St. Louis City passes a Ceasefire Resolution

Dear Saint Louis,

It is with pride and a renewed resolve that the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee celebrates the Board of Alder’s decision to join a growing number of cities around the United States in calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

We applaud President Megan Green and her colleagues for their courage in

standing alongside Representative Cori Bush on the right side of history.

In decades past, we have witnessed how local government resolutions influenced broader public opinion and even national policy concerning issues like the Vietnam War, and divestment from companies doing business in apartheid South Africa.

We are hopeful that this resolution and others like it may be part of the groundwork for the passage of a resolution demanding a ceasefire at the national level.

We are grateful to St. Louisans for making their voices heard in support of an end to this senseless violence and loss of life, as well as to our alderpeople for listening to their constituents.

However, we continue to grieve for the lives of over 22,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks, and for the nearly 2 million Gazans displaced and unable to return to their homes, many of which have been reduced to rubble. Israel has undertaken this campaign of brutality with the direct material and financial support of the United States and will proceed unabated unless external pressure is applied.

Our government’s continual support of this ethnic cleansing is increasingly out of step with the citizens it purports to represent. A growing majority of Americans believe the U.S. should leverage its political power to call for a permanent ceasefire, and public support for unconditional military aid to Israel is dwindling. With that in mind, we will press on in pursuing policy change that not only protects Palestinian lives, but also serves the interests of Americans, and specifically St. Louisans.

Currently, over $5 million in tax money from St. Louis City residents is funneled toward Israel’s weapons fund annually. The same amount of money could provide access to public housing for over 600 households, or low-cost healthcare to at least 1,750 children. These are just two of a countless number of potential uses that would benefit St. Louis residents more than arming a foreign government that is not accountable to the American public.

To that end, we would ask the people of St. Louis to continue speaking out against this genocide, and against our resources being diverted in support of it. Today’s success is a reminder of the power our voices hold when used collectively, but it is far from an endpoint. We must persist in exercising those voices in ways that affirm humanity and influence change, both in our neighborhoods and on the other side of the world in Gaza.

More broadly, PSC remains resolute in our mission of collective work for the liberation, equal rights, and security of all people within Palestine. The road ahead is long and arduous, but we are thankful to be able to celebrate small victories like today’s along the way.