From: Cesar Rodriguez
To: All at City Clerk"s Office
Subject: Thank you for Agendizing a Ceasefire Resolution; Please Schedule a Vote As Soon As Possible Date: Friday, April 19, 2024 7:22:32 AM
[NOTICE: This message originated outside of City of South San Francisco -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe.] City Clerk Rosa Acosta,
Dear city council,
I just want to express my gratitude to the councilmembers supporting a ceasefire resolution for Gaza here in our hometown. After almost two months of advocacy by our community members, I’m delighted to hear that our city will be moving forward with agendizing this community led initiative.
As you may already know, the situation in Gaza is urgent as millions of people are facing imminent famine, with the director of USAID confirming parts of Northern Gaza are already experiencing famine. The people of Gaza desperately need humanitarian aid and for the relentless bombing to stop. According to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza, 15,000 of whom are children, in the past 6 months with the assistance of our federal government. 15,000 children killed is more than the student populations of SSFUSD and the San Bruno Park Elementary School district combined.
Passing this resolution is urgent and we need to schedule a vote for this resolution by the end of April if possible. On average, 85 more children are killed each day. The children of Gaza cannot wait another month for us to take action.
Each person is not simply a statistic.
Every soul taken had dreams, futures, and a community wrapped around them who loved them just like you and I.
I appreciate your support for a resolution which calls for:
1. An immediate permanent bilateral ceasefire
2. Release of all hostages and civilian prisoners
3. And the free flow of humanitarian aid
This resolution is a meaningful gesture to our community with real world effects on peoples' lives. This resolution would also help protect our community members here too as the continuous violence abroad has resulted in hate crimes such as the one which occurred in our city on April 10th, the Muslim holy day of Eid, in front of the new civic campus.
Again, I appreciate your support for this community led campaign and hope that you can recognize the urgency of the situation by scheduling a vote for the resolution as soon as possible.
In community,
Cesar Rodriguez
South San Francisco, California 94080