1,000 signatures reached
To: U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris
Biden: Call for a Ceasefire in Israel and Palestine Now
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President Biden and Vice President Harris, we urge you to take strong action to stop the horrifying violence in Israel and Palestine.
Specifically, we ask that you:
1. Call for a ceasefire now.
2. Endorse an International Criminal Court investigation of all human rights violations, including by Hamas, the Israeli government, and the Palestinian Authority.
3. Stop sending U.S. military funding to Israel.
4. Urge Israel to end its system of apartheid, military occupation, and the blockade of Gaza.
Why is this important?
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.
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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.
How it will be delivered
Petition will be delivered to Biden by press release, email, and social media.