Israel. They are amongst the most patriotic Israelis. They serve in leadership positions in the IDF and in every other aspect of Israeli life. In fact, they likely have more representation in Israel than black Americans have achieved in 400 years in the area now known as the US. 14. The IDF is made up of 18 and 19 year old young men AND women who are required to serve prior to receiving their (highly subsidized if not entirely subsidized) college education. 18 and 19 year olds are what Hamas calls "children." 15. Even though only Jews are forced to serve in the IDF, the majority of non- Jewish 18 and 19 year olds of all other religions in Israel, including Muslims, Christians, Hindus and otherwise, volunteer to serve. This is how and why the IDF is both young (children in Hamas language) and diverse in every way: gender, sex, religion, race, ethnicity, language, and otherwise. 16. The IDF has special units for autistic people. In Palestine and other Islamist-run nations, it is a criminal offense to be autistic and most are killed. My daughter would be killed not only because she is Jewish, but also because she is autistic and queer. I 17. Israel is the only safe place for queer, neurologically diverse, and female (including trans) people to live in the entire area. Everywhere else they are enslaved or murdered. 17. Jews are indigenous to Judea, which is the area that includes not just Israel, but also Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, Lebanon, Syria, and other nations that surround Israel. The only country in their entire indigenous religion where Jews are allowed to live is Israel. There is nowhere else for Jews to go if Israel is destroyed. 18. Half of all Jews in the world live in Israel. If Israel is destroyed, so will be the Jewish religion and culture -- one of the most ancient religions and cultures in the world. 19. Without Israel, Jews will become like all the indigenous peoples in the Americas. This is why the American Indigenous communities overwhelmingly support Israel. They have lived the genocide that Jews face. 20. There are Israeli hostages who have been held in the least humane and most terrorizing circumstances for almost 2 years. None of these hostages were ever accused of any crimes. They were pulled from their cribs, their beds, their bomb shelters, walking down the street, or at a teenage dance rave. To the extent they are considered military, almost none were actually on duty, and those who were on duty were in positions of merely 'watching.' Almost all of the Israeli military captured and raped and dismembered, tortured and murdered were 18 or 19 years old -- children. 20. Size wise, Israel is the size of a postage stamp on a football field of Arab nations. Jews are not allowed to live anywhere else on that football field other than in the postage stamp called Israel. 21. More than half of all Israeli Jews are Arab. Most of them were ethnically cleansed from the nearby countries. There is ZERO ethnic or racial difference between Arab Jews and Arab Muslims. You would not be able to tell one from the other if not for the religious clothing and hairstyles. Take those off and there is no ethnic difference. This is not a racial war. 23. 13 members of the Israel Knesset are Muslim. 24. Muslims are represented in all levels of leadership in Israel: government, business, academia, medicine, nonprofit,and everything else. Muslims enjoy abundant lives and many are very wealthy. 25. Approximately 25-40% (depending on whom you ask) of Israelis are not Jewish. In other words, Israel is a little more than half Jewish. 26. Israel recognizes same sex marriages. Every Arab country that surrounds Israel considers being LGBTQia2S+ a capital crime, and non cis, hetero folks are murdered by the rulers. 27. The Israeli army, known as the IDF, is comprised of a similarly reflective variety of races, ethnicities, and religions. When you call the IDF terrorists and murderers and genocidalists, you are accusing a huge amount of Muslims, Christians, and Hindus of participating in genocide. 28. Israel provides more equal rights to women than almost all countries in the entire world. Abortion always has been a funded part of healthcare. Israel had a female prime minister 70 years ago -- something that the US still has not achieved. Before Netanyahu arrived and fired almost all the women in highest ranks of govt, women were fully represented in all leadership positions. 29. Israel is a democracy -- in fact, right now more of a democracy than the US (despite its fascist prime minister). 30. 90% of all Israelis - and the vast majority of Jews worldwide - oppose the leadership of Netanyahu. The largest and strongest opposition to Netanyahu comes from Jews in Israel. They know how to oppose a fascist leader (like Trump) without arguing that the country should be destroyed. (Few argue that the US should be destroyed because Trump is a fascist). 31. Judaism is a religion based on ethics, where Jews are commanded to disagree with each other in order to find the most righteous response, words and actions. Jews are expected to disagree with each other, including politically. 32. Islam is a religion based on complete submission to an ideology from a third party (male) prophet. Disagreement is met with punishment including, most of the time, death. There is no freedom of thought in an Islamist society. 33. The vast majority of Jews oppose the war. 34. It is possible to oppose the war without calling it a genocide. It is not a genocide. Genocides cannot be ended with returns of hostages and surrender. The majority of Israelis do not want to annex Gaza. They want an end to the bombing of them and the invasion of them. 35. Hamas is the source interfering with the distribution of aid. Israel has provided more aid to the country that invaded it than any country in a similar situation has in recorded human history. As a reminder, Hamas - which represents a much larger presence than Israel - invaded Israel and murdered, raped, mutilated, and kidnapped thousands of Israelis. Israel is Ukraine. Hamas is Russia. Would Ukraine be expected to feed Russia? Regardless, Israel is doing it anyway in order to have peace. 36. Most Jews and Israelis favor a two-state solution if the Palestinian state would not continue to bomb and invade Israel. That is literally all it would take. But every govt that has taken hold in Palestine has included as its most important goal to destroy Israel. Is it too much to ask that your next door neighbor be refrained from trying to destroy you? 37. The Palestinians, formerly known as the Arabs, have been offered a separate state dozens of times dating back to before the creation of Israel. They never accepted the offer for a separate state. They always insisted on the destruction of Israel. 38. There are 2.1 BILLION Muslims in the world. There are 14 million Jews. There were 24 million Jews before the Holocaust, and now there are 14. That is what a genocide looks like. There are twice as many Palestinians now as there were 10 years ago. That is growth, not genocide. (Although I still oppose the war.) For each Jew there are 800 Muslims. In Israel, the knowledge that for each of them, there are hundreds of people who want to kill them is a part of everyday life. 39. The vast majority of protesters against Israel are white. A large part, if not most, of the black community supports Israel. The history of black and Jewish communities working together in the US is more than a century old. Jews founded the ACLU and co-founded the NAACP. This history informs those who remember it. 40. The only group who voted more strongly for Kamala Harris than Black women in the last election is Jewish women. Jewish women voted for Kamala Harris more strongly than Black men. The preceding facts are facts. They are not propaganda. They can be confirmed by numerous external sources. They were true before October 7 and are true now. They are not taught in schools because - go figure - Jews do not control education. They are not covered in the news because - go figure - Jews do not control the media. The truth and history of Jews and Israel has been erased. This is called ethnic nullification, and is what has happened to Jews. I think it is possible to have these conversations without resorting to name-calling and ethnic slurs. (Islamist is not an ethnic slur. It is using the word they chose for themselves.) Instead of calling it a genocide, because it is terrible but not a genocide, call it a war. It is a war. Recognize the hostages. Try to embrace the fundamental point that those who care about human rights care both about Palestinians and about Israelis. Consider that Islamists do not hide that their goal is to destroy Israel. Recognize that if Israel is destroyed, 7 million Jews would be exterminated (worse than the Holocaust) -- as these Jews have nowhere else to live - - and consider that the destruction of Israel will, infact, render Judaism extinct. Try to recognize that the IDF is made up primarily of teenagers, and that those teenagers are both male and female, and are the most religiously diverse military force in the world. In the IDF are a large number of Muslims, Christians, and Hindus -- especially Muslims. They are fighting with Jews to preserve the only Jewish country on earth, because they too recognize (especially the Muslims, and all of the women) that Israel is the only country in the entire global region where they can enjoy freedom of religion, thought, press, and sexuality, and in the case of all of the women, all of the Jews, and most of the Muslims, is the only country in the entire region where they can live with civil rights. Recent studies by a large number of Jewish and non-Jewish organizations have shown that most people alive today do not understand or recognize what happened in the Holocaust. That may be true for many on this list. Anyone truly informed about the Holocaust would not toss around the triggering words used so blithely by so many white people, in order to defend the most misogynist, terrorist, murderous, colonist, and violent force in world history. They would not defend the violent regimes that enslave all women. They would not defend the ethnic cleansers who consider being gay, or for a woman, speaking in public, a crime worthy of death. They would not support a regime led by a handful of white men who have been stealing from their own people for decades, and who speak on behalf of their holy profit from their skyrises in Quatar, worth a combined 30 billion dollars. They would look at the situation closely and examine all evidence. They would recognize that there is no peace with fear. There is no peace with the enslavement of women and the murder of gays. There is no peace if those who criticize the government are shot to death in public. There is no peace when the forces in charge steal your food, and use the money raised on your behalf to buy more weapons. There is no peace when the people in charge use you as human shields. There is no peace when 60 living or dead innocent people are being held hostage and not returned. There is no peace as long as there is fear. And if you ask me, there is no peace as long as there is god. Israel would survive without god. A large number of Jews are technically atheists which -- guess what? -- is ALLOWED in the Jewish religion. But without god, Islamists would have no way to control the people. Let's get rid of god. Best, Rebecca On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 3:43 PM Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:The way to end the suffering in Gaza is for Israel to defeat Hamas as quickly as possible. The humanitarian needs of the Gazans can be addressed after the war is over, but trying toaddress them while fighting is still ongoing merely provides oxygen to Hamas and makes the conflict last longer. But I think what's really prolonging the war is Israel's single-minded focus on thehostages. The lives of the hostages are very important, but so are the lives of Israeli soldiers. So far, the number of soldiers killed in the war, about 900, far exceeds thenumber of hostages initially abducted, about 250. Throughout the war, Israel has held its fire in places where it thought such fire might endanger the hostages, thereby costing moresoldiers lives, and giving Hamas terrorists more opportunities to escape. If Israel had gone all out against Hamas right from the beginning with victory as the singular goal, the war would probably be over by now with much less loss of life on bothsides, and global anti-Israel sentiment, which seems to increase each day the war goes on, would have abated. Also, if Hamas saw that Israel was not willing to pay a high price to get hostages released,they would have less incentive to take future hostages. In my view, the way to get the hostages back is not to pay Hamas an exorbitant price for releasing them, but to makeHamas pay an exorbitant price for keeping them. Martin Wasserman On Aug 3, 2025, at 9:59 AM, Guilherme Ary Plonski <plonski2@usp.br>wrote: Dear Henry, I read your heartbreaking message with the same attention and affection withwhich I read your precious texts on STIS. Like you, all good people must be shocked by the pogrom of October 7, 2023,and its consequences. This includes, of course, the tragedy affecting good people in Gaza, regardless of who is responsible.However, this does not make me agree with your analysis. We can include this topic in our regular conversations, if you wish.Right now, the most important thing is to seek to end the suffering of everyone—Gaza residents, Israeli abductees, and those from other countriesequally held hostage by the terrorists. We can all help. Personally, on average every four days or nights, I've been forced to flee to apublic underground shelter due to ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. I'd also like to be able to sleep in peace.Shalom from Jerusalem. Em qui., 31 de jul. de 2025 às 17:26, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> escreveu: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crimeof the new century”systematic destruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent andobjective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional andorganizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages oftheNew York Times where Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of thenewspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironically overshadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust wasoriginated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off theNetenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’sCambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil?> > Sincerely> Henry Etzkowitz > Distinguished Fellow> University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division > Sent from my iPhone From:Rebecca Eisenberg To:Martin Wasserman Cc:Guilherme Ary Plonski; h.etzko@gmail.com; Council, City; Palo Post; Office of the Provost; Aram James; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Shikada, Ed; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; snug.bug@hotmail.com; Emma Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette Kiernan; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton-Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah; rabeh morrar; Justin Axel-Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Gennady Sheyner; Lauing, Ed; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Braden Cartwright; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; Mickie Winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 5:44:21 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i That is correct. There is no Peace as long as there is fear. Continuing to enable Islamist (which is different from Muslim) extremists is enabling fear. Under Islamist law, all women are slaves. All LGBTQia2S+ are murdered. All nonconformists are tortured and killed. None of you would survive under Islamist law. Islamist law - particularly Sharia law, which is what Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, the Taliban and the other terrorists groups linked to the Islamist Republic of Iran (which is the terrorist group that currently holds Persians captive in their own country) -- deprives women, LGBTQia2S+ people, and all non-Islamist Muslims of all fundamental human rights. Islamist terrorists have killed millions and millions of Muslims throughout MENA in literally every single company they invaded and conquered by force, which is every country they rule or attempt to rule. Look at a map and you will see how many: dozens. Israel is the only country in the entire North Africa and Middle East region where Jews are allowed to LIVE. Let me repeat that: Every single Arab country in NAME has ethnically cleansed Jews. Although a huge number of Jews had been living in the 22 countries that surround Israel when the UN created Israel in 1948, there are virtually zero Jews living in any of those countries now. They were expelled from the countries. No one ever offered Jews a right of return to Iran, Iraq, Morocco (where dozens in my family lived before being ethnically cleansed, whereupon they settled in Chile), Yemen, Lebanon (which used to be, and can again, be a diverse and advanced nation, if they can get rid of Hezbollah), Jordan, Egypt, and every other Arab country that This message needs your attention This is their first mail to some recipients. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast surrounds Israel. All of those Jews were forcibly removed. None of those Jews have any right of return. It is only Israel where Jews are allowed to live. Meanwhile, Israel offers equal rights to all people regardless of race and religion. Anyone would know that by visiting Israel. If you have not been to Tel Aviv in the past 10 years, you have no standing whatsoever to comment about it. Here are some fast facts: 1. Unlike the US and most other countries, Israel has TWO official languages: Hebrew and Arabic. 2. The signs in every city are in at least two languages: Hebrew and Arabic. In many cities, including Israel's largest city Tel Aviv, signs are in three languages: Arabic, Hebrew, and English. Go find that anywhere in the US. 3. Israel has some of the highest quality health care programs in the world, and this universal healthcare program is provided to every single resident regardless of religion, meaning that millions of recipients of Israeli top healthcare are Muslim, Christian, Hindu or other religions. 4. Israel completely pulled out of Gaza in 2007. At that time it forcibly removed all Jews from Gaza -- there has been no right of return for the Jews that were ethnically cleansed out of Gaza. Gaza does not allow Jews to live there. Neither does the West Bank. I do not support the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but I point out that in any other context, people of other religions are called immigrants and not colonists. 5. Jews and Israel have NEVER conquered any country. They have one tiny country: Israel. 6. Islamists have invaded DOZENS of countries, conquering almost all of them -- and those they have not conquered are still wrought in civil war. Islamists have been the most violent and invasive conquering force on earth in the last century. They have taken over dozens of countries, and when they do, they ethnically purge people of all other religions or practices. 7. The vast majority of people who have been invaded, massacred, murdered, and forced out of their own countries by Islamists are MUSLIMS. Islamists have, and continue to kill, millions of non-Islamist Muslims in all of war-torn MENA, including Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and every other country they currently are in. These civil wars are not between Jews and Muslims. They are waged by Islamic Muslims against other Muslims. 8. It is not racist to criticize Islamist regimes. Islamists represent a minority of Muslims. The most amount of criticism -- even though they are murdered for speaking out -- comes from other Muslims subject to Islamist terror in Iran, Jordan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and everywhere else that is still fighting not to be taken over by Islamist extremists. 9. There is such a thing as anti-Muslim racism. But again, as a reminder, the majority of people speaking out against Islamism are Muslim. 10. The vast majority of black people in Israel and Palestine are Jewish. Black people have equal rights in Israel. The word for black in Arabic means "slave." In Israel, it is the color black. 11. There is racism in Israel like there is racism in the US, Europe, and everywhere else. Racism is ubiquitous. 12. Several hundred thousand Ethiopian - and black -- Jews live in Israel. Israel helped them escape from Ethiopia, where they were being ethnically cleansed by the Islamist extremists. In Israel, they are alive and full citizens. In Ethiopia, they were illegal and killed. 13. Ethiopian Jews escaped terror in their homeland to settle in Israel. They are amongst the most patriotic Israelis. They serve in leadership positions in the IDF and in every other aspect of Israeli life. In fact, they likely have more representation in Israel than black Americans have achieved in 400 years in the area now known as the US. 14. The IDF is made up of 18 and 19 year old young men AND women who are required to serve prior to receiving their (highly subsidized if not entirely subsidized) college education. 18 and 19 year olds are what Hamas calls "children." 15. Even though only Jews are forced to serve in the IDF, the majority of non-Jewish 18 and 19 year olds of all other religions in Israel, including Muslims, Christians, Hindus and otherwise, volunteer to serve. This is how and why the IDF is both young (children in Hamas language) and diverse in every way: gender, sex, religion, race, ethnicity, language, and otherwise. 16. The IDF has special units for autistic people. In Palestine and other Islamist-run nations, it is a criminal offense to be autistic and most are killed. My daughter would be killed not only because she is Jewish, but also because she is autistic and queer. I 17. Israel is the only safe place for queer, neurologically diverse, and female (including trans) people to live in the entire area. Everywhere else they are enslaved or murdered. 17. Jews are indigenous to Judea, which is the area that includes not just Israel, but also Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, Lebanon, Syria, and other nations that surround Israel. The only country in their entire indigenous religion where Jews are allowed to live is Israel. There is nowhere else for Jews to go if Israel is destroyed. 18. Half of all Jews in the world live in Israel. If Israel is destroyed, so will be the Jewish religion and culture -- one of the most ancient religions and cultures in the world. 19. Without Israel, Jews will become like all the indigenous peoples in the Americas. This is why the American Indigenous communities overwhelmingly support Israel. They have lived the genocide that Jews face. 20. There are Israeli hostages who have been held in the least humane and most terrorizing circumstances for almost 2 years. None of these hostages were ever accused of any crimes. They were pulled from their cribs, their beds, their bomb shelters, walking down the street, or at a teenage dance rave. To the extent they are considered military, almost none were actually on duty, and those who were on duty were in positions of merely 'watching.' Almost all of the Israeli military captured and raped and dismembered, tortured and murdered were 18 or 19 years old -- children. 20. Size wise, Israel is the size of a postage stamp on a football field of Arab nations. Jews are not allowed to live anywhere else on that football field other than in the postage stamp called Israel. 21. More than half of all Israeli Jews are Arab. Most of them were ethnically cleansed from the nearby countries. There is ZERO ethnic or racial difference between Arab Jews and Arab Muslims. You would not be able to tell one from the other if not for the religious clothing and hairstyles. Take those off and there is no ethnic difference. This is not a racial war. 23. 13 members of the Israel Knesset are Muslim. 24. Muslims are represented in all levels of leadership in Israel: government, business, academia, medicine, nonprofit,and everything else. Muslims enjoy abundant lives and many are very wealthy. 25. Approximately 25-40% (depending on whom you ask) of Israelis are not Jewish. In other words, Israel is a little more than half Jewish. 26. Israel recognizes same sex marriages. Every Arab country that surrounds Israel considers being LGBTQia2S+ a capital crime, and non cis, hetero folks are murdered by the rulers. 27. The Israeli army, known as the IDF, is comprised of a similarly reflective variety of races, ethnicities, and religions. When you call the IDF terrorists and murderers and genocidalists, you are accusing a huge amount of Muslims, Christians, and Hindus of participating in genocide. 28. Israel provides more equal rights to women than almost all countries in the entire world. Abortion always has been a funded part of healthcare. Israel had a female prime minister 70 years ago -- something that the US still has not achieved. Before Netanyahu arrived and fired almost all the women in highest ranks of govt, women were fully represented in all leadership positions. 29. Israel is a democracy -- in fact, right now more of a democracy than the US (despite its fascist prime minister). 30. 90% of all Israelis - and the vast majority of Jews worldwide - oppose the leadership of Netanyahu. The largest and strongest opposition to Netanyahu comes from Jews in Israel. They know how to oppose a fascist leader (like Trump) without arguing that the country should be destroyed. (Few argue that the US should be destroyed because Trump is a fascist). 31. Judaism is a religion based on ethics, where Jews are commanded to disagree with each other in order to find the most righteous response, words and actions. Jews are expected to disagree with each other, including politically. 32. Islam is a religion based on complete submission to an ideology from a third party (male) prophet. Disagreement is met with punishment including, most of the time, death. There is no freedom of thought in an Islamist society. 33. The vast majority of Jews oppose the war. 34. It is possible to oppose the war without calling it a genocide. It is not a genocide. Genocides cannot be ended with returns of hostages and surrender. The majority of Israelis do not want to annex Gaza. They want an end to the bombing of them and the invasion of them. 35. Hamas is the source interfering with the distribution of aid. Israel has provided more aid to the country that invaded it than any country in a similar situation has in recorded human history. As a reminder, Hamas - which represents a much larger presence than Israel - invaded Israel and murdered, raped, mutilated, and kidnapped thousands of Israelis. Israel is Ukraine. Hamas is Russia. Would Ukraine be expected to feed Russia? Regardless, Israel is doing it anyway in order to have peace. 36. Most Jews and Israelis favor a two-state solution if the Palestinian state would not continue to bomb and invade Israel. That is literally all it would take. But every govt that has taken hold in Palestine has included as its most important goal to destroy Israel. Is it too much to ask that your next door neighbor be refrained from trying to destroy you? 37. The Palestinians, formerly known as the Arabs, have been offered a separate state dozens of times dating back to before the creation of Israel. They never accepted the offer for a separate state. They always insisted on the destruction of Israel. 