Human Rights Day Message to Rep. Doris Matsui

Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights
SacReg4PalestinianRights@gmail.com – http://www.Sac4Palestine.org


December 10, 2023

Dear Representative Matsui:

We are writing you on International Human Rights Day. We recommend that you review the Universal Declaration of Human Rights1 adopted by the United Nations 75 years ago.

You continue to fail to listen to your constituents, who want a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate end to the genocide and ethnic cleansing now being perpetrated by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.

Instead, you openly supported the silencing of those who advocate for an end to Israel’s occupation, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people by voting for House Resolution 894,2 which equates anti-Zionism, in effect criticism of Israel, with antisemitism.

Conflating Israel with Judaism is antisemitic because it falsely links the actions of the apartheid and racist Israeli government to all Jewish people, when many of those who identify as Jews do not support these actions. It discriminates against Jews and non-Jews who do not support either the Israeli or U.S. government in the continued bombing campaign intended to force Palestinians from Gaza – a war crime.

In your November 20 statement supporting a “temporary ceasefire,” AKA a “pause” in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, you stated, “Lasting peace can only be achieved if Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure is dismantled.” With this false premise, you are giving Israel your blessing to continue its carpet bombing of Palestinian civilians, including children. You continue to blame only Hamas without addressing the egregious, well-documented human rights violations that Israel has been committing for decades against the Palestinian people through its ongoing blockade and siege on Gaza, military occupation, illegal settlements, and killing of Palestinian civilians. 

Please review the 1949 Geneva Conventions, of which the United States is a party, and the Leahy Law, codified in 22 U.S.C. § 2378d. The Leahy Law prohibits U.S. military aid to governments in the face of credible concerns of gross violations of human rights. Both Amnesty International5 and Human Rights Watch6 have released reports within the past week documenting instances of Israel committing war crimes since the October 7th attack.

Your December 8 statement to constituents states, “Violence will never secure peace, and I mourn the loss of so many innocent lives in both Israel and Gaza. Israeli and Palestinian civilians deserve to live their lives in peace and dignity – free from and unthreatened by violence.” These words are a cruel sham when you continue to support military aid to Israel and refuse to call for a real ceasefire. Your actions show that, in fact, you are only concerned about the Israeli government and not about either the Palestinian or Israeli people.

For your platitudes to have any meaning, you must immediately and publicly:

1. Oppose Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and call for a permanent ceasefire, including by signing on to House Resolution 7867.

2. Oppose any U.S. aid, political support, or weapons sales for Israel’s military occupation, its attacks on Palestinian civilians, its illegal settlements, and its apartheid laws that discriminate against non-Jewish Israelis, including Palestinians.

3.  Condemn the recent (12/9/23) U.S. veto of a U.N. Security Council Resolution8 calling for a ceasefire. 

You have been in Congress for nearly twenty years. Do you want your legacy to be that you supported the genocide of the Palestinian people?  That is certainly not the legacy supported by the majority of your constituents.

 Sincerely,

Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights
ANSWER Coalition
Friends of Sabeel Sacramento Region: A Christian Voice for Palestine
Grandmothers for Peace
Greater Sacramento Muslim Political Action Committee
Green Party of Sacramento County
Jewish Voice for Peace, Sacramento Chapter
NorCal Resist
Palestine American League
Palestine Taskforce of the Cal/Nev Conference of the United Methodist Church     
RootsAction.org
Sacramento Area Peace Action
Sacramento County Peace and Freedom Party
Sacramento Democratic Socialists of America Sacramento
Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign Democrats for Justice in Palestine
Sacramento State University Muslim Students Association
Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Sacramento
Students for Justice in Palestine at California State University Sacramento 
Sunrise Movement
Veterans For Peace, Chapter 87
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East, Sacramento
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Youth for Palestine

1 Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations
2 H.Res.894 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Strongly condemning and denouncing the drastic rise of antisemitism in the United States and around the world. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
3 https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:98d99f79-8667-4925-afa0-bb0be43100a1
4 https://www.state.gov/key-topics-bureau-of-democracy-human-rights-and-labor/human-rights/leahy-law-fact-sheet/
5 Israel/OPT: US-made munitions killed 43 civilians in two documented Israeli air strikes in Gaza – new investigation – Amnesty International
6 Israel: Strikes on Journalists in Lebanon Apparently Deliberate | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)
7 H.Res.786 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Calling for an immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
8 US vetoes resolution on Gaza which called for ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ | UN News