From: City Council
To:
Subject: RE: PEACE TOWN FOR PEACE!
Date: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 8:44:00 AM
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From: Brianna Perkins
Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 8:00 AM
To: City Council <[email protected]>; Mary Gourley <[email protected]>
Subject: PEACE TOWN FOR PEACE!
Hello City Council Members,
I am a unincorporated west county resident emailing to urge you all to support the ceasefire resolution that is soon to come before you all. I know you all wish to hear from Sebastopol residents specifically but I would like to remind you about those of us in your community who aren’t able to vote for you. Those of us who generate tax dollars, who spend our income in your stores, who are on first name basis with your pharmacists and restaurant staff. We are your neighbors, we are your community too. And we are heartbroken to see Peace Town so slow to adopt a clear stance on genocide.
I believe it is the responsibility of a town known for its commitment to peace to help lead the movement by voting yes to the proposed resolution which calls for an end to the senseless killing that is taking place right now in Palestine. Killing that is disproportionally happening against the indigenous people of that region.
Some might argue that passing a ceasefire resolution is not within the purview of a local government but you can plainly see, how this genocide is effecting your neighbors and constituents. We wake up to daily atrocities in our news feeds, there is no reprieve, no way for us to ignore the horrors taking place in Gaza. Moreover, as history has well represented, it is a known fact that liberation of all people are tied together. If we will not speak out for Gaza we must speak out for ourselves. The culture in Sebastopol, one of its most notable features, will not survive this genocide unless we stand with Palestine. Not later. Now. Tonight.
Those of use with non-Jewish European heritage do not have the opportunity to go back and right the atrocities of our ancestors but we do have the opportunity now to stand with marginalized folks and speak out against genocide, apartheid, colonization, war crimes, corruption, and to speak in favor of PEACE.
Peace, the thing for which our little community is known, is what we are asking for. Peace is the message we have the opportunity to share. Peace is what we can stand on, in solidarity with the several other Bay Area cities that have passed similar resolution. Peace is what we called for in our sister city and peace is what we must now also call for in Gaza.
Some might argue that passing a ceasefire resolution will create unsafe environments for our Jewish community members. I must implore you you simply read the language in the document. A ceasefire is a call to end violence, not perpetuate it. A ceasefire is a humanitarian act, not an anti-Semitic one. Palestinians deserve to live, they have a right to exist, and that should never be something we have to argue in favor of, or debate. Just the way we would never consider it for any group. People deserve to live. They deserve to send their children to school and sleep safely in their beds, to eat, to experience joy and peace, to work, to be educated. To self determine. We must make it clear that our community recognizes this and stands with oppressed people currently being denied this basic rights.
Please, look inside yourselves, let your humanity push you to do something good, something that will be looked upon favorably in history. Vote yes on this ceasefire resolution. Thank you.
Free Palestine.
Peace to you all,
Bri Perkins