38. There are 2.1 BILLION Muslims in the world. There are 14 million Jews. There were 24 million Jews before the Holocaust, and now there are 14. That is what a genocide looks like. There are twice as many Palestinians now as there were 10 years ago. That is growth, not genocide. (Although I still oppose the war.) For each Jew there are 800 Muslims. In Israel, the knowledge that for each of them, there are hundreds of people who want to kill them is a part of everyday life. 39. The vast majority of protesters against Israel are white. A large part, if not most, of the black community supports Israel. The history of black and Jewish communities working together in the US is more than a century old. Jews founded the ACLU and co-founded the NAACP. This history informs those who remember it. 40. The only group who voted more strongly for Kamala Harris than Black women in the last election is Jewish women. Jewish women voted for Kamala Harris more strongly than Black men. The preceding facts are facts. They are not propaganda. They can be confirmed by numerous external sources. They were true before October 7 and are true now. They are not taught in schools because - go figure - Jews do not control education. They are not covered in the news because - go figure - Jews do not control the media. The truth and history of Jews and Israel has been erased. This is called ethnic nullification, and is what has happened to Jews. I think it is possible to have these conversations without resorting to name-calling and ethnic slurs. (Islamist is not an ethnic slur. It is using the word they chose for themselves.) Instead of calling it a genocide, because it is terrible but not a genocide, call it a war. It is a war. Recognize the hostages. Try to embrace the fundamental point that those who care about human rights care both about Palestinians and about Israelis. Consider that Islamists do not hide that their goal is to destroy Israel. Recognize that if Israel is destroyed, 7 million Jews would be exterminated (worse than the Holocaust) -- as these Jews have nowhere else to live -- and consider that the destruction of Israel will, infact, render Judaism extinct. Try to recognize that the IDF is made up primarily of teenagers, and that those teenagers are both male and female, and are the most religiously diverse military force in the world. In the IDF are a large number of Muslims, Christians, and Hindus - - especially Muslims. They are fighting with Jews to preserve the only Jewish country on earth, because they too recognize (especially the Muslims, and all of the women) that Israel is the only country in the entire global region where they can enjoy freedom of religion, thought, press, and sexuality, and in the case of all of the women, all of the Jews, and most of the Muslims, is the only country in the entire region where they can live with civil rights. Recent studies by a large number of Jewish and non-Jewish organizations have shown that most people alive today do not understand or recognize what happened in the Holocaust. That may be true for many on this list. Anyone truly informed about the Holocaust would not toss around the triggering words used so blithely by so many white people, in order to defend the most misogynist, terrorist, murderous, colonist, and violent force in world history. They would not defend the violent regimes that enslave all women. They would not defend the ethnic cleansers who consider being gay, or for a woman, speaking in public, a crime worthy of death. They would not support a regime led by a handful of white men who have been stealing from their own people for decades, and who speak on behalf of their holy profit from their skyrises in Quatar, worth a combined 30 billion dollars. They would look at the situation closely and examine all evidence. They would recognize that there is no peace with fear. There is no peace with the enslavement of women and the murder of gays. There is no peace if those who criticize the government are shot to death in public. There is no peace when the forces in charge steal your food, and use the money raised on your behalf to buy more weapons. There is no peace when the people in charge use you as human shields. There is no peace when 60 living or dead innocent people are being held hostage and not returned. There is no peace as long as there is fear. And if you ask me, there is no peace as long as there is god. Israel would survive without god. A large number of Jews are technically atheists which -- guess what? -- is ALLOWED in the Jewish religion. But without god, Islamists would have no way to control the people. Let's get rid of god. Best, Rebecca On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 3:43 PM Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:The way to end the suffering in Gaza is for Israel to defeat Hamas as quickly as possible. The humanitarian needs of the Gazans can be addressed after the war is over, but trying toaddress them while fighting is still ongoing merely provides oxygen to Hamas and makes the conflict last longer. But I think what's really prolonging the war is Israel's single-minded focus on the hostages.The lives of the hostages are very important, but so are the lives of Israeli soldiers. So far, the number of soldiers killed in the war, about 900, far exceeds the number of hostagesinitially abducted, about 250. Throughout the war, Israel has held its fire in places where it thought such fire might endanger the hostages, thereby costing more soldiers lives, andgiving Hamas terrorists more opportunities to escape. If Israel had gone all out against Hamas right from the beginning with victory as the singular goal, the war would probably be over by now with much less loss of life on both sides, andglobal anti-Israel sentiment, which seems to increase each day the war goes on, would have abated. Also, if Hamas saw that Israel was not willing to pay a high price to get hostages released,they would have less incentive to take future hostages. In my view, the way to get the hostages back is not to pay Hamas an exorbitant price for releasing them, but to makeHamas pay an exorbitant price for keeping them. Martin Wasserman On Aug 3, 2025, at 9:59 AM, Guilherme Ary Plonski <plonski2@usp.br>wrote: Dear Henry, I read your heartbreaking message with the same attention and affection withwhich I read your precious texts on STIS. Like you, all good people must be shocked by the pogrom of October 7, 2023,and its consequences. This includes, of course, the tragedy affecting good people in Gaza, regardless of who is responsible.However, this does not make me agree with your analysis. We can include this topic in our regular conversations, if you wish.Right now, the most important thing is to seek to end the suffering of everyone —Gaza residents, Israeli abductees, and those from other countries equally heldhostage by the terrorists. We can all help. Personally, on average every four days or nights, I've been forced to flee to apublic underground shelter due to ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. I'd also like to be able to sleep in peace.Shalom from Jerusalem. Em qui., 31 de jul. de 2025 às 17:26, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> escreveu: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of thenew century”systematic destruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent and objective ofatomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight andinternational, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages of theNew York Times where Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated,this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironicallyovershadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the lastcentury, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaustcould have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil?> > Sincerely> Henry Etzkowitz > Distinguished Fellow> University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division > Sent from my iPhone From:Branca Terra To:Guilherme Ary Plonski Cc:h.etzko@gmail.com; Council, City; Palo Post; Office of the Provost; Rebecca Eisenberg; Aram James; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Shikada, Ed; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; Brian Good; Roseline Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton-Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; James Sefe Dzisah; rabeh morrar; Justin Axel-Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Gennady Sheyner; Lauing, Ed; Marty Wasserman; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Braden Cartwright; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; mickie winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 3:52:48 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear Plonski take care! Branca Branca Regina Cantisano dos Santos E Silva, Dra. Professora Titular da Faculdade de Administração e Finanças - FAFDepartamento de Ciências Administrativas - DCACentro de Ciências Sociais - CCSUniversidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UERJRua São Francisco Xavier, 524 Bloco B sala 8024Rio de Janeiro - RJ, CEP 20550-013, BrasilTel: 55 21 23340662/23340360/23340517/78850923Email: brancaterra@gmail.comSkype: Branca TerraPlataforma Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/2248903075480185ResearcherID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/S-6934-2018ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4397-6519Redalyc: https://www.redalyc.org/autor.oa?id=34103 Branca Terra, D.Sc. Full Professor of the Faculty of Administration and Finance - FAFDepartment of Administrative Sciences - DCA Social Sciences Centre - CCS Rio de Janeiro State University- UERJ Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524 Bloco B room 8024 Rio de Janeiro - RJ, CEP 20550-013, Brazil Tel: 55 21 23340662/23340360/23340517/78850923 Email: brancaterra@gmail.com This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Skype: Branca TerraPlataforma Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/2248903075480185 ResearcherID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/S-6934-2018ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4397-6519 Redalyc: https://www.redalyc.org/autor.oa?id=34103 Em dom., 3 de ago. de 2025 às 14:00, Guilherme Ary Plonski <plonski2@usp.br> escreveu: Dear Henry,I read your heartbreaking message with the same attention and affection with which I read your precious texts on STIS.Like you, all good people must be shocked by the pogrom of October 7, 2023, and its consequences. This includes, of course, the tragedy affecting good people in Gaza,regardless of who is responsible. However, this does not make me agree with your analysis. We can include this topic in ourregular conversations, if you wish. Right now, the most important thing is to seek to end the suffering of everyone—Gazaresidents, Israeli abductees, and those from other countries equally held hostage by the terrorists. We can all help.Personally, on average every four days or nights, I've been forced to flee to a public underground shelter due to ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. I'd also like to be able tosleep in peace. Shalom from Jerusalem. Em qui., 31 de jul. de 2025 às 17:26, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> escreveu: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century”systematicdestruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into acontrollable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, fullmedia gaze. Rather than the inside pages of theNew York Times where Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages ofthe newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironically overshadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated,collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish statefounded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity ofevil? > > Sincerely > Henry Etzkowitz> Distinguished Fellow > University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, SanJose CA 95113 civil division > Sent from my iPhone From:Martin Wasserman To:Guilherme Ary Plonski Cc:h.etzko@gmail.com; Council, City; Palo Post; Office of the Provost; Rebecca Eisenberg; Aram James; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Shikada, Ed; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; snug.bug@hotmail.com; Emma Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette Kiernan; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton-Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah; rabeh morrar; Justin Axel-Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Gennady Sheyner; Lauing, Ed; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Braden Cartwright; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; Mickie Winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 3:43:53 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. The way to end the suffering in Gaza is for Israel to defeat Hamas as quickly as possible. Thehumanitarian needs of the Gazans can be addressed after the war is over, but trying to address them while fighting is still ongoing merely provides oxygen to Hamas and makes the conflictlast longer. But I think what's really prolonging the war is Israel's single-minded focus on the hostages. The lives of the hostages are very important, but so are the lives of Israeli soldiers. So far, thenumber of soldiers killed in the war, about 900, far exceeds the number of hostages initially abducted, about 250. Throughout the war, Israel has held its fire in places where it thoughtsuch fire might endanger the hostages, thereby costing more soldiers lives, and giving Hamas terrorists more opportunities to escape. If Israel had gone all out against Hamas right from the beginning with victory as the singulargoal, the war would probably be over by now with much less loss of life on both sides, and global anti-Israel sentiment, which seems to increase each day the war goes on, would haveabated. Also, if Hamas saw that Israel was not willing to pay a high price to get hostages released, they would have less incentive to take future hostages. In my view, the way to get the hostagesback is not to pay Hamas an exorbitant price for releasing them, but to make Hamas pay an exorbitant price for keeping them. Martin Wasserman On Aug 3, 2025, at 9:59 AM, Guilherme Ary Plonski <plonski2@usp.br> wrote: Dear Henry, I read your heartbreaking message with the same attention and affection withwhich I read your precious texts on STIS. Like you, all good people must be shocked by the pogrom of October 7, 2023, andits consequences. This includes, of course, the tragedy affecting good people in Gaza, regardless of who is responsible.However, this does not make me agree with your analysis. We can include this topic in our regular conversations, if you wish. Right now, the most important thing is to seek to end the suffering of everyone—Gaza residents, Israeli abductees, and those from other countries equally held hostage by the terrorists. We can all help.Personally, on average every four days or nights, I've been forced to flee to a public underground shelter due to ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. I'd also liketo be able to sleep in peace. Shalom from Jerusalem. Em qui., 31 de jul. de 2025 às 17:26, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com>escreveu: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a“collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century”systematic destruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional andorganizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages oftheNew York Times where Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of recordwhere all news that fits is published, sometimes ironically overshadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust wasoriginated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahuregime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Whowill be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil? > > Sincerely > Henry Etzkowitz> Distinguished Fellow > University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation ManagementResearch > Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 MenloAvenue, Menlo Park CA 94025 > RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485Superior Court of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division> Sent from my iPhone From:christiane.gebhardt@t-online.de To:h.etzko@gmail.com; Guilherme Ary Plonski Cc:Council, City; Palo Post; Office of the Provost; Rebecca Eisenberg; Aram James; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Shikada, Ed; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; Brian Good; Roseline Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton-Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah; rabeh morrar; Justin Axel-Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Gennady Sheyner; Lauing, Ed; Marty Wasserman; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Braden Cartwright; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; mickie winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman Subject:AW: Re: Starvation by Design Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 1:33:20 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ! DRÖHNEN: es ist die Wahrheit selbst unter die Menschen getreten, mitten ins Metapherngestöber Danke Ari - passe auf Dich auf. Christiane Gesendet mit der Telekom Mail App -----Original-Nachricht-----Von: Guilherme Ary Plonski <plonski2@usp.br>Betreff: Re: Starvation by DesignDatum: 03.08.2025, 18:59 UhrAn: Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com>CC: City Council <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org>, Palo Post <price@padailypost.com>,Office of the Provost <provost@stanford.edu>, Rebecca Eisenberg <rebecca@rebecca4water.com>, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com>, Hannah Lu<hannahlu00@gmail.com>, Avroh Shah <avrohshah@gmail.com>, Ed Shikada <ed.shikada@cityofpaloalto.org>, Ellen Fox <ellenfox787@gmail.com>, Jeanne Fleming<jfleming@right-thing.net>, Brian Good <snug.bug@hotmail.com>, Roseline Rasolovoahangy <emma-roseline@stanfordalumni.org>, annika steiber<annika.steiber@gmail.com>, Lotus Fong <lyfong@pacbell.net>, Charlie Weidanz This message could be suspicious This is an obscure personal email address. This is their first mail to some recipients. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast <charlie@paloaltochamber.com>, Bette <betteuk@aol.com>, WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto<wilpf.peninsula.paloalto@gmail.com>, Christiane Gebhardt <christiane.gebhardt@t- online.de>, Mark Granovetter <mgranovetter@gmail.com>, Online Palo Alto<email@paloaltoonline.com>, Jim Hersh <hershjim2@gmail.com>, Helen Lawton Lawton- Smith <h.lawton-smith@bbk.ac.uk>, sally Tomlinson <sallytomlinson936@gmail.com>,Rabii Outamha <outamha.rabii@gmail.com>, Stephen Adams <SBADAMS@salisbury.edu>, Anna Uvarova <au@3dbin.com>, Richard Horning<Richard.Horning@globaltechlaw.co>, Laleh Raeisy <raeisylaleh@gmail.com>, Josep Miquel Pique <jmpique@salle.url.edu>, Irina Dezhina <iradezh@gmail.com>, TatianaPospelova <tatiana7pospelova@gmail.com>, Branca Terra <brancaterra@gmail.com>, James Sefe Dzisah <jdzisah@ug.edu.gh>, rabeh morrar <rabehmorrar@gmail.com>, Justin Axel-Berg <justin.axelberg@usp.br>, 翁默斯 <mosi@zjut.edu.cn>, Ekaterina Albats <Ekaterina.Albats@lut.fi>, Bette Kiernan <betteuk@icloud.com>, Carol Kemelgor<ckemelgor@msn.com>, Carol Kiparsky <ckiparsky@gmail.com>, David Charles <david.charles@northumbria.ac.uk>, Devrim Göktepe Hultén<devrimgoktepe@gmail.com>, Dorien Detombe <doriendetombe@hotmail.com>, Christopher M Kwong <feedback@sutterhealth.org>, Lana Sabelfeld<lana.sabelfeld@handels.gu.se>, Michelle Baker <michellebaker16@gmail.com>, Riccardo Viale <viale.riccardo2@gmail.com>, Gennady Sheyner<gsheyner@embarcaderomedia.org>, Ed Lauing <Ed.Lauing@cityofpaloalto.org>, Marty Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com>, Pat Burt <pat@patburt.org>, John Salois<amat721@outlook.com>, Braden Cartwright <bcartwright@padailypost.com>, Mary Rorty <mrorty@gmail.com>, Sarah Wright <swright@paweekly.com>, Joe Penko<josephpenko@gmail.com>, Geoffrey Blackshire <geo.blackshire@paloalto.gov>, mickie winkler <mickie650@gmail.com>, Team JulieforPaloAlto<teamjulieforpaloalto@gmail.com>, Winter Dellenbach <wintergery@earthlink.net>, Mariza Almeida <almeida.mariza@globo.com>, Arthur Millman <Arthur.Millman@umb.edu> Dear Henry,I read your heartbreaking message with the same attention and affection with which I readyour precious texts on STIS. Like you, all good people must be shocked by the pogrom of October 7, 2023, and itsconsequences. This includes, of course, the tragedy affecting good people in Gaza, regardlessof who is responsible. However, this does not make me agree with your analysis. We can include this topic in ourregular conversations, if you wish. Right now, the most important thing is to seek to end the suffering of everyone—Gazaresidents, Israeli abductees, and those from other countries equally held hostage by theterrorists. We can all help. Personally, on average every four days or nights, I've been forced to flee to a publicunderground shelter due to ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. I'd also like to be able to sleepin peace. Shalom from Jerusalem. Em qui., 31 de jul. de 2025 às 17:26, Henry Etzkowitz < h.etzko@gmail.com> escreveu: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collectiveEichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century”systematicdestruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing,with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizationaldeprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages of theNew York Times where Germany’s 20th centuryholocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironicallyovershadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate itsindelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget PolPot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil? > > Sincerely > Henry Etzkowitz > Distinguished Fellow > University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research > Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025 > RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San JoseCA 95113 civil division > Sent from my iPhone From:Jeanne Verville To:Council, City Subject:Proposed Condo Project for 4256 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 12:30:14 PM Attachments:Dear Palo Alto City Council Members.docx CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. Please bring this letter to the attention of City Council members before the August 10, 2025 pre-screening meeting. Thank you, Jeanne Verville Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, August 3, 2025 I live at Palo Alto Redwoods, a hidden gem that has outdoor space in which to breathe. I also live next to the oversized development proposed for 4256 El Camino Real and have several concerns about how it will affect my quality of life as a neighbor and how it will negatively affect the value of my condo. • The development will increase traffic congestion on El Camino, creating unsafe conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. • The project will affect fire safety and emergency vehicle access due to inadequate setbacks for service vehicles and getting through barriers that protect the new bike lane. • Backup of vehicles attempting to enter and park at the project at 4256 will likely affect ingress and exit from Palo Alto Redwoods. • The project will lower my property value. Adding over one hundred one- bedroom/studio units next door will create an oversupply of one bedroom/studio units that will lower demand for the one-bedroom units in Palo Alto Redwoods. • The proposed project will appeal mostly to highly paid tech workers who can afford to buy the units, not to ordinary families who desperately need affordable housing. • The proposed condo project is not in keeping with neighborhood scale. I urge the City Council to: • Conduct a thorough traffic and environmental impact study. • Ensure the project design respects the privacy and character of the existing neighborhood and of neighboring Palo Alto Redwoods. • Require sufficient setbacks to accommodate emergency vehicles and sufficient parking for over 110 individual vehicles to prevent spillover onto neighboring properties. Note: it is unlikely that residents of the proposed project will give up cars for bicycles, despite the new bike path on El Camino. • Maintain open communication with local residents and organizations during planning. I do support affordable new housing for families in Palo Alto, but not projects that have an adverse impact on the area they want to be built in. I believe addressing these concerns will lead to better outcomes for both current and future residents in the area and for the city of Palo Alto. I support a project that adds to not detracts from. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Jeanne Verville 4250 El Camino Real, B217 Palo Alto, CA 94306 From:Aram James To:Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Rosen; Jeff Conrad; Human Relations Commission; Sean Allen; Seher Awan; Doug Minkler;Zelkha, Mila; Gardener, Liz; Gerry Gras; Gennady Sheyner; Raymond Goins; Dan Okonkwo; Roberta Ahlquist;Baker, Rob; Dave Price; Gennady Sheyner; Mark Turner; Yolanda Conaway; Don Austin; Donna Wallach;board@valleywater.org; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; boardfeedback@smcgov.org; BoardOperations; YusraHussain; Palo Alto Free Press; Guilherme Ary Plonski; Michael Ybarra; <michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>;Michael Pati; Binder, Andrew; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright; Figueroa, Eric; GRP-City Council; PD KristinaBell; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; Josh Becker; Pat M; board@pausd.org; Dana St. George; LizKniss; Kaloma Smith; Tom DuBois; Drekmeier, Peter; Zahra Billoo; Perron, Zachary;jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; Marina Lopez; Daniel Barton; David Piper; Angel, David; Dennis Upton; Lynn Krug;Rose Lynn; Bryan Gobin; Burt, Patrick; Lu, George; Reckdahl, Keith; Shikada, Ed; Ruth Silver Taube; Nash,Betsy; dcombs@menlopark.gov; cromero@cityofepa.org; rabrica@cityofepa.org; Daniel Kottke; Rodriguez,Miguel; Damon Silver; Robert.Jonson@shf.sccgov.org; Wagner, April; Rowena Chiu; Bill Newell; Enberg,Nicholas; james pitkin; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; ParkRec Commission; Doug Fort;Freddie.Quintana@sen.ca.gov; Patricia.Guerrero@jud.ca.gov; Patrice Ventresca; Council, City; Cait James; LoriMeyers; Sheree Roth Cc:h.etzko@gmail.com; Office of the Provost; Rebecca Eisenberg; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; Brian Good; Roseline Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton- Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah; rabeh morrar; Justin Axel- Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Lauing, Ed; Marty Wasserman; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; mickie winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman; Tim James; sharon jackson Subject:Re: The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 10:54:24 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 10:42 AM Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: FYI: A must Read!! I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump Rashid Khalidi The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible Dear Acting President Shipman, I am writing you an open letter since you have seen fit to communicate the recent decisions of the board of trustees and the administration in a similar fashion. These decisions, taken in close collaboration with the Trump administration, have made it impossible for me to teach modern Middle East history, the field of my scholarship and teaching for more than 50 years, 23 of them at Columbia. Although I have retired, I was scheduled to teach a large lecture course on this topic in the fall as a “special lecturer”, but I cannot do so under the conditions Columbia has accepted by capitulating to the Trump administration in June. Man at table speaks Prominent historian cancels course at Columbia University over Trump deal Read more Specifically, it is impossible to teach this course (and much else) in light of Columbia’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The IHRA definition deliberately, mendaciously and disingenuously conflates Jewishness with Israel, so that any criticism of Israel, or indeed description of Israeli policies, becomes a criticism of Jews. Citing its potential chilling effect, a co-author of the IHRA definition, Professor Kenneth Stern, has repudiated its current uses. Yet Columbia has announced that it will serve as a guide in disciplinary proceedings. Under this definition of antisemitism, which absurdly conflates criticism of a nation-state, Israel, and a political ideology, Zionism, with the ancient evil of Jew- hatred, it is impossible with any honesty to teach about topics such as the history of the creation of Israel, and the ongoing Palestinian Nakba, culminating in the genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza with the connivance and support of the US and much of western Europe. The Armenian genocide, the nature of the absolute monarchies and military dictatorships that blight most of the Arab world, the undemocratic theocracy in Iran, the incipient dictatorial regime in Türkiye, the fanaticism of Wahhabism: all of these are subject to detailed analysis in my course lectures and readings. However, a simple description of the discriminatory nature of Israel’s 2018 Nation State Law – which states that only the Jewish people have the right of self-determination in Israel, half of whose subjects are Palestinian – or of the apartheid nature of its control over millions of Palestinians who have been under military occupation for 58 years would be impossible in a Middle East history course under the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Columbia’s capitulation has turned a university that was once a site of free inquiry and learning into a shadow of its former self It is not only faculty members’ academic freedom and freedom of speech that is infringed upon by Columbia’s capitulation to Trump’s diktat. Teaching assistants would be seriously constrained in leading discussion sections, as would students in their questions and discussions, by the constant fear that informers would snitch on them to the fearsome apparatus that Columbia has erected to punish speech critical of Israel, and to crack down on alleged discrimination – which at this moment in history almost invariably amounts simply to opposition to this genocide. Scores of students and many faculty members have been subjected to these kangaroo courts, students such as Mahmoud Khalil have been snatched from their university housing, and Columbia has now promised to render this repressive system even more draconian and opaque. You have stated that no “red lines” have been crossed by these decisions. However, Columbia has appointed a vice-provost initially tasked with surveilling Middle Eastern studies, and it has ordained that faculty and staff must submit to “trainings” on antisemitism from the likes of the Anti-Defamation League, for whom virtually any critique of Zionism or Israel is antisemitic, and Project Shema, whose trainings link many anti-Zionist critiques to antisemitism. It has accepted an “independent” monitor of “compliance” of faculty and student behavior from a firm that in June 2025 hosted an event in honor of Israel. According to Columbia’s agreement with the Trump administration, this “Monitor will have timely access to interview all Agreement-related individuals, and visit all Agreement-related facilities, trainings, transcripts of Agreement-related meetings and disciplinary hearings, and reviews”. Classrooms are pointedly NOT excluded from possible visits from these external non academics. The idea that the teaching, syllabuses and scholarship of some of the most prominent academics in their fields should be vetted by such a vice-provost, such “trainers” or an outside monitor from such a firm is abhorrent. It constitutes the antithesis of the academic freedom that you have disingenuously claimed will not be infringed by this shameful capitulation to the anti-intellectual forces animating the Trump I regret deeply that Columbia’s decisions have obliged me to deprive the nearly 300 students who have registered for this popular course – as many hundreds of others have done for more than two decades – of the chance to learn about the history of the modern Middle East this fall. Although I cannot do anything to compensate them fully for depriving them of the opportunity to take this course, I am planning to offer a public lecture series in New York focused on parts of this course that will be streamed and available for later viewing. Proceeds, if any, will go to Gaza’s universities, every one of which has been destroyed by Israel with US munitions, a war crime about which neither Columbia nor any other US university has seen fit to say a single word. Columbia’s capitulation has turned a university that was once a site of free inquiry and learning into a shadow of its former self, an anti-university, a gated security zone with electronic entry controls, a place of fear and loathing, where faculty and students are told from on high what they can teach and say, under penalty of severe sanctions. Disgracefully, all of this is being done to cover up one of the greatest crimes of this century, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, a crime in which Columbia’s leadership is now fully complicit. – Rashid Khalidi Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said professor emeritus of modern Arab studies at Columbia University and author of The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM Guilherme Ary Plonski <plonski2@usp.br> wrote:Dear Henry, I read your heartbreaking message with the same attention and affection with which I readyour precious texts on STIS. Like you, all good people must be shocked by the pogrom of October 7, 2023, and itsconsequences. This includes, of course, the tragedy affecting good people in Gaza, regardless of who is responsible.However, this does not make me agree with your analysis. We can include this topic in our regular conversations, if you wish.Right now, the most important thing is to seek to end the suffering of everyone—Gaza residents, Israeli abductees, and those from other countries equally held hostage by theterrorists. We can all help. Personally, on average every four days or nights, I've been forced to flee to a publicunderground shelter due to ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. I'd also like to be able to sleep in peace.Shalom from Jerusalem. Em qui., 31 de jul. de 2025 às 17:26, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> escreveu: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a“collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century”systematic destruction of the civil institutional environment of universities,businesses, and housing, with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizationaldeprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages of theNew York Times where Germany’s 20thcentury holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironicallyovershadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigateits indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not toforget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil?