Ceasefire Now Resolution Underscores Urgent Call to Save Palestinian, Israeli & American Civilian Lives

Video (YouTube) | Resolution Text (PDF)

WASHINGTON — Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joined Representatives Cori Bush (MO-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), André Carson (IN-07), Summer Lee (PA-12), and Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), as well as Representatives Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), in announcing a resolution urging the Biden Administration to call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and Gaza, to send humanitarian aid and assistance to Gaza, and to save as many lives as possible.

Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues in unveiling the resolution on a press call earlier today. Full video of her remarks is available here and a transcript is available below.

Transcript: Pressley Joins Bush, Tlaib, Carson, Lee, Ramirez, Colleagues on Resolution Calling for Immediate Ceasefire
October 16, 2023

Thank you, Rep. Bush. Thank you, Rep Tlaib. 

Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your courage, your conviction. For this resolution and for speaking plainly about exactly what is at stake in this moment, in this dark moment, when our shared humanity is on the line.

No nation should violate international human rights law and act with callous disregard for human life, ever. 

Over 2,600 Palestinian civilians have been murdered in Gaza this week. Families fleeing for safety, mothers with children in their arms. 

The loss of every Palestinian, Israeli, and American life we have seen in the past week is incomprehensible, overwhelming, devastating. And the grief and trauma in our communities is palpable. 

Let me make it plain: the murder of innocent Israeli civilians by Hamas is horrific and unacceptable. And the murder of innocent Palestinian civilians is a horrific and unacceptable response from Israel. 

With over 2,600 Palestinians, 1,400 Israelis and 30 Americans killed, scores of others wounded, hostages’ lives at risk, and millions in Gaza, lacking food, electricity, and clean drinking water, we must pursue an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians and to save lives. 

The United States has a moral obligation to get Americans in Gaza and Israel safely home, to save Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives, and to ensure that humanitarian assistance is provided to Gaza. 

As a woman of faith also, I kept turning over something I heard so often growing up in church and the Scripture that we read so often, and those two beliefs. 

We are all God’s children and blessed are the peacemakers. 

May we continue to pray for peace, to call for peace, and to work for peace. 

I see this plainly. If we affirm that all lives have dignity and value, as people of faith, we cannot stand by while civilians are indiscriminately murdered. 

Vengeance should not be a foreign policy doctrine. 

Our shared humanity is at stake and we must move with urgency.

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The resolution text is available here and more information is available here.

The Ceasefire Now Resolution is endorsed by 350.org, About Face: Veterans Against the War, Action Center on Race & the Economy, Adalah Justice Project, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine (AFRP), American Muslims for Palestine, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, Arab American Institute, Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Center for Civilians in Conflict, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Jewish Nonviolence, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Defense for Children International – Palestine, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), Dream Defenders, EMGAGE Action, Freedom Forward, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Highlander Research & Education, Hindus for Human Rights, IfNotNow, Institute for Middle Eastern Understanding, Institute for Policy Studies New Internationalism Project, The Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, Just Foreign Policy, MADRE, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Movement Law Lab, MPower Change Action Fund, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action, Progressive Jews of St. Louis, Project48, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, ReThinking Foreign Policy, RootsAction.org, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Institute Justice Team, Transgender Law Center, United Church of Christ, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), US Council for Muslim Organizations, Women Cross DMZ, and Working Families Party. A list of all endorsement quotes can be found HERE.

On October 13, 2023, Rep. Pressley joined Reps. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), James P. McGovern (MA-02), and 50 colleagues on a letter condemning the terrorist attacks by Hamas on the people of Israel, calling for Israeli military operations to follow the rules of international humanitarian law, and continuing to work toward peace in the region.

On October 11, 2023, Rep. Pressley joined Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), and nearly 150 colleagues in urging the State Department to use all tools at its disposal help get Americans out of Israel and back home to the United States. She applauded the State Department for heeding her calls on October 12, 2023 and continues to press for the urgent evacuation of Americans in Gaza.

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