A statement from Cleveland DSA’s Steering Committee
The Steering Committee of Cleveland DSA joins Jewish Voice For Peace in calling on all people of conscience to oppose genocide in Gaza. We grieve the loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives this past week. At the same time we know that the war on Gaza did not begin last weekend. The only path to safety for all is an end to the occupation and apartheid.
The apartheid state of Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into the world’s largest open-air prison, routinely humiliating, assaulting, and killing Palestinians, on both an individual and mass scale. A blockade such as that Gaza has suffered for 16 years is an act of war under international law. Since Saturday’s attack by Hamas and other factions, the Israeli government has cut off all water, food, and electricity to 2 million people in Gaza, half of them children, while carrying out indiscriminate bombing of homes and medical facilities, including the use of white phosphorus.
Over the last century, countless families have been ethnically cleansed from Palestine. Many of these refugees and their descendants live in Gaza today, others are with us here in Cleveland. Palestinians across the world are mourning families they have in many cases been forbidden from visiting by the Israeli government. Governments are seeking to further criminalize their movements as they have already with the fundamentally nonviolent Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign of which DSA is a part. DSA is in a unique position to resist these attacks.
We encourage our sister chapters and our elected representatives not to be intimidated by death threats, legal attacks, slander, or misinformation. DSA must not, and will not surrender our principles. We will never stop organizing for Palestinian liberation, and for political and social equality from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
We implore our membership to donate to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund at our upcoming General Meeting, and lay plans for practical solidarity work with the Palestinian community in the months and years to come. We encourage you to attend rallies, vigils, and fundraisers organized by the Palestinian community in Cleveland. Do not allow hatred and misinformation to dilute your solidarity with the Palestinian people.