> > Sincerely> Henry Etzkowitz > Distinguished Fellow> University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research > Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue,Menlo Park CA 94025 > RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 SuperiorCourt of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division> Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Rosen; Jeff Conrad; Human Relations Commission; Sean Allen; Seher Awan; Doug Minkler;Zelkha, Mila; Gardener, Liz; Gerry Gras; Gennady Sheyner; Raymond Goins; Dan Okonkwo; Roberta Ahlquist;Baker, Rob; Dave Price; Gennady Sheyner; Mark Turner; Yolanda Conaway; Don Austin; Donna Wallach;board@valleywater.org; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; boardfeedback@smcgov.org; BoardOperations; YusraHussain; Palo Alto Free Press; Guilherme Ary Plonski; Michael Ybarra; <michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>;Michael Pati; Binder, Andrew; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright; Figueroa, Eric; GRP-City Council; PD KristinaBell; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; Josh Becker; Pat M; board@pausd.org; Dana St. George; LizKniss; Kaloma Smith; Tom DuBois; Drekmeier, Peter; Zahra Billoo; Perron, Zachary;jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; Marina Lopez; Daniel Barton; David Piper; Angel, David; Dennis Upton; Lynn Krug;Rose Lynn; Bryan Gobin; Burt, Patrick; Lu, George; Reckdahl, Keith; Shikada, Ed; Ruth Silver Taube; Nash,Betsy; dcombs@menlopark.gov; cromero@cityofepa.org; rabrica@cityofepa.org; Daniel Kottke; Rodriguez,Miguel; Damon Silver; Robert.Jonson@shf.sccgov.org; Wagner, April; Rowena Chiu; Bill Newell; Enberg,Nicholas; james pitkin; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; ParkRec Commission; Doug Fort;Freddie.Quintana@sen.ca.gov; Patricia.Guerrero@jud.ca.gov; Patrice Ventresca; Council, City; Cait James Cc:h.etzko@gmail.com; Office of the Provost; Rebecca Eisenberg; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; Brian Good; Roseline Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton- Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah; rabeh morrar; Justin Axel- Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Lauing, Ed; Marty Wasserman; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; mickie winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman; Tim James; sharon jackson Subject:Re: The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 10:42:49 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. FYI: A must Read!! I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump Rashid Khalidi The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible Dear Acting President Shipman, I am writing you an open letter since you have seen fit to communicate the recent decisions of the board of trustees and the administration in a similar fashion. These decisions, taken in close collaboration with the Trump administration, have made it impossible for me to teach modern Middle East history, the field of my scholarship and teaching for more than 50 years, 23 of them at Columbia. Although I have retired, I was scheduled to teach a large lecture course on this topic in the fall as a “special lecturer”, but I cannot do so under the conditions Columbia has accepted by capitulating to the Trump administration in June. Man at table speaks Prominent historian cancels course at Columbia University over Trump deal Read more Specifically, it is impossible to teach this course (and much else) in light of Columbia’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The IHRA definition deliberately, mendaciously and disingenuously conflates Jewishness with Israel, so that any criticism of Israel, or indeed description of Israeli policies, becomes a criticism of Jews. Citing its potential chilling effect, a co- author of the IHRA definition, Professor Kenneth Stern, has repudiated its current uses. Yet Columbia has announced that it will serve as a guide in disciplinary proceedings. Under this definition of antisemitism, which absurdly conflates criticism of a nation- state, Israel, and a political ideology, Zionism, with the ancient evil of Jew-hatred, it is impossible with any honesty to teach about topics such as the history of the creation of Israel, and the ongoing Palestinian Nakba, culminating in the genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza with the connivance and support of the US and much of western Europe. The Armenian genocide, the nature of the absolute monarchies and military dictatorships that blight most of the Arab world, the undemocratic theocracy in Iran, the incipient dictatorial regime in Türkiye, the fanaticism of Wahhabism: all of these are subject to detailed analysis in my course lectures and readings. However, a simple description of the discriminatory nature of Israel’s 2018 Nation State Law – which states that only the Jewish people have the right of self-determination in Israel, half of whose subjects are Palestinian – or of the apartheid nature of its control over millions of Palestinians who have been under military occupation for 58 years would be impossible in a Middle East history course under the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Columbia’s capitulation has turned a university that was once a site of free inquiry andlearning into a shadow of its former self It is not only faculty members’ academic freedom and freedom of speech that is infringed upon by Columbia’s capitulation to Trump’s diktat. Teaching assistants would be seriously constrained in leading discussion sections, as would students in their questions and discussions, by the constant fear that informers would snitch on them to the fearsome apparatus that Columbia has erected to punish speech critical of Israel, and to crack down on alleged discrimination – which at this moment in history almost invariably amounts simply to opposition to this genocide. Scores of students and many faculty members have been subjected to these kangaroo courts, students such as Mahmoud Khalil have been snatched from their university housing, and Columbia has now promised to render this repressive system even more draconian and opaque. You have stated that no “red lines” have been crossed by these decisions. However, Columbia has appointed a vice-provost initially tasked with surveilling Middle Eastern studies, and it has ordained that faculty and staff must submit to “trainings” on antisemitism from the likes of the Anti-Defamation League, for whom virtually any critique of Zionism or Israel is antisemitic, and Project Shema, whose trainings link many anti-Zionist critiques to antisemitism. It has accepted an “independent” monitor of “compliance” of faculty and student behavior from a firm that in June 2025 hosted an event in honor of Israel. According to Columbia’s agreement with the Trump administration, this “Monitor will have timely access to interview all Agreement-related individuals, and visit all Agreement-related facilities, trainings, transcripts of Agreement-related meetings and disciplinary hearings, and reviews”. Classrooms are pointedly NOT excluded from possible visits from these external non academics. The idea that the teaching, syllabuses and scholarship of some of the most prominent academics in their fields should be vetted by such a vice-provost, such “trainers” or an outside monitor from such a firm is abhorrent. It constitutes the antithesis of the academic freedom that you have disingenuously claimed will not be infringed by this shameful capitulation to the anti-intellectual forces animating the Trump administration. On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM Guilherme Ary Plonski <plonski2@usp.br> wrote: Dear Henry,I read your heartbreaking message with the same attention and affection with which I readyour precious texts on STIS.Like you, all good people must be shocked by the pogrom of October 7, 2023, and itsconsequences. This includes, of course, the tragedy affecting good people in Gaza,regardless of who is responsible.However, this does not make me agree with your analysis. We can include this topic in ourregular conversations, if you wish.Right now, the most important thing is to seek to end the suffering of everyone—Gazaresidents, Israeli abductees, and those from other countries equally held hostage by theterrorists. We can all help.Personally, on average every four days or nights, I've been forced to flee to a publicunderground shelter due to ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. I'd also like to be able tosleep in peace.Shalom from Jerusalem. Em qui., 31 de jul. de 2025 às 17:26, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> escreveu: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collectiveEichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century”systematicdestruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing,with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into acontrollable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizationaldeprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, fullmedia gaze. Rather than the inside pages of theNew York Times where Germany’s 20thcentury holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages ofthe newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironicallyovershadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated,collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate itsindelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish statefounded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forgetPol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity ofevil?> > Sincerely> Henry Etzkowitz> Distinguished Fellow> University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue,Menlo Park CA 94025> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Courtof California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, SanJose CA 95113 civil division> Sent from my iPhone From:Guilherme Ary Plonski To:h.etzko@gmail.com Cc:Council, City; Palo Post; Office of the Provost; Rebecca Eisenberg; Aram James; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Shikada, Ed; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; Brian Good; Roseline Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton-Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah; rabeh morrar; Justin Axel-Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Gennady Sheyner; Lauing, Ed; Marty Wasserman; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Braden Cartwright; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; mickie winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 10:00:27 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear Henry, I read your heartbreaking message with the same attention and affection with which I readyour precious texts on STIS. Like you, all good people must be shocked by the pogrom of October 7, 2023, and itsconsequences. This includes, of course, the tragedy affecting good people in Gaza, regardless of who is responsible.However, this does not make me agree with your analysis. We can include this topic in our regular conversations, if you wish.Right now, the most important thing is to seek to end the suffering of everyone—Gaza residents, Israeli abductees, and those from other countries equally held hostage by theterrorists. We can all help. Personally, on average every four days or nights, I've been forced to flee to a publicunderground shelter due to ballistic missiles fired from Yemen. I'd also like to be able to sleep in peace.Shalom from Jerusalem. Em qui., 31 de jul. de 2025 às 17:26, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> escreveu: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collectiveEichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century”systematic destruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing,with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizationaldeprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full media This message needs your attention No employee in your company has ever replied to this person. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast gaze. Rather than the inside pages of theNew York Times where Germany’s 20th centuryholocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironicallyovershadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate itsindelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget PolPot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil? > > Sincerely > Henry Etzkowitz> Distinguished Fellow > University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San JoseCA 95113 civil division > Sent from my iPhone From:Magdalena Cabrera To:Bansal, Megha; Horrigan-Taylor, Meghan; Council, City Cc:Angela Dellaporta; Rebecca Sanders; Claire Elliott; Barry M Katz; Joye, Ken Subject:dogs in children"s playground Date:Sunday, August 3, 2025 9:20:59 AM Attachments:IMG_5790.HEICIMG_5791.HEIC CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello, I have not had an answer as to whether or not DOGS are allowed in the children's playground area and tot lot at Boulware playground. People are bring their dogs and NOT even having them on leashes. WHAT is the policy?????? If a child gets bit by a dog, it will be on the city. respectfully and insistently, Magdalena Cabrera Ventura Neighborhood resident, concerned citizen From:Vik Ghai To:Lauing, Ed; Council, City; Transportation; City Mgr; Veenker, Vicki; Shikada, Ed Cc:Police; Escalante, Andrew Subject:Urgent Safety Concern & Offer to Help – 15+ Break-Ins at Webster/Cowper Garage Date:Saturday, August 2, 2025 12:33:18 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear Mayor Ed Lauing, Vice Mayor Vicki Veenker, City Manager Ed Shikada, Chief Transportation OfficialRia Hutabarat Lo, Members of the Palo Alto City Council, City Manager and Head of Transportation I'm writing as a venture capital investor and cyber-physical security expert who recentlyexperienced a car break-in at the Webster/Cowper Garage (520 Webster Street) during an investor event between 6–8 PM on July 17, 2025. Three windows on my vehicle weresmashed and my laptop bag—with three laptops and important memory stick and documents —stolen from the trunk :( I want to sincerely thank Officer Andrew Escalante and the Palo Alto Police Department—hearrived within 30 minutes of my call and was extremely helpful. I was shocked to learn from that mine was just one of at least 15 vehicle break-ins reported across Palo Alto that sameevening. What’s truly surprising—and frankly, inexcusable—is that this Palo Alto city-owned garage lacked even the most basic security deterrents such as CCTV cameras. In 2025 and in a city asforward-looking as Palo Alto something as elementary as video surveillance should not be missing from key public infrastructure. This experience was especially unsettling given I'm currently planning to open an officeadjacent to this very garage. I also ended up assisting a fellow victim—a female attorney visiting from San Francisco—whose Volkswagen Golf was broken into in the same lot. Shewas visibly shaken and shared the same sense of disbelief having always thought of Palo Alto as a secure community. Rather than simply voice my frustration I’d like to offer a solution: I’m more than willing tolend my expertise—at no cost to the city—to support the design, RFP process, vendor evaluation, and implementation of improved safety measures in public parking infrastructure.Effective, scalable deterrents can be implemented quickly and affordably with the right guidance. This message needs your attention This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Palo Alto's reputation for innovation and safety must be matched by its public infrastructure. Ihope you’ll treat this as an opportunity to act decisively, and I would be honored to contribute. See attached PA police log https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/v/2/police-department/public-information-portal/police-report-log/july-22-2025-police-report-log.pdf https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/v/2/police-department/public-information- portal/police-report-log/july-17-2025-police-report-log.pdf? Sincerely, Vik GhaiManaging Partner G2C Ventures From:mike tan To:Council, City; Diane Walker Subject:4256 El Camino Real Project Date:Saturday, August 2, 2025 8:32:22 AM Attachments:City Council Letter.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Hello, Please see attached my letter to the Palo Alto City Council regarding the proposed 4256 ElCamino Real Project Thank You. This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Palo Alto City Council Letter Subject: 4256 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Dear Palo Alto City Council, I am writing to express my concerns regarding a proposed large housing development at 4256 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. As a longtime resident of 4250 El Camino Real/Palo Alto Redwoods Community, I believe this matter could significantly affect our community in terms of, quality of life, environmental impact, property value, etc.. Key Concerns: - Environmental Impact - Loss of trees, increased runoff, and reduced air quality. - Traffic & Safety - More congestion and slower emergency response times. - Parking Shortages - Spillover parking on private streets and guest spaces. - Privacy & Height - The proposed height will block open sky views and overlook our homes and pool and is not harmonious with the neighborhood. - Noise & Construction - Extended construction with noise, dust, and blocked access. - Property Values - Overcrowding and reduced neighborhood character. What We Are Asking For: - A thorough traffic and environmental impact study of adding a 6 story 100-unit condo. - Less density with building height reductions and greater setbacks to preserve privacy. - Adequate parking for all residents and guests. - Strong noise and dust control during construction. - Regular communication with our community. We need to work together to ensure our voices are heard! I Urge the City Council To: - Conduct a thorough traffic and environmental impact study - Ensure that the project design respects the privacy and character of existing neighborhoods. - Provide sufficient infrastructure and parking to accommodate new residents and minimize spillover. - Maintain open communication with residents and local organizations during all phases of planning and construction I believe addressing these concerns will lead to better outcomes for both current and future residents. I appreciate your attention to this matter and encourage the City Council to take these points into careful consideration. Thank you for your service and commitment to our community. Sincerely, Michael R. Tan C227 4250 El Camino Rl Palo Alto, Ca 94306 mrtytan@gmail.com From:Aram James To:Linda Jolley; h.etzko@gmail.com Cc:Martin Wasserman; Donna Wallach; Council, City Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Friday, August 1, 2025 10:03:50 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi Linda, Delightful to hear from you my dear friend. Your words are most inspiring and you alwayswrite with such extraordinary conviction. The depth of Donna’s understanding of the ongoing genocide in Palestine is beyond impressive all as you say from her first-hand input/knowledge.I hope you are well. Talk soon, Aram On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 9:40 PM Linda Jolley <lindajolley9@yahoo.com> wrote: Aram - Thanks much for the first-hand input from Donna. I notice one widespread deficiency among the warring people: almost no one is paying attention to theteachings of the Savior, Jesus The Christ. Even a quick read of the 4 Gospels of the Holy Bible showsthat Jesus had the answers: love your enemy and pray for him. When people abuse you then pray forthem. Return good for evil. Pour out senseless love upon your enemy. Feed him. Ask God to takecare of it. Enlist Divine Power to turn around all hearts. Ask God to restrain Satan. Do good forsuffering people every day, and God will empower you to control evil. When these teachings become widely accepted then no one will have to carry his child's body partsaround in a plastic bag. God bless you all. Linda JolleyOn Friday, August 1, 2025 at 07:41:49 PM PDT, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: Subject: Quick Note Hi Henry, I just wanted to mention that since you facilitated an exchange between Martin and me, we still haven'tmanaged to have a single civil conversation. I believe the best response to Martin comes from my dearfriend, Donna Wallach. She is a Jewish long-time opponent of the terrorist state of Israel. Below is herwonderful reply to a recent email from Martin. Best, Aram When I lived in Occupied Palestine aka Israel for 15 years, 1981 - 1997, I saw and experienced the outright racism of the Israeli State towards the Palestinians. Even the Palestinian villages and towns and cities inside Israel had it much worse than Jewish Israeli cities, towns, kibbiutzes and moshavs. The funding for schools in Palestinian schools was much lower than even the schools for Jewish students in the Development Towns. Almost all cities and towns and all kibbutzes and moshavs are segregated. Only a few cities inside the Israeli State have Jews and Palestinians living in the same city, like Ramle, Yaffa, Akko and Jerusalem, but they are still segregated within the cities, they don't live next to each other. But much worse is the way soldiers treat Palestinians. I think it was in the late 1980s maybe the early or mid 1990s Gideon Levy wrote an article in the Ha'aretz weekend paper of the dozens of Palestinian children who had been shot in the head while sitting in their classrooms in Gaza, some of them dying, some of them losing their eyes. During the years of the first Intifada, around 1987 I think, the Israeli govt. shut down Bir Zeit University in the West Bank, and also closed many schools throughout Gaza. So the Palestinians had to open community schools. Israel practices their Apartheid policies on its own Jewish citizens. Jews who were forced to immigrate to Israel from Arab countries were sent to Development Towns, not to the big cities. There were meager job opportunities in the Development Towns and the funding for the schools was very low, so those students didn't get as good an education as students who were of European descent. On the radio we only heard accents of Jewish Israelis who spoke with an Ashkenazi accent, none who spoke with an accent of someone who's native tongue was Arabic and at least half of all Jewish Israelis are Arabs, i.e. they come from Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, etc. There were horrendous racist jokes about Moroccan Jews and of course even worse jokes about Palestinians. Most Jewish Israelis and the entire Israeli govt. cares nothing about the well being of the Palestinians. I have seen so much during the time I lived there, again when I visited in 2002 and again when I lived in Gaza in 2008 for 4 months. In 2002 there was a month siege on the entire city of Ramallah. 24 hours a day for weeks, nobody could leave their house, not for food, not for medicine, not to go to work, not to go to school. Many Palestinians were shot and maimed or killed just for standing outside on the rooftops to their homes or even standing next to an open window in their own home. Also, people would go out to try to buy pita, and the Israeli soldiers driving around would shoot them dead, The israeli soldiers used their tanks and other heavy armored vehicles to drive over the vehicles of the Palestinians, destroying the vehicles. Also the Israeli soldiers went into govt offices, destroying and/or stealing computers, hard drives, video cameras, paper files of the file cabinets. The soldiers defacated and urinated in the offices and the homes of Palestinians. The Israeli soldiers stole money and other properties of Palstinians whose homes they invaded. Banks were broken into and the entire infrastructure was destroyed. The Israeli soldiers went into office buildings and either destroyed or stole everything in the stores. They broke into the office of a NeoNatal Doctor and destroyed his office, broke down his door. They also refused to let him go to his clients, women who were giving birth. During that time the maternity hospital near Bethlehem was bombed. When I lived in Gaza in 2008, I witnessed how the siege on Gaza, 2 years after it started, already had a severe impact on the entire population of Gaza. Many buildings stood unfinished. Israel refused to allow the building supplies in so that the doors, windows, etc could be installed into the buildings. Many people were unemployed because of the lack of supplies and the suppressed economy. Already then at least 20% if not more of the children were malnourished. The Israeli Navy was severely limiting how far Palestinians fishers could go out into their internationally recognized waters to fish and have a livelihood and provide a good source of protein for the Palestinians living in Gaza. Some of us International volunteers went out with the fishers on their boats and witnessed the Israeli Navy come and shoot at their boats and their nets and equipment, preventing them from having a good catch of fish and also denying them their right to fish in their own waters. The Israeli Navy also used high powered hoses to spray water onto the boats, damaging the boats and injuring people. Then they started using stinky water in their high powered hoses, spraying the stinky water after a catch of fish was cast onto the boat, destroying the catch of the day. In previous years the Israeli army had invaded the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza and decimated the fruit groves, so all the trees that used to be there were gone. I witnessed humongous Israeli bulldozers come in through the Apartheid Wall through a gate and dig up agricultural land. The ongoing genocide and the starvation is beyond despicable and you Martin have totally lost any sense of humanity that you could claim that the Palestinians are responsible for this. The Palestinian people are one of the most kindest, generous, loving people on this planet! I saw Hamas providing tents to Palestinians in Gaza in the 1980s when the Israeli soldiers were stationed there and were destroying many Palestinian homes. Hamas also provided supplies for the families who needed supplies. Hamas also provided kindergartens for the children. Hamas means Islamic Resistance Movement and according to International Law, occupied people have the right to rebel against their occupiers! Israeli soldiers and settlers are constantly invading Palestinian lands! If you really want to know how Israel treated the Palestinians prior to 1948 and from 1948 onwards read these books: "State of Terror: How Terrorism Created Modern Israel" by Thomas Suarez http://thomassuarez.com/SoT.html "The Hundred Years War on Palestine" by Rashid Khalidi "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" by Illan Pappe Donna Wallach On Fri, Aug 1, 2025, at 7:12 PM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote: Henry, I have no problem with civil discourse, but I think your dream of Israel and "Palestine" living side-by- side as friendly sister states is a delusion. The two cultures could not be more different. Israeli culture is life-oriented, while Palestinian culture is death-oriented (Don't take my word for it. Read what Palestinian leaders say about themselves). Long and bitter experience has shown that these two cultures cannot coexist peacefully side-by-side, but will always be in conflict until one side succeeds in driving out the other. The Palestinian side understands this concept very well and it’s time for the Israeli side to also understand it . Marty On Aug 1, 2025, at 5:17 PM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: Up to you; free feel to as former Palo Altan, now Marin. Marty, Aram’s polar opposite also has supporters and then there are a few like this Zionist /innovation consultant to the Ramallah government, author of the prayer for peace between the sister states of Israel/Palestine, extrapolated when Etz Chayim Rabbi Chaim asked me to lead the prayer for Israel introduced the polar opposites Marty and Aram as a public experiment in the potential of civil discourse in an increasingly fraught era Cheers Hillel On Aug 1, 2025, at 1:36 PM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Henry, Not quite sure what you mean. Talk soon. Keep educating folks re the ongoing genocide. You do a great job. Marty a difficult case at best. On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:56 AM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote:  Subject: Your Stand on the Ceasefire Hi Henry, You were truly the only candidate for the Palo Alto CityCouncil in 2024, out of nine total candidates, who had thecourage to unequivocally call for a ceasefire. I attendedthe council meeting that night and remember your speechvery well. Best regards, Avram “ One State Solution” Finkelstein On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 10:31 AM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: Marty Marty, Express away but the killing and starvation policy muststop, under UN armed supervision, of course. Who isto be the Ike who said, I will go to Korea during he 1952 election campaign, achieved a cease fire, that holds to this day, despite lack of a formal peace treaty. Best,Henry > On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:19 AM, Martin Wasserman<deeperlook@aol.com> wrote: > > Henry,> > One of my objections to “ceasefire now” is that itplaces all of the onus on Israel and demands nothing ofHamas, and gives Hamas breathing space to regroupand rearm so they can continue their policy of killingJews.