Palestine Tet – 104 – Denver, Colorado to vote on a ceasefire proclamation, today, Monday, February 12, 2024

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Palestine Tet – 104 – Denver, Colorado to vote on a ceasefire proclamation, today, Monday, February 12, 2024

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Yesterday, it was reported, that at the same time that the Superbowl began that Israel intensified its bombing campaign against the civilian population of Gaza targeting Rafah in a effort to expel as many Palestinians as possible into the Sinai to complete “Nakbah II”.

The bastards. 

Today, in Denver Colorado, the City Council will vote on a proclamation calling for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza, first step in ending Israel’s unspeakably cruel war, massacre of Palestinians in Gaza which the International Court of Justice – a body connected to the United Nations – has designated as genocide. 

For those of us – Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, Jewish and Peace activists that have working for an end to the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories and for a Palestinian state, our movement – essentially a peace movement – this moment is the culmination of more than a half century of work, for some longer than that. 

As someone who has been involved – and intimately so – in this above movement for most of his adult life, the momentum behind pressing the City Council for a peace fire has been literally unprecedented both in its size and scope. I’ve never seen anything like it, not in Denver, not across the country, the world. The myth of a “progressive,” “democratic” Israel has been ripped away for all the world to see. Actually outside the United States and Western Europe, most of the world’s people already knew the actual situation: that Israel is a rogue state, an apartheid state, little more than a U.S. proxy doing Washington’s dirty work, of which there is no end, in the Middle East (and beyond). 

Below an email to local City Council members calling on them to support the ceasefire proclamation written by Bob Ross, a neighbor and friend urging our City Council, rep, Amanda Sandoval to vote in support of the measure.

We live in the same neighborhood and have long been friends.  It expresses better than I could  the case for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians and an end to the U.S. supported genocidal campaign against Palestine. Bob Ross repairs string basses for a living at Ross Double Bass, as such, a master craftsman (which he is). Within Colorado’s highly developed music scene he is well known and respected.

His remarks below are unedited. 

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Dear Representative Sandoval,

I’m writing to urge you to vote for the resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

While I am horrified and strongly condemn the heinous Oct 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli soldiers and civilians, this in no way can justify or excuse the indiscriminate bombing and assault/siege on the ~2.3 million Palestinians living in the Gaza strip.  The stated goal of this assault is the elimination of Hamas.  However, the idea that the Israeli leadership, not to mention our state department doesn’t know the history of the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc. and believe this will destroy Hamas, beggars’ belief.

Surely, they know the current bombing campaign no matter how many Hamas fighters are killed in the process will lead to even more recruits or even more virulent resistance groups as well as enraging the Arab street and increasing the likelihood of a regional conflict.   It will also throw fuel on the fire of antisemitism and anti-American sentiment increasing the likelihood of more 10-7 and 9-11 type attacks.   Given past and present statements of Netanyahu and members of his right-wing settler friendly government it seems clear that the intent has much more to do with revenge, collective punishment, and ethnic cleansing.  I’ve just reread the UN charter on genocide and believe one could make a reasonable case that with the aid and support of the United States government this is in fact what’s going on.

On Nov 21, 2023, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said at least 10,000 civilians, including more than 560 children, had been killed and over 18,500 injured since Russia launched its full-scale armed attack against Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Our government along with much of the world has condemned Putin’s invasion and indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets in Ukraine, but our support of the Israeli attack on Gaza hurts Ukraine and emboldens Russia.

Figures released at the end of December by the health ministry in Gaza (which seem to be regarded by UN agencies and most Human rights organizations as reliable) estimate that in a span of less than three months the civilian casualties are over 55000 injured and 21000 plus dead with 70% of those women and children!  Unbelievably ~1.9 million of a population of 2.375 million have been displaced.

While the United States rightly condemns the invasion of Ukraine and the indiscriminate Russian bombing of civilians, we in fact provide the bombs that at this moment are falling on Gaza and use our Security Council veto to stop a call for a ceasefire!  This is misguided and morally bankrupt and exposes the United States to well-deserved charges of hypocrisy.

Here’s David Petraeus talking about the horrific and brutal Oct 7 attack by Hamas: “This is the equivalent of the U.S. having experienced over 40,000 losses, rather than the 3,000 terrible losses that we sustained in the attacks of 9/11,” said Petraeus.   A quick calculation will show that by a similar logic the ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip since then would be the equivalent of the U.S. having experienced well over 3 million lost lives!

I am 71 years old and a lifelong Democrat who has supported you and other Democrats in the past.

However, I’ve stopped my monthly contributions to Act Blue and intend to target them more closely going forward so that any contributions I make only go to Democrats who are willing to call for a ceasefire and will call out the apartheid situation in Israel and demand and work towards justice for the Palestine people and peace and security for all people in that troubled land.

“I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, those to whom evil is done

Do evil in return.”

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