No more grieving families in Palestine and Israel.

The events of the past several weeks have made clear what we have always known: The lives of Palestinians and Israelis are intertwined, and safety can only come from justice, equality and freedom for all.

We feel visceral relief at the reunions of four Israeli hostages with their families. It reminds us what we are fighting for: That every single civilian — Palestinian and Israeli — should be able to live safely in their homes, with their families by their sides, without fear. May this be a model for the preservation, through diplomacy, of each and every precious life right now.

The only way forward is a ceasefire.

We’ve been saying ceasefire every day of this horrifying time, so we want to get specific. We are calling for our elected officials, including President Biden, to demand the following:

1. Demand that the Israeli government immediately cease its bombing of Gaza.
   
2. Allow all life-saving humanitarian needs to enter Gaza, including water, fuel, food and medicine.
   
3. Begin direct negotiations for Israeli hostages.

The Israeli bombardment and siege of Gaza have wiped out entire families, or have left only one or two survivors to carry the memory of generations. Thousands more are trapped under the rubble. Across Gaza, there is no more fuel to operate rescue equipment, and hospitals have run out of electricity. Millions of Palestinians in Gaza are facing a genocidal military onslaught with nowhere to turn. Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested by Israel since October 7, doubling the number of Palestinian political prisoners in Israel in two weeks. The lives of the more than 200 remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza are also in imminent risk from Israel’s indiscriminate air strikes, and families are anxiously awaiting the return of their loved ones.

But Israeli government officials have made it painfully clear: They are more intent on carrying out genocidal violence against the 2.2 million Palestinians living in Gaza than on negotiating for the lives of Israeli hostages.

There is no military solution. We demand no more grieving families, and a ceasefire now to save lives.

We’re keeping up the fight in Congress.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to adopt a hawkish, one-sided resolution that pledges unwavering U.S. support for Israel, and says nothing of the over 7,000 Palestinians who have been killed since the Israeli military began raining bombs on Gaza. At the time of its passage, the resolution had garnered a whopping 425 co-sponsors — illustrating how much more work we still have to do to disrupt the U.S.-Israel alliance and end U.S. complicity in Israeli apartheid. 

That’s not to say our organizing isn’t having a tremendous impact. 

There were also 16 members of Congress who refused to vote “yes”, including a number of “present” votes that came from Congresspeople who were initially co-sponsors of the resolution — and then changed their minds under public pressure.

This shows what we already know: That there is immense political pressure on every U.S. politician to support Israel’s apartheid regime. And, despite this, when we push as hard as we can, we can and will get our elected officials to stand up for justice.

Our demand is ceasefire.

It’s clear that the Israeli government is more interested in continuing its genocidal war on Gaza than saving a single life. And it’s clear that in the U.S., our tax dollars are funding every day of this unspeakable violence.

This is an emergency of historic proportions: call Congress now, later, tomorrow, every day, and demand a ceasefire.

Power Half-Hours for Palestine

JVP is holding Power Half-Hours for Gaza every day, Monday through Friday, at 3pm ET/12pm PT — join us as we channel our fury and sorrow into collective action to stop Israeli genocide. The same link will work every day: you can register here.

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