> > Marty> > >> On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:01 AM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Dear Marty>> >> I have expressed my agreement in heron to Councilon their general policy of excluding foreign policy issuesHowever, like the attorney for the holocaust victim whosuccessfully asked the US Supreme for a narrowexception to the statute of limitations, I argued toCouncil that there are certain issues that it behooves asas Palo Alto citizens to take a stand: Gaza cease firenow, is one! See council video of several months agofor my full statement.>> >> Best,>> Hillel>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 9:43 AM, Martin Wasserman<deeperlook@aol.com> wrote: >>> >>> There's no legitimate reason for city government toweigh in on foreign policy issues, especially in highlyvolatile areas like the Middle East. Such controversialresolutions change nothing in the Middle East and onlypromote conflict at home. Unless of course the goal isprecisely to create conflict at home.>>> >>> Martin Wasserman>>> >>> >>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 2:14 AM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Ps>>>> Upon reflection, accept your critique: cease firerequires repetition , will include in writings this topic untilachieved >>>> www.triplehelix.net >>>> >>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 11:45 PM, Roberta Ahlquist<finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Ok!>>>>> >>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>>>> >>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 10:20 PM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Agree with cease fire, and permanent treatyabove and beyond. Aram, who was present, canassure you that I requested each council memberindividually and publicly to commit Palo Alto to call forcease fire. Video supposed to be available at citywebsite. >>>>>> >>>>>> Best>>>>>> Henry>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 8:49 PM, RobertaAhlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Yes- and how about a ceasefire? Lessabstract, more concrete...?>>>>>>> >>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 1:08 PM, HenryEtzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Somewhere in Israel’s Governmentalbureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collectiveEichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crimeof the new century” the systematic destruction the civilinstitutional environment of universities, businesses,and housing, with the intent and objective of atomizingthe citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllablemass. Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay oninstitutional and organizational deprivation, conductedin Mediterranean sunlight and international, if notIsraeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages ofthe New York Times where v Germany’s 20th centuryholocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalatinggenocide is on the front pages of the newspaper ofrecord where all news that fits is published, sometimesironically overshadowed by food recipes in the InternetEdition. The international community, led by Europewhere the Holocaust was originated, collaborated,condoned and only sometimes resisted in the lastcentury, must mitigate its indelible moral stain byheading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future HannahArendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil?>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Sincerely>>>>>>>> Henry Etzkowitz>>>>>>>> Distinguished Fellow>>>>>>>> University of London, Birkbeck College,Centre for Innovation Management Research>>>>>>>> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmentaland Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA94025 >>>>>>>> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of CaliforniaCounty of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 NotthFirst Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division>>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>> >> > From:Aram James To:h.etzko@gmail.com Cc:Justin Zalkin; Ellen Bob; Gizem Sivri; Mark Granovetter; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Laleh Raeisy; Christiane Gebhardt; Pnina Abir-am; Lotus Fong; Siva Heiman; Arthur Millman; Roberta Ahlquist; Rebecca Eisenberg; Emma Rasolovoahangy; Ellen Fox; Veenker, Vicki; Council, City; board@pausd.org; board@valleywater.org; BoardOperations; Mark Turner; Sean Allen; CityCouncil; Michelle Bigelow; Josh Becker; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; Marty Wasserman; Daniel Barton; Gerry Gras; Raymond Goins; Nash, Betsy; dcombs@menlopark.gov; Linda Jolley; Gardener, Liz; Liz Kniss; Steve Wagstaffe; Human Relations Commission; Lythcott-Haims, Julie; Roberta Ahlquist; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; Burt, Patrick; Patricia.Guerrero@jud.ca.gov; Donna Wallach; Donna Wallach; Yolanda Conaway; Don Austin; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; EPA Today; Diana Diamond; Enberg, Nicholas; Emily Mibach; Dave Price; Carla Torres; Drekmeier, Peter; Dana St. George; Doug Minkler; Nicole Chiu-Wang; Rose Lynn; Baker, Rob Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Friday, August 1, 2025 7:42:02 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Subject: Quick Note Hi Henry, I just wanted to mention that since you facilitated an exchange between Martin and me, westill haven't managed to have a single civil conversation. I believe the best response to Martin comes from my dear friend, Donna Wallach. She is a Jewish long-time opponent of theterrorist state of Israel. Below is her wonderful reply to a recent email from Martin. Best, Aram When I lived in Occupied Palestine aka Israel for 15 years, 1981 - 1997, I saw and experienced the outright racism of the Israeli State towards the Palestinians. Even the Palestinian villages and towns and cities inside Israel had it much worse than Jewish Israeli cities, towns, kibbiutzes and moshavs. The funding for schools in Palestinian schools was much lower than even the schools for Jewish students in the Development Towns. Almost all cities and towns and all kibbutzes and moshavs are segregated. Only a few cities inside the Israeli State have Jews and Palestinians living in the same city, like Ramle, Yaffa, Akko and Jerusalem, but they are still segregated within the cities, they don't live next to each other. But much worse is the way soldiers treat Palestinians. I think it was in the late 1980s maybe the early or mid 1990s Gideon Levy wrote an article in the Ha'aretz weekend paper of the dozens of Palestinian children who had been shot in the head while sitting in their classrooms in Gaza, some of them dying, some of them losing their eyes. During the years of the first Intifada, around 1987 I think, the Israeli govt. shut down Bir Zeit University in the West Bank, and also closed many schools throughout Gaza. So the Palestinians had to open community schools. Israel practices their Apartheid policies on its own Jewish citizens. Jews who were forced to immigrate to Israel from Arab countries were sent to Development Towns, not to the big cities. There were meager job opportunities in the Development Towns and the funding for the schools was very low, so those students didn't get as good an education as students who were of European descent. On the radio we only heard accents of Jewish Israelis who spoke with an Ashkenazi accent, none who spoke with an accent of someone who's native tongue was Arabic and at least half of all Jewish Israelis are Arabs, i.e. they come from Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, etc. There were horrendous racist jokes about Moroccan Jews and of course even worse jokes about Palestinians. Most Jewish Israelis and the entire Israeli govt. cares nothing about the well being of the Palestinians. I have seen so much during the time I lived there, again when I visited in 2002 and again when I lived in Gaza in 2008 for 4 months. In 2002 there was a month siege on the entire city of Ramallah. 24 hours a day for weeks, nobody could leave their house, not for food, not for medicine, not to go to work, not to go to school. Many Palestinians were shot and maimed or killed just for standing outside on the rooftops to their homes or even standing next to an open window in their own home. Also, people would go out to try to buy pita, and the Israeli soldiers driving around would shoot them dead, The israeli soldiers used their tanks and other heavy armored vehicles to drive over the vehicles of the Palestinians, destroying the vehicles. Also the Israeli soldiers went into govt offices, destroying and/or stealing computers, hard drives, video cameras, paper files of the file cabinets. The soldiers defacated and urinated in the offices and the homes of Palestinians. The Israeli soldiers stole money and other properties of Palstinians whose homes they invaded. Banks were broken into and the entire infrastructure was destroyed. The Israeli soldiers went into office buildings and either destroyed or stole everything in the stores. They broke into the office of a NeoNatal Doctor and destroyed his office, broke down his door. They also refused to let him go to his clients, women who were giving birth. During that time the maternity hospital near Bethlehem was bombed. When I lived in Gaza in 2008, I witnessed how the siege on Gaza, 2 years after it started, already had a severe impact on the entire population of Gaza. Many buildings stood unfinished. Israel refused to allow the building supplies in so that the doors, windows, etc could be installed into the buildings. Many people were unemployed because of the lack of supplies and the suppressed economy. Already then at least 20% if not more of the children were malnourished. The Israeli Navy was severely limiting how far Palestinians fishers could go out into their internationally recognized waters to fish and have a livelihood and provide a good source of protein for the Palestinians living in Gaza. Some of us International volunteers went out with the fishers on their boats and witnessed the Israeli Navy come and shoot at their boats and their nets and equipment, preventing them from having a good catch of fish and also denying them their right to fish in their own waters. The Israeli Navy also used high powered hoses to spray water onto the boats, damaging the boats and injuring people. Then they started using stinky water in their high powered hoses, spraying the stinky water after a catch of fish was cast onto the boat, destroying the catch of the day. In previous years the Israeli army had invaded the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza and decimated the fruit groves, so all the trees that used to be there were gone. I witnessed humongous Israeli bulldozers come in through the Apartheid Wall through a gate and dig up agricultural land. The ongoing genocide and the starvation is beyond despicable and you Martin have totally lost any sense of humanity that you could claim that the Palestinians are responsible for this. The Palestinian people are one of the most kindest, generous, loving people on this planet! I saw Hamas providing tents to Palestinians in Gaza in the 1980s when the Israeli soldiers were stationed there and were destroying many Palestinian homes. Hamas also provided supplies for the families who needed supplies. Hamas also provided kindergartens for the children. Hamas means Islamic Resistance Movement and according to International Law, occupied people have the right to rebel against their occupiers! Israeli soldiers and settlers are constantly invading Palestinian lands! If you really want to know how Israel treated the Palestinians prior to 1948 and from 1948 onwards read these books: "State of Terror: How Terrorism Created Modern Israel" by Thomas Suarez http://thomassuarez.com/SoT.html "The Hundred Years War on Palestine" by Rashid Khalidi "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" by Illan Pappe Donna Wallach On Fri, Aug 1, 2025, at 7:12 PM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:Henry, I have no problem with civil discourse, but I think your dream of Israel and "Palestine"living side-by-side as friendly sister states is a delusion. The two cultures could not be moredifferent. Israeli culture is life-oriented, while Palestinian culture is death-oriented (Don'ttake my word for it. Read what Palestinian leaders say about themselves). Long and bitterexperience has shown that these two cultures cannot coexist peacefully side-by-side, but willalways be in conflict until one side succeeds in driving out the other. The Palestinian sideunderstands this concept very well and it’s time for the Israeli side to also understand it . Marty On Aug 1, 2025, at 5:17 PM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: Up to you; free feel to as former Palo Altan, now Marin. Marty, Aram’s polaropposite also has supporters and then there are a few like this Zionist/innovation consultant to the Ramallah government, author of the prayer forpeace between the sister states of Israel/Palestine, extrapolated when EtzChayim Rabbi Chaim asked me to lead the prayer for Israel introduced the polar opposites Marty and Aram as a public experiment in thepotential of civil discourse in an increasingly fraught era Cheers Hillel On Aug 1, 2025, at 1:36 PM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com>wrote: Hi Henry, Not quite sure what you mean. Talk soon. Keep educating folks re the ongoing genocide. You do a great job.Marty a difficult case at best. On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:56 AM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote:  Subject: Your Stand on the Ceasefire Hi Henry, You were truly the only candidate for the Palo AltoCity Council in 2024, out of nine total candidates,who had the courage to unequivocally call for aceasefire. I attended the council meeting that nightand remember your speech very well. Best regards, Avram “ One State Solution” Finkelstein On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 10:31 AM, Henry Etzkowitz<h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:Marty Marty, Express away but the killing and starvation policy must stop, under UN armed supervision, of course.Who is to be the Ike who said, I will go to Korea during he 1952 election campaign, achieved acease fire, that holds to this day, despite lack of a formal peace treaty. Best,Henry > On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:19 AM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:> > Henry,> > One of my objections to “ceasefire now” is thatit places all of the onus on Israel and demands nothing of Hamas, and gives Hamas breathingspace to regroup and rearm so they can continue their policy of killing Jews.> > Marty> > >> On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:01 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>> >> Dear Marty>> >> I have expressed my agreement in heron toCouncil on their general policy of excluding foreign policy issues However, like the attorneyfor the holocaust victim who successfully asked the US Supreme for a narrow exception to thestatute of limitations, I argued to Council that there are certain issues that it behooves as as Palo Altocitizens to take a stand: Gaza cease fire now, is one! See council video of several months ago formy full statement. >> >> Best, >> Hillel>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 9:43 AM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:>>> >>> There's no legitimate reason for citygovernment to weigh in on foreign policy issues, especially in highly volatile areas like the MiddleEast. Such controversial resolutions change nothing in the Middle East and only promoteconflict at home. Unless of course the goal is precisely to create conflict at home.>>> >>> Martin Wasserman>>> >>> >>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 2:14 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>> >>>> Ps>>>> Upon reflection, accept your critique: cease fire requires repetition , will include in writingsthis topic until achieved >>>> www.triplehelix.net>>>> >>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 11:45 PM, RobertaAhlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Ok! >>>>> >>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>> >>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 10:20 PM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>> >>>>>> Agree with cease fire, and permanenttreaty above and beyond. Aram, who was present, can assure you that I requested each councilmember individually and publicly to commit Palo Alto to call for cease fire. Video supposed to beavailable at city website. >>>>>> >>>>>> Best >>>>>> Henry>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 8:49 PM, Roberta Ahlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>>> >>>>>>> Yes- and how about a ceasefire? Lessabstract, more concrete...? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 1:08 PM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Somewhere in Israel’s Governmentalbureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the“crime of the new century” the systematic destruction the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens ofGAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay oninstitutional and organizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight andinternational, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages of the New York Timeswhere v Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on thefront pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironicallyovershadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. The international community, led byEurope where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahuregime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been givensuch leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt tochronicle the ubiquity of evil? >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Sincerely >>>>>>>> Henry Etzkowitz>>>>>>>> Distinguished Fellow >>>>>>>> University of London, BirkbeckCollege, Centre for Innovation Management Research>>>>>>>> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 MenloAvenue, Menlo Park CA 94025 >>>>>>>> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs ElonMusk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California,Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division>>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >> > From:Henry Etzkowitz To:Bette; Joe Penko; Rebecca Eisenberg; Christopher M Kwong; Brian Good; Council, City; Mariza Almeida; Trudy Willis; ChristianeGebhardt; Ellen Fox; Avroh Shah; Winter Dellenbach Cc:Council, City; Office of the Provost; Roseline Rasolovoahangy; Roberta Ahlquist; Marty Wasserman Subject:Re: We Need More Affordable Housing Date:Friday, August 1, 2025 4:55:37 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Happy to discuss these issues with you, Sam. We made a start at no kings day, despite your claque. Remember impeachment followership request, echoed by others. You also need to raise your game on housing and innovation to make a difference! Happy to give youthe opportunity to follow up on Innovaseed, Innovacao Verde, undergrounding Caltrain,living workinglofts on Shopping Center parking lots, keeping residential neighborhoods green, low and uncluttered byAdu’s that mid pen householders, protective of their space, focused on increasing it, are mostlyunlikely to build although possibly relevant to protecting working class homeowners from gentrificationand removal elsewhere in the constituency and thus support your proposal in principle Appreciated discussion with your staff member, especially interest in including triple helix his expressedinterest in including UTHI think tank, chartered in Palo Alto, offices in Menlo Park in your 2027Members Bill why not express your support for Triple Helix Institute’s leadership on operationalisingno projects to address these issues by moving up to 2026, in a modest manner? Cheers Henry www.triplehelix.net Support Immediate cease fire between Israel and Palestine, backed by UN armed forces, like “I like Ike”accomplished in Korea. On Aug 1, 2025, at 3:39 PM, Office of Rep. Sam Liccardo<repsamliccardo@mail8.housecommunications.gov> wrote:  Dear Henry, In this August Work Period, I‘ll be leaving Washington to spend more time in our community. I look forward to seeing you at upcoming town halls, one-on-one “Sip with Sam’s,” and community events. But before coming home, I’d like to mention what we’ve been working on… Empowering Homeowners to Become Home Providers It’s hardly a secret that we live in one of the world’s most unaffordable regions, so I’ve looked for ways to change federal policy to address our housing crisis. Republicans control both houses of Congress, of course, so getting anything done as a Democrat requires working across the aisle. For example, I introduced one recent bipartisan housing bill to streamline the development of affordable housing built with HUD funding. Unlocking private sector investment can provide a more impactful solution,, particularly if we can empower homeowners to become home providers. Two weeks ago, I partnered with my Republican colleague, New York Rep. Andrew Garbarino, to introduce bipartisan legislation to boost our housing supply nationwide. Our bill, the SUPPLY Act, expands financing for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)—also known as backyard cottages, granny flats, or in-law suites. These small homes provide a naturally affordable solution to the housing shortage. Too often, however, modest-income homeowners cannot access the financing needed to build them. If approved by Congress, the SUPPLY Act will engage Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to back second mortgages for ADUs and will create an FHA insured program for second mortgages to construct ADUs. By doing so, we can help many more homeowners access loans to build ADUs on their properties, and at lower interest rates, expanding the impact of this important tool against our housing crisis. Video Unleashing American Innovation Tackling today’s biggest challenges—from climate change to health care access—will require rapid innovation. As Chair of the New Democratic Coalition’s Innovation & Technology Working Group, I launched an Innovation Agenda—a plan to keep ensure that America wins the 21st century in fast- emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing, robotics, and biotech. The Innovation Agenda lays out seven core priorities: investing in R&D, building innovation infrastructure, advancing AI leadership, expanding high-skilled immigration, and protecting online privacy, among others. Our goal is to drive innovation that tackles complex challenges, creates good-paying jobs, lowers energy costs, expands affordable healthcare, and opens economic opportunities for everyone. You can read the full agenda here, watch this video with my New Dem colleagues, or check out my thoughts on AI with CNN. Video Protecting Our Whales Our coast boasts beautiful waters and diverse wildlife—yet some of our most magnificent ocean neighbors face grave perils. Local scientists have spotted the remains of twenty- one gray whales in the San Francisco Bay Area this year alone—the highest rate of whale mortality in a quarter century. We still don’t know what’s causing this alarming surge in deaths—or what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is doing to investigate and respond. We deserve answers. That’s why I sent a letter, co-signed by the entire Bay Area delegation, demanding more information from NOAA. We’re especially concerned that recent funding cuts may have weakened the agency’s ability to protect marine life and respond to ecological threats. You can read the full letter here, and I’ll update you as soon as we receive a response. Video Reading Corner Check out The Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the bipartisan SUPPLY Act, which I introduced a couple weeks ago. Tackling our nation’s housing crisis requires boosting supply—and expanding access to ADUs is one way to do it. Curious about the Innovation Agenda that we constructed with the help of dozens of local Silicon Valley leaders? Read Axios’ exclusive coverage to see how we’ll boost America’s innovation economy. In Gratitude, Sam Subscribe! Unsubscribe from future messages. From:matt@evolutionaryteams.com To:Palo-Alto@fridaysforfutureusa.org; fridaysforfuturepaloalto@gmail.com Subject:FFF Follow Up from July 25 (Week #185) Date:Friday, August 1, 2025 3:41:42 PM Attachments:image003.png CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of openingattachments and clicking on links. i Debi kindly acknowledged that we are on unceded lands of the Muwekma Ohlone and bear the obligation to care for the air, water and land that sustains all life. We also applauded that Indivisible Palo Alto Plus featured Gregg Castro of the Ramaytush Ohlone, the original people of the SF peninsula, to speak at the Good Trouble Lives On rally. Listen to his words here. Thanks everyone for highlighting the words and perspectives of our Ohlone community members, and thanks, Debi, for the land acknowledgement. Blaine, a chocolatier, shared some samples of his delicious creation. He sources all his beans from farmers that support both their workers and the environment. And, Blaine’s product was melt-in-your-mouth chocolate goodness. Thank you, Blaine, for sharing! Christa was pleased to report that she read Ingrid’s book, Facing the Climate Future Together, and was delighted to hear the stories and perspectives of many in our FFF group featured in the work. Thanks, Christa, for reading the book, and thanks to Ingrid for writing it! Also, be sure to check out Ingrid’s latest book here. Pria delighted us by recounting her and George’s outing to Moss Landing to visit the Western Flyer, the boat that John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts took to the Gulf of California and that was featured in the book The Log from the Sea of Cortez. They also took an electric boat up Elkhorn Slough to enjoy the wildlife. Thanks, Pria, for sharing your adventure! George continues to be bowled over by what is happening to our country and to our one-and-only planet. We knew it was coming. We didn’t realize it would happen so soon and so quickly. It is heartbreaking to live through. But here we are. Thanks, George, for sharing and being with us. Casey expressed her disappointment with SJ Mayor Matt Mahan for not attending any rallies lately and for not sticking up for his constituents that are under attack by ICE. She has been calling the Mayor’s office to express her disappointment and frustration. Thanks, Casey, for keeping the spotlight on ICE abductions. Emma, a Stanford neuroscience grad student, joined us for the first time. Saddened and alarmed by both our collapsing climate and the US gutting of science funding, Emma will finish Stanford with a master’s degree rather than a PhD and pivot to working in a climate-related field. We very much appreciate that Emma apply her many talents to tackling humanity’s greatest challenges! Coincidentally, Emma and I, your newsletter writer, follow many of the same climate people on BlueSky. It is nice to meet an social media friend IRL Thanks, Emma, for joining us! We look forward to supporting you and your climate journey! Brigitte is enlivened by the many actions lately. A long-time activist herself, she is eager to attend protests and demonstrations in the area. Thanks, Brigitte, we look forward to seeing you in the streets! This message needs your attention Some Recipients have never replied to this person. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Matt shared a copy of Sarah Kendzior’s book, They Knew, which he just finished reading. Published in 2022, Kendzior details the complicity of powerful US elites and how they cover up for each other. There is a whole chapter on Jeffery Epstein detailing his connections with powerful people. Will the Epstein files be exposed? Will the powerful people expose each other? We will see. Our state legislation expert, Mimi, joined us and shared the great news that both AB942 (solar system funding reversal) and SB540 (grid regionalization) are dead, at least for the moment. The focus remains on the challenge of getting to a super majority for the Make Polluters Pay Superfund bill. Let’s make it happen! Thanks for the report, Mimi! After our meeting, a few of us went over to Palantir to join the rally and protest there. Palantir provides surveillance software for ICE to track and target US residents and for the Israeli Defense Force to track and target Palestinians. We will continue to hold Palantir accountable for their complicity in these crimes. Hilary and 350 SV Palo Alto will be demonstrating home electrification solutions at the city-sponsored National Night Out event on Tuesday August 5 in Bol Park, Palo Alto, 5 to 8PM. David P. will be promoting incentives for electric vehicles. Mitchell Park Band will be providing groovy classic rock tunes. Come join the fun! Julia encourages us to attend Extreme Heat Summit 25 that Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition and others are organizing. When extreme heat comes, we must be prepared to protect vulnerable members of our community. The event is Sunday August 17, 12-3pm, Cooley Landing, East Palo Alto. Learn more and sign up here. Kimberly organized her second 4WARD climate/sustainability networking event which was well attended by amazing, caring people. She has scheduled the next meeting for Tuesday, August 26, 5 to 9PM, which she will be hosting at her house in Redwood City. If you are in that area, this is a terrific opportunity to network with great folks. RSVP here. Thanks, Kimberly, leading the charge 4WARD! Mimi arranged to have FFF be a signatory on a letter to the BLM to dissuade them from opening up federal land in California to oil and gas exploration. Thank you, Mimi, for all your great advocacy! This Friday we march (or have marched because the newsletter was delayed this week). Keep up the great work and see you at an action or event soon! Keep Up the Fight! RISE UP AND RESIST! Upcoming Events Friday, August 1, Noon to 1:00: Climate March! –– We meet at King Plaza in front of Palo Alto City Hall and march through the streets of downtown Palo Alto. Tuesday, August 5, 5 to 8PM: National Night Out – Bol Park, Palo Alto Friday, August 8, Noon to 1:00: Climate Strike! –– We meet at King Plaza in front of Palo Alto City Hall. Friday, August 15, 5:30 to 6:30: Stand Up For Science and Sanity! On this Friday we move our climate strike to Lytton Plaza and join forces with SUFSS for a rally in the plaza. Tuesday, August 26, 5 to 9PM: 4WARD Climate/Sustainability Monthly Event. Kimberly’s house, Redwood City. RSVP here. Tesla Takedown Rally and March :: Stanford Shopping Center, Saturday, 8/2, Noon to 2PM. Details here. Tesla Takedown Rally :: Tesla El Camino Real Showroom, Saturday, 8/2, 1 to 3PM. Details here. Tesla Takedown Rally :: Tesla Engineering HQ, Monday, 8/4, 5 to 6PM. Details here. Tesla Takedown Rally :: Tesla El Camino Real Showroom, Wednesday, 8/6, 4 to 6PM. Details here. Photos and Videos of Recent Actions Climate Strike group photo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/h69oreUzE8iEp7cv6 Gregg Castro of the Ramaytush Ohlone, the original people of the SF peninsula, speaks at the Good Trouble Lives On rally. Listen to his words here. AJR’s Adam Met gave a talk at Sven’s house about his book on climate policy and advocacy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTwFjwyEaaTg0-kIoPvg6Lmcse5j0ITCy What We Are Reading/Watching/Listening to: Christa recommends this article on AI: https://centerforhumanetechnology.substack.com/p/what-you- need-to-know-about-ai-2027 Brigitte encourages us to read this article about staying safe at protests: https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-protest-safely-surveillance-digital-privacy Reporting by Democracy Now! here Commentary by The Majority Report: here Heat Pump Water Heater and Home Electrification Program Update As of:7/1 6/2 5/1 3/31 HPWH full-service interest list signups 1411 1385 1364 1333 Site assessment agreements (SAA) sent 1411 1385 1364 1333 Signed SAAs 1169 1149 1127 1013 Completed site assessments 1064 1055 1040 1023 Installations Total Full Service HPWHs installed 433 427 421 414 Total DIY HPWH installed 132 131 126 115 Total Emergency HPWH installations 24 22 19 19 Total HPWHs installed 589 580 566 548 Target Installations 1000 1000 1000 1000 Monthly Installation Rate Monthly Installation Rate 9 14 18 14 Target Monthly Installation Rate 83 83 83 83 Follow Fridays For Future Palo Alto: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fridaysforfuture_paloalto/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FridaysForFuturePaloAlto Email notifications of FFF Palo Alto events: https://mailchi.mp/c8c130127345/join-fridays-for-future-palo-alto You are receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in supporting climate action in Palo Alto. