View the open letter and list of signatories here. Numbers have been updated as the casualties in Gaza have continue to climb.

We are child and nonprofit advocates of all races, ages, and backgrounds. We work across local, state, and national contexts, on issues ranging from racial justice to education, from violence prevention to democratic freedom. We are Americans who have dedicated our lives to justice, peace, and humanity.

We write today to implore President Biden, Vice President Harris, the administration and members of Congress to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank. We call for an end to the killing of thousands of innocent Palestinian children, women, and men by the Israeli government—killings financed by U.S. taxpayers against the will of a majority of U.S. voters.

We call for action now—not next week, not next month—because every day that goes by is another day these atrocities continue; atrocities that include targeted civilian killings, mass civilian incarceration and torture, and deliberate destruction of infrastructure at an unprecedented pace. The death toll stands at more than 20,000 Palestinians and counting, with more than 50,000 wounded. Without immediate action, tens of thousands more innocent people will die. Entire families are quite literally waiting to be killed as bombings of residential areas persist. Survivors are suffering untold horrors as they lose their families, their limbs, their homes, and their access to food and water. 

The scale of death and suffering of innocent civilians is an atrocity to humanity and an affront to our collective values. More children were killed in Gaza in the first three weeks of this latest escalation than across two dozen war zones throughout all of last year. Since then, the children's death toll has more than doubled, with some estimates that include children presumed dead under the rubble as high as over 9,000. Over the last two months, Gaza has seen a higher proportion of civilian deaths than the average across each of the world conflicts in the 20th century. A senior U.N. aide has warned that half of Gaza’s population is starving, and the U.N. reports that as many as 1.9 million Palestinians (over 85% of Gaza’s population), have been displaced from their homes by the Israeli government. 

Every day you fail to take action, the world grows more dangerous for the people of Palestine, the people of Israel, and the people of our own country as opposition to our government’s actions grows. Already, on our soil Islamophobia and antisemitism have soared. Allowing suffering to continue in spite of massive international and grassroots pressure, at every level of government and civil society, will only lead to further cynicism and mistrust in our political leadership, harming our communities and democracy. 

We condemn this administration’s unconditioned military aid to Israel for what leading scholars have called out as genocide. And we harshly condemn our country’s repeated veto of a ceasefire in the U.N., which most recently occurred on December 8, when the U.S. cast the lone vote on the UN Security Council against a ceasefire, despite pleas from other world leaders and warnings of threats to the maintenance of international peace and stability. This vote was cast with the knowledge that Israeli forces recently began going door-to-door rounding up innocent men, fathers, and grandfathers, burning refugee camps with sick and disabled people, and continuing to break international humanitarian law and the rules of war with impunity. On the world stage, our country is now singularly responsible for enabling the continued mass killings of the people of Gaza. 

Simply urging Israel to protect the lives of innocent civilians is far from sufficient and disingenuous when the U.S. has the power and political clout to end these atrocities now. In the name of humanity, we call on President Biden, Vice President Harris, and all leaders of conscience to end this unbearable nightmare and call for a permanent ceasefire now. We urge the U.S. government to end its military aid to Israel and to instead leverage our tax dollars and leadership on the world stage to promote peace rooted in justice. That means finally ending the 75-year war on Palestinians and affirming the right of Palestinians to freedom from Israeli occupation and apartheid, self-defense, and self-determination.

As people who have dedicated our lives and careers in service of others, we cannot stand idly by. We are urging you to ensure our country lives up to its professed values. We join Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, Amnesty International, the International Federation for Human Rights, U.N. top leaders, people of all faiths including countless Jewish people across the globe, and the majority of U.S. voters, in our call to enforce a permanent ceasefire and de-escalation that engenders the conditions for a lasting, just peace. 

Complete this form to sign on to the letter above.

This letter was brought together by a diverse group of professionals within the non-profit sector. You can contact us at NonprofitPeople4Ceasefire@gmail.com. The letter with signatory names and states was made public after 500 signatories were reached. Sign ons remain open, and you can follow our progress on Instagram at @nonprofitpeople4ceasefire. 

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