The Alexandria (Virginia) People’s Ceasefire Resolution passed on May 14, 2024

WHEREAS, the targeting of civilians, no matter their faith, ethnicity, or nationality is a violation of international humanitarian law; and

WHEREAS, Israel has killed over 41,000 Palestinians in this genocide, including over 15,000 children; and

WHEREAS, the present genocide is a continuation of decades of Israeli plundering of Palestinian lives, land, homes, and natural resources; and

WHEREAS, millions of lives are at imminent risk from the military campaign, weaponized starvation, and disease if a permanent ceasefire is not achieved and humanitarian aid is not delivered without delay; and

WHEREAS, $2.7 million in taxes from Alexandria city residents fund Israel’s apartheid every year; and 

WHEREAS, Alexandria has declared itself a “Hate-Free Zone” that values peace and celebrates all of its residents, including our Arab, Jewish, Muslim, and Palestinian residents, yet in October it aligned itself with an apartheid state; and

WHEREAS, Alexandria is minutes from Washington, D.C. and is home to influential Biden administration officials, Congressional staffers, and Senator Mark Warner, all of whom are committing war crimes; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Government holds immense diplomatic and appropriations powers to save Palestinian and Israeli lives by calling for an immediate ceasefire, ending all aid to Israel, and sanctioning the Israeli state; and 

WHEREAS, Alexandria’s own Human Rights Commission formally recommended that the City Council adopt a ceasefire resolution; and

WHEREAS, Alexandria residents have spoken on the record at City Council Public Hearings, detailing their horror and anguish as their loved ones are starved, tortured, and slaughtered by Israel’s genocide; and

WHEREAS, Alexandria itself was built by enslaved and oppressed Africans on stolen land during and following the genocide of the indigenous Piscataway; and

WHEREAS, in 2006, the City of Alexandria declared “never again” regarding the genocide in Sudan; and

WHEREAS, the city of Alexandria belongs to us, the people who live and work here, and not to a city government beholden to party politics or corporate interests; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the We, the people of Alexandria, Virginia call upon our City Council and the Commonwealth of Virginia to do the following:

  • We demand financial transparency and full divestment from Israel.

  • We demand a Nakba Commemoration to acknowledge the ethnic cleansing campaign upon which the State of Israel was founded.

  • We demand that Alexandria City government join the people in passing a resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Today, the Commonwealth of VA is engaging in a statewide day of action to end the genocide and free Palestine. We are making the following list of demands of our State and Federal Governments:

  • We demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the state sanctioned murder, violence and oppression of Palestinians of all ages across the occupied territories.

  • We demand disbandment of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board, an Israeli chamber of commerce that prioritizes Israeli businesses at taxpayers' expense.

  • We demand that Virginia drop all charges against protestors for exercising their first amendment rights including the I-91 protesters and all Virginia student solidarity encampment protesters.

  • We demand full and expedient financial transparency and divestment from Israel by our city and state governments.

  • We demand our tax dollars be used to provide care for our communities, including but not limited to deeply affordable housing, food, and free health care, instead of providing weapons to Israel.

  • We demand that the U.S. government immediately halt all weapons transfers and financial assistance to the government of Israel.

  • We demand the immediate unhindered flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

  • We demand that all members of Congress cut all ties to AIPAC and similar right-wing Zionist super-PACS.