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please let me know. Matt Schlegel Schlegel Consulting 650-924-8923 Author: Teamwork 9.0 Website: evolutionaryteams.com YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCLkUMHuG4HVa831s9yeoZ5Q From:Aram James To:Binder, Andrew Cc:Lauing, Ed; Council, City; james pitkin; Reifschneider, James; Wagner, April; Rowena Chiu; Barberini, Christopher; Enberg, Nicholas; Afanasiev, Alex; h.etzko@gmail.com; Jeff Conrad; Dave Price; Braden Cartwright; Emily Mibach; Gennady Sheyner; Diana Diamond; EPA Today; jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; Mark Turner; CityCouncil; Michelle Bigelow; Stump, Molly; Sean Allen; Palo Alto Free Press; Roberta Ahlquist; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; dennis burns; DuJuan Green Subject:"Holding on by our fingertips" Date:Friday, August 1, 2025 2:16:23 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. This pattern also affects schools. According to Teri Baldwin, president of the Palo Alto Educators Association, the teachers’ union, homeownership is financially out of reach for many educators. And with few affordable rentals available, many staff members commute from places like Alameda County, the East Bay or Morgan Hill 'Holding on by our fingertips' - Palo Alto Online https://www.paloaltoonline.com/housing/2025/08/01/holding-on-by-our-fingertips/ From:Loran Harding To:Loran Harding; Mayor; Mark Standriff; Council, City; kfsndesk; newsdesk; news@fresnobee.com Subject:Fwd: New HSR: Bld to Gilroy WHILE central Valley Date:Friday, August 1, 2025 2:12:19 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>Date: Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 1:18 PM Subject: New HSR: Bld to Gilroy WHILE central ValleyTo: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> To all August 1, 2025 This will jump home prices in the Central Valley if they can get the money. Less than one hour on HSR Fresno to Gilroy and then Caltrain from Gilroy up to San Jose (??) It would notbe long before HSR would then run straight through to San Jose. Caltrain recently completed electrification of most of its line. It runs Gilroy to SF. That will enable HSR to run on theCaltrain tracks, no doubt Gilroy to SF. When HSR gets the money to build Merced to Gilroy, Iwouldn't think commuters would have to traqnsfer HSR to Caltrain trians in Gilroy. The HSRtrains would just continue on from Gilroy to San Jose but now running on the newlyelectrified Caltrain tracks. So to build Merced to Gilroy REALLY means that HSR couldrun from the Central Valley to San Jose to SF. That would increase home prices in Fresno. It would be one hour Fresno to San Jose, heart of Silicon Valley. New high speed rail plan: Build north of Central Valley to Gilroy L. William Harding Fresno, Ca. From:Helene Grossman To:Council, City; Planning Commission; Shikada, Ed; Lo, Ria; City Attorney; City Mgr; Safe Routes Subject:Formal notice: City in violation of MUTCD, putting student cyclists at risk Date:Friday, August 1, 2025 11:16:25 AM Attachments:Screenshot 2025-08-01 at 10.11.28 AM.png Greer_and_Thomas_supporting_files.zip CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear City Council Members, PTC Members, Safe Routes, City Manager Shikada, Chief Lo, and City Attorney Stump, I am writing to formally alert you that the stop sign configuration at Greer Road and ThomasDrive is in violation of the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CAMUTCD) and presents an ongoing safety hazard — especially to student cyclists using this designated Safe Route to School. For nearly a year I have raised this issue with the Transportation Department, including a direct meeting with Chief Lo. Despite clear non-compliance with state standards and thedocumented dangers, the City has declined to correct the intersection. With school starting in two weeks, children riding to Palo Verde Elementary will again beplaced at risk from unexpected, uncontrolled traffic exiting a cul-de-sac. This non-compliant design has already resulted in a cyclist being hospitalized in the ICU with a traumatic braininjury. I urge immediate corrective action, as well as a post-mortem review of why the TransportationDepartment is refusing to meet basic state-mandated safety standards. Intersection Configuration Greer Road (major collector street, ~715 vehicles/day) is stop-controlled. Thomas Drive (minor cul-de-sac, ~81 vehicles/day) is uncontrolled. This is the only intersection on all of Greer Road where cross traffic has priority andflows through without stopping, making it completely unexpected and hazardous. Violations and Safety Hazards This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast 1. Improper Stop Placement / No Engineering Justification CA MUTCD §2B.04: “A STOP sign should not be installed on the higher volumeroadway unless justified by an engineering study.” Greer is the higher volume roadway by a factor of 10X. Yet Greer is stop-controlled,while Thomas (a minor cul-de-sac) is not. In response to my Public Records Act request, the City produced no engineering studyjustifying this placement. Instead, staff simply concluded Thomas “did not warrant” a stop sign, while ignoringthat the existing placement on Greer directly violates MUTCD. 2. Inadequate Sight Distance Required sight distance for a 2-way stop at 25 mph = 150–275 feet. Actual visibility from Greer stop line = only 1–2 car lengths, due to the curve ofThomas and tall hedges. Even creeping forward, northbound Greer traffic cannot see eastbound Thomas vehiclesuntil already in conflict with westbound Thomas traffic. This violates MUTCD sight-distance standards and renders Greer drivers and cyclistsunable to yield safely. 3. Safe Route to School Violation Greer is designated as a Safe Route to School for Palo Verde Elementary School. Children biking on Greer must stop and yield to uncontrolled cul-de-sac traffic, despitepoor visibility and no signage on Thomas. This configuration directly undermines the safety goals of the program. 4. Documented Crash History On May 22, 2009, a cyclist lawfully traveling on Greer stopped at the sign, proceededwhen clear, and was struck by a vehicle emerging from Thomas. He sustained a traumatic brain injury, shattered collarbone, and permanent impairments. Despite this serious injury, the City has taken no action to fix this intersection. 5. City Liability Risk By knowingly maintaining a non-compliant intersection, the City risks liability under Government Code §830.6 (design immunity). Design immunity requires a documented engineering basis; the absence of such a record leaves the City exposed if another serious crash occurs. Because this intersection is a designated Safe Route to School, the City has a heightenedduty of care. Ignoring known dangers increases exposure to negligence or even gross negligence claims if a child is injured. Requested Actions I respectfully request that the City: 1. Immediately bring this intersection into MUTCD compliance -- either by reversingthe stop signs (placing them on Thomas) or converting to a 4-way stop. 2. Halt further transportation projects until the Transportation Departmentdemonstrates ability to design and maintain intersections consistent with MUTCDstandards. Attachments Intersection configuration slide Palo Alto 311 ticket and staff refusal 2025 stop warrant worksheet and traffic counts Staff emails acknowledging Greer is the major road Sight distance photos Palo Verde Safe Route map Finally, when I asked Chief Lo why Palo Alto would deviate from MUTCD standards that minor streets stop for major streets, she cited a City policy of “alternating stop signs.” Yet: There is no such alternating pattern on Greer or in the surrounding neighborhood -- Greer is consistently treated as the through street, with minor cross streets stopping. This is the only intersection on Greer with the minor cross-street having priority, making it uniquely unexpected. Such a policy would only apply, if at all, to streets with comparable volumes. That is not the case here, where Greer’s volume dominates by an order of magnitude. The City’s current position is indefensible under MUTCD and places student cyclists in danger. Please act now. Sincerely, Helene GrossmanPalo Alto resident and parent Current 2-way stop configuration: Children biking along the "Safe Route" on Greer must yield to unexpected traffic from the cul-de-sac that does not stop: From:Aram James To:h.etzko@gmail.com Cc:Marty Wasserman; Roberta Ahlquist; Pnina Abir-am; Justin Zalkin; Gizem Sivri; Council, City; Palo Alto Free Press; GRP-City Council; city.council@menlopark.gov; cromero@cityofepa.org; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; Mark Turner; CityCouncil; citycouncil@menlopark.org; Michelle Bigelow; Sean Allen; EPA Today; Dave Price; Gennady Sheyner; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; board@valleywater.org; boardfeedback@smcgov.org; board@pausd.org; Bill Newell; Lythcott-Haims, Julie Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Friday, August 1, 2025 10:57:11 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Subject: Your Stand on the Ceasefire Hi Henry, You were truly the only candidate for the Palo Alto City Council in 2024, out of nine totalcandidates, who had the courage to unequivocally call for a ceasefire. I attended the council meeting that night and remember your speech very well. Best regards, Avram “ One State Solution” Finkelstein On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 10:31 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:Marty Marty, Express away but the killing and starvation policy must stop, under UN armed supervision, of course. Who is to be the Ike who said, I will go to Korea during he 1952 electioncampaign, achieved a cease fire, that holds to this day, despite lack of a formal peace treaty. Best, Henry > On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:19 AM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:> > Henry,> > One of my objections to “ceasefire now” is that it places all of the onus on Israel anddemands nothing of Hamas, and gives Hamas breathing space to regroup and rearm so they can continue their policy of killing Jews.> > Marty> > >> On Aug 1, 2025, at 10:01 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Dear Marty >> >> I have expressed my agreement in heron to Council on their general policy of excludingforeign policy issues However, like the attorney for the holocaust victim who successfully asked the US Supreme for a narrow exception to the statute of limitations, I argued toCouncil that there are certain issues that it behooves as as Palo Alto citizens to take a stand: Gaza cease fire now, is one! See council video of several months ago for my full statement.>> >> Best,>> Hillel >>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 9:43 AM, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote:>>> >>> There's no legitimate reason for city government to weigh in on foreign policy issues,especially in highly volatile areas like the Middle East. Such controversial resolutions change nothing in the Middle East and only promote conflict at home. Unless of course thegoal is precisely to create conflict at home. >>> >>> Martin Wasserman >>> >>> >>>> On Aug 1, 2025, at 2:14 AM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>> >>>> Ps>>>> Upon reflection, accept your critique: cease fire requires repetition , will include in writings this topic until achieved >>>> www.triplehelix.net >>>> >>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 11:45 PM, Roberta Ahlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Ok! >>>>> >>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>> >>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 10:20 PM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Agree with cease fire, and permanent treaty above and beyond. Aram, who was present, can assure you that I requested each council member individually and publicly tocommit Palo Alto to call for cease fire. Video supposed to be available at city website. >>>>>> >>>>>> Best >>>>>> Henry>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 8:49 PM, Roberta Ahlquist <finnroberta@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>>> >>>>>>> Yes- and how about a ceasefire? Less abstract, more concrete...?>>>>>>> >>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Jul 31, 2025, at 1:08 PM, Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a“collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century” the systematic destruction the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, andhousing, with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional andorganizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages of the New York Times where vGermany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimesironically overshadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated, condoned andonly sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes ofthe holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil?>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Sincerely>>>>>>>> Henry Etzkowitz >>>>>>>> Distinguished Fellow>>>>>>>> University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research>>>>>>>> Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025>>>>>>>> RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth FirstStreet, San Jose CA 95113 civil division >>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone>>> >> > Sierra Club As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are rapidly rolled out and From:Winter Dellenbach To:Council, City Subject:Fwd: The Hidden Cost of AI & Crypto: Our Climate Goals at Risk Date:Friday, August 1, 2025 6:36:08 AM Hi Council Members - Here is an opportunity to get better informed about the mega energy needs for crypto and AI and what we can do to mitigate the consequences. This online webinar isn't until late Aug - and will be recorded for later viewing. I hope you will participate. Winter Dellenbach  cryptocurrencies become more commonplace, the enormous amounts of energy they require are threatening climate goals and the progress we've already achieved in protecting our health and water use. AI and crypto technologies are fueling a massive buildout of data centers -- energy-hungry facilities that require electricity around the clock. With little oversight and even less transparency, these enormous facilities are being fast- tracked in states across the country and putting decades of clean energy progress at risk and threatening to impact your energy costs.RSVP to our August 20 webinar to learn how Big Tech's energy appetite could be impacting your community and your energy bills -- and how we can demand better! Learn more at our webinar Here's the problem: AI models and crypto mining operations use vast amounts of computing power, and that means more electricity. Just one data center can use as much power as a small city. But instead of accelerating renewable energy, many utilities are turning back to coal and gas to keep up, undermining climate goals and threatening air and water quality in our communities – all at the expenseof our energy bills. In the last two years alone, more than 200 supersized new data centers were built across 24 states, each consuming more electricity than the largest factories. There are more than 600 of these giant datacenters being planned for operation in the next five years. Collectively, AI and cloud compute data centers could demand around 100 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, roughly equivalent to powering 67 million homes. Most Big Tech companies claim that they're aiming for a sustainable, renewable future, but in many cases, utilities are delaying coal plant retirements or constructing new gas plants just to meet data center demands. Big Tech shouldn't be allowed to sacrifice our health, climate, and paychecks for unchecked expansion. That's why the Sierra Club is working to expose the impacts and support communities demanding transparency, guardrails, and clean, just futures. We need public accountability and energy planning that prioritizes people and the planet, not unregulated tech growth. That means requiring that data centers pay for local, new clean energy to meet their needs, speak upto stop utilities from using their data centers as an excuse to keep fossil fuels online, demanding guardrails to protect our rates, and strengthening state energy planning laws to ensure climate targets are met, not reversed.Whether you're concerned about your electric bills, protecting climate goals, or the impacts of local pollution, this webinar is for you. RSVP now Can't make it? RSVP to receive the recording to view on your own time. This is a critical moment. As AI data centers rapidly scale, decisions made today about how we power them will shape our energy future for decades. Let's make sure these decisions center people, not polluters. We hope to see you on August 20 to help us make sure our energy system serves people and the planet, not just Big Tech. In Solidarity, Sierra Club DONATE Please consider making a donation to support the Sierra ClubFoundation's vital work. Your gift will give us the resources we need to fight for our shared public lands, hold our leaders accountable, and ensure a brighter, sustainable future for all. This email was sent to: wintergery@earthlink.net This email was sent by the Sierra Club2101 Webster St., Suite 1300, Oakland, CA 94612 Unsubscribe | Manage Preferences | View as web page From:Aram James To:Veenker, Vicki Cc:Council, City; Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Conrad; Jennifer Morrow San José Spotlight; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; Baker, Rob; Lotus Fong; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; ParkRec Commission; Mark Turner; CityCouncil; Michelle Bigelow; Nash, Betsy; dcombs@menlopark.gov; GRP-City Council; Raymond Goins; Dave Price; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright; Diana Diamond; EPA Today; Figueroa, Eric; Binder, Andrew; Zelkha, Mila; Rodriguez, Miguel Subject:Israel to End U.S. Free Speech Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 9:31:58 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Israel to End U.S. Free Speech How Israeli Influence Has Eroded the First Amendment Religion and Politics at The Dinner Table ∙ August 1, 2025 ∙ 5 min read ∙ View on Medium Image created by author using Dall E-3 Image created by author using Dall E-3 America loves to brag about freedom, especially freedom of speech. Americans talk about the First Amendment like it’s carved into the bones of the Constitution, some unshakable birthright that makes the U.S. better than the rest of the world. But there exists a massive asterisk next to that freedom. When it comes to criticizing Israel or even refusing to buy its products, suddenly all that talk about liberty, rights, and open discourse evaporates. Let’s start with the economic censorship: in over 30 U.S. states, it is literally illegal to participate in a boycott of Israel. You can boycott Nike, Amazon… Continue reading This is a member-only story and can only be read on Medium. Sent to abjpd1@gmail.com by Religion and Politics at The Dinner Table on Medium Unsubscribe from this newsletter or unsubscribe from all newsletters from Medium Manage your email settings 3500 South DuPont Highway, Suite IQ-101, Dover, DE 19901 Careers ·Help Center ·Privacy Policy ·Terms of service From:Eileen Brennan To:Council, City Subject:4256 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Proposed Development Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 5:12:54 PM Attachments:Dear Palo Alto City Council Members.docx CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Hello – please find attached a letter regarding the proposed development, and encouraging a comprehensive review of the proposal which is TOO BIG for the property. Thank you for your consideration. Eileen Brennan This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast July 31, 2025 Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, I am writing to express my concerns regarding the proposed development at 4256 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. As a neighbor, I believe this project will significantly affect our community’s quality of life. Concerns: 1. The development is too large for the zoned property. The proximity of the building squeezed between a business site and a residential community is too close. The project is too tall and will not allow adequate sunlight for Palo Alto Redwoods condos and the surrounding redwood trees. It will tower over the PA Redwoods pool, taking away all privacy for that complex. 2. The development will increase traffic congestion on El Camino, that is already cumbersome with the new bike lanes, creating unsafe conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists 3. Parking looks to be inadequate for the number of units the project is planning, which will increase congestion in other lots. 4. Fire and emergency vehicles will have limited access due to the size of the project and limited setbacks. I urge the City Council to please reconsider the scope of this project: 1. Conduct a thorough traffic and environmental impact study 2. Ensure the project design respects the privacy and character of the existing neighborhood 3. Provide sufficient infrastructure and parking to prevent spillover into neighboring properties. 4. Maintain open communication with local residents and organizations during planning and construction. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Eileen Brennan From:CeCi Kettendorf To:Council, City; City Mgr Subject:housing for firefighters at Cubberley Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 5:00:03 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council Members: Please fund additional temporary housing at Cubberly to accommodate two more firefighters while Fire Station 4 is renovated. South Palo Alto demands round the clock fireprotection NOW, not two years from now, if and when the renovation is completed. A prolonged response time from a distant fire house is not acceptable. We are entitled toa minute response, not the 8 minutes plus from across ECR (after waiting for the train to pass. ) South Palo Alto is at risk right NOW from fire. Whose myopic vision decided that, while our fire station is being renovated, we only need three firefighters to staff the ambulance, butdo NOT need RTC staffing of the fire engine? Millions are dedicated to dubious projects, but denied to the safety of south Palo Alto. Fire doubles every thirty seconds! When there is a fire here, a fire which is not contained because of a delayed response, you will call it a tragedy and praise the brave firefighters whostruggle to control the flames. It will not be a tragedy; It will be criminal neglect on the part of the city government. Please fund additional housing for two additional firefighters. Please protect south Palo Alto. CeCi Kettendorf3719 Grove Avenue Palo Alto,Ca. 94303 From:Prys and Tracy Hughes To:Council, City Subject:Trafic calming meadures on Middlefield rd Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 4:11:34 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Good afternoon Given the recent decision not to implement new Bike lanes on Middlefield Road I was wondering what action are going to be put in place in order to deal with speeding drivers on this stretch of road particularly between East Meadow and Loma Verde where there are no traffic calming measures in place. I have lived on the stretch of road for over 30 years and I'm at my wits end with regards to speeding and the councils lack of concern. The Police Department have told me personally on the phone that they are powerless to act, which I find quite alarming!This is a 25 mph stretch which more resembles the 101 Freeway. Seeing a Waymo car travelling at the correct speed while most cars are ziping by is quite alarming! Council members do something before we witness another accident Thanks Prys Hughes Get Outlook for iOS This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to you. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast From:Ken Joye To:Council, City Subject:I am so happy Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 3:08:07 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. THANK YOU! I am resident of the Ventura neighborhood and typically ride my bicycle along Park Blvd to do grocery shopping on California Avenue. Today, on my way to pickup a few groceries, I see that the construction fencing around the new Public Safety Building has come down. I am *so* happy to see that. THANK YOU! I would like to express my appreciation to all city staff who have worked on that project and say how happy I am that this essential bicycle route is no longer encumbered by that construction fencing (more properly speaking, no longer encumbered by automobiles parked next to that fencing and impinging upon the bike lane). THANK YOU! Ken Joye Ventura neighborhood, Palo Alto From:Aram James To:h.etzko@gmail.com Cc:Council, City; Palo Post; Office of the Provost; Rebecca Eisenberg; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah; Shikada, Ed; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; Brian Good; Roseline Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong; Charlie Weidanz; Bette; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; Jim Hersh; Helen Lawton Lawton-Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; Richard Horning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah; rabeh morrar; Justin Axel-Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; David Charles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker; Riccardo Viale; Gennady Sheyner; Lauing, Ed; Marty Wasserman; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; Braden Cartwright; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Guilherme Ary Plonski; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; mickie winkler; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman Subject:Re: Starvation by Design Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 2:12:41 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. On Thu, Jul 31, 2025 at 1:26 PM Henry Etzkowitz <h.etzko@gmail.com> wrote: > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century”systematicdestruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllablemass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full mediagaze. Rather than the inside pages of theNew York Times where Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of thenewspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironically overshadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated,collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish statefounded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil?> > Sincerely> Henry Etzkowitz > Distinguished Fellow> University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research > Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, MenloPark CA 94025 > RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Courtof California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division> Sent from my iPhone From:Melissa Anderson To:Council, City; board@pausd.org; Courtney.Carlomagno@pausd.org Cc:Laili Javid; Nancy Moss; Melissa Anderson; shangwoodca@msn.com Subject:Urgent Safety Risk to Greene Middle School Students from Construction Truck Parking on Middlefield Rd Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 1:56:59 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear Council Members, PAUSD Board, Superintendent Austin, and Principal Carlomagno, We are writing as residents at 2303 & 2311 & 2321 Middlefield Rd, and 701 GarlandDr (Middlefield side), to raise an urgent safety hazard threatening Greene Middle School students. Large construction vehicles associated with the ongoing school project have been parking along Middlefield Road—directly in front of our driveways, obstructing visibility as we enterand exit (please see attached photos). Middlefield Rd is a major bike route used daily by Greene students. Over the past weeks, we have narrowly avoided collisions with students onbicycles due to these blind spots and felt no time to react. We’re gravely concerned that, unless this is addressed now, a collision—possibly severe—could occur. This is entirely preventable. Despite Greene’s school parking lot being largely unused duringsummer, we were told contractors are forbidden from parking there. That policy must be immediately reevaluated. We respectfully demand immediate action: 1. Ban construction trucks from parking on Middlefield Rd adjacent to GreeneMiddle School, especially near student bike routes and residential driveways. 2. Require contractors to use Greene’s on-site parking lot or a designated off-streetlocation, not endangering students or reducing visibility for residents. Please act before a preventable tragedy occurs. The safety of our children and communitycomes before any logistical inconvenience. Thank you for your urgent attention. Sincerely, This message needs your attention No employee in your company has ever replied to this person. This is a personal email address. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Melissa AndersonLaili Javid Lu LiuNancy Moss (Homeowners near Greene Middle School) From:Henry Etzkowitz To:Council, City; Palo Post; Office of the Provost; Rebecca Eisenberg; Aram James; Hannah Lu; Avroh Shah;Shikada, Ed; Ellen Fox; Jeanne Fleming; Brian Good; Roseline Rasolovoahangy; annika steiber; Lotus Fong;Charlie Weidanz; Bette; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Christiane Gebhardt; Mark Granovetter; Online Palo Alto; JimHersh; Helen Lawton Lawton-Smith; sally Tomlinson; Rabii Outamha; Stephen Adams; Anna Uvarova; RichardHorning; Laleh Raeisy; Josep Miquel Pique; Irina Dezhina; Tatiana Pospelova; Branca Terra; James Sefe Dzisah;rabeh morrar; Justin Axel-Berg; 翁默斯; Ekaterina Albats; Bette Kiernan; Carol Kemelgor; Carol Kiparsky; DavidCharles; Devrim Göktepe Hultén; Dorien Detombe; Christopher M Kwong; Lana Sabelfeld; Michelle Baker;Riccardo Viale; Gennady Sheyner; Lauing, Ed; Marty Wasserman; pat@patburt.org; John Salois; BradenCartwright; Mary Rorty; Sarah Wright; Guilherme Ary Plonski; Joe Penko; Blackshire, Geoffrey; mickie winkler;Team JulieforPaloAlto; Winter Dellenbach; Mariza Almeida; Arthur Millman Subject:Starvation by Design Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 1:26:32 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. > > Somewhere in Israel’s Governmental bureaucracy under an innocuous title, a “collective Eichmann” is at work meticulously designing the “crime of the new century”systematic destruction of the civil institutional environment of universities, businesses, and housing, with the intent and objective of atomizing the citizens of GAZA Palestine into a controllable mass. > Attendant nutrition deprivation is an overlay on institutional and organizational deprivation, conducted in Mediterranean sunlight and international, if not Israeli, full media gaze. Rather than the inside pages of theNew York Times where Germany’s 20th century holocaust was relegated, this rolling, escalating genocide is on the front pages of the newspaper of record where all news that fits is published, sometimes ironically overshadowed by food recipes in the Internet Edition. > The international community, led by Europe where the Holocaust was originated, collaborated, condoned and only sometimes resisted in the last century, must mitigate its indelible moral stain by heading off the Netenyahu regime’s scheme. Only a Jewish state founded on the ashes of the holocaust could have been given such leeway, not to forget Pol Pot’s Cambodia. Who will be the future Hannah Arendt to chronicle the ubiquity of evil? > > Sincerely > Henry Etzkowitz > Distinguished Fellow > University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Innovation Management Research > Co-founder, Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice, 644 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park CA 94025 > RE Henry Etzkowitz et al vs Elon Musk et al Case number 24CV450485 Superior Court of California County of California, Downtown Courthouse 191 Notth First Street, San Jose CA 95113 civil division > Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Shankar Ramamoorthy; Doug Minkler Subject:The New York Times Repeated Israeli Claims of Hamas Stealing Aid Without Evidence Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 7:06:27 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. The New York Times Repeated Israeli Claims of Hamas Stealing Aid https://theintercept.com/2025/07/30/new-york-times-hamas-aid-israel-gaza-famine/ From:Marta To:Council, City Subject:4256 El Camino Real - Proposed Housing Project - Agenda Item - August 11, 2025 Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 1:44:20 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ! Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, I am writing to express my concerns regarding the proposed development at 4256 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. As a resident of the neighboring Palo Alto Redwoods at 2450 El Camino Real, I believe that the project, in its current form, presents and would create significant problems and impacts to its immediate neighbors and the larger neighboring community in terms of quality of life, peaceful enjoyment of our homes and surroundings, environment, and safety. The proposed housing development consists of a large residential complex, with mostly small studio apartments, and a small number of 2-bdrms apartments, for a total of over 100 units. Parking would be a puzzle stacker system with mechanized platforms, requiring residents' cars entering to wait in line several minutes while the previous car offloads belongings and is moved into a space. The volume of the proposed building for this lot is much larger than the previous proposal that was approved (for a hotel), both in surface and in height (6 stories). The new building would be much higher than and not in keeping with other neighboring buildings, and would: deprive the units in Palo Alto Redwoods facing the proposed building of sunlight and block sky view; create shade at our complex's pool; loss of trees, potential damage to existing redwoods, reduced air quality and loss of noise buffer provided by trees; create traffic backups on El Camino as residents of the new building wait in line to park, potentially blocking entry/exit to our complex, and creating unsafe situations for pedestrians and bicyclists; This message could be suspicious Similar name as someone you've contacted. This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast insufficient on-site parking would create spillover at neighboring space; present safety concerns because of lack of access for emergency vehicles, and potentially blocking or delaying emergency vehicles; present additional traffic concerns due to inadequate space for service and delivery vehicles; increased noise levels; would place garbage containers very close to PAR residents' balconies that face the 4256 lot; create overcrowding and diminished neighborhood character, and property values I would urge the City Council to: Conduct a thorough traffic and environmental impact study; Ensure the project design, green areas, and dimensions respect the character and privacy of the existing neighborhood; Ensure the site has sufficient space and parking to prevent spillover onto neighboring properties; Ensure strong noise, dust and pollution control during construction; Visit in person the respective properties to gain spacial insights; Maintain open communication with local residents and organizations during planning and construction. While I support new housing in Palo Alto, I believe addressing these concerns will lead to better quality of life and safety for both current and future residents. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, M Farinati From:Yusra Hussain To:Aram James Cc:Vicki Veenker; Mark Turner; CityCouncil; Michelle Bigelow; Sean Allen; Seher Awan; Gardener, Liz; Gennady Sheyner; BoardOperations; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Josh Becker; Jessica Speiser, Educational Leader for California Democratic Delegate, Assembly District 23; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; ParkRec Commission; Vara Ramakrishnan; board@valleywater.org; GRP-City Council; Council, City; Nash, Betsy; dcombs@menlopark.gov; city.council@menlopark.gov; Binder, Andrew; james pitkin; Reifschneider, James; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Hayden; Jeff Conrad; h.etzko@gmail.com; Liz Kniss; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; roberta ahlquist; Dave Price; Diana Diamond; Human Relations Commission; Kaloma Smith; Holman, Karen (external); Tom DuBois; dennis burns; Dennis Upton; Donna Wallach; Don Austin; yolanda; Yolanda Conaway; Doug Minkler; editor@almanacnews.com; EPA Today; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright; Dana St. George; Gerry Gras; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; District3@sanjoseca.gov; District4@sanjoseca.gov; District5@sanjoseca.gov; District9@sanjoseca.gov; Councilmember Chappie Jones; district1@bos.sccgov.org; District2@sanjoseca.gov; cromero@cityofepa.org; Anna Griffin; Cribbs, Anne; jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; Jennifer Morrow San José Spotlight; San José Spotlight; editor@paweekly.com; Pat M; Carla Torres; sharon jackson; Sheree Roth; Lori Meyers; Tom DuBois; Ruth Silver Taube; Steve Wagstaffe; Palo Alto Free Press; Figueroa, Eric; Afanasiev, Alex; Enberg, Nicholas; Rowena Chiu; Nicole Chiu-Wang; Friends of Cubberley; Lotus Fong; Daniel Kottke; Reckdahl, Keith; Lauing, Ed; Salem Ajluni; Roberta Ahlquist; Raymond Goins; Rodriguez, Miguel; Zelkha, Mila; Damon Silver; MGR-Melissa Stevenson Diaz; Patrice Ventresca; Michael Pati; Burt, Patrick; Patricia.Guerrero@jud.ca.gov; frances.Rothschild@jud.ca.gov; ladoris cordell; Reckdahl, Keith; Bill Newell; Baker, Rob; Robert Salonga; Templeton, Cari; Angel, David Subject:Re: In Gaza, Hunger Has Overtaken War as Israel’s Cruelest Weapon Date:Thursday, July 31, 2025 1:34:26 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Thank you Aram for your words. In times like this when the whole world is speaking up against the cruelty of the Israeli armyand the silence of our leaders and representative, history will not be kind to people who remained silent, or worse, took a stand to support the genocide. Vickie, I hope you find it in you to speak up against the starvation of the Gazan people. Thesepolicies of Israeli war tactics are not helping the greater Israeli society or their image in the world. We are all witnessing the worst man made starvation of the Palestinian people at thehands of the Israeli army. Yusra Hussain, MD On Wed, Jul 30, 2025 at 9:04 AM Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: Subject: Speaking Out Against Genocide Hi Vicki, It is time for you to speak out against the genocide. Will you finally find the courage to voice your stance, despite the pressure from those around you who This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast insist you remain silent? Next year, you will be Palo Alto’s mayor. What kind of example are you setting for the children in our community? Do you want your obituary to read: “Vicki Veenker was an outstanding lawyer and politician, but she remained silent and refused to speak out against the genocide in Palestine ”? Avram “Time for VV to say end the genocide now” Finkelstein Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Drop Site News is fully reader-funded, which means we depend on supporters like you. Become a paid subscriber to gain access to our private Discord server, subscriber-only AMAs, chats, and invites to events. You can also visit our store for exclusive Drop site merchandise! In Gaza, Hunger Has Overtaken Waras Israel’s Cruelest Weapon "We do not need pity. We need pressure on those who are blockingfood, those who remain silent, and those who still have the power tostop this but choose not to." DROP SITE NEWS JUL 30 READ IN APP The article you are about to read was written by Heba Almaqadma, a 24-year-old Palestinian journalist, translator, and writer living in Gaza City. Heba was born and raised in Gaza, and has remained in Gaza City during the war, despite being displaced from her home on multiple occasions. Her account of the war—and the current wave of starvation overtaking the territory—offers a window into the experiences of ordinary Palestinians struggling to survive amid the escalating genocide in the territory. —Murtaza Hussain Upgrade to paid In Gaza City, on July 30, 2025, a Palestinian woman picks out food scraps amid the rubble. (Photo by Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images). Story by Heba Almaqadma GAZA CITY—In Gaza, there’s a popular saying that has been passed down by generations of families, reflecting our resilience in the face of difficult conditions: “No one dies of hunger.” For the longest time, that was true. In the Gaza that we knew, people struggled because of poverty, unemployment, and the other consequences of the occupation, but no one died because they had nothing to eat. Today, we are witnessing the unthinkable. Hundreds are dying. And the cause? Hunger. Behind the headlines and beyond the numbers, flesh and blood people are cut off from basic necessities, including food, clean water, and medical care. They are facing a slow, quiet, forcibly imposed death. Starvation is not a looming threat; it is a brutal, daily reality. Children cry themselves to sleep on an empty stomach. Parents break under the weight of helplessness, watching their sons and daughters grow thinner, weaker. Bread, once a basic staple, has become a luxury. Vegetables, milk, eggs have become unimaginable for most families. Hunger has overtaken war as the cruelest weapon. Subscribe to Drop Site News. Upgrade to paid In recent weeks, thousands of Palestinians have been killed or injured risking their lives to try to find food. My cousin, Yousef Ala’atal, just 14 years old, was among them. Hunger pushed him to seek food from an aid distribution site managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). He came back not only empty-handed, but with a bullet in his head, blood soaking his body, and lasting damage from the injury. Yousef asked his mother with a pain that a child’s heart cannot endure: “Am I going to stay like this?” After that question, silence overtook their family. Children are the primary victims in this deliberate campaign of starvation; young ones can’t understand what it means that there is no food. Breaking their parents’ hearts with their hunger, older ones try to go to the GHF, which we refer to in Gaza as “death traps.” Many are killed, while others return injured, heartbroken, or sometimes find themselves detained. Mohammed Dababsh, a 35 year old and father of two young children—Yazan and Masa—was killed on July 11 while trying to get food from an aid site run by the GHF. “He never wanted to go. He was completely against their humiliating and chaotic aid system,” recounted his wife, Ghandoura Abu Ziada. “But, one day, after they ordered us to evacuate from Khan Younis, he told me to take the kids and stay with my family until he could find us a safer place. He stayed behind in Khan Younis.” As the family separated, the crushing burden of being unable to provide for his young children continued to weigh on Mohammed. This ultimately led him to try and risk getting food from a GHF site. “Masa has been asking for Indomie [instant] noodles for months. We kept explaining that bread and lentils are all we have, but her little mind couldn’t grasp it. While he was still in Khan Younis, his friends tried to convince him to go to the GHF, saying he might be able to get Indomie and biscuits for the kids.” While Ghandoura was waiting for a regular call from Mohammed, she received one from his brother instead. He had been injured at a GHF site, he said, and was being taken to Nasser Hospital for treatment. Ghandoura rushed to the hospital searching and hoping to find him among the wounded. Half an hour after her arrival an ambulance arrived carrying his body. “Our children still can’t understand. 'What do you mean he’s never coming back?' they ask. A few nights ago, Masa was going to the bathroom when she heard her grandfather’s voice and thought it was her father. She told me, 'Dad is here, let me go see him.' I told her he’s in heaven now, while my heart aches and cries,” she said. “They still wait for him. And so do I. I can’t believe it. I keep waiting for him to return. Mohammed was the one who provided for us. Now that he’s gone, everything has become even harder." “We Don’t Want Them” Sohaib Madi, a 24-year-old, was shot in the head while he was trying to get aid from the GHF for his family earlier this month. As a result, the right side of his body was paralyzed, and he lost his vision. He came to the GHF site desperate for food, and was transported to hospital still on an empty stomach. His mother cried for him for days. She feared losing him after she lost her daughter in January 2024, after being shot in the neck by a sniper while hanging laundry on a balcony in Khan Younis. Palestinian women continue to bear a disproportionate share of the suffering in the Gaza Strip, enduring the same violence, displacement, starvation, and maltreatment as the rest of the population, but with the added burden of having to care for their families alone once male providers for their households are killed. Last week, the GHF announced that they would dedicate a day exclusively for women to receive aid. The implied assumption was that women are not seen as a threat and, therefore, wouldn’t be targeted or killed while gathering aid. Yet this supposed extension of goodwill resulted in even more tragedy for Palestinian women. Maria, a mother of seven who had lost her husband 10 months earlier, needed to secure her kids with food, and she had no choice but to go to one of the sites. Her daughter, Malak Sheikh El Eid, later recounted that her mother went twice and came back with nothing, having stared death in the face. They pleaded with her not to go for aid again, but if she insisted, they asked to at least take them all with her. Their mother promised she wouldn’t go, but when they woke up, they found she had already left. Mariam recounted bitterly how, when she called her mother on the phone to check on her, a stranger answered and told her that her mother had sustained moderate injuries. Later, Malak learned that her mother had been martyred with a bullet in her head, leaving behind seven orphaned children, who now have no father, no mother, and no food. Malak cried while recounting what happened in a video later posted on Instagram. Barely able to catch her breath through her tears, she said: “Close the GHF aid. We don’t want them.” Survivors’ Guilt Each day in Gaza we see dozens of people killed or wounded in the most humiliating way, while merely trying to obtain food for themselves and their families. Many Palestinian children now must live with the knowledge that their mother or father died while trying to secure them food, leaving them with a survivors’ guilt that will last a lifetime. The deprivation from starvation and siege is visible upon people’s faces. People are looking hollow-eyed and tired. We are suffering not just from hunger, but from abandonment. Palestinians have been turned into symbols of suffering and defiance, whereas what we want is not only to survive, but also to truly live and feel alive once more. Instead, as the whole world watches, for nearly two years we have been brutally murdered and tormented in the most horrific and innovative ways that a human mind can devise. The world is silent, but inside Gaza, there is no silence. There are the sounds of children collapsing from malnutrition, parents crying in frustration, communities trying to survive without food, fuel, or medicine. The suffering isn’t sudden: it is slow, deliberate, and devastating. As the expert on famine Alex de Waal said in a recent television interview, this starvation is the product of a “minutely engineered” Israeli policy aimed at breaking our ability to live. We are not starving because of drought. We are not starving because of natural disasters. We are starving because of Israel’s decision to use starvation as a weapon against Gaza’s civilian population, and the world’s decision to permit it. Closing borders, shooting people waiting for aid, and turning away aid trucks has become acceptable, as long as it’s Gaza. No political justification for this policy can erase the hollow look in a child’s eyes, the desperate hope in a mother’s voice, or the slow and cruel death of a people who are being starved in full view of the world. We do not need pity. We need pressure on those who are blocking food, those who remain silent, and those who still have the power to stop this but choose not to. Because tomorrow, someone else will write another article. Another photo will circulate. Another child will die. And we will ask again: how many more lives must be extinguished before the world decides that Gaza deserves to live? Upgrade to paid Leave a comment Become a Drop Site News Paid Subscriber Drop Site News is reader-supported. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber today. Upgrade to paid A paid subscription gets you: 15% off Drop Site store Access to our Discord, subscriber-only AMAs, chats, and invites to events, both virtual and IRL Post comments and join the community The knowledge you are supporting independent media making the lives of the powerful miserable You can also now find us on podcast platforms and on Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Telegram, and YouTube. LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2025 Drop Site News, Inc.Drop Site News Inc., 1930 18th St NWSte B2 #1034, Washington, DC 20009 Unsubscribe From:Hayden Kantor To:Council, City Subject:support for multifamily housing on El Camino Real Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 7:54:19 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear City Council, I am writing in support of building multifamily housing on El Camino. The Council has wiselydesignated this as one of the prime areas for housing in the Housing Element. Now the Daily Post reports that residents are mobilizing against the project at 4256 El Camino Real. Butreducing the scope of the project will raise costs and bring delays. NIMBYism is a scourge on our community. Residents and the Council should not meddle and micromanage these projects. We need to welcome new neighbors, which will add to ourproperty tax base, bring customers for local businesses, and add vibrancy to our community. We need many more market-rate developments like these. I encourage the Council to approve this project and others like it without any extra modifications. Best,Hayden Kantor Palo Alto, CA This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast From:Serena Chen To:Council, City Subject:Opposition to Proposed Development at 4256 El Camino Real – Legal and Community Concerns Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 7:14:24 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear City Council Members, As concerned residents of Palo Alto, we are writing to formally oppose the proposed high-density, high-rise development at 4256 El Camino Real. While we support the addition of residential housing in our city, we believe such projects must comply with existing zoning laws and minimize harm to the surrounding community. According to a recent article published in Palo Alto Online on April 9, 2025 (link), the proposed development raises serious legal and zoning issues, including: Excessive building height: The proposal calls for a 90-foot (6-story) structure, which far exceeds the 50-foot (3-story) height limit for this zone. This is not a designated “focus area” where recent zoning changes allow buildings up to ~85 feet. Zoning noncompliance: Without official zoning amendments or approved variances, the project would be in clear violation of existing regulations— potentially subjecting the city to legal challenges if allowed to proceed. Beyond legal concerns, the project poses a number of negative impacts on the community: Issue Details Neighborhood Character The building would tower over adjacent 3- and 4-story condos, disrupting the existing scale and feel of the area. Sunlight & Shadows Increased building height would cast significant shadows over neighboring properties, including the units at 4250 El Camino Real(Palo Alto Redwoods), reducing sunlight and quality of life. Privacy Intrusion Upper floors may overlook private patios and windows, compromising privacy. Traffic &Increased density will lead to more congestion and strain on already This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Parking limited parking. Construction Impacts Prolonged construction would introduce noise, dust, and disruption to residents and businesses in the vicinity. Property Values The over-scaled development risks negatively impacting the property values of surrounding units. We respectfully urge the Council to reject this proposal in its current form. If the developer wishes to pursue a project at this site, it must fully comply with existing legal and zoning requirements—and do so transparently, without circumventing publicoversight or creating “backdoor” exceptions. Thank you for your time and commitment to responsible development in Palo Alto. Mike will be attending tonight's meeting to reiterate these concerns in person. Sincerely,Serena Chen, Mike Wang 4250 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Redwoods Residents since 2010 From:Humphrey, Sonia Cc:LAFCO Subject:LAFCO Agenda Packet Now Available - 8/6/25 Meeting Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 5:07:56 PM Attachments:August 2025 Meeting Agenda Packet.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i The agenda packet for the August 6, 2025 LAFCO Meeting is now available on the LAFCO website: https://santaclaralafco.org/meetings/commission-meeting-2025-08-06-201500. Best regards, Sonia Humphrey, LAFCO Clerk LAFCO of Santa Clara County 777 North First Street, Suite 410 San Jose, CA 95112 (408) 993-4709 This message needs your attention You've never replied to this person. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast From:CeCi Kettendorf To:Council, City Subject:South Palo Alto may well burn Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 4:35:12 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. CeCi Kettendorf <cecihome@gmail.com>3:12 PM (53 minutes ago) to letters Dear City Council; Little has changed, despite the outcry from citizens for the past year angry that Fire Station 4 has been closed. South Palo Alto continues as incredibly vulnerable to an inferno. Fire Station 4 at Middlefield/East Meadow is closed for the remodel, so the crew has been relocated to a portable in Cubberley School on the north end of the property. However, they have a crew of only three firefighters, cross staffing both Engine 64 and Medic 64. Three are required by law to activate the fire engine. As was predicted, the ambulance is very busy! So when the ambulance is out, which it usually is, the fire engine is unavailable to answer a fire. So south Palo Alto at any point in time may well be without immediate fire coverage. We are where we were before! We have had several fires in south Palo Alto since the ridiculous practice of cross staffing began, for OUR end of the city. Fortunately the fire engine was available each time to answer in a timely way. It is only a matter of time before our luck runs out. In contrast, Stanford's Fire Station has SIX firefighters round the clock, and redundant coverage from two nearby fire stations! Why is that end of town and Stanford campus the blessed Chosen? South Palo Alto pays the bulk of the property taxes, but we get the crumbs. In a city which will bring in 1.02 billion dollars in 2025, can City Manager Shikada not find the funds to staff three firefighters RTC to protect a large swath of the city?! He gives his wife's employer an overabundance of protection, whereas south Palo Alto remains at risk. San Jose dismissed Mr. Shikada as a failed manager. Palo Alto should follow suit. It is a conflict of interest that the city manager of Palo Alto controls public safety funding. Please separate public safety from his control. Instead of a fire chief who is at will employees beholden to and at the mercy of the city manager, create a fire district managed by a fire board, which answers directly to you. Please look to all the surrounding cities of comparable size and affluence as models of best practice. Hire ten firefighters RTC for our end of town.Please protect us from fire. CeCi Kettendorf 46 year resident of south Palo Alto 3719 Grove Avenue Palo Alto,Ca. 94303 650-493-0804 From:Julie Baskind To:Council, City Cc:Clerk, City; Kallas, Emily Subject:August 11th Prescreening of Proposed Condo Complex - 4256 ECR Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 1:43:26 PM Attachments:Julie"s Balcony_#2.pngIMG_3435.HEICIMG_3434.HEIC CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i City Council City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton AvePalo Alto CA 94301 Dear City Council Members: I am a longtime homeowner (37 years) of the Palo Alto Redwoods, located at 4250 ECR. Ourcommunity totals 117 units with about 250 residents. My condo looks directly onto the empty lotwhere a 6-story (91 ft) housing development has been proposed. Attached are 3 photos from mydeck, two with a current view of the trees and skylight, and one which includes the proposedbuilding. My home, and those of approximately 50 other families that face east, willbe directly impacted by the loss of light and privacy. We certainly support the need for new housing. However, this project’s current scope raises serious concerns that will impact our quality of life, safety, and property value. While the South El Camino corridor is fertile for improvements, I hope the Council will consider : • A comprehensive traffic and environmental impact study before approval. •Reduce building height and density with greater setbacks to protect privacy. Separately, we extend an open invitation to each of you to visit our complex and view first handhow this project will affect our living conditions. On behalf of the HOA Board, please reach out tome directly for a tour of our property. Our mutual goal is to ensure that this development aligns with our community’s needs and preserves the character of our neighborhood. Sincerely, Julie Baskind(#B214) 408-309-5865 This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Reply Reply all Forward From:Stephanie Tramz To:Council, City Cc:Maggie Bening Subject:4256 El Camino Real Building Project - August 11 City Council Meeting Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 12:37:37 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear City Council: I am a homeowner at Palo Alto Redwoods Condominiums located at 4250 El Camino Real. We have 117 condo units here (approximately 250 residents overall) spread over 4 separate 3-story buildings surrounded by legacy and legally protected redwood trees on our property. We object to the development proposed for 4256 El Camino Real as being much too multi-story and massive for the small parcel there. The project would loom hugelyover our property and deprive our residents of sunlight, air circulation and privacy. The lack of sunlight and air circulation would harm our redwood trees and our curated landscaping, which we have maintained with great care and at great expense over many years. As proposed, the 4256 building project has no setbacks, and its windows and balconies would look directly into our condos. Our section of El Camino Real is specially marked for bike and bus use. The "stacked parking" proposed for 4256 would impair that special use and create intense traffic delays. A much smaller-scale housing project with sufficient non-stack parking for its residents is needed for the small parcel at 4256 El Camino Real. Thank you for considering my comments and concerns. Sincerely, Stephanie Tramz Stephanie C. Tramz 4250 El Camino Real #D130 Palo Alto, CA 94306 Cell: (650) 387-5092 Email: stephanietramz@att.net This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast From:Anneke Dempsey To:Council, City Cc:rademps@aol.com Subject:Damage from last Sunday"s severe power surge Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 12:35:35 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear Members of the City Council, Last Sunday-afternoon, February 9th, four homes on the tenth block of Bryant Street sustainedconsiderable damage from a severe power surge. Our home was hit the hardest, since the electric wires/cables leading to our house were hit by strongly sweeping magnolia branchesplus the sag in the cables themselves caused the cables to touch each other, setting off sparks, smoke and…… much more. We called 911, and the Police and the Firemen came down and cordoned off the street. One ofthe fireman, a former citizen of Liverpool, UK, even made pictures of the smoking wires. The Utilities department came down, apparently one man, who worked until 10:00 P.M. thatevening in getting the outside power restored. However, in our home, the power surge caused three small explosions, which took out our heating/cooling system, half of our kitchen's electricity, the front door bell, the back bathroomfloor heating system, and our expensive McCroskey electric adjustable bed base. It strongly smelled of fire in our back bathroom and closet. As of now, a week later, we still have no heat, as the internal computer board was blown andhad to be reordered. In addition, we had a “bed” man come in (recommended by McCroskey) who was not able to repair our adjustable base. On Monday, the tenth of February, we had anelectrician come in who was able to repair the electricity to the kitchen, the door bell, and the back bathroom floor heating system. Now, comes the real message: On Monday, the tenth, I called the Electric Utilities “Disservice” department and spoke withTodd. I told him about our experience, and his short and curt answer was: “That is not our issue, we only take care of the outside electricity.” When I told him about the swing treebranches and the wires and our internal damage he, once again, curtly stated “That is your problem and the costs are your responsibility.” I was furious. First, he was rude, he was abully, and he had no empathy whatsoever towards our situation. My anger with him did not This message needs your attention No employee in your company has ever replied to this person. This is a personal email address. