From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: Endorse a ceasefire in Gaza at the April 2nd meeting Date: Monday, April 1, 2024 4:57:00 PM
Attachments: My_testimony_regarding_the_Israel_Gaza_w.pdf From: AFF4C <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, April 1, 2024 4:33:45 PM
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; Malia Vella <[email protected]>; Trish Spencer <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; LARA WEISIGER <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; AFF4C.Core <[email protected]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Endorse a ceasefire in Gaza at the April 2nd meeting Dear Alameda City Councilmembers,
Alameda Families and Friends for Ceasefire wishes to reiterate that we want Alameda City Council to act and go on the record in some way opposing the genocide in Gaza and calling for a permanent ceasefire.
To this end we:
Name the contradiction in honoring Arab-American Heritage Month with a proclamation while failing to call for a ceasefire in Gaza
CA is home to the largest population of Arab Americans in the country, as well as the largest number of Palestinians.
While Alameda is proud to have designated April Arab American Heritage Month, we must call out the contradiction between celebrating Arab culture/ heritage while simultaneously supporting harm to Arab communities, specifically genocide in Gaza.
Active support and tacit support through the silence of the ongoing genocide in Palestine communicate loud and clear the message that Palestinian and Arab lives do not matter and fuel anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism.
Journalist Chris Hedges wrote: “The genocide, which the U.S. is funding and sustaining with weapons shipments, says something not only about Israel, but about us, about Western civilization, about who we are as a people… and what defines us.
It says that all our vaunted morality and respect for human rights is a lie. It says that people of color, especially when they are poor and vulnerable, do not count. It says their hopes, dreams, dignity and aspirations for freedom are worthless. It says we will ensure global domination through racialized violence.” Lift up Arab-American leaders in the fight for a Free Palestine from local to national leaders like Alameda Mayor, martyrs like journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and celebrities like actor Ramy Youssef who’s called for a ceasefire and a free Palestine on SNL.
Absent a call for a ceasefire from this council, honoring this month with a proclamation is shallow lip service to multiculturalism and hypocritical.
Uplift the lived experience of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and in the US:
In Gaza, more than 100,000 Palestinians have been killed (32,623) or injured (75,092).
Meanwhile, over 8,000 are missing or presumed dead.
Let me say that again in terms you might relate to more:
Israel has killed – with US weapons – nearly 40,000 Palestinians in six months – that is comparable to half of the population of our island of Alameda.
Israel has killed – with US taxpayer money – more than 13,000 Palestinian children in six months – this is one and a half times the number of children in the Alameda Unified School District – all dead never to reach out a hand to hold or bring a smile to their parents’ faces again.
In the occupied West Bank, since 10/7 more than 5,000 Palestinians have been killed (454) or injured (4,750).
Many injuries are serious, permanent, and life-altering: loss of limbs, paralysis, blindness and chronic illness from exposure to toxins. The vast majority of both those killed and injured are children and women.
27 people in Gaza have died of starvation, 23 of them children. Those are the ones registered at hospitals. For those who survive, starvation also has lasting impacts on health.
The US has recently admitted that ‘famine is now probably present in Gaza’.
The World Food Programme says that due to Israel’s blockade, Gaza is now home to the largest population ever to suffer catastrophic hunger since records began in 2004.
UN Special Rapporteur on Gaza issued a report that concludes there are “reasonable grounds to believe the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide is met.” While aid has increased due to different delivery methods (e.g. air drops and delivery by sea) it remains insufficient, inefficient, impractical and highly expensive when compared to what trucks could be bringing in if allowed to flow. Israel also continues to target distribution points.
58,000 additional deaths are projected in Gaza over the next six months if there is no ceasefire, with the spread of infectious diseases the main cause of death.
While the world is distracted in Gaza, Israel on March 22 announced the largest single land grab in the occupied West Bank since 1993 - 10 square kilometers (3.8 square miles) of Palestinian territory, about a third of the size of Alameda.
Permits were/are being denied to the majority of Palestinian Christians in the West Bank for Easter, denying them religious freedom
Connect what is happening in Gaza to what is happening locally:
Recent polling shows that 55% of voters, and 75% of Democratic voters in particular, disapprove of Israeli military action in Gaza. This is up from 45% and 65% respectively from polling in November.
The Washington Post recently created an interactive guide for readers to explore what would happen to friends and family if Gaza was home. Outcomes included deaths of at least 7 personal connections, and nearly 1 in 3 people are at risk of starving to death.
This month is Earth Month and a time when this city will be reviewing its Climate Action Readiness Plan. Alameda’s goals of reducing emissions by 50% below 2005 levels by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral as soon as possible are meaningless when Israel’s relentless bombing campaign in Gaza creates emissions in excess of greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations.
Today’s agenda includes a resolution to expand Alameda’s police station (5D). We are concerned about the Alameda Police Department’s interest in military-grade equipment.
We should spend money on community needs: housing, education, green jobs, social services rather than on military action and wholesale destruction of communities in Gaza.
Last Sunday, March 24, organizers estimated that nearly 2000 people walked all or part of a 22-mile long ‘interfaith Ceasefire pilgrimage’ in the East Bay. Hundreds of people walked the last leg through Alameda, ending with an interfaith service at Maya Lin school.
Highlight the other cities/groups that have taken action for a ceasefire and the changing political landscape
The UN Security resolution finally passed a resolution calling for “an immediate ceasefire “for the duration of the month of Ramadan leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire” as well as the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and greater humanitarian access to Gaza.” In a significant departure from its previous position, the US abstained rather than voting No.
Last week Gavin Newsom, in his open letter to Muslim, Palestinian American and Arab American communities called for an immediate ceasefire The cities of Albany and Alhambra have passed ceasefire resolutions unanimously.
Leading Jewish voices inside and outside Israel are condemning Israel’s military action in Gaza. In an interview with Haaretz.com, Jewish playwright Tony Kushner stated that Israel’s action in Gaza “really look a lot like ethnic cleansing to me. Meanwhile, Israeli historian Lee Mordechai took to Twitter to lay out the “enormous amount of evidence” supporting the position that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza (full academic paper attached).
In his recent piece in the Atlantic titled U.S. Support for Israel’s War has Become Indefensible, Phil Klay makes the point that “a good pretext for war is not enough to make a war just.”
Ceasefire is going to be a primary election issue. In addition 100,000+ Michiganders voting Uncommitted rather than vote for Biden, 19% of primary votes went to that category in Minnesota. His poll numbers have dropped in Michigan and Georgia. In a White House meeting, he started shouting and swearing, saying he’s doing what is right. --
Alameda Families & Friends for Ceasefire
Follow us on Instagram @ alameda4ceasefire and
Facebook @ Alameda Families and Friends for Ceasefire