Stop the atrocities and genocide against the Palestinian people.

We are a group of Jewish Americans, Israelis, and Palestinians of the greater DC area, calling for the end of the cycle of violence and an immediate bilateral ceasefire. We stand with all the people of Palestine and Israel and reject the zero-sum framework that we are seeing around us. We are outraged and sickened both by the massacre, kidnapping, and rape of Israelis by Hamas and by Israel’s ongoing massacres and collective punishment in Gaza, creating a severe humanitarian crisis. In our own communities in the United States, we are shocked and saddened by those who continue to justify, encourage, and glorify the killing, destruction, and cycle of blood. We reject all anti-Arab racism, anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia in our community. We call for an immediate bilateral ceasefire as a first step to a long-term political solution. There is no military solution to this conflict. As long as the ideology of Hamas exists, Hamas cannot be completely eliminated. And as long as military occupation, settler terrorism, and economic blockades are in place over Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, peace will not be feasible. During the temporary truce, it was made clear that the only way to bring the hostages home alive and to save the lives of Gazans is through negotiation. Continued bombing, siege, invasion, and occupation of Gaza – inflicting incalculable death and harm on innocent Palestinians - is immoral. Violence begets violence, both in the immediate and in future generations. It is time to end this dynamic in the interest of everyone in the region. In the words of activists from the Parents Circle, an organization bringing together over 600 bereaved families from both sides of the conflict: “The arc of history is long. Germany once tried to wipe out Jews and now exchanges ambassadors with Israel. Some day, Israel and Palestine will coexist as states, and the question is simply how many corpses will pile up before that happens. We must share this land as one state or two states or five states; otherwise, we will share this same piece of land as the graveyards of our kids.” - Bassam Aramin, whose daughter was killed by the IDF. “Revenge is not going to bring my parents back to life…We must break the cycle.” -Moaz Inon, whose parents were killed by Hamas on October 7th.

PM Netanyahu and his far-right government are leading a campaign of indiscriminate bombardment, breaking international law both by targeting civilians and using white phosphorus on civilian populations. These attacks have exacerbated the existing humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli government’s air, land, and sea blockade that has caused catastrophic loss of life.  The reality is that the United States government is Israel’s largest supplier of weapons, and every year for the next five years, the U.S. is already sending $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel. And on top of this, multiple billions of dollars have been sent in military aid, which will include military weapons including bombs and tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells, which have been the Israeli military’s weapon of choice in their ground invasion of Gaza.  More than 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7 and 240 taken hostage. The brutal response and incessant airstrikes launched by Netanyahu following the Hamas attacks have not only escalated the violence, they have created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with one in 200 Palestinians having been killed in Gaza by PM Netanyahu’s military since October 7. Entire multi-generational Palestinian families have been killed. Entire lineages have been wiped out. Nearly half of Gaza's residents are under the age of 16, and 65% are under the age of 25, effectively meaning that Palestinian children are bearing the brunt of the Israeli government’s collective punishment. This unacceptable, inhumane, unjust, collective punishment is also a violation of international law. It must end now. Despite the fact that the Israeli government has cut off fuel, water, and electricity from people in Gaza, doctors and nurses are still doing the best they can to treat their patients. Unfortunately, though, more than half of the 30 hospitals in Gaza have been forced to close, and many have run out of necessary medical supplies like anesthesia and painkillers. And many hospitals have been targeted and bombed by Israeli military airstrikes.  50,000 pregnant women and people are at great risk in Gaza too with miscarriages, premature births, and stillbirths tripling.One mother, Hind S., almost gave birth to her baby under the rubble in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike before she was dug out and rushed to a hospital where her baby was born with a broken leg from the airstrike. These are only some of the horror stories that have come from PM Netanyahu’s bombardment of Palestinians. We have to stop this.  A United Nations human rights expert has even confirmed that Palestinians are facing mass ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Israeli government and occupation forces. United States leaders have the massive power to step in and stop it.  If we come together, we can make a huge difference. Our collective calls for a ceasefire are working, and demanding that our tax dollars won’t be used to bomb civilians is another big step that we can take. And the time is NOW to come together and demand it.  Will you add your name to the petition?

