What Does Signing This Petition Do?

Since August 2024, Detroit Anti-War Committee has fought for Detroit City Council to divest from war-profiteers and apartheid "israel." We have a drafted resolution, which we have distributed to City Council. This resolution would prevent the city from renewing or purchasing new contracts with companies that fall into one of 4 categories: 1) companies that are on the BDS Divestment Targets list, 2) companies that have contracts with the Department of War worth over $25,000, 3) companies that do direct business in israel, and 4) companies that do direct business with the military.

By signing this petition, you're endorsing our Detroit Divest resolution, showing City Council and the Mayor of Detroit that you support the demand for Detroit to Divest, and finally, to petition the City Council to vote on our resolution.

Why Sign This Petition?

Detroit Anti-War investigated the city's contracts from 2024 to 2025, and we discovered $667 million in contracts with companies that fall into one of the four criteria specified in our resolution. Since 2023, the genocide on Palestine has continued, with bombs, armored vehicles and excavators, guns, surveillance technology, and military operations being funded directly by our federal tax dollars. At the same time, in 2025, Trump set his sites on war elsewhere, hungering for war on Venezuela, Iran, and other countries, such as Cuba. The $667 million tax payer dollars that the city of Detroit spent on war profiteering companies is money that has contributed to these atrocities. This is also money that could be going towards improving the city of Detroit, not harming and destroying communities elsewhere!

That is why Detroit Anti-War Committee calls for money for Detroit, not for war! Fighting for divestment is more than a struggle against war and militarism -- it is a fight to bring control back to how our tax dollars get spent and the direction our city goes in.

History of DAWC's Fight For Divestment

In November 2024, Detroit Anti-War submitted to former-Council President Mary Sheffield and her staff a drafted resolution. President Sheffield, now Mayor of Detroit, said she would sponsor the resolution. In January 2025, Mary Sheffield changed her mind, refusing to sponsor the resolution. Since January 2025, DAWC and concerned citizens have called and emailed Sheffield, her Chief of Staff Brian White, and the rest of City Council. Every step of the way, we were stonewalled: from the months of public comment preceding our first resolution draft to the current silence from the City Council. It is clear to the Detroit Anti-War Committee and those who stand in solidarity with Palestine that genocide has historically not been Mayor Sheffield or City Council's red line.

The former City Council failed to divest, making the city of Detroit complicit in the $3 billion in aid Donald Trump sent to so-called "israel." In 2025, an estimated $43,101,765 in tax-payer funding will leave the city of Detroit to fund the “israeli” occupation and genocide of Palestine. Our government continues to invest itself in the slaughter of over 50,000 Palestinians, including the hundreds of people the continue to be murdered despite the ceasefire. Instead of improving the lives of Detroiters, Mayor Sheffield and City Council showed DAWC that they're more than willing to work with companies that profit from the deaths of Palestinians and all other peoples impacted by U.S. war profiteering, from the Venezuela to Iran.

Detroit Anti-War Committee refuses to allow the City Council to ignore their duties as elected officials. While they are worried more about their political careers, we are working to make Detroit a better city.

From U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights: Detroit is estimated to send $43,101,765 in tax payer money to so-called "israel." This money could instead be used locally to fund housing, groceries, healthcare, education, and environmental sustainability — all areas of Detroit life that our City Council members claim to care about.