From:
To: City Council
Cc: Diana Rich; Jill McLewis; Mary Gourley; Neysa Hinton; Sandra Maurer; Stephen Zollman Subject: Item #4 Consent Item Ceasefire Resolution SUPPORT Date: Sunday, February 18, 2024 11:20:01 AM
Hello city council members,
My name is Maribi Mendoza and I am a lifelong resident of Sonoma County. I work as a social worker for underserved individuals with disabilities in our community.
I am reaching out to you to express my support in keeping Item 4, the Ceasefire Resolution, on the consent calendar. I and my friends and family would additionally want this resolution to be passed.
There is nothing divisive about peace. Regardless of people’s opinions over this conflict, the most important issue is the preservation of life and showing our Palestinian community members that we value their lives and the lives of their loved ones in Gaza.
Currently, up to 28,000 civilians have been killed by Israel in Gaza. Some sources state this number is actually closer to 35,000 but it is so difficult to count as many people are still under the rubble of bombed buildings. It is not know who is dead and decomposing below and who is fighting to survive in hopes they are saved from under what was once their home. Of the 28,000 dead civilians more than 65% of the dead are women and young children. UN humanitarian experts have called this a child safety crisis. I alone, have seen the dismembered bodies of at least 5 children if not more. These children were hit by Israeli air strikes. I saw through the cranium of one child, that child was barely even a toddler. I saw the intestines fall out of the body of a young girl who was no older than 12. I saw Sidra Houssana a 12 year old girl in Rafah refugee camp in south Gaza, dead. Her body was hanging from a cord, her head blown off and her limbs blown off into ribbons. These videos and images have truly traumatized me. And I am here in Sonoma county. I am even more appalled that so much of Sonoma County’s residents pay for these crimes with our city tax money. My representatives make me complicit in these atrocities which many recognize as war crimes. Those who have not died, roughly 2.4 million residents in Gaza, are forced to face starvation, sickness, and death. This due to Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid.
Item 4–the resolution, is balanced and stands with humanity. There is no justification for over 10,000 children being brutally slaughtered. This resolution calls for peace and an end to all killing. Peace can never be divisive. Standing with humanity can never be divisive.
I am asking for Sebastopol, known as Peacetown, to join over 50 municipalities nationwide in calling for an end to the siege on Gaza. Please join cities here in California, such as Oakland, San Francisco and Davis in passing a ceasefire resolution! PLEASE do not let outside agitators strong-arm the City Council into rejecting the Ceasefire Resolution. The residents of Sebastopol want a ceasefire. The residents of Sonoma County want a ceasefire.
Thank you so much,
Maribi