The JC Ceasefire Movement shared this letter today with the Jersey City Times. It was prepared prior to the current resolution to be voted on at today’s 4 p.m. special meeting of the Municipal Council.

Letter to Jersey City Council Members

We grieve for the 1,200 dead in Israel and 20,000 dead in Gaza over the past few weeks.
Israelis have bombed schools, hospitals, refugee camps and ambulances carrying the injured.

There is no food, water, electricity, fuel or medicine. We are in anguish over the prospect of thousands more Palestinians dying in the near future. Already, 8,000 children have been killed.

A community member’s nephew in Gaza asked his mother recently, “What does it feel like to die under rubble?” This is heartbreaking. We are asking for a permanent ceasefire now and an allowance of all necessary humanitarian aid to reach all those in need.

We are calling on the Jersey City Municipal Council to adopt a resolution that endorses the Cori Bush-Rashida Tlaib introduced H.Res 786, which condemns all acts of terror and war crimes and which recognizes the rights of Palestinians to live in freedom from oppression. The House resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire, not a pause, in the bombing of Gaza and for provisions to be made for all humanitarian aid to enter the besieged territory. Over 66% of Americans support a ceasefire. Only once there is a ceasefire can all hostages be released, including over 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners detained in Israeli prisons; many of them children. Families of the hostages in Israel are also demanding a ceasefire and an “all for all” hostage exchange.

A ceasefire is just the first step towards peace, which can only come by ending the occupation and what groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have established as an apartheid system.

Amid the ongoing horrors taking place in the Middle East, there have been some terrible consequences, such as the spread of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bigotry and violence. We condemn all forms of bigotry and violence. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian bigotry are totally antithetical to what we stand for and are contrary to our vision of a world where Israelis and Palestinians, and all people — regardless of race, faith, or background — can attain justice and live together in peace.

We urge the Jersey City Municipal Council to act on the right side of history to prevent more needless suffering and endorse the Bush/Tlaib H.Res 786 calling for an immediate de-escalation and permanent cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.


American Muslims for Palestine – NJ Chapter
Jewish Voice for Peace Northern New Jersey Chapter
The Foundry Girl JC
Democratic Socialists of America – Hudson County
Jersey City Friends of People’s World
Peace Action NJ
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 021 of Northern New Jersey We Care Movement
Council on American Islamic Relation NJ (CAIR NJ)
Hindus for Human Rights
Indian American Muslim Council (NJ)
American Muslims for Democracy (NJ)
National Lawyers Guild RU-N
Rutgers Law Newark Muslim Law Student Association
Pax Christi NJ