Gaza is a local issue. Call for a ceasefire now!
Community Members,
Buen Vecino (Good Neighbor) is a community-based organization committed to ensuring the protection of human rights and fostering a shared sense of belonging for all individuals. In this time of profound heartache, our organization's core values — belonging, compassion, equity, and justice — compel us to unite our voices in solidarity. Being a good neighbor applies to all contexts, whether local, national, or international.
Advocacy for immigrant rights and for Palestinian self-determination underscores our commitment to social justice. Palestinian, Jewish, and refugee communities around the world share fundamental parallels rooted in oppression, displacement, and the denial of basic rights. Today, almost 6 million refugees worldwide are Palestinian. The mutual freedom and safety of Palestinian and Jewish communities is interconnected.
Our community includes Palestinians who experienced violence, loss and displacement, and Jewish individuals who had family members survive or perish in the Holocaust. People who have suffered under the brutal domination of colonialism and the atrocities of enslavement recognize the universal necessity for security, freedom, human rights, and self-determination for all.
Today, we are witnessing a genocide in Gaza, and deadly violence in the West Bank. We cannot justify silence by taking the position that “foreign affairs” are outside the scope of our work. Taxes we pay in Ventura County fund military operations against Gaza. In addition, the Biden administration and Congress are considering cruel immigration proposals as trade-offs to gain passage of a spending package that would send billions of dollars in weapons to continue the devastation of Gaza.
Constituents in our community are feeling abandoned and are disengaging from politics because our representatives remain silent and unresponsive about the killing of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza, more than a third of whom are children.
Buen Vecino stands with the countless people of diverse faiths and traditions calling for an immediate, total, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to colonialism, occupation and apartheid-like policies in the Palestinian territories and Israel.
We urgently call for:
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An immediate, total, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza to halt the genocide and an end to violence in the West Bank.
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Humanitarian essentials such as water, food, fuel, and medical supplies to be allowed into Gaza, and the restoration of power in Gaza.
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Establishing evacuation routes to allow Palestinians and foreign nationals in need of urgent medical treatment to exit Gaza safely.
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The safe release of all Palestinian prisoners unlawfully detained and the safe release of Israeli hostages.
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The United States to stop vetoing ceasefire resolutions at the United Nations and instead to actively support diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire.
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Congress to reject all proposals and funding requests that would further massive violence against Palestinians in Gaza, the militarization of the U.S. southern border, and the persecution of immigrants and asylum seekers.
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Granting journalists unrestricted access to enter, exit, and report from Gaza.
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Our neighbors to contact their senators and representatives, the President, and the Secretary of State to urge them to call for an immediate ceasefire and delivery of humanitarian aid.
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Organizations that are dedicated to social justice and humanitarian causes to join us in our calls to action.
Take action TODAY, click "Start Writing": Make your voice heard by contacting your senators and representatives to advocate for their support in diplomatic efforts for an immediate, total, and permanent ceasefire, an end to the occupation, and to ensure the rights and dignity of Palestinian people.
