In 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza and ruled that its entire presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, is illegal and amounts to apartheid. In September 2025, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. The livestreamed massacres, starvation, and ground invasion of Gaza inflicted by Israel are war crimes, and will remain such even if a ceasefire is reached.
The UN Relief Chief has called on the Security Council to act decisively to “prevent genocide,” adding that “Every single one of the 2.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face the risk of famine. One in five face starvation.” UN human rights experts have said, that to fulfill their legal obligations, States must at a bare minimum “Cancel or suspend economic relationships, trade agreements and academic relations with Israel that may contribute to its unlawful presence and apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territory,” and “Impose a full arms embargo on Israel.”
The US has provided billions of dollars in military funding, weapons, and diplomatic cover to facilitate Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. As the Trump administration continues to support Israel’s atrocities and fails to stop tens of thousands dying of starvation, we will not stand by and be complicit. It is our duty, as city councilors in the United States, to step up and act meaningfully while upholding our anti-racist principles. Never again means never again, for anyone.
As city councilors, we pledge to investigate any complicity our city may have with Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid, or genocidal violence against Palestinians, including but not limited to:
The manufacturing of weapons and weapons parts intended for use by the Israeli military within city limits
Transport of weapons, weapons parts and dual use items destined for Israel out of city ports, where applicable
Investments in or contracts with companies complicit in Israeli illegal occupation, apartheid, or genocidal violence against Palestinians, including Israel Bonds
Any other diplomatic ties between the city and the Israeli government, including through sister city relationships
We also call for the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza immediately, unconditionally, and at scale; an immediate, permanent ceasefire; and an immediate, permanent end to the illegal occupation, apartheid, and genocide. We will send this letter to our respective congressional delegations, and we call on our fellow city councilors across the United States to join us.
Signed,