We are Jewish residents of Washington, DC, filled with grief for the innocent victims in Israel and Palestine. We are shocked and outraged by the mass murder of Israelis by Hamas. We believe that the ongoing killing and collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza is wrong. It is not true to our own Jewish values and it will be destructive in the long term. We are also shocked and saddened by those living in the United States and elsewhere who continue to justify, encourage, and in some cases glorify, the killing and destruction from one side or the other. Similarly, there is no place for anti-semitism, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia in our community. We call for an immediate ceasefire as a first step to a long-term political solution. We believe the best way to bring the hostages home alive is through negotiation. Continued bombing, siege, invasion and occupation of Gaza – inflicting incalculable harm on innocent Palestinians– is immoral, deeply against Jewish values, puts Israeli hostages at far greater risk, and dangerously perpetuates the cycle of violence. This petition was organized by an ad hoc group of Jewish DC residents. To learn more and get involved in our work, email [email protected]

"The Mehdi Hasan Show'' has been on air for over three years. With over half a million viewers on Peacock and hundreds of thousand on Youtube, Mehdi Hasan has received praise for his credible political analysis and sharp interviewing skills, with high profile guests such as Jon Stewart, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. We need Hasan’s expertise now as much as ever, and canceling Hasan’s show interferes with the public's ability to access fair and balanced reporting. With already existing concerns regarding MSNBC silencing and sidelining its Muslim broadcasters, this latest decision is especially troubling. With over a million viewers, MSNBC is a reputable news outlet and we need it to live up to its standards of journalism and ethics. That starts by supporting Mehdi Hasan and all their Muslim broadcasters. Call on MSNBC to reverse its decision and reinstate “The Mehdi Hasan Show” immediately!

Small chocolate companies are not able to compete against the prices of big chocolate corporations that use child slavery. Since the farm labor is unpaid, and all the wages, just go to the CEOs, it’s no wonder why it’s important to compete against companies like them. However, they have normalized child-slavery in cocoa in West Africa for over 120 years or eight generations. So it’s time for the normality of child slavery in cocoa to become a shocking occurrence, or not happen at all, instead. No competition can happen that’s fair while some employees are (forced into) working for free. Chocolate is an unfair market and there’s no way to compete and no way to enter. New companies would almost have to use cocoa produced by child slavery to have prices near the same as big chocolate corporations. Chocolate companies deserve to be able to compete with Big Chocolate corporations. It’s not fair that they’ve destroyed competition, through the deliberate use of child slavery. And, of course, keeping it all hidden.

As the whole world grapples with the escalated violence in Israel and Palestine, the Israeli government has stopped all food, fuel, water, electricity, and humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza, which has already had devastating impacts on over 2 million people, half of whom are children. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees just announced that “Gaza is running dry,” and hospitals in Gaza reported that their backup generators would run out of fuel last night, cutting off life support and vital systems. This action has exacerbated the existing humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli government's air, land, and sea blockade, and will likely result in catastrophic loss of life if continued. Nearly half of Gaza is under the age of 16, and 65% under the age of 25, effectively meaning that Palestinian children are bearing the brunt of the Israeli government's collective punishment. It’s unacceptable, inhumane, unjust, collective punishment, and is also a violation of international law. It must end now. President Biden and our leaders must publicly call for an immediate ceasefire and deescalation, demand the protection of all civilians including securing the release of hostages, and tell the Israeli government to turn on electricity in Gaza and to allow humanitarian aid for Palestinians to enter! While the Biden administration is close to an aid agreement with Israeli government officials to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and establish ‘safe zones,’ there is still no action or plan in place. The United Nations and aid organizations are sounding an alarm that conditions in Gaza are dire right now. There is no time to spare. A military response from Israel will not secure the safety of those currently hostage or trapped, some of whom are Americans, and instead punishes a generation of young Palestinians living in Gaza. Netanyahu, facing mounting pressure and polling the lowest among Israeli voters, has led decades of policies that have resulted in no more peace or safety for Israelis. The Biden administration must call for a ceasefire and urge Netanyahu to do everything in his power to reunite hostages with their loved ones without putting more lives in danger. Israelis and Palestinians must not be bargaining chips, and their lives must be protected through diplomacy and new solutions. The Israeli government is preparing a massive ground invasion of Gaza as you read this, and they have already been targeting and bombing civilians in their attacks, which is an egregious violation of international law. This comes as the Israeli government dropped tens of thousands of leaflets from the sky to issue an evacuation order to Gazans living in the northern Gaza Strip, telling 1.1 million Palestinian residents to evacuate south within 24 hours, which the UN said would be impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences. Then, despite naming which routes would be safe for evacuation, the Israeli government bombed Palestinians evacuating. Humanity and millions human lives are at stake here. We must collectively act now to stop loss of life. United States leaders have the massive power to step in and stop it. And the time is NOW to come together and demand it end. The people of Palestine and Israel deserve to live their lives without fear of violence and mass death. Will you join in solidarity and sign the petition?

