The People’s Resolution calling for a CEASEFIRE in Palestine and Israel and Demanding Justice for all

We, the people of Sonoma County, living on the stolen land of the Coastal Miwok, Southern Pomo, Kashaya and Wappo peoples - the people who stewarded this land for millennia before being subjected to displacement and genocide by European settler-colonizers - believe that all life is precious and that all suffering and loss of life is tragic. We mourn the lives lost on and since October 7, 2023 due to the violence in Israel and Palestine. As well, we also mourn the lives lost in the nearly one hundred years leading up to that day.

Ten months into the United States-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the rest of occupied Palestine, it is conservatively estimated that at least 200,000 Palestinians have been killed. The vast majority of the deaths and injuries being women and children. The entire population of Gaza is being subjected to starvation, thirst, disease and lack of adequate medical care. Israel continues to block necessary aid from entering the strip while simultaneously bombing neighborhoods, indiscriminately killing and injuring all in its path, destroying hospitals, factories, power plants, wells and water purification systems and everything that is necessary to sustain life. Israel has destroyed cultural institutions, schools, universities, mosques, churches, historical and civic archives, libraries and historical sites amounting to cultural genocide.

We recognize that the current crisis takes place within a long history of occupation and Zionist colonization in historic Palestine. The origin of the Zionist colonization of Palestine is found in the racist ideology of the late 19th century European colonialism. Its goal is the displacement of the indigenous Palestinian population and replacing it with a foreign one. We reject the racist colonial violence and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

We view the struggle for liberation in Palestine as part of the wider struggle against imperialism and its legacy around the world in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific Islands and the Americas to name but a few. And here at home in Sonoma County, the legacy of imperialism is experienced daily by members of our community. Indigenous people, African-Americans, immigrants and the poor face discrimination at every turn. And our police forces, trained by Israel in surveillance and population control, are becoming ever more militarized. Only through true solidarity and unity can liberation be achieved. We are reminded here of the words of the Australian indigenous activist Lilla Watson, “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Many of us who are Jewish reject the notion that an apartheid ethno-state on stolen land will make us safe from antisemitism. There has been intense Jewish opposition to Zionism since the concept was first proposed. There are hundreds of thousands of Jews worldwide who disavow the actions of the State of Israel in repressing the Palestinian population, and attempting to keep a Jewish majority in the area by force.

During the many months since October 7th, local politicians and elected representatives have failed their constituents and have been silent in the face of calls for them to take actions opposing the genocide in Gaza.
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We, the people of Sonoma County, join the United Nations, human rights organizations, world leaders, religious leaders, the City of Cotati, the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights, Santa Rosa Schools and citizens of the world everywhere in calling for an immediate and permanent CEASEFIRE. We demand an end to all armed hostilities, and an end to US military aid to Israel, including any and all weapons. We also call for the prompt release of all hostages and detainees, both Israeli and Palestinian.

We demand equal rights and representation for everyone who lives in the region, and the right of return for refugees and their descendants to their homeland.
We hold that it is the duty of local governments to convey and amplify the will of the people to state and federal governments. Therefore, we call on city and county governments in Sonoma County and around the country to heed the demands of their constituents and join with them in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. These calls for a ceasefire must be backed by concrete and meaningful actions to pressure Israel and the US government, such as divestment from Israel and from weapon manufacturers and companies profiting from the suffering of Palestinians and all oppressed people around the world. We demand that our tax dollars be used to strengthen and support our communities, rather than funding endless war abroad. As citizens of the world, we demand peace, liberation and freedom for all.