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast subside and the next day I called him again to tell him he needed a course in “CustomerService.” I also expect a sincere apology from him. The City’s Gas Service Department, on the other hand, was kind, caring, and sent out a person to check our heating system. The person could not repair it. On Wednesday, “the tree man” came out (after I was told by a city employee to call him,which I did.) A rather substantial man with a Georgia accent, who barely allowed me to speak. The concerns I was able to mention between his never ending words, the magnolia branchessweeping against the wires and the wires sweeping against each other, causing sparks and smoke, were completely dismissed by him. Everything was in order, although he did admitthat the tree cutting folks had not come out to our block for a long time, because Palo Alto had let the contractors go. He also mentioned that in a few months, the city wanted to hire somePG@E tree cutters to cut the trees in Palo Alto. Mmmmm….. I wonder if that is a good idea! Both Todd and the tree man sounded like PG&E employees, denying any issues on their part and totally blowing off any concerns I wanted to share. On Friday, I found two more Electric Utilities trucks parked on our block. I spoke with severalmembers, and they told me they were here because the wires were dangerous. When I related my story, they also mentioned that it was the Utilities Department's fault for not maintainingthe wires (the sag was dangerous) and keeping the tree branches away from the wires. They were honest in saying that the City should pay for our damages. Finally, when I told them I was going to attend the City Council’s meeting on Monday, the17th, and talk about the two bullies I had encountered, they said I should, and then carefully mentioned there were more bullies in the department. Respectfully submitted. Anneke Dempsey1036 Bryant Street Palo Alto, CA 94301Tel.: 650-327-0805 E-mail: anneke_dempsey@yahoo.com From:Lorena Brito To:Council, City Subject:Help spread the word: Canopy"s Fall 2025 Community Forestry School/ UC Climate Stewards Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 12:11:18 PM Attachments:FY26 CFS & UC Climate Stewards Flyer.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Hi everyone This is Lorena, I’m the education intern at Canopy. We’re excited to share that our Community Forestry School (CFS) is now a fully bilingual (English/Spanish) UC Climate Stewards course! This 9-week course, which begins on September 25, focuses on tree planting and climate communications. Applications open until September 10th, and we would appreciate it if you spread the word. A bilingual flyer is attached. This message needs your attention This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast COMMUNITY FORESTRY SCHOOL This free 9-week course will focus on urban tree planting, climate communications, environmental justice, and tree care as nature-based clim ate solutions. Students will participate in online workshops facilitated by certified arborists, tree planting and tree care fieldwork, and 8-15 hours of volunteer service on an urban forestry stewardship project. Live translations (English-Spanish) will be provided during online sessions and in-person fieldwork days. Upon completion of this course, students can: Sept em ber 25 - N ovem ber 20, 2025 Th ursdays f r om 6:30-8:30 PM on Zoom Sat urday fi eldw or k on 10/4, 10/18, 11/4, 11/8 2025 UC Climate St ewards Course ?The Canopy Community Forestry School is a true gift to the community. Canopy staff empowers residents to care about trees and their neighborhoods, learn about the many benefits trees provide, and give people the knowledge and skills to make their communities more resilient and beautiful." - Community Forestry School graduate -Receive certification as a UC Clim ate Steward -Become a Canopy-Certified Comm unity Forester -Obtain 4 undergraduate credits through UC Davis (optional) This program is in partnership with the University of California and made possible by grants from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and CAL FIRE. Enrollm ent is open July 14 - Sept em ber 10, 2025 Learn more at can opy.org/com m un it y-f or est ry-school Questions? Contact Desiree at desir ee@can opy.org ESCUELA FORESTAL COM UNITARIA Este curso gratuito de 9 semanas se centrará en la plantación de árboles urbanos, las com unicaciones sobre el clima, la justicia medioambiental y el cuidado de los árboles com o soluciones climáticas basadas en la naturaleza. Los estudiantes participarán en talleres en línea facilitados por arbolistas certificados, plantación de árboles y trabajo de cuidado de árboles, y 8-15 horas de servicio voluntario en un proyecto de gestión forestal urbana. Se proporcionarán traducciones en directo (inglés-español) durante las sesiones en línea y los días de trabajo al aire libre en persona. Al finalizar este curso, los estudiantes pueden: 25 de sept iem bre - 20 de n ovi em bre de 2025 Jueves de 18:30 a 20:30 en Zoom Trabajo al air e libr e los sáb ados 10/4, 10/18, 11/4, 11/8 Curso de Climate Stewards de la UC "La Escuela Forestal Comunitaria Canopy es un verdadero regalo para la comunidad. El personal de Canopy capacita a los residentes para que se preocupen por los árboles y sus vecindarios, aprendan sobre los muchos beneficios que proporcionan los árboles, y dan a la gente los conocimientos y habilidades para hacer que sus comunidades sean más resistentes y bellas." - Graduado de la Escuela Forestal Comunitaria -Recibir la certificación como Climate Steward de la UC -Convertirse en Forestero Comunitario Certificado -Obtener 4 créditos universitarios a través de UC Davis (opcional) Este programa se realiza en colaboración con la Universidad de California y es posible gracias a la financiación de la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Santa Clara y CAL FIRE. La inscripción está abierta del 14 de julio - 10 de sept iem bre de 2025 Más inform acioón en canopy.or g/com m un it y-f or est ry-sch ool ¿Preguntas? Contacta con Desiree en desir ee@can opy.org From:Sotelo, Margarita M. To:Council, City Subject:4256 El Camino Real Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 11:30:41 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, As a resident of Palo Alto Redwoods (PAR) since October 2002, I write to highlight three concerns over the proposed housing development for the adjacent lot at 4256 El Camino Real: the potential environmental impacts, pedestrian safety, and neighborhood aesthetics. The lush vegetation in our community is one of the most valuable aspects of living in PAR and greatly contributes to our quality of life. We take great pride in maintaining our stately Redwoods. The gardens throughout the complex create a serene, park-like environment. My concern is that the proposed building will loom over our complex and block essential sunlight. I would like to know if the massive scale of the building could potentially cause microclimate changes in the complex, which could be detrimental to the health and even survival of the vegetation. Please ensure that a thorough environmental assessment is conducted and mitigation strategies implemented. My second concern is for pedestrian safety in the neighborhood. I, along with other PAR residents, get our regular physical exercise by walking, running, or biking in the neighborhood. Please ensure that a thorough evaluation of the anticipated increase in traffic flow in-and-out of the high-density complex is adequately addressed to maintain the walkability of the neighborhood. Finally, I’m proud of how well the design of PAR has gracefully withstood the test of time. The award bestowed on the architect when the complex was first built was certainly well-deserved. Please ensure that the proposed building design is likely to age harmoniously rather than deteriorate into a tenement-like edifice that could blight the neighborhood for generations to come. Thank you for considering these issues. Respectfully, Margarita Sotelo, MD MPH From:Aram James To:Vicki Veenker Cc:Mark Turner; CityCouncil; Michelle Bigelow; Sean Allen; Seher Awan; Gardener, Liz; Gennady Sheyner; BoardOperations; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Josh Becker; Jessica Speiser, Educational Leader for California Democratic Delegate, Assembly District 23; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; ParkRec Commission; Vara Ramakrishnan; board@valleywater.org; GRP-City Council; Council, City; Nash, Betsy; dcombs@menlopark.gov; city.council@menlopark.gov; Binder, Andrew; james pitkin; Reifschneider, James; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Hayden; Jeff Conrad; h.etzko@gmail.com; Liz Kniss; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; roberta ahlquist; Dave Price; Diana Diamond; Human Relations Commission; Kaloma Smith; Holman, Karen (external); Tom DuBois; dennis burns; Dennis Upton; Donna Wallach; Don Austin; yolanda; Yolanda Conaway; Doug Minkler; editor@almanacnews.com; EPA Today; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright; Yusra Hussain; Dana St. George; Gerry Gras; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; District3@sanjoseca.gov; District4@sanjoseca.gov; District5@sanjoseca.gov; District9@sanjoseca.gov; Councilmember Chappie Jones; district1@bos.sccgov.org; District2@sanjoseca.gov; cromero@cityofepa.org; Anna Griffin; Cribbs, Anne; jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; Jennifer Morrow San José Spotlight; San José Spotlight; editor@paweekly.com; Pat M; Carla Torres; sharon jackson; Sheree Roth; Lori Meyers; Tom DuBois; Ruth Silver Taube; Steve Wagstaffe; Palo Alto Free Press; Figueroa, Eric; Afanasiev, Alex; Enberg, Nicholas; Rowena Chiu; Nicole Chiu-Wang; Friends of Cubberley; Lotus Fong; Daniel Kottke; Reckdahl, Keith; Lauing, Ed; Salem Ajluni; Roberta Ahlquist; Raymond Goins; Rodriguez, Miguel; Zelkha, Mila; Damon Silver; MGR-Melissa Stevenson Diaz; Patrice Ventresca; Michael Pati; Burt, Patrick; Patricia.Guerrero@jud.ca.gov; frances.Rothschild@jud.ca.gov; ladoris cordell; Reckdahl, Keith; Bill Newell; Baker, Rob; Robert Salonga; Templeton, Cari; Angel, David Subject:In Gaza, Hunger Has Overtaken War as Israel’s Cruelest Weapon Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 9:04:23 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Subject: Speaking Out Against Genocide Hi Vicki, It is time for you to speak out against the genocide. Will you finally find the courage to voice your stance, despite the pressure from those around you who insist you remain silent? Next year, you will be Palo Alto’s mayor. What kind of example are you setting for the children in our community? Do you want your obituary to read: “Vicki Veenker was an outstanding lawyer and politician, but she remained silent and refused to speak out against the genocide in Palestine ”? Avram “Time for VV to say end the genocide now” Finkelstein Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Drop Site News is fully reader-funded, which means we depend on supporters like you. Become a paid subscriber to gain access to our private Discord server, subscriber-only AMAs, chats, and invites to events. You can also visit our store for exclusive Drop site merchandise! In Gaza, Hunger Has Overtaken Waras Israel’s Cruelest Weapon "We do not need pity. We need pressure on those who are blockingfood, those who remain silent, and those who still have the power tostop this but choose not to." DROP SITE NEWS JUL 30 READ IN APP The article you are about to read was written by Heba Almaqadma, a 24-year-old Palestinian journalist, translator, and writer living in Gaza City. Heba was born and raised in Gaza, and has remained in Gaza City during the war, despite being displaced from her home on multiple occasions. Her account of the war—and the current wave of starvation overtaking the territory—offers a window into the experiences of ordinary Palestinians struggling to survive amid the escalating genocide in the territory. —Murtaza Hussain Upgrade to paid In Gaza City, on July 30, 2025, a Palestinian woman picks out food scraps amid the rubble. (Photo by Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images). Story by Heba Almaqadma GAZA CITY—In Gaza, there’s a popular saying that has been passed down by generations of families, reflecting our resilience in the face of difficult conditions: “No one dies of hunger.” For the longest time, that was true. In the Gaza that we knew, people struggled because of poverty, unemployment, and the other consequences of the occupation, but no one died because they had nothing to eat. Today, we are witnessing the unthinkable. Hundreds are dying. And the cause? Hunger. Behind the headlines and beyond the numbers, flesh and blood people are cut off from basic necessities, including food, clean water, and medical care. They are facing a slow, quiet, forcibly imposed death. Starvation is not a looming threat; it is a brutal, daily reality. Children cry themselves to sleep on an empty stomach. Parents break under the weight of helplessness, watching their sons and daughters grow thinner, weaker. Bread, once a basic staple, has become a luxury. Vegetables, milk, eggs have become unimaginable for most families. Hunger has overtaken war as the cruelest weapon. Subscribe to Drop Site News. Upgrade to paid In recent weeks, thousands of Palestinians have been killed or injured risking their lives to try to find food. My cousin, Yousef Ala’atal, just 14 years old, was among them. Hunger pushed him to seek food from an aid distribution site managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). He came back not only empty-handed, but with a bullet in his head, blood soaking his body, and lasting damage from the injury. Yousef asked his mother with a pain that a child’s heart cannot endure: “Am I going to stay like this?” After that question, silence overtook their family. Children are the primary victims in this deliberate campaign of starvation; young ones can’t understand what it means that there is no food. Breaking their parents’ hearts with their hunger, older ones try to go to the GHF, which we refer to in Gaza as “death traps.” Many are killed, while others return injured, heartbroken, or sometimes find themselves detained. Mohammed Dababsh, a 35 year old and father of two young children—Yazan and Masa—was killed on July 11 while trying to get food from an aid site run by the GHF. “He never wanted to go. He was completely against their humiliating and chaotic aid system,” recounted his wife, Ghandoura Abu Ziada. “But, one day, after they ordered us to evacuate from Khan Younis, he told me to take the kids and stay with my family until he could find us a safer place. He stayed behind in Khan Younis.” As the family separated, the crushing burden of being unable to provide for his young children continued to weigh on Mohammed. This ultimately led him to try and risk getting food from a GHF site. “Masa has been asking for Indomie [instant] noodles for months. We kept explaining that bread and lentils are all we have, but her little mind couldn’t grasp it. While he was still in Khan Younis, his friends tried to convince him to go to the GHF, saying he might be able to get Indomie and biscuits for the kids.” While Ghandoura was waiting for a regular call from Mohammed, she received one from his brother instead. He had been injured at a GHF site, he said, and was being taken to Nasser Hospital for treatment. Ghandoura rushed to the hospital searching and hoping to find him among the wounded. Half an hour after her arrival an ambulance arrived carrying his body. “Our children still can’t understand. 'What do you mean he’s never coming back?' they ask. A few nights ago, Masa was going to the bathroom when she heard her grandfather’s voice and thought it was her father. She told me, 'Dad is here, let me go see him.' I told her he’s in heaven now, while my heart aches and cries,” she said. “They still wait for him. And so do I. I can’t believe it. I keep waiting for him to return. Mohammed was the one who provided for us. Now that he’s gone, everything has become even harder." “We Don’t Want Them” Sohaib Madi, a 24-year-old, was shot in the head while he was trying to get aid from the GHF for his family earlier this month. As a result, the right side of his body was paralyzed, and he lost his vision. He came to the GHF site desperate for food, and was transported to hospital still on an empty stomach. His mother cried for him for days. She feared losing him after she lost her daughter in January 2024, after being shot in the neck by a sniper while hanging laundry on a balcony in Khan Younis. Palestinian women continue to bear a disproportionate share of the suffering in the Gaza Strip, enduring the same violence, displacement, starvation, and maltreatment as the rest of the population, but with the added burden of having to care for their families alone once male providers for their households are killed. Last week, the GHF announced that they would dedicate a day exclusively for women to receive aid. The implied assumption was that women are not seen as a threat and, therefore, wouldn’t be targeted or killed while gathering aid. Yet this supposed extension of goodwill resulted in even more tragedy for Palestinian women. Maria, a mother of seven who had lost her husband 10 months earlier, needed to secure her kids with food, and she had no choice but to go to one of the sites. Her daughter, Malak Sheikh El Eid, later recounted that her mother went twice and came back with nothing, having stared death in the face. They pleaded with her not to go for aid again, but if she insisted, they asked to at least take them all with her. Their mother promised she wouldn’t go, but when they woke up, they found she had already left. Mariam recounted bitterly how, when she called her mother on the phone to check on her, a stranger answered and told her that her mother had sustained moderate injuries. Later, Malak learned that her mother had been martyred with a bullet in her head, leaving behind seven orphaned children, who now have no father, no mother, and no food. Malak cried while recounting what happened in a video later posted on Instagram. Barely able to catch her breath through her tears, she said: “Close the GHF aid. We don’t want them.” Survivors’ Guilt Each day in Gaza we see dozens of people killed or wounded in the most humiliating way, while merely trying to obtain food for themselves and their families. Many Palestinian children now must live with the knowledge that their mother or father died while trying to secure them food, leaving them with a survivors’ guilt that will last a lifetime. The deprivation from starvation and siege is visible upon people’s faces. People are looking hollow-eyed and tired. We are suffering not just from hunger, but from abandonment. Palestinians have been turned into symbols of suffering and defiance, whereas what we want is not only to survive, but also to truly live and feel alive once more. Instead, as the whole world watches, for nearly two years we have been brutally murdered and tormented in the most horrific and innovative ways that a human mind can devise. The world is silent, but inside Gaza, there is no silence. There are the sounds of children collapsing from malnutrition, parents crying in frustration, communities trying to survive without food, fuel, or medicine. The suffering isn’t sudden: it is slow, deliberate, and devastating. As the expert on famine Alex de Waal said in a recent television interview, this starvation is the product of a “minutely engineered” Israeli policy aimed at breaking our ability to live. We are not starving because of drought. We are not starving because of natural disasters. We are starving because of Israel’s decision to use starvation as a weapon against Gaza’s civilian population, and the world’s decision to permit it. Closing borders, shooting people waiting for aid, and turning away aid trucks has become acceptable, as long as it’s Gaza. No political justification for this policy can erase the hollow look in a child’s eyes, the desperate hope in a mother’s voice, or the slow and cruel death of a people who are being starved in full view of the world. We do not need pity. We need pressure on those who are blocking food, those who remain silent, and those who still have the power to stop this but choose not to. Because tomorrow, someone else will write another article. Another photo will circulate. Another child will die. And we will ask again: how many more lives must be extinguished before the world decides that Gaza deserves to live? Upgrade to paid Leave a comment Become a Drop Site News Paid Subscriber Drop Site News is reader-supported. 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LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2025 Drop Site News, Inc.Drop Site News Inc., 1930 18th St NWSte B2 #1034, Washington, DC 20009 Unsubscribe From:Aram James To:Lythcott-Haims, Julie Cc:Council, City; Shikada, Ed; Gardener, Liz; Lotus Fong; Roberta Ahlquist; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Gerry Gras; Dave Price; Don Austin; Yolanda Conaway; board@pausd.org; board@valleywater.org; BoardOperations; Mark Turner; <michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Binder, Andrew; CityCouncil; Michelle Bigelow; GRP-City Council; Figueroa, Eric; city.council@menlopark.gov; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; Jeff Conrad Subject:Santa Clara County has 1 shelter bed for every 3 homeless people Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 7:34:05 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hernandez said the county is working to open a 135-bed shelter in Palo Alto and another shelter in Santa Clara that will house up to 30 familie Santa Clara County has 1 shelter bed for every 3 homeless people - San José Spotlighthttps://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-has-1-shelter-bed-for-every-3-homeless- people/ From:a_m_mason@yahoo.com To:Council, City Subject:August 11, 2025 City Council Pre-Screening for 4256 El Camino Real Date:Wednesday, July 30, 2025 7:30:01 AM Attachments:PrescreeningLetter07302025.pdf July 29, 2025 City Council City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Re: August 11, 2025 Pre-Screening of condominium at 4256 El Camino Real Honorable Mayor Lauing, Vice Mayor Veenker and City Council Members, I write to comment on the proposed 6 story, 120 unit condominium development at 4256 El Camino Real. I ask you to consider the effects on the neighbors and residents of Palo Alto. The same applicant is in possession of a building permit for a 5 story hotel which doesn’t expire until 9/22/2025. One has to wonder why that project has only accomplished the demolition of the existing one story restaurant after 6 years. This leaves an empty lot, which blights South El Camino Real since 2020. The proposal on the agenda for the Pre-Screening not only calls for building a condominium, but also calls for a zone change from CS (Commercial Services) to PHZ (Planned Housing Zone). Without the PHZ zone, both the height and the floor area ratio (FAR) would be cut in half, back to what the CS zone and the existing hotel building permit allows. I care about this proposal as my property is located in the Palo Alto Redwoods (PAR) at 4250 El Camino Real, which is adjacent to 4256 ECR on three sides. The PAR community is 100% residential (117 units) in a CS zone and over 200 people live here. My building is about 10 feet from the tallest portion (91 feet) of the proposed building labeled “South Elevation”. I have windows that will be facing 75 windows and 35 full balconies. I ask you to think about the idea of a 90 foot tall wall of windows and balconies blocking all light and views of the sky from your property. I ask you to imagine the invasion of privacy that would entail. Never being able to see outside without other people staring back at you. The proposed condominium has minuscule setbacks of 6 feet from the property line in order to utilize the PHZ FAR of 3.57. To achieve this, there are 4 coast redwood trees on the 4256 ECR property that will have to be removed, despite being “protected” trees in Palo Alto. Below I attach a Table from the hotel proposal’s Appendix C Tree Protection Plan from October of 2018. Trees #13, #14, #15 and #16 are on 4256 ECR property on the side labeled “West Elevation”. Those 4 (soon to be absent) coast redwoods provided my community with shade and privacy. It took decades, if not centuries, for those 4 coast redwoods to mature, but it only takes a single day to fell them. We will never recover the natural amenities of sunlight, beautiful coast redwood trees and privacy if the City allows the proposed extremely massive, dense and intrusive building as it is currently designed. Residential uses mean human beings will reside in those buildings. As a neighbor already residing in Palo Alto, I ask your support for a more reasonable development. Sincerely yours, Anne Mason From:a_m_mason@yahoo.com To:Council, City Subject:August 11, 2025 City Council Pre-Screening for 4256 El Camino Real Date:Tuesday, July 29, 2025 11:03:22 PM Attachments:PrescreeningLetter07302025.pdf July 29, 2025 City Council City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Re: August 11, 2025 Pre-Screening of condominium at 4256 El Camino Real Honorable Mayor Lauing, Vice Mayor Veenker and City Council Members, I write to comment on the proposed 6 story, 120 unit condominium development at 4256 El Camino Real. I ask you to consider the effects on the neighbors and residents of Palo Alto. The same applicant is in possession of a building permit for a 5 story hotel which doesn’t expire until 9/22/2025. One has to wonder why that project has only accomplished the demolition of the existing one story restaurant after 6 years. This leaves an empty lot, which blights South El Camino Real since 2020. The proposal on the agenda for the Pre-Screening not only calls for building a condominium, but also calls for a zone change from CS (Commercial Services) to PHZ (Planned Housing Zone). Without the PHZ zone, both the height and the floor area ratio (FAR) would be cut in half, back to what the CS zone and the existing hotel building permit allows. I care about this proposal as my property is located in the Palo Alto Redwoods (PAR) at 4250 El Camino Real, which is adjacent to 4256 ECR on three sides. The PAR community is 100% residential (117 units) in a CS zone and over 200 people live here. My building is about 10 feet from the tallest portion (91 feet) of the proposed building labeled “South Elevation”. I have windows that will be facing 75 windows and 35 full balconies. I ask you to think about the idea of a 90 foot tall wall of windows and balconies blocking all light and views of the sky from your property. I ask you to imagine the invasion of privacy that would entail. Never being able to see outside without other people staring back at you. The proposed condominium has minuscule setbacks of 6 feet from the property line in order to utilize the PHZ FAR of 3.57. To achieve this, there are 4 coast redwood trees on the 4256 ECR property that will have to be removed, despite being “protected” trees in Palo Alto. Below I attach a Table from the hotel proposal’s Appendix C Tree Protection Plan from October of 2018. Trees #13, #14, #15 and #16 are on 4256 ECR property on the side labeled “West Elevation”. Those 4 (soon to be absent) coast redwoods provided my community with shade and privacy. It took decades, if not centuries, for those 4 coast redwoods to mature, but it only takes a single day to fell them. We will never recover the natural amenities of sunlight, beautiful coast redwood trees and privacy if the City allows the proposed extremely massive, dense and intrusive building as it is currently designed. Residential uses mean human beings will reside in those buildings. As a neighbor already residing in Palo Alto, I ask your support for a more reasonable development. Sincerely yours, Anne Mason From:a_m_mason@yahoo.com To:Council, City Subject:August 11, 2025 City Council Pre-Screening for 4356 El Camino Real Date:Tuesday, July 29, 2025 10:59:13 PM Attachments:PrescreeningLetter07302025.pdf July 29, 2025 City Council City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Re: August 11, 2025 Pre-Screening of condominium at 