Call for a Permanent Ceasefire and Emergency Food and Medical Aid to Gaza
Dear Madam Vice President Kamala Harris:
We are reaching out to you as military veterans who have fought in multiple US wars, and who continue to uphold the US Constitution and international law, to organize for justice and equality in our home communities, and to advocate for a peaceful foreign policy.
We are appalled by the ongoing Israeli slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinian men, women and children and by the maiming of tens of thousands more. We are outraged by the systematic blocking of food, leading to malnutrition, starvation, disease and the deaths of many more, particularly babies and young children. These are unbearable and unacceptable crimes that will go down in the history books as a terrible genocide – a holocaust.
Vice President Harris, many veterans listened carefully to your remarks after your recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. You said:
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating — the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third, or fourth time. We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent…. It is time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity, and self-determination…So, to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you.”
Veterans For Peace wholeheartedly concurs with these sentiments, Vice President Harris. We applaud you for expressing sympathy with the Palestinian people. We also refuse to become numb to their suffering, and we cannot be silent. Like so many of our fellow citizens, including Jewish Americans, we are deeply disturbed that our government continues to provide Israel with a steady supply of bombs, and to provide political cover for Israeli leaders charged with war crimes.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has documented actions by Israeli leaders up to the crime of genocide, and has ordered Israeli leaders to take all necessary measures to avoid repeating such crimes. Yet the Israeli government and military have doubled down on slaughter and starvation.
Recently the ICJ declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories to be illegal and called on all the nations of the world to take action to end that illegal occupation.
As Veterans For Peace has stated in letters to the State Department and President Biden, the Biden Administration is violating multiple US laws when it sends bombs to Israel to be dropped on innocent Palestinians: Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, the Foreign Assistance Act, the Arms Control Export Act, the US War Crimes Act, the Leahy Law, and the Genocide Prevention Implementation Act.
Our many members in over 100 US cities were outraged by the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, and we were apoplectic upon hearing Netanyahu’s bellicose and divisive remarks. Vice President Harris, we took some solace from your decision not to preside or be present at this embarrassing spectacle. You were the first member of the Biden administration to call for a “ceasefire.” So we are cautiously optimistic that, if elected President, you will work to end the criminal siege of Gaza.
However, your presidency would not begin until January 20 – almost six months from now. We urge you to listen to your most avid supporters – women, people of color and young voters. Listen to Arab Americans. And listen to veterans who know the horrible reality of war.
Don’t wait until January. Do the right thing NOW, even as you are campaigning for president. Please urge President Biden to change course in Gaza, to support an immediate, permanent ceasefire, and to stop sending weapons to Israel as long as this massacre continues.
Veterans For Peace is also concerned about the hostages. We unite with the Israeli families who are demanding the release of their family members who are captive in Gaza, and we unite the Palestinian families who are calling for the release of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.
As you must know, Vice President Harris, continued US support for Israel amid the Gaza genocide also risks further regional and global escalation, with potentially irreversible consequences, even the unthinkable horror of nuclear war. We urge you to demonstrate the kind of leadership for which so many people are waiting – for which we are hoping and praying. Please use all your influence to bring an end to the unfathomable suffering in Gaza.
Veterans For Peace believes that justice and humanity require an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the opening of Gaza’s borders for massive humanitarian and medical aid, and the end of US arms shipments to Israel.
Like you, Ms. Vice President, we are calling for Palestinian self-determination, which requires the dismantling of apartheid and occupation, guaranteed equal rights for all who live in Israel/Palestine, and recognition of the right of return of refugees who are living in exile. Without these elements, there will never be peace and security for anyone living in that land.
Vice President Harris, you said you would work to “earn and win” your party’s nomination for president, as well as the trust and support of the American people. We ask you to take our concerns very seriously. We believe that the majority of people in the United States and around the world share these concerns. We have seen enough of war, colonization, apartheid and forced starvation. It is time to usher in a New Era of Peace, International Cooperation and Human Rights for All People.
Let it begin with Gaza. Let it begin NOW.
Sincerely,
Susan M. Schnall
President
Veterans For Peace Board of Directors