Sign to Support a Roanoke City Resolution for a Permanent Ceasefire
Roanoke City Council
Learn more about the Southwest Virginia Coalition for Palestine on our website linked HERE.
For community events and actions, follow us on Instagram @swva.coalitionforpalestine
As gravely concerned members of Roanoke City, we are joining together to implore the City Council to put forth a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine and Israel.
We know that Roanoke City residents are directly impacted by the ongoing violence as there are many of us with ties to Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, Jerusalem, and the surrounding region. It is therefore our moral duty to show our support by calling for a local resolution that supports a permanent ceasefire.
Scholars of the Holocaust, genocide, and international law, as well as human rights groups and legal experts, have stated that the Israeli Government is acting with genocidal intent. Since the massacre by Hamas on October 7, Israeli military forces have killed over 34,000 people in Gaza, including more than 14,500 children. In addition to the Israeli Government’s bombing and ground invasion, innocent people are also dying from disease, starvation, dehydration, and lack of adequate medical care because of the Israeli Government’s collective punishment and total siege of all 2.3 million human beings in Gaza, including the remaining Israeli hostages. Children in particular are severely malnourished by Israeli-made famine, and many children have already died from starvation and dehydration.
The continued death, destruction, forced displacement, siege, starvation, brutalization, unlawful imprisonment, and terrorization of innocent people by the Israeli Government with support of the U.S. Government must end immediately. “Humanitarian pauses'' and temporary truces are not enough. As American citizens, we must prevent further U.S. culpability in aiding and abetting what is plausibly a genocide.
Furthermore, divisions and forms of hate are being sown in the midst of this ongoing violence and are impacting our community. Calling for a peaceful resolution protects us all by sending a clear message that antisemitism, islamophobia, and racism will not be tolerated in our community.
As this global crisis is affecting us locally, it is imperative that we join dozens of other localities including Harrisonburg, VA; Charlottesville, VA; Durham, NC; and Athens, OH, who have already passed local ceasefire resolutions to pressure national and international leaders to take immediate action in pursuing a permanent ceasefire, end of siege, and resolution to the violence.
By passing a resolution calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire, we in Roanoke City will affirm our commitment to the principles of justice, peace, and human rights for all. It will demonstrate our solidarity with the people of Israel and Palestine who seek a sustainable path forward. It will send a powerful message to our state and federal representatives that our city stands united with the international community in its condemnation of hatred, violence, and genocide.
Ongoing violence will not resolve anything. The Roanoke City Council must use their council platform to amplify the need for a peaceful and political solution.
We join together with urgency to strongly implore the Roanoke City Council to take a proactive stance now by calling for an immediate (1) permanent ceasefire in Israel and Palestine, (2) stop of U.S. military aid to Israeli forces, (3) facilitation of prompt and unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid and assistance into Gaza, and (4) negotiation to release all hostages.
We must stand up for human life, for humanity. We must build toward a future in which all Palestinians and Israelis can live in freedom and equality in a future without occupation, blockade, and apartheid.
CHECK BEFORE SIGNING
Please ensure you are a resident of Roanoke City.
Roanoke City zip codes:
24012, 24017, 24015, 24014, 24016, 24013, 24011, 24045, 24044, 24048, 24035, 24034, 24037, 24036, 24040, 24038, 24043, 24042, 24002, 24001, 24004, 24003, 24006, 24005, 24008, 24007, 24010, 24009, 24023, 24022, 24025, 24024, 24027, 24026, 24029, 24028, 24031, 24030, 24033, 24032
LEARN MORE, DO MORE
Learn more about the Southwest Virginia Coalition for Palestine on our website linked HERE.
For community events and actions, follow us on Instagram @swva.coalitionforpalestine
Sponsored by
To:
Roanoke City Council
From:
[Your Name]
As gravely concerned members of Roanoke City, we are joining together to implore the City Council to put forth a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine and Israel.
We know that Roanoke City residents are directly impacted by the ongoing violence as there are many of us with ties to Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, Jerusalem, and the surrounding region. It is therefore our moral duty to show our support by calling for a local resolution that supports a permanent ceasefire.
Scholars of the Holocaust, genocide, and international law, as well as human rights groups and legal experts, have stated that the Israeli Government is acting with genocidal intent. Since the massacre by Hamas on October 7, Israeli military forces have killed over 32,000 people in Gaza, including more than 13,000 children. In addition to the Israeli Government’s bombing and ground invasion, innocent people are also dying from disease, starvation, dehydration, and lack of adequate medical care because of the Israeli Government’s collective punishment and total siege of all 2.3 million human beings in Gaza, including the remaining Israeli hostages. Children in particular are severely malnourished by Israeli-made famine, and many children have already died from starvation and dehydration.
The continued death, destruction, forced displacement, siege, starvation, brutalization, unlawful imprisonment, and terrorization of innocent people by the Israeli Government with support of the U.S. Government must end immediately. “Humanitarian pauses'' and temporary truces are not enough. As American citizens, we must prevent further U.S. culpability in aiding and abetting what is plausibly a genocide.
Furthermore, divisions and forms of hate are being sown in the midst of this ongoing violence and are impacting our community. Calling for a peaceful resolution protects us all by sending a clear message that antisemitism, islamophobia, and racism will not be tolerated in our community.
As this global crisis is affecting us locally, it is imperative that we join dozens of other localities including Harrisonburg, VA; Charlottesville, VA; Durham, NC; and Athens, OH, who have already passed local ceasefire resolutions to pressure national and international leaders to take immediate action in pursuing a permanent ceasefire, end of siege, and resolution to the violence.
By passing a resolution calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire, we in Roanoke City will affirm our commitment to the principles of justice, peace, and human rights for all. It will demonstrate our solidarity with the people of Israel and Palestine who seek a sustainable path forward. It will send a powerful message to our state and federal representatives that our city stands united with the international community in its condemnation of hatred, violence, and genocide.
Ongoing violence will not resolve anything. The Roanoke City Council must use their council platform to amplify the need for a peaceful and political solution.
We join together with urgency to strongly implore the Roanoke City Council to take a proactive stance now by calling for immediate (1) permanent ceasefire in Israel and Palestine, (2) stop of U.S. military aid to Israeli military forces, (3) delivery and facilitation of prompt and unrestricted humanitarian aid and assistance into Gaza, and (4) a negotiation to release all hostages.
We must stand up for human life, for humanity. We must build toward a future in which all Palestinians and Israelis can live in freedom and equality in a future without occupation, blockade, and apartheid.
Sincerely, the undersigned: