Sign Our Petition: Tell Congress, Demand Ceasefire Now!
TO: Members of Congress
It has been just over a month since Hamas militants brutally killed 1,200 civilians in Israel and took hundreds of hostages, including women and children. The Israeli government has responded with overwhelming force over the last month, killing more than 11,000 Palestinians, including thousands of women and children, and displacing over a million people while also preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza and having devastating impacts on the 2.2 million people living there.
Nothing will be gained by further loss of life.
The Women’s March community is united in our political commitments to this country. We include everyday women who hold a range of visions of justice, many with family and friends in the region who are deeply shaken by recent events and carry the wounds of long histories of injustice.
We can hold space in our hearts to pray for the missing and recognize the widespread trauma Palestinians and Israelis are experiencing while also calling on U.S. policymakers to do everything they can to stop further bloodshed and destruction in Gaza. We also call for an end to the violent antisemitism and Islamophobia that our communities are facing here in the United States.
Over the past month, over 11,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed, nearly 30,000 have been injured, and 1.5 million people displaced from their homes. An estimated 4,500 of the dead are children; many killed in safe spaces, such as hospitals. The United Nations Population Fund estimates there are 540,000 women of reproductive age living in Gaza, among whom 50,000 are currently pregnant, and 5,500 are expected to deliver in the next month.
This is a feminist issue. Historically, women and children bear the brunt of retaliatory violence in times of conflicts that men instigate. We must do everything we can to stop the ongoing violence.
President Biden and Congress must demand:
- An immediate ceasefire and de-escalation occur;
- The safety of all civilians, including securing the release of hostages;
- The Israeli government allow humanitarian aid for Palestinians to enter, and,
- The pursuit of a long-term diplomatic solution that includes upholding international law and ending Israel’s 16-year-long illegal blockade on Gaza.
We grieve with all those who are suffering. Everyone, everywhere, deserves to live their lives with freedom, safety, and justice.
Women’s March is primarily focused on work in the United States. To learn more about this issue directly from Palestinian & Israeli feminists & human rights activists, you can start here:
Palestinian Feminist Collective Amnesty International Women Wage Peace Yesh Din Women of the Sun