Washington State’s 43rd Legislative District Democrats passed a CEASEFIRE resolution on February 20, 2024
Resolution In Support of an Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza
WHEREAS all human life is precious and the targeting of civilians, no matter their faith, ethnicity, or nationality, is a violation of international humanitarian law; and the imposition of collective punishment is widely understood to be immoral, is prohibited by international law, and is recognized as a war crime[1];
WHEREAS in response to the attack on October 7th, in which Hamas killed over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 240 (over 100 of whom still remain in captivity)[2], the Israeli military has imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip, depriving 2.3 million Palestinians of water, food, electricity, fuel, access to medical care, transportation and Internet; in the 123 days since, armed violence has claimed the lives of over 27,000 Palestinians[3] (the majority of whom are women and children) in Gaza, including 372 in the West Bank[4][5][6];
WHEREAS there are still over 100 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, including elders and young children, and the only successful return of hostages occurred during the weeklong ceasefire in November 2023, when 105 hostages were released[7] with senior Israeli military leaders asserting that freeing the hostages “can be secured only through diplomatic rather than military means”[8];
WHEREAS according to the World Health Organization (WHO), “The latest Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Phase Classification (IPC) report[9] found devastating levels of food insecurity in Gaza and confirmed that nearly the entire population of Gaza – roughly 2.2 million people – are in crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity” and with UNICEF estimating that “in the next few weeks, child wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition in children, could increase from pre-crisis conditions by nearly 30 percent, affecting up to 10,000 children”[10];
WHEREAS according to the WHO, only 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functioning, supplying “limited healthcare” after 300 attacks on healthcare facilities across the Gaza Strip[11];
WHEREAS as of January, Gaza’s media office reported that Israel had dropped over 71,000 tons of bombs on Gaza, an area with a population density of 14,000 people per square mile[12]; with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimating that 69,000 of Gaza’s housing units have been destroyed, with nearly 300,000 homes[13] (roughly 70%) damaged, and half of Gaza’s buildings being damaged, as well[14];
WHEREAS hundreds of thousands of lives are at inescapable risk without an immediate, permanent ceasefire, restoration of basic necessities, and delivery of adequate humanitarian aid without delay to the Palestinian people;
WHEREAS our elected leaders hold immense diplomatic power to prevent the further loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives, along with the lives of civilians throughout the region who are being inexorably drawn into this conflict;
WHEREAS the continuation of war in Gaza is sparking military conflicts involving multiple countries and non-state actors, creating a growing risk of regional or even world war;
WHEREAS the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on January 26, 2024 that Israel must do all that it can to prevent a genocide in Gaza, including preventing the killing of Palestinian civilians, preventing “serious bodily or mental harm” to Palestinians, and not imposing measures that prevent the future births of Palestinians; the ICJ also ruled that Israel must not participate in the destruction of evidence related to allegations of genocide[15];
WHEREAS the ICJ ruled on January 26, 2024 that Israel must “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip[16]”;
WHEREAS the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was the primary UN agency providing humanitarian aid in Palestine, providing aid to 1.9 million displaced Gazans in the form of food, vaccines, medicines, and medical care;
WHEREAS UNRWA employed more than 1,300 ground staff in Palestine, with more than 150 members of their staff being killed since the Israeli siege; the U.S. and other Western nations cut funding to UNRWA on January 25, 2024;
WHEREAS antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab bigotry have risen significantly in the Seattle area, across the United States, and around the world in the past four months, with direct impacts on our local communities, including at college campuses where numerous incidents have threatened the well-being and safety of Jewish and Muslim students; all of these forms of bigotry, violence, and oppression serve to divide our communities and weaken our efforts to achieve collective safety, justice, and true multi-ethnic and multi-racial democracy here and everywhere;
WHEREAS anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian bigotry has resulted in violence that took the life of a six-year-old Palestinian-American Muslim child (along with the attempted murder of his mother) in Illinois in October 2023, the shooting of two Palestinian-American students and their Palestinian friend in Vermont in November 2023, and the stabbing of a 23-year-old Palestinian-American in Texas as he was leaving a pro-Palestine protest in February 2024;
WHEREAS, according to a December 5th Data for Progress poll, 76% of Democrats and 61% of all likely voters “support the U.S. calling for a permanent ceasefire and a de-escalation of violence in Gaza,”[17] and millions of people worldwide, including from the 43rd LD, have joined in nonviolent protests since October 7 to amplify this call;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 43rd Legislative District Democrats condemn both the attack on October 7, 2023 by Hamas, and the Israeli military’s disproportionate response on the 2.3 million Palestinian people living in Gaza (nearly half of whom are children) and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 43rd Legislative District Democrats call for the immediate reinstatement of U.S. funding for UNRWA, the UN agency tasked with supporting over 1.9 million internally displaced people in Gaza;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 43rd Legislative District Democrats call on members of the Congressional delegation in Washington to support and sign on to the “Ceasefire Now” resolution, HR 786, “Calling for an immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine,” written by Congresswoman Cori Bush and co-sponsored by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and 16 other Congressional representatives; and call on them to advocate more broadly for an immediate long-term ceasefire agreement and delivery of adequate humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people[18];
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the 43rd Legislative District Democrats affirm our commitment to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab bigotry, our support for the people of both Palestine and Israel to live in peace and security, and the right of all people to live, learn, work, play, pray, and engage in peaceful protest without threats, intimidation, violence, or death; and we call on each of our Democratic elected representatives to address the rise in bigotry, hateful actions and targeted violence in our communities and to join our call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Passed at the 20 February 2024 43rd LD Democrats General Meeting.