Israel and the Palestinian territories have been engulfed in new levels of horrifying violence. On October 7th, Hamas fighters entered Israel and brutally killed over 1,000 people, most of whom were civilians. In addition, Hamas fighters are now holding as many as 150 Israelis as hostages and prisoners of war. The Israeli military is now bombing the Gaza Strip, a densely populated territory of over 2 million Palestinians, half of whom are children. As of October 12th, Israel has dropped over 6,000 bombs on Gaza and killed over 1,500 Palestinians, including 500 children. The Israeli Minister of Defense has publicly stated that Israel is cutting off food, water, fuel, and electricity to Palestinians in Gaza, creating the conditions for mass starvation and death. But the worst may be yet to come. Following the Israeli military's cutoff of fuel and power to Gaza, Palestinian hospitals are now running out of electricity, and many wounded Palestinians could soon die. The combination of Israeli bombardment, an Israeli ground invasion, and Israel’s intentional mass starvation of Gaza Palestinians could create the conditions for genocide. All of this sits atop a long and ugly history of Israeli apartheid and military occupation, in which Palestinians have been forced for decades, often at gunpoint, to give their homes and land to the Israeli government so that those resources could be given to Jewish Israeli settlers. And in Gaza, Palestinians have been living under a crushing Israeli blockade for years, trapped in what has been described as the world's largest open-air prison. Unfortunately, President Biden offered a blank check of political support for Israel in his speech on October 10th. This comes on top of the billions of dollars in military funding that the U.S. gives Israel every year. President Biden must reverse course and plant the seeds for peace. Otherwise, U.S. foreign policy will help encourage the deaths of thousands of Palestinians – as Israel bombs, invades, and starves the Gaza Strip. We need Biden to support a ceasefire now. Please join us. -------------------------------- SOURCES: “Israel-Hamas war live updates: Gaza Strip residents panic as 1.1 million told to evacuate by Israeli military," Yahoo News, https://news.yahoo.com/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-gaza-conflict-death-toll-185228934.html “Palestinian death toll passes 1,500 – as it happened," The Guardian, October 12, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/oct/12/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-biden-hamas-attack-holocaust-gaza-displaced-palestine#top-of-blog "Gaza 'soon without fuel, medicine and food' - Israel authorities," BBC, October 10, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67051292 “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: A Look Into Decades Of Oppression And Domination,” Amnesty International, accessed October 13, 2023, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/ “Timeline: the humanitarian impact of the Gaza blockade," Oxfam, accessed October 13, 2023, https://www.oxfam.org/en/timeline-humanitarian-impact-gaza-blockade “President Biden Delivers Remarks on the Terrorist Attacks in Israel,” The White House, Oct 10, 2023.

The news over the last few days has been horrifying. Attacks on everyday people are war crimes that have no place in any conflict. Hamas’ deadly attacks against civilians and hostage-taking are unconscionable. A siege of Gaza where millions of people — many of whom are children — are without water, food, or electricity also isn’t justice. The U.S. government has a crucial role to play in what happens next — and our voices can help ensure those efforts focus on preventing further escalation and protecting people’s lives. That’s why I’m calling on you today to urge the Biden administration to do all that it can to prevent further escalation of the crisis and safeguard people’s lives. Will you add your name to the petition now?

