From: City Council
To: "
Subject: RE:
Date: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 8:43:00 AM
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From: Barbara Skikos Williams
Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 1:14 AM
To: City Council <[email protected]>; Mary Gourley <[email protected]>
Subject:
Dear Councilmembers,
My family has had strong roots in Sebastopol, since 1964 when my brother opened Andy's Produce. In the past 60 years, some parts of Sebastopol have changed a lot, while others still connect us to a simpler time.
Unfortunately, to anyone with a conscience, it doesn't feel like we have been living in simpler times these past 6 months. We have been bearing witness to a massive genocide with the daily death rate in Gaza higher than any other conflict in the 21st century.
According to the World Health Organization, about 300 people have been killed each day of this annihilation (this number includes the people still trapped under the rubble and those that are missing and presumed dead).
The number
of average deaths per day for Gaza is higher than any recent major armed conflict including Syria (96.5 deaths per day), Sudan (51.6), Iraq (50.8), Ukraine (43.9) Afghanistan (23.8) and Yemen (15.8).
If anyone was wondering why this is a local issue that needs to be addressed at the city council level, it's because Sebastopol could benefit if our tax dollars went back into our local communities, instead of being sent to Israel to commit a genocide. Every year $117,884 in Sebastopol taxpayer money goes to Israel. In the past 6 months, that amount has increased to over $770,000. This money could have funded 81 new households in Sebastopol with free public housing for a year, 238 children in Sebastopol with free healthcare, just like Israeli citizens get, or 10 new public school teachers.
This is an international matter, with local implications, and we need strong local leaders to speak up and pass a ceasefire resolution.
Thank you,
Barbara Skikos