[1] https://casebook.icrc.org/a_to_z/glossary/collective-punishments
[3] https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/live-updates-death-toll-gaza-passes-27000-south-106861226
[5] https://apnews.com/article/war-gaza-israel-hamas-100-numbers-death-c4d6d42269c3cd6bf74d4e6fc612114e
[8] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/20/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-hostages-strategy.html
[9] https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-94/en/
[11] https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-92
[12] https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-hamas-war-90e02d26420b8fe3157f73c256f9ed6a
[13] https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/gaza-destruction-bombing-israel-aa528542
[14] https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-92
[15] https://apnews.com/article/icj-ruling-israel-gaza-genocide-3fa0908d995cc104e8ab4674f5ee75cc
[16] https://apnews.com/article/icj-ruling-israel-gaza-genocide-3fa0908d995cc104e8ab4674f5ee75cc
[18] https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolution/786/cosponsors
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21, 2024
43rd LD Democrats join growing number of Washington Democratic organizations passing CEASEFIRE resolutions
At their Tuesday February 20, 2024 meeting, the 43rd Legislative District (LD) Democrats passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. They join a growing number of local and state Democratic organizations who have passed their own ceasefire resolutions in recent months.
The resolution passed overwhelmingly, with more than 75% of 43rd members voting in favor. It calls for an end to Israel’s siege and attacks on Gaza that have killed more than 26,000 Palestinians and deprived a further 2.3 million of water, food, shelter, electricity, fuel, and access to medical care. It also condemns the killing of 347 Palestinians in the West Bank, the displacement of 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza, and the attack by Hamas on October 7th, 2023 that took the lives of 1,200 in Israel.
In addition, the resolution condemns the recent rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab bigotry. It calls on all of their Democratic elected representatives to address the recent rise in targeted hate and violence currently being experienced by the Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian and Arab communities. The full text of the resolution can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WAxcikW6LHdnc4RtKN-cVjDxx_bAa_4fpBa1Iy3ux1s
Yoseph Elaameir, a young Palestinian American Democratic campaign manager and party volunteer, thanked the 43rd for centering Palestinian voices, saying that his community is overwhelmingly Democratic. “Seeing the Democrats pass ceasefire resolutions helps us feel supported, represented, seen, and heard,” he said. “We call on the Democratic community to stand by their values and to be intersectional in their upholding of human rights.”
Abby Zorn, a Jewish 43rd LD member and co-sponsor of the resolution, spoke in support of the resolution: “Continuing to bomb Gaza, killing civilians including thousands of children, and destroying homes does not keep Jewish Israelis, Jewish Americans, or Arab Americans safe. This violence ensures that Islamophobia and antisemitism will continue.”
Helen Rosinsky, a Jewish 43rd LD member who is also one of the youngest members of the legislative district, said “It’s incredibly alienating to the younger voter base, as well as to the general voting public, to watch as the state turns a blind eye to genocide. The Democratic Party should not be complicit in this.”
The 43rd LD’s call for a ceasefire follows similar resolutions that were passed in the 1st LD (passed on December 27, 2023), 32nd LD (passed Jan 3, 2024) and 44th LD (passed on January 11, 2024) in Washington State, as well as a resolution that called both for a ceasefire and for the reinstatement of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that was passed by the Washington State Democratic Central Committee (WSDCC), the voting body of the Washington State Democratic Party, at their State Committee Meeting on January 28, 2024.
Amy Madden, co-organizer with other State Committee Members on the state party’s ceasefire resolution and co-sponsor of the 43rd’s resolution, said "The passage of these resolutions reflect the views of the 76% of Democratic voters who support a ceasefire. The people I represent are calling on their Democratic leaders to hear them and take action.”
Other state Democratic parties that passed similar resolutions include the Texas Democratic Party, which on December 2nd, 2023 unanimously passed a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire and release of the hostages; the Democratic Party of Hawai’i which on December 2nd called on their Congressional representatives to support the Ceasefire Now Resolution and asked for the Biden Administration to call for a ceasefire, as well; the Democratic Party of New Mexico, which on January 18, 2024 called for “a lasting negotiated ceasefire working towards a two-state solution”; the Arizona Democratic Party, which on January 27, 2024, “recognized the equal value of Israeli and Palestinian lives” and called for the “establishment of a Palestinian state”.
“Calls for a ceasefire are not going to go away,” said Kristina Beverlin, co-sponsor of the 43rd’s resolution and lead organizer behind www.ceasefiredemocrats.com, a website dedicated to keeping track of the growing number of calls for a ceasefire across the U.S. “Multiple Democratic Party organizations and nearly 70 city councils have called for an end to the violence in Gaza. We want what we do here in the 43rd to be able to be used as an example for other organizations to follow, and to remind Democratic Party leaders and Democratic elected officials that their voting base supports a ceasefire, as well.”
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