Call for a Permanent Ceasefire and Emergency Food and Medical Aid
The national organization Veterans For Peace has written an Open Letter to Vice President Kamala Harris, asking her to push for an immediate end to the siege of Gaza. The letter begins:
“Dear Vice President Harris, we are reaching out to you as military veterans who have fought in multiple US wars, and who continue to uphold the US Constitution and international law, to organize for justice and equality in our home communities, and to advocate for a peaceful foreign policy. We are appalled by the ongoing Israeli slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinian men, women and children and by the maiming of tens of thousands more. We are outraged by the systematic blocking of food, leading to malnutrition, starvation, disease and the deaths of many more, particularly babies and young children. These are unbearable and unacceptable crimes that will go down in the history books as a terrible genocide – a holocaust.”
The veterans’ letter reminds Vice President Harris of her own words after she meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating — the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third, or fourth time. We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent…. It is time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity, and self-determination… So, to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you.”
Veterans For Peace also reminded Vice President Harris of the growing danger of nuclear war:
“As you must know, Vice President Harris, continued US support for Israel amid the Gaza genocide also risks further regional and global escalation, with potentially irreversible consequences, even the unthinkable horror of nuclear war. We urge you to demonstrate the kind of leadership for which so many people are waiting – for which we are hoping and praying. Please use all your influence to end the unfathomable suffering in Gaza.”
Signed by Veterans For Peace president Susan Schnall, the letter encourages Vice President Harris to take immediate action:
“Don’t wait until January. Do the right thing NOW, even as you are campaigning for president. Please urge President Biden to change course in Gaza, to support an immediate, permanent ceasefire, the opening of Gaza’s borders for massive humanitarian and medical aid, and to stop sending weapons to Israel as long as this massacre continues.”
Veterans For Peace sent the letter to Vice President Harris via email and snail mail earlier this week. It can be read in its entirety here.