Washington State Democratic Party’s CEASEFIRE resolution passed on January 28, 2024
URGENT RESOLUTION In Support of Continued US Funding of the UN Agency Providing Relief to 1.9 Million Palestinians and a Ceasefire in Gaza to Ease Civilian Suffering
WHEREAS in response to the attack by Hamas on October 7th 2023, the Israeli military has imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip, depriving 2.3 million Palestinians of water, food, shelter, electricity, fuel, access to medical care, transportation and Internet. In the more than one hundred days since, armed violence has claimed the lives of at least 26,000 Palestinians in Gaza (approximately two-thirds of whom are women and children), 347 in the West Bank, and over 1,200 people in Israel, with tens of thousands more wounded resulting in 1.9 million internally displaced people;
WHEREAS the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is the primary UN agency providing humanitarian aid in Palestine and is funded by the US and other UN member states. UNRWA employs 1,300+ staff on the ground in Palestine, tasked with administering aid to the 1.9 million displaced people (a majority sheltering at UNRWA facilities);
WHEREAS UNRWA shelters have been routinely targeted by direct fire, including a multi-day siege beginning on January 24, 2024 of UNRWA Khan Younis Training College which houses 43,000 internally displaced people killing at least 13 and injuring 56. Since the beginning of the war, 357 people sheltering in UNRWA facilities across the region have been killed, 253 incidents impacting UNRWA premises and people inside have been reported, and 70 different UNRWA installations were directly hit, and 71 installations sustained collateral damage;
WHEREAS despite enduring over 150+ casualties among UNRWA staff, as of January 25, 2024, the agency has persevered and distributed flour to 309,779 families, vaccinated over 13,700 children against diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella, recorded 9,336 patient visits at UNRWA health facilities, and attended to 76,869 patients by UNRWA teams who continue to provide psychosocial first aid and other specialized protection services.
WHEREAS on January 25, 2024 the US announced it is suspending funding to UNRWA due to allegations made against agency staff. The UN immediately terminated 12 individuals and is taking the allegations seriously, but the US suspending UNRWA funding has led to further loss of funding from allies including but not limited to the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Italy now leaving millions at further risk in the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of the past decade.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Washington State Democratic Central Committee condemns both the attack on October 7,2023 by Hamas, the Israeli military’s disproportionate response on the 2.3 million Palestinian people living in Gaza (nearly half of whom are children), and urgently opposes the US pulling funding from UNRWA, the UN agency tasked with supporting over 1.9 million Gazan internally displaced people.
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Washington State Democratic Central Committee values all human life as precious, views the targeting of civilians, no matter their faith or ethnicity as a violation of humanitarian law. The Washington Democratic Party supports a ceasefire to immediately ease the suffering of 1.9 displaced people being cared for by the UNRWA, and strongly urges the US Government to continue funding the UNRWA as it works to provide long-term support on the ground in the region.
THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Washington State Democratic Central Committee affirms our commitment to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian/anti-Arab bigotry, our support for the people of both Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security, and the rights of all people to live, learn, work, play, pray and engage in peaceful protests without threats, intimidation, violence, or death.
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Press Release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2, 2024
Joint effort between Jewish and Palestinian Organizers and their allies leads to the
Washington State Democratic Central Committee passing a CEASEFIRE resolution
On Sunday, January 28, 2024, the Washington State Democratic Central Committee (WSDCC or Washington State Democrats) passed a resolution supporting a ceasefire related to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They are the 5th state Democratic organization to pass a ceasefire-related resolution in recent months.
The resolution, which passed by a 75-54 vote, condemns the attack by Hamas on October 7th that killed more than 1,200 in Israel. It also condemns Israel’s siege on Gaza that has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians and deprived a further 2.3 million of water, food, shelter, electricity, fuel, and access to medical care, as well as the killing of 347 Palestinians in the West Bank and the displacement of 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza.
The resolution also addresses the importance of supporting and funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Since the beginning of the siege on Gaza, UNRWA has distributed flour to 309,779 Palestinian families, attended to 76,869 medical patients, and provided 13,700 vaccines to Palestinian children. During that time, UNRWA had more than 150 staff killed, while their facilities experienced 253 unique incidents of targeted military violence (including 70 direct hits). The United States suspended funding to UNRWA on January 25th, 2024.
In addition, this resolution condemns the recent rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian/anti-Arab bigotry. Full text can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zT0W-wX8l7kVcmtv_0Dhm5C4zeME7dj_BJfoaCp3hXQ/edit?usp=sharing.
The Washington State Democrats’ ceasefire resolution was built out of work done by a coalition of Democrats from around the state, including Jewish members of the State Party Central Committee, a Palestinian American elected official, members from multiple Legislative Districts, as well as Jewish and Muslim community stakeholders (and their allies), who all organized to help make this vote possible.
“We have to speak out and work to end the horrific situation in Gaza, happening in our names,” said Sharon Abreu, a Jewish member of the State Central Committee who organized in support of the resolution at the January 28 meeting. “We who come from an oppressed people have got to stand up for others being oppressed.”
In an effort to underscore the importance of not delaying a ceasefire vote, during floor debate, Jazmine Smith, a State Committee Member from the 36th LD, told her colleagues: "There are 1.9 million people that have no homes, there are 31,000 people who have lost their lives, there are children who have their limbs blown off, and we cannot wait until the next state committee meeting to take a stand.”
To ensure that arguments around the resolution were inclusive of the many Jewish voices who have been supportive of the ceasefire movement, Amy Madden, a State Committee Member from the 43rd LD, read the following statement from fellow resolution organizer Jessica Trupin, a long-time Jewish Democratic community leader: "The single goal of this resolution is to place Washington's Democratic Party squarely in line with public sentiment– that a ceasefire and a political resolution [of the conflict] is the only moral path forward. As a Jew, I cannot stand and watch another 10,000 Palestinians -including women and children- be killed in my name in the month of February. Not in my name – Palestinians deserve to live."
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”; and 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”.
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