4256 El Camino Real Honorable Mayor Lauing, Vice Mayor Veenker and City Council Members, I write to comment on the proposed 6 story, 120 unit condominium development at 4256 El Camino Real. I ask you to consider the effects on the neighbors and residents of Palo Alto. The same applicant is in possession of a building permit for a 5 story hotel which doesn’t expire until 9/22/2025. One has to wonder why that project has only accomplished the demolition of the existing one story restaurant after 6 years. This leaves an empty lot, which blights South El Camino Real since 2020. The proposal on the agenda for the Pre-Screening not only calls for building a condominium, but also calls for a zone change from CS (Commercial Services) to PHZ (Planned Housing Zone). Without the PHZ zone, both the height and the floor area ratio (FAR) would be cut in half, back to what the CS zone and the existing hotel building permit allows. I care about this proposal as my property is located in the Palo Alto Redwoods (PAR) at 4250 El Camino Real, which is adjacent to 4256 ECR on three sides. The PAR community is 100% residential (117 units) in a CS zone and over 200 people live here. My building is about 10 feet from the tallest portion (91 feet) of the proposed building labeled “South Elevation”. I have windows that will be facing 75 windows and 35 full balconies. I ask you to think about the idea of a 90 foot tall wall of windows and balconies blocking all light and views of the sky from your property. I ask you to imagine the invasion of privacy that would entail. Never being able to see outside without other people staring back at you. The proposed condominium has minuscule setbacks of 6 feet from the property line in order to utilize the PHZ FAR of 3.57. To achieve this, there are 4 coast redwood trees on the 4256 ECR property that will have to be removed, despite being “protected” trees in Palo Alto. Below I attach a Table from the hotel proposal’s Appendix C Tree Protection Plan from October of 2018. Trees #13, #14, #15 and #16 are on 4256 ECR property on the side labeled “West Elevation”. Those 4 (soon to be absent) coast redwoods provided my community with shade and privacy. It took decades, if not centuries, for those 4 coast redwoods to mature, but it only takes a single day to fell them. We will never recover the natural amenities of sunlight, beautiful coast redwood trees and privacy if the City allows the proposed extremely massive, dense and intrusive building as it is currently designed. Residential uses mean human beings will reside in those buildings. As a neighbor already residing in Palo Alto, I ask your support for a more reasonable development. Sincerely yours, Anne Mason From:Jean Kvasnica To:Council, City Subject:4256 El Camino Real - Multi Family Development - concerns Date:Tuesday, July 29, 2025 5:37:04 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Subject: 4256 El Camino Real - MultiFamily Development Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, I am writing to express my concerns regarding the 4256 El Camino Housing Development. As a resident and homeowner at Palo Alto Redwoods 4250 El Camino, I believe this matter could significantly impact ourcommunity in terms of the density, safety and quality of life we have and for our surrounding neighbors. Concern: * The proposed development will increase traffic congestion on El Camino, making it unsafefor pedestrians and cyclists. * We have a large community here of various ages, some who bike to school, walk along El Camino to local stores, or walk for exercise. * The density and robustness of the building will also greatly impact the families that livedirectly next to and behind this proposed project where the building butts right up against the property line * I am also concerned about fire safety and emergency vehicle access due to inadequatesetbacks for service vehicles. I Urge the City Council To: * Conduct a thorough traffic and environmental impact study. * Ensure that the project design respects the privacy and character of existing neighborhoods This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast * Provide sufficient infrastructure and parking to accommodate new residents and minimizespillover * Maintain open communication with residents and local organizations during all phases of planning and construction While we support new housing in Palo Alto, I believe addressing these concerns will lead tobetter outcomes for both current and future residents. I appreciate your attention to this matter and encourage the City Council to take these pointsinto careful consideration. Thank you for your service and commitment to our community. Sincerely, Jean Kvasnica4250 El Camino Real # D233 Palo Alto, 94306jean.kvasnica@gmail.com From:Henry Etzkowitz To:Palo Post; Grace Alele-williams; Winter Dellenbach; Willie Pearson; Sarfraz Mian; Brian Good; Bette Kiernan;Rebecca Eisenberg; Roseline Rasolovoahangy; Lotus Fong Cc:WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Office of the Provost; Council, City; Christiane Gebhardt; Stephen Adams; Shel Baker; Avroh Shah; Ellen Fox Subject:Beyond celebratory demonstrations: When will Palo Alto Take a Stand? Alternative hypothesis Date:Tuesday, July 29, 2025 5:13:06 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Subject: Alternative hypothesis To the weight of President Trump’s posterior, in controlling Putin and Netanyahuin a Nobel bid, is that US power peaked and the bubble of infinite superiority metits match in Iran’s advances in superhardened concrete, minimizing effects bombsthat unused retained power to frighten. Putin may decide, with North Korea andtacit consent of China, that has approval power over Kim, that he has achievedeffective independence from U.S. domination and that the bet U.S. hawks,exemplified by Hoover Institute Director Condaleeza Rice, made in extendingNATO was a bridge too far just as McArthur’s march to the Yalu river borderwith China proved to be in an earlier era. Netanyahu’s regime may hopefully still prove to be controllable with Europe’sleadership superseding the holocaust exemption from acceptable behavior thatIsrael has been granted to date. Even that is iffy: it will take more than threats ofrecognizing Palestine. French (and British) warships will have to escort GretaThunberg’s next aid vessel through international waters to land in Gaza/Palestineto drive the point home. Netanyahu is potentially out of Trump’s control withsupport of the Christian right. The Epstein case shows that the MAGA base cansplit and spiral out of control of its putative master. Sincerely,Henry Etzkowitz Neighbors for Environmental Justice 2024 Candidate for City Council Www.triplehelix.net From:Bob Cohen To:Aram James; Martin Wasserman Cc:Palo Alto Free Press; Veenker, Vicki; Lythcott-Haims, Julie; Reckdahl, Keith; Ed Lauing; Jessica Speiser, Educational Leader for California Democratic Delegate, Assembly District 23; Lori Meyers; Sheree Roth; h.etzko@gmail.com; Binder, Andrew; Mark Turner; CityCouncil; Michelle Bigelow; Josh Becker; assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Figueroa, Eric; Doug Minkler; Gerry Gras; EPA Today; Gennady Sheyner; city.council@menlopark.gov; dcombs@menlopark.gov; Steve Wagstaffe; Jeff Rosen; Jeff Conrad; Jeff Hayden; Jay Boyarsky; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; <michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Enberg, Nicholas; Mickie Winkler; Sean Allen; Cait James; San José Spotlight; board@pausd.org; boardfeedback@smcgov.org; board@valleywater.org; BoardOperations; Braden Cartwright; Raymond Goins; Rodriguez, Miguel; editor@paweekly.com; Wagner, April; Don Austin; Donna Wallach; Burt, Patrick; patricia.guerrero@jud.ca.gov; Seher Awan; Daniel Barton; David Piper; Foley, Michael; Zelkha, Mila; Palo Alto Renters" Association; Diana Diamond; jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; ladoris cordell; cromero@cityofepa.org; rabrica@cityofepa.org; Bill Newell; Bill Johnson; Bill James; Pat M; Carla Torres; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan; Council, City; GRP-City Council; Perron, Zachary; City Attorney; citycouncil@mountainview.gov; Clerk, City; GRP- City Clerk; Friends of Cubberley; Lotus Fong; ParkRec Commission; Gardener, Liz; Human Relations Commission; Holman, Karen (external); Liz Kniss; Patrice Ventresca; Rowena Chiu; Dana St. George; Damon Silver; Daniel Kottke; Dennis Upton; Zahra Billoo; james pitkin; Roberta Ahlquist; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Supervisor Otto Lee; Salem Ajluni; Stump, Molly; Rosen, Jeff; Baker, Rob; Ruth Silver Taube; Tom DuBois; Blackshire, Geoffrey; Jasso, Tamara; DuJuan Green; Dennis Upton; dennis burns; Jensen, Eric; Afanasiev, Alex; Lee, Craig; Anna Griffin; Angel, David; Greg Tanaka; Reifschneider, James; Bryan Gobin; Yolanda Conaway; Donna Wallach; Vara Ramakrishnan; Dave Price; Dan Okonkwo; Jennifer Morrow San José Spotlight; Emily Mibach; MGR-Melissa Stevenson Diaz; vramirez@redwoodcity.org; Nicole Chiu-Wang; Rowena Chiu; Senator Becker; frances.rothschild@jud.ca.gov; Michael Pati; Marina Lopez; Josie James-Le; Tim James; sharon jackson; Lewis James; Douglas A. Murray; freddie.quintana@sen.ca.gov; Michael Ybarra; yolanda; Seher Awan; Roberta Ahlquist Subject:Re: Famine Expert: Israel"s Starvation of Gaza Most "Minutely Designed and Controlled" Since WWII Date:Tuesday, July 29, 2025 5:00:05 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Thanks Marty, You responded very well to his selective choice of "facts". Cheers Bob On Sunday, July 27, 2025 at 08:58:03 AM PDT, Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote: Aram, I don't think too many Gazans would agree with your characterization of Hamas as "freedom fighters." They've never done anything to make Gazans freer. In fact, they’ve oppressed them far worse than the Israelis ever did, and their fanatical hatred against Jews and Israel has brought nothing but death and destruction to Gaza. This message needs your attention No employee in your company has ever replied to this person. This is a personal email address. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Your theory that Israel intentionally allowed October 7 to happen in order to have a pretext to invade Gaza is beyond ludicrous. If Israel wanted a pretext, it could easily have found one that involved no loss of Jewish lives, let alone over 1200 Jewish lives! Your claim that Israel always planned to expel all the Palestinian Arabs is also absurd. If so, why did they grant full Israeli citizenship to so many of them, over a million of which continue to enjoy the benefits of Israeli citizenship today, including the right to vote. It's true that some pre-state Jewish leaders considered the possibility of expelling the Arabs in light of their continued hostility, but this has never been the policy of the State. On the other hand, top Arab leaders have repeatedly boasted, especially in 1948 and 1967, that they were going to “ massacre” the Jews and “drive them into the sea,” and Hamas to this day insists that its goal is to remove every single Jew from the Land of Israel. You accuse Israel of dehumanizing the Palestinians. You should take a look at how Jews are portrayed in Palestinian textbooks and classrooms. It seems that everything you accuse Israel of doing to the Arabs are things that the Arabs do, or try to do, to the Jews. Your claim that the conflict is not between equals is also disingenuous. Hamas itself is no match for Israel, but it's important to recognize that Hamas is just one branch of a larger movement called the Muslim Brotherhood. It also has wealthy and powerful patrons in Arab and Muslim countries, and it's diverted hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid, intended to benefit the Gazan people, into militarizing the Strip for protracted warfare against Israel. And given its fanatical dedication to killing Jews, which it regards as a religious obligation, and its being willing and even eager to give their own lives to do so, it indeed poses an existential threat that Israel must deal with in a very forceful way. Martin Wasserman On Jul 25, 2025, at 9:58 PM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Mark, I place no blame on Hamas for the current situation. For decades, the U.S. and Israel have kept the people of Gaza in what can only be described as the largest outdoor prison and concentration camp in world history. This reality is well-documented by Jewish scholars like Norman Finkelstein and Israeli scholar Ilan Pappé. Like Nat Turner Hamas members can be viewed as freedom fighters of the first order. . It was known to Israel that Hamas was preparing for the October 7 attack for a significant period—possibly weeks or even months —before the actual event. The IDF was ordered to stand down by military leaders with the full consent of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. It seems that Israel sought a precipitating event to trigger violence, aiming toward the total ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their historic homeland. Based on historical records that predate its establishment in 1948, Israel and its Zionist leadership have always planned to expel the Palestinian people through violence and military force. The Israelis routinely dehumanize the Palestinian people, similarly to how Europeans characterized Native Americans, providing justification for land theft and atrocities (Settler Colonialism). This is not a conflict between two equal parties. It is Israel, supported by substantial military and financial aid from the U.S. (billions of dollars every year), engaged in a systematic slaughter of the Palestinian people. Israel possesses one of the most powerful militaries in the world, with a functioning army, navy, air force, and nuclear weapons. In contrast, Palestine has no army, no navy, no air force, and no nuclear weapons. The Palestinians survive through their resourcefulness, while Israel relies on military strength supplied by the U.S. This situation transcends the classic narrative of David versus Goliath. Avram “Eliminate the state of Israel now." — Finkelstein On Tue, Jul 22, 2025 at 10:28 PM Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: The ongoing genocide and war crimes committed by Israel, with the full support of the United States, will eventually be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court in The Hague. This will happen regardless of any alleged actions by Hamas. It is crucial to understand that the ongoing genocide is a separate and distinct crime from the alleged behavior of the group referred to as Hamas (freedom fighters). As Bob Dylan famously said, “You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” In a similar vein, you don’t need a genocide expert to recognize that Israel is currently engaged in a massive, full-blown genocide of the Palestinian people. One can offer various intellectual rationalizations, but the reality remains indisputable—the actions of the state of Israel amount to genocide beyond all reasonable doubt. Israel is guilty as charged of war crimes and genocide. Avram “Let The Prosecution Begin” Finkelstein On Tue, Jul 22, 2025 at 10:23 PM Martin Wasserman <deeperlook@aol.com> wrote: The bias of the author is evident in the fact that the entire article mentions Hamas only once, in passing. Hamas could end the suffering tomorrow just by laying down their arms and releasing the hostages. But they care more about scoring propaganda points against Israel than about saving the lives of their own people. Martin Wasserman On Jul 22, 2025, at 3:08 PM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: Famine Expert: Israel's Starvationof Gaza Most 'Minutely Designed and Controlled' Since WWII Famine Expert: Israel's Starvation of Gaza Most 'Minutely Designed and Controlled' Since WWII | Common Dreams https://www.commondreams.org/news/famine-expert-israel-s-starvation- of-gaza-most-minutely-designed-and-controlled-since-wwii From:Aram James To:Reckdahl, Keith; Lauing, Ed; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; BoardOperations; board@valleywater.org; board@pausd.org;assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov; Josh Becker; Jessica Speiser, Educational Leader for California DemocraticDelegate, Assembly District 23; Zelkha, Mila; Nash, Betsy; dcombs@menlopark.gov; Mark Turner; h.etzko@gmail.com;CityCouncil; Michelle Bigelow; <michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Foley, Michael; GRP-City Council; Raymond Goins; BillNewell; Sean Allen; Seher Awan; Carla Torres; Dave Price; Angel, David; Don Austin; Gerry Gras; Dana St. George; Dan Okonkwo; planning.commission@cityofpaloalto.0rg; ParkRec Commission; Council, City; city.council@menlopark.gov;Binder, Andrew Subject: how many countries in the un recognize palestine - Google Search Date:Tuesday, July 29, 2025 4:58:03 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. UN member states 147 of the 193 United Nations (UN) member states have recognized the State of Palestine. https://en.wikipedia.org International recognition of Palestine - Wikipedia how many countries in the un recognize palestine - Google Searchhttps://www.google.com/gasearch?q=how%20many%20countries%20in%20the%20un%20recognize%20palestine&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5 From:McKenzie White To:Council, City Subject:Concerns About the Proposed 4256 El Camino Project Date:Tuesday, July 29, 2025 4:26:56 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Palo Alto City Council, My name is McKenzie White, and as of December 2024, I am a new homeowner in the Palo Alto Redwoods complex at 4250 El Camino Real. I moved across the country and found a sense of home in this unique, close-knit community. I was recently made aware of the proposed 100-unit development at 4256 El Camino Real, and I’m writing to express serious concerns about the project’s scale and its potential impact on our neighborhood. At six stories tall, the proposed building would tower over the existing streetscape - larger than any nearby structure. It would obstruct views, block natural sunlight, and cast a shadow over shared spaces like our pool area. Several units in our complex would have their balconies facing directly into the new development, stripping us of privacy and diminishing the character of our community. Beyond the visual and spatial concerns, this project would significantly increase local traffic, noise, and congestion. Emergency response times may suffer, and the overall quality of life for residents in the immediate area could decline. While we understand that development is inevitable - and even welcome thoughtful growth - we urge the City to reconsider the current scale of this project. We ask that you conduct thorough impact studies on traffic, parking, privacy, property values, and the environment, and consider reducing the size to better align with the surrounding neighborhood. Thank you for your time and for giving our community a voice. I look forward to the August 11th meeting at 5:30 PM. Sincerely, McKenzie White 4250 El Camino Real, Unit B417 Palo Alto, CA 94306 From:Melinda Deutsch To:Council, City Subject:Re: Someone defecated in front of my house Date:Tuesday, July 29, 2025 10:41:37 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Hello, Someone defecated in front of my house again. This is really unsanitary. I hope the city willaddress this problem. Thank you, Melinda Deutsch2460 Bryant Street This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast On Mon, Jun 2, 2025, 12:51 PM Melinda Deutsch <melindadeutsch@gmail.com> wrote: Hello, Someone defecated in front of my house on Friday night in between the sidewalk and thestreet leaving dirty toilet paper to blow around an area where there are many pedestrians. This is the second time this has happened in the last few weeks. I am bringing this to yourattention because perhaps this may be a consequence of homelessness in Palo Alto. I attach two photos of the most recent incident. Sincerely, Melinda Deutsch 2460 Bryant Street From:Magrissa Funnie To:Council, City; City Mgr Subject:RV ban impact: San Francisco restriction on RV parking across city sparks concern from neighboring communities - ABC7 San Francisco Date:Tuesday, July 29, 2025 9:49:03 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. I have ask on multiple emails to city council and parking enforcement to cite RVs on Fabian way, it is causing trash, rodents and there are 20 RVs that has not moved for about one year.There are two schools and senior citizen home and the JCC on this block. We want our blocks back. I have talked to the parking enforcement officer (chief) and they said it a humane thing.I say it not your job to make my block the UN! Do you job! Also she said it cost about 5,000.00 to store an RV. None of this is my problem. 72 hours or tow, come and look atFabian way from the sidewalk, don’t just drive by and miss the rats and trash on the sidewalk and tell me that what palo city council wants me to live as a shut in senior citizen. I imploreyou to come to see what we see everyday. And please fire your new parking enforcement person in charge. She was rude and hastytalking to me. I have rights to live in a safe environment without bike riders racing up the street at night. My next email will go viral, tired of no results. Thank you, please feel free to contact me at 650-283-6250Magrissa Funnie https://abc7news.com/post/rv-ban-impact-san-francisco-restriction-parking-city-sparks-concern-neighboring-communities/17266520/ Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Sean Allen; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; Gardener, Liz; vramirez@redwoodcity.org; Raymond Goins; Pat M; Council,City; Jeff Conrad; Dan Okonkwo Subject:Plea deal ends hate crime case from attack on pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA Date:Monday, July 28, 2025 9:11:20 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Plea deal ends hate crime case from attack on pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-07-28/ucla-protest-plea-agreement From:Sharlene Carlson To:Council, City Subject:Resident memo re: 4256 El Camino Real pre-screening August 11, 2025 Date:Monday, July 28, 2025 8:05:53 PM Attachments:SHC letter to CC 072825.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear Palo Alto City Council, I am providing my resident input regarding the proposed rezoning of 4256 El Camino Real to allow for dense housing that has been agendized for your August 11 meeting. Please reviewand consider my concerns and include my memo in your agenda packet. Thank you, Sharlene Carlson 650 269-6467 if you have questions This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to your company. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast MEMORANDUM To: Palo Alto City Council members From: Sharlene Carlson 4250 El Camino Real, Unit B112, Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 269-6467 Date: July 28, 2025 Subject: City Council Meeting August 11, 2025 agenda item Prescreening of design concept for 4256 El Camino Real Proposed zoning change for a dense condominium complex I am writing to express my deep concerns about the proposed rezoning of 4256 El Camino Real (4256) from Commercial Services to Planned Home Zone to allow a dense, 100 unit, 6 story tall condominium complex on this 6/10 acre parcel. I have lived in Palo Alto for 55 years and have owned and lived in a unit in Palo Alto Redwoods (PAR) for 28 years. We have 117 condominium units situated on a 2 2/3 acre parcel with beautiful grounds and trees next door to and behind 4256. As a retired senior, my plan has been to age in place at PAR because it has always been a beautiful and safe place to live a high quality life, but now my future is threatened. I served on my condominium board as president during the time (starting 8 years ago) that a hotel was proposed and ultimately approved by the city to replace Su Hong restaurant. I spoke frequently at ARB hearings to urge a design that concentrated massing along El Camino Real and stepped down massing closer to our residences to protect our privacy. We urged that Redwood trees on both properties be protected. We urged that traffic safety be prioritized and that adequate parking for hotel staff, guests, service and delivery vehicles be assured so traffic would not negatively impact our ability to safely get in and out of our property, since our only driveway is on El Camino. We recognized that an owner has a right to build something so long as it is reasonable and within limits, respecting residents in neighboring properties. Ultimately there was a plan that we could live with after many design and provider changes, but following city approval the owner did not (maybe could not afford to?) build the hotel. This was before street parking was banned and bicycle lanes installed along the El Camino Real transit corridor. Now the first of three developer representatives returns proposing a massive structure that does not include any of the understandings we previously achieved over the years. These are my concerns:  SAFETY: As a senior, I have major concerns about my personal safety driving in and out of PAR and any impacts that construction and traffic will have on my health. The proposed development will dramatically increase traffic congestion along El Camino Real because of the increased number of resident vehicles coming in and out of 4256 and likely delays in moving vehicles into and out of the proposed puzzle lift parking system during peak times due to sequential entry and retrieval. I rely on a car for transportation and am concerned that many vehicles will be backed up in car and bike lanes in front of PAR and 4256 waiting to access puzzle parking and blocking vision for vehicles entering and exiting PAR, including resident, guest, service and delivery vehicles. And there is no place for guest, service or delivery vehicles to park in the 4256 garage, which will cause significant safety issues for all. o Traffic - I urge you to conduct a thorough traffic and environmental impact study before any decision is made. I also urge you to require the developer to provide sufficient infrastructure and parking to accommodate resident, guest, service and deliver vehicles within the property to minimize vehicle spillover onto El Camino Real. Street parking is no longer an option for any vehicles. o Environment - I urge you to require strong noise and dust control during construction and assure that equipment is quiet and non-polluting during construction and as the building functions and is maintained.  TREE PROTECTION: PAR's Redwood trees are our most valuable assets, and we have arborists regularly feed and prune them. Some Redwoods are on the 4256 property and they provide a visual barrier between properties. They get the benefit of the care we provide our trees as nothing has been done on the 4256 property to protect their Redwoods over the past 8 years. The proposed condominium building appears to be taller than our Redwood trees so adequate sunlight is a concern. I urge you to require a study on how all Redwoods will be impacted, kept and optimally maintained with regular arborist care.  PRIVACY, MASSING, ZONING: PAR felt that we were able to live with the height and massing design of the approved hotel, so we likely can live with something similar in a housing complex. We understand that the city must approve new housing units per state mandates. But we urge you not to allow zoning changes but rather consider housing with the same massing as the approved hotel, which means less density, building height reductions, and greater setbacks to preserve privacy. Please ensure that the project design respects the privacy and character of our existing residential community.  OPEN COMMUNICATION: So far we have had no communication from the city or the developer. We learned about the condominium proposal in local newspapers and learned about the August 11 prescreening conceit agenda item coming before City Council because we monitor Palo Alto's Buildingeye. I urge you to require open communication with PAR residents during all phases of planning and construction. Thank you for your service and commitment to residents of Palo Alto. I deeply appreciate your attention to this matter and encourage you to carefully consider these points. From:Maggie Bening To:Council, City Subject:4256 El Camino Real - Proposed Housing Project - August 11 City Council Agenda Item Date:Monday, July 28, 2025 7:31:58 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. i Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, I am writing to express my concerns regarding 4256 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. As a resident and current VP of the Board of Directors at the Palo Alto Redwoods, I believe this matter will significantly affect our communities quality of life in many different ways. Concerns: The proposed development will increase traffic congestion on El Camino, making it unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists. I also have concerns with fire safety and accessof emergency vehicles since the proposed setbacks do not appear to be adequate to allow for service vehicles to access the property. I Urge the City Council To: Conduct a thorough traffic and environmental impact study. Ensure that the project design respects the privacy and character of existing neighborhoods and is harmonious with the rest of the neighborhood. Provide sufficient infrastructure and parking to accommodate new residents and minimize spillover. Maintain open communication with residents and local organizations during all phases of planning and construction. While I am not opposed to new housing units in Palo Alto I believe addressing these concerns will lead to better outcomes for both current and future residents. I appreciate your attention to this matter and encourage the City Council to take these points into careful consideration. Thank you for your service and commitment to our community. This message needs your attention This is a personal email address. This is their first email to you. Mark Safe Report Powered by Mimecast Sincerely, Maggie Bening 4250 El Camino Real, C324 Palo Alto, CA 94306 From:Phyllis Brown To:Council, City Subject:The Cubberley survey due in August Date:Monday, July 28, 2025 5:42:29 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Cubberley Committee members, I live in Greenmeadow and am passionately interested in the plans to improve Cubberley.Conversations with neighbors about the project and the process have surfaced frustration that the survey does not include ideas about how buildings will be used, only possible conceptdesigns for the arrangement of buildings and greenspace. Can you provide me with a brief statement of the rationale for getting feedback on possible arrangements of buildings andgreenspace without details about what will be in each building that I can share with neighbors? Phyllis Brown 451 Adobe Place Professor Emerita Phyllis Rugg BrownEnglish Department St. Joseph Hall Santa Clara University 500 El Camino RealSanta Clara, CA 95053 pbrown@scu.edu