A few dozen spectators gathered Tuesday for a conversation between Berkeley City Council candidate and UC Berkeley alumnus Majdi Gaith and UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian. The conversation took place at Solidarity Collective, a local coworking space, and touched on Gaith and Bazian’s Palestinian roots, affordable housing, small businesses and progressive activism. The event is part of Gaith’s campaign to take the City Council seat of District 4 Councilmember Igor Tregub, which is up for election this fall. Tregub first joined the City Council in a 2024 special election to fill the seat left vacant by former Councilmember Kate Harrison. District 4 includes Downtown Berkeley and nearby neighborhoods. A significant portion of the talk revolved around the city’s response to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Gaith was born in San Francisco but said he has visited Palestine almost 50 times and carries a West Bank ID. Bazian was involved in the first chapter of prominent pro-Palestinian group St...