Indian Americans for a Ceasefire Now

President Biden, the State Department, the U.S. Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, and Social Media platforms

Banner with photograph of destroyed buildings in Gaza, overlaid with the words "INDIAN AMERICANS FOR A CEASEFIRE NOW"

**UPDATE: As signatories were informed, this petition has now been sent to President Biden, the State Department, members of the US Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, and others.


As Indian Americans, we cannot stand idly by as the list of casualties from Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza grows longer with each passing day.

Please join us in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as well as for urgent action to be taken against genocidal messages spread by India-based hate networks and their partners in the United States.

In the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, news outlets around the world have reported on the alarming spread of harmful disinformation, much of which originates from online troll farms and hate factories based in India. These messages are then amplified by high-profile networks around the world, including in the U.S. As reported in Foreign Policy, these networks have globalized Islamophobic hate.


As Indian Americans, it is our duty to condemn this violence and the online hate that fuels it. See below for the full text of our petition, and the list of our demands.

This petition will be delivered to:

  • U.S. President Joe Biden,
  • Secretary of State Antony Blinken,
  • Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas,
  • The members of the National Security Council,
  • The House Foreign Affairs Committee,
  • The House Judiciary Committee,
  • The House Intelligence Committee,
  • The Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee,
  • The Senate Intelligence Committee,
  • And the leadership of Meta, X, and YouTube.

To: President Biden, the State Department, the U.S. Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, and Social Media platforms
From: [Your Name]

As Indian Americans, we are horrified by the unfolding genocide in Gaza, and the role played by extremists in the U.S. and India in facilitating and encouraging this violence. In particular, we are alarmed by reporting that shows the dominant role played by a disinformation ecosystem originating in India in spreading messages that demonize Palestinians, take glee in their suffering, and perpetuate dehumanizing stereotypes about Muslims. We are therefore also horrified by the amplification of these messages by Hindu supremacist groups in the United States, who sit at the intersection of Indian and U.S.-based far-right disinformation networks. Ironically, these same networks also have a long history of antisemitism in keeping with their far-right conspiracy theories.

To these hateful actors, we say unequivocally: Not in our name. The wider Indian American community stands for peace and equality for all—in particular the millions of innocent civilians in Gaza, a majority of whom are women, children, and the elderly.

We join the millions of people who have taken to the streets across the world, as well as human rights groups and the United Nations, in calling for an immediate ceasefire. Simultaneously, we demand that the international community heed experts and whistleblowers who have warned repeatedly about the volumes of Islamophobic hate speech emerging from India, and take action against these transnational networks that are deeply complicit in the mass murder of Palestinians.

We mourn the Palestinian and Israeli civilians killed in the past several months, and over the past many decades. Taking inspiration from our Palestinian and Jewish friends, we will grieve for the dead and fight with all we have for the living.

We demand:

- That President Biden, the State Department, and all members of Congress call for an immediate ceasefire.
- That the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Security Council immediately launch a task force to investigate organized disinformation networks in India and around the world.
- That Meta, X, Youtube, and other social media companies take action against purveyors of disinformation and hate in India.
- That the House and Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees explore regulations for online disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech, including in non-English languages.