We Are Not Indifferent - We Support Palestine: Fresno Branch Calls for Immediate End of Israel’s Actions in Gaza

Leni Villagomez Reeves repping Women's International League for Peace and Freedom at a Fresno demo for peace and freedom in Gaza and Palestine. Credit: Leni Villagomez Reeves

By Teresa Castillo, WILPF-US Fresno Branch Chair
Leni Villagomez Reeves, WILPF-US Fresno Branch Secretary and Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issue Committee Co-chair

December 2023

Fresno Branch members, along with other WILPF members, have been reaching out to US government officials (although some will not even meet with representatives of the Palestinian and pro-Palestine community) and urging a ceasefire, as well as participating in demonstrations and prayer vigils.

The immediate issue is the collective punishment of the people of Gaza. A disproportionate number of Palestinian civilians are being killed – some believe intentionally – by Israel. The relentless, weeks-long, intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza is not self defense, and is not precise, targeted attacks. Civilians are being slaughtered. It is estimated there is one Palestinian child killed every 10 minutes in Gaza, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in mid-November. There  are frequent targeted attacks on “safe zones”, including medical  facilities, schools, refugee camps and other essential infrastructure for maintaining life. Photo: Candlelight prayer vigil for Ceasefire, Fresno. Credit: Leni Villagomez Reeves

We believe this is a war crime. A crime against humanity.

In addition, Israel, the occupying power, began cutting off the food, water, electricity and fuel to the Palestinians living in Gaza, causing death by starvation and dehydration. All while the US is providing $$$billions in aid, especially military aid, to Israel without regard for the obvious fact that the money is used to attack a defenseless civilian Palestinian population.

Not In My Name!

The devastation to lives, to families, to homes, to entire city blocks, plus the trauma the Palestinians are suffering from the displacement, the blanket bombings and the starvation. They will never recover the bombed and bulldozed infrastructure. We believe Israel must stop and must be held accountable for their crimes against humanity imposed on the Palestinian people of Gaza and the West Bank. 

A ceasefire is only the beginning. Israel must release the siege and end the occupation. Plus, Israeli settlers and soldiers must stop terrorizing Palestinians while they illegally move in and take over the West Bank. It is time for all people living in the region to be treated equally, under a real democracy! 
Photo: Fresno WILPF Chair Teresa Castillo with Hashid Kasama at a Ceasefire/Free Palestine demonstration. Credit: Hashid Kasama (used with permission)

We call for:

• A real ceasefire, and end to the killing and to the siege
• An end to US support of apartheid and genocide
• A balanced media coverage that treats Palestinian lives as equal to Israeli lives
• Equitable language that recognizes that the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons without trials or even charges are just as much hostages as those held by Hamas
• An acknowledgement that an attack kills 15,000 people with 5,000 to 6,000 children among them  in just weeks is not war but genocidal murder
• Recognition that this is Israeli policy, as Israeli government ministers have declared in the clearest possible terms: “We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza,” Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said. “There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel.”
• Support for Amnesty International’s call for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to expedite the investigation into war crimes and other crimes under international law. “Our research points to damning evidence of war crimes in Israel’s bombing campaign that must be urgently investigated. Decades of impunity and injustice and the unprecedented level of death and destruction of the current offensive will only result in further violence and instability in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “Without justice and the dismantlement of Israel’s system of apartheid against Palestinians, there can be no end to the horrifying civilian suffering we are witnessing.”

Actions to take:

• Petition to Biden 
• Call your members of Congress
• Call Congress again
• Email and call your elected officials daily - as often as you can
• Tell your friends and family to do the same