Please read the letter below and provide your consent to signing the letter.
"To
members of Cleveland city council;
The
ongoing military occupation and the enduring siege of Gaza stand as defining
factors that profoundly shape the daily lives of Palestinians across the world,
including in Cleveland. These conditions permeate every aspect of Palestinian
existence, casting a long-lasting impact on their daily routines, aspirations,
and overall well-being. According to Amnesty International, Israel’s continuing
oppressive and discriminatory system of governing Palestinians in Israel and
the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) constitutes a system of apartheid
under international law. Those systems of oppression and discrimination also
set the tone for the treatment of Palestinians in the U.S. On October 14th,
2023 six-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume of Chicago was stabbed 26 times by his
neighbor for being Palestinian. His mother could not attend his funeral because
she was in the hospital recovering from her own stab wounds. On November 25th,
three Palestinian college students in Vermont were shot while wearing the
Keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian connection to land and resistance to
occupation. One of those young men, Hisham Awartani, is now paralyzed from the
waist down. In Cleveland, we have witnessed the censorship and harassment of
our citizens and students as well as local businesses.
Therefore,
the people of Cleveland have clearly and repeatedly asked that their council
representatives pass a resolution that explicitly calls for a ceasefire,
condemns the genocide in Gaza, and condemns rising anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab,
Islamophobic and anti-Jewish attacks in our city. The Clevelanders who have
made this ask represent the beautiful diversity of our community, recognizing
that this is not just an issue that impacts Palestinians, but that impacts all
of us.
A
draft resolution was shared with city council by Cleveland residents (appended
here). This draft resolution is modeled after an already adopted resolution in
Akron, Ohio. As the city of Cleveland is home to one of the largest Palestinian
populations in the U.S., as well as many other communities displaced by war and
violence, residents of our city believe that Cleveland can and should be a
leader in empowering these communities by raising relevant and impactful global
issues at the local level.
We
are not asking for anything that is unprecedented. Many cities have passed
similar resolutions including Atlanta, GA; Providence, RI; Detroit, MI;
Seattle, WA; Oakland, CA; San Francisco, CA; Wilmington, DE; and Akron, OH.
Introducing and passing the resolution appended here would bring Cleveland that
much closer to being among the most forward thinking cities in the U.S. We
would be proud to add Cleveland to this growing list of cities decrying the
loss of life and the impact of growing anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim and
anti-Jewish discrimination in the U.S., including Cleveland.
We
are deeply thankful for those council people who have made public ceasefire
statements or who have taken the time to talk to us. However, each day we wake
up we know that another day without a ceasefire is more lives lost. We know
that flimsy promises of 4 days of a ceasefire, or humanitarian pauses, are
short-term and myopic bandaids for a much deeper wound. Resolutions such as the
ones we have proposed allow Cleveland to not only set the stage for
conversations with its residents about moral and just stances but also set an
example globally for what standing up for the dignity of all and fighting for
the life of all can look like.
We
ask you to join us, your constituents, your neighbors, and your community, in
standing on the right side of history and putting Cleveland on the map as a
city that fully supports all its residents and takes firm stances against
discrimination.
Sincerely,
The undersigned"
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