Mothers’ Day 2024
Dear Representative Matsui:
As you are aware, President Biden is saying that the U.S. will not supply certain weapons for Israel to attack Rafah. We would argue that the U.S. should not provide Israel any weapons to attack Rafah, Gaza, or Palestinian civilians anywhere.
We also argue that the U.S. needs to end its hypocrisy in dealing with Israel. On one hand, Biden and Congress voice concerns over civilian deaths in Gaza and, with the other hand, they continue to provide Israel with the means to kill even more civilians.
Nearly 35,000 Palestinian people, mostly civilians, have now been killed in Gaza. Nearly 80,000 have been wounded. Three quarters of the buildings have been destroyed, leaving the majority of Gazans homeless. Hospitals have been bombed into non-function. Bombs have also destroyed schools, institutions of higher learning, mosques, churches, and historical sites. These losses, and more, will be felt for generations to come. And now we are learning of mass graves. People are starving and the U.S. has cut off funding for UNRWA for the next year based on allegations.
Last month you voted to give another $26 billion of our tax dollars to Israel. Make no mistake, this vote supports, promotes, and facilitates Israel’s continued genocidal ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people in Gaza. What Israel is doing to Gaza is a war crime to which you, your colleagues in Congress, and the President are making Americans complicit.
In a Data for Progress poll released May 8, 2024, 83% of Democrats and 70% of all likely voters support a permanent ceasefire. On March 20, 2024, the Sacramento City Council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. On May 8, 2024, student protesters at CSU Sacramento reached an agreement with university administrators calling for divestment from entities that are supporting genocide, ethnic cleansing, or human rights abuses. Clearly, the majority of the American people oppose U.S. support for what are now clearly Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.
As a child, you were a victim of one of our country’s most egregious violations of human rights, arresting and deporting Japanese American, including citizens, to concentration camps far from their homes. We find it so disappointing that with that background, you are failing to publicly oppose that treatment — and far worse — meted out on the civilian population of Gaza.
Mother’s Day originated as a call for peace from anti-war activist Julia Ward Howe, who asked women to come together to end war.
Will you represent the majority of your constituents and take a stand to stop Israel’s killing of mothers, children, and other civilians in Gaza by calling for an end to U.S. weapons transfers to Israel?
Will you stop voting to fund this genocide and demand that it be stopped?
Sincerely,
The Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights
Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights 