GPSCC calls for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine and an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine.

GPSCC calls for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine and an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine.

October 27, 2023 – We in the Green Party of Santa Clara County, join the Green Party of the United States in calling for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine.

We condemn the intense Israeli government’s carpet bombing and military attacks on civilians, including children that have, in less than three weeks, resulted in over 7000 deaths and thousands more injured of the Palestinian people and we also condemn the actions of Hamas in attacking civilians and taking Israeli hostages which has resulted in 1400 deaths.

The deliberate targeting of civilian populations and their homes, hospitals, and places of worship is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Israeli government’s actions in cutting off water, food, fuel, power, and medical supplies to Gaza is also a violation of international humanitarian law that prohibits sieges on civilian populations.

It is impossible to understand the reasons for these escalating acts of violence unless we examine and understand the long history of sustained displacement, dispossession, occupation, economic marginalization, and dehumanizing violence perpetuated against the Muslim and Arab communities that once flourished in their country, Palestine.

Starting with the Nakba, the 1948 forced displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians from their home by Israel, forced annexation has been continuing through Israeli illegal settlements. The international community as represented by the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Court of Justice, and the High Contracting Parties to the Convention have all declared Israeli-occupied territories as illegal and in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The prospect of peace has been slim in these occupied lands for decades. However, the recent Israeli campaign of annihilation of Gaza, targeting civilians and over one million children calls for us all to rise and demand an end to the bloodshed and genocide of the Palestinian people.

The Green Party of Santa Clara County demands that the U.S. administration and all our Federal, State, and local representatives:

• Hear the call of the people around our country and around the world and act as peace brokers to achieve a ceasefire and de-escalation of violence in Palestine.
• Participate in the international effort to provide humanitarian aid during this crisis.
• Immediately stop all U.S. funding to the Israeli government.
• Demand that Israel conforms to all international laws and the Geneva Convention, ends its illegal occupation and annexation of Palestinian territories and restores the right of Palestinian people to self-determination as stipulated in numerous U.N. resolutions.

This statement was approved by the GPSCC membership on October 26, 2023.