Speakers include: Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Fahed Abuakel, Dr. James Zogby, Peter Beinart, Congressman Johnathon Jackson, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rabbi Phyllis Berman, Dr. Nina Turner, Illinois State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid, Rev. Frederick Haynes, Wesley Granberg-Michaelson.

Emergency Summit for Gaza: Call to Action

We are faith leaders, and civil and human rights advocates, all united in this moment of moral reckoning to affirm the sanctity of all human life. We call on the Biden Administration and Congress to act for justice and the preservation of Palestinian and Israeli lives now.

We unequivocally condemn attacks on all innocent civilians, including the October 7th Hamas-led attacks in Israel which killed 1200 Israelis and saw 240 people taken hostage. We condemn the Israeli government’s military siege and indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza, where U.S.-made weapons have contributed to the loss of over 20,000 Palestinian lives and thousands more still buried under the rubble of what used to be their homes. Right now in Gaza, there are 1.8 million people who are experiencing starvation and disease due to forced displacement, destruction of essential civilian infrastructure, and denial of clean water, food, and fuel. The number of Palestinians, including children, held without charges in Israeli prisons is growing at an unprecedented rate. It is our moral obligation to leverage our collective power to end the escalation of death and ongoing humanitarian crises.

• We demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire and the immediate release of all Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners held without charges or due process.
• We urge the US to lead the international community and facilitate unimpeded UN-supervised humanitarian aid in Gaza. This includes but is not limited to the immediate delivery of lifesaving aid, the reconstruction, restabilization, and return of Palestinians displaced from their homes and neighborhoods.
• We urge the US to abide by its own regulations and condition funding to Israel on its adherence to U.S. law just as is required for every other nation that receives U.S. military financing.

United in shared humanity, we collectively urge the United States to leverage its power to end the atrocities underway now in Gaza, atrocities that meet the definition of genocide. A ceasefire is just the beginning. The staggering civilian casualties highlight a fundamental truth: there is no military resolution that can bring justice for Palestinians and security for Israelis. Indeed, we understand the safety and security of Israelis and Palestinians to be inextricably intertwined, a safety for both peoples predicated on a diplomatic solution that puts an end to apartheid and occupation. Further, we condemn the rising antisemitic and anti-Arab, especially anti-Palestinian, incidents of hate and attacks, and we commit to work together to combat them. These hate incidents and hate crimes are occurring during an alarming climate of doxxing, censorship, and intimidation of voices advocating for Palestinian human rights, including young Jewish, Muslim, and Black voices.

We gather to build upon the historical legacy and current global movements for peace, justice, and liberation. In the words of Rev. Jesse Jackson in Lebanon in 1979, “we do not seek to exchange sufferers but rather to stop suffering.”