When families expecting a child post to pregnancy websites like BabyCenter, they might not know that ICE is watching them. That’s because ICE contracts a data broker to scrape thousands of social media sites, gaming platforms, and even financial apps like CashApp. Why does ICE need to know when your baby is due, what video games you like to play, or where are you planning your next vacation? ICE doesn’t need this personal information about us, but because there’s a legal loophole, they can and do get access to a lot of our online activity. Congress must act now to close the Data Broker Loophole. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to close the Data Broker Loophole! ICE can reach into our personal online activity because they don’t do the spying themselves. Instead they contract out shady third party data brokers who do their spying for them and then give them wide access to everything they find. You’ve likely never heard of these companies, but they’ve probably already know a lot about you. For instance, ShadowDragon, the data broker ICE uses that scrapes data from BabyCenter. ShadowDragon doesn’t stop at pregnancy websites. According to their own internal videos and events, they scrape data from all the major social media platforms; gaming platforms like Fortnite, XBOX, and Playstation; review sites like Yelp and Tripadvisor; messaging apps like WhatsApp; even financial transaction apps like CashApp. The Fourth Amendment right against illegal government search and seizure needs to apply to the internet. That’s why Congress needs to act now to close the Data Broker Loophole. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to close the Data Broker Loophole! Sources: 1. 404 Media, “Inside ShadowDragon, The Tool That Lets ICE Monitor Pregnancy Tracking Sites and Fortnite Players,” September 18, 2023.

Unhinged MAGA Republicans want to go to war with Mexico. I wish I was joking, but unfortunately, it’s true.1 Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) introduced a bill to authorize military use of force against Mexico2, similar to use of force laws used against Afghanistan and Iraq. Mexico isn’t just our neighbor to the south, they’re also our closest trading partner. A MAGA war against Mexico is as dangerous as it is potentially disastrous. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to reject MAGA plans to go to war against Mexico! I can’t even believe I’m writing this, but earlier this year Trump asked military advisers to draw up “battle plans” against Mexico, including dropping bombs.3 If the US attacks Mexico like this, how will any other country on the international stage trust us or take us seriously in the future? Also, let’s not forget that the US is already sinking millions of tax dollars into the “War on Drugs” and it’s not working. We’ve destabilized Latin American democracies, creating environments ripe for human rights abuses and government corruption, which only strengthens the drug cartels we’re fighting against. Bombing Mexico won’t end the “War on Drugs,” anyone with common sense can see that. Unfortunately MAGA extremists aren’t interested in reason or real, fact-based solutions to address the addiction crisis in America. When Trump says “bombs” they fall in line. That’s why we have to stop this dead in its tracks. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to reject MAGA plans to bomb Mexico! Sources: 1. Rolling Stone, “Trump Asks Advisers for ‘Battle Plans’ to ‘Attack Mexico’ if Reelected,” March 29, 2023. 2. Politico, “GOP embraces a new foreign policy: Bomb Mexico to stop fentanyl,” April 10, 2023. 3. Rolling Stone, “Trump Asks Advisers for ‘Battle Plans’ to ‘Attack Mexico’ if Reelected,” March 29, 2023.

Donald Trump and his cronies spread endless lies and misinformation following the 2020 election, which led to the deadly insurrection on January 6. Trump stopped at nothing to try to overturn the 2020 election results and overthrow our government. He is dangerous. He will keep lying to hold on to power, which is why it is important that we, the public, get the transparency that we deserve. Sign this petition to call on the Judicial Conference to approve televising the trials of Donald Trump. Doing so will give all of us the opportunity to see how justice works in our country and can go a long way toward combating the rampant rumors and conspiracy theories that would otherwise be flooding the airwaves and internet. Donald Trump and his allies will attempt to call these trials politically motivated or an abuse of power, but the American people deserve to hear the truth in court themselves. Once again, we urge you to approve televising these historic trials.