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House Democrats Write Letter to Biden and Blinken Urging Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

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As Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza following the October 7 attack by Hamas that killed about 1,200 people, including the taking of 240 hostages, a group of lawmakers wrote a letter to President Biden and Secretary Blinken on Wednesday expressing their concern about the escalating violence in the region. They site the growing civilian casualties writing, “the Israeli Defense Forces have killed over 11,078 Palestinians, nearly half of whom have been children.”

The two dozen members write that, “without an immediate cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a robust bilateral ceasefire, this war will lead to a further loss of civilian life and risk dragging the United States into dangerous and unwise conflict with armed groups across the Middle East. Further, we write urging clarity on your strategic objectives for achieving de-escalation and stability in the region.”

The letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was signed by the following Members of Congress:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Betty McCollum 

Mark Pocan 

Rashida Tlaib 

Cori Bush 

James P. McGovern 

Mary Gay Scanlon 

Raúl M. Grijalva

Pramila Jayapal 

Joaquin Castro 

Delia C. Ramirez

Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.

Greg Casar 

Jesús G. “Chuy” García 

Bonnie Watson Coleman 

Nydia M. Velázquez 

Ayanna Pressley

Jonathan L. Jackson 

Barbara Lee 

André Carson 

Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. 

Summer Lee 

Veronica Escobar 

Ilhan Omar 

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Open letter to President Biden: we call for a ceasefire now

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, , , Ben Lerner,  and others

We are a group of Jewish American writers, artists and academics. We oppose what the Israeli government is doing with US assistance

President Joe Biden:

We are a group of Jewish American writers, artists and academics. Being Jewish means different things to all of us, but we all have at least one Jewish parent, which means we could move to Israel and qualify for Israeli citizenship.

We condemn attacks on Israeli and Palestinian civilians. We believe it is possible and in fact necessary to condemn Hamas’ actions and acknowledge the historical and ongoing oppression of the Palestinians. We believe it is possible and necessary to condemn Hamas’ attack and take a stand against the collective punishment of Gazans that is unfolding and accelerating as we write.

Cutting off resources to more than 2 million people, demanding families flee their homes in the north, indiscriminately bombing a trapped population – these are war crimes and indefensible actions. And yet the United States government is offering “moral” and material support for the dehumanization and murder of innocent Gazans. We write to publicly declare our opposition to what the Israeli government is doing with American assistance. We call on the US government to seek an immediate ceasefire and to use our resources towards providing aid ensuring the safe return of hostages and building a diplomatic path towards peace.

As Jews, as Americans, we will be made to feel a sense of safety in our communities, and in the world, not by unequivocal US support for Israel, but by our government’s insistence on the universal human rights that so many of us take for granted.

Timo Andres

Annie Baker

Timo Andres

Annie Baker

Susan Bernofsky

Judith Butler

Michael Chabon

Deborah Eisenberg

Madeleine George

Masha Gessen

Francisco Goldman

Andre Gregory

Nan Goldin

Alena Graedon

Amy Herzog

Marianne Hirsch

Gabriel Kahane

Cindy Klein

David Klion

Lisa Kron

Rachel Kushner

Tony Kushner

Ben Lerner

Jonathan Lethem

Sam Lipsyte

Zachary Lockman

Kenneth Lonergan

Andrew Marantz

Ben Marcus

David Naimon

Benjamin Nugent

Howard Rodman

Dana Sachs

Ira Sachs

Lynne Sachs

James Schamus

Adam Shatz

Wallace Shawn

Leo Spitzer

V (formerly known as Eve Ensler)

Paula Vogel

Ayelet Waldman

Laura Wexler

Hannah Zeavin