Statement by Funders for a Ceasefire Now
When we published our original call for a ceasefire in Gaza last year, the current death toll of more than 41,000 people was unfathomable. Thousands more are likely buried under rubble, and The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal, says “it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict.” Tragically, as the casualty figures continue to climb in Gaza, Israel has expanded its war into Lebanon, where more than 500 people, including dozens of children, have been killed in the past week alone. Every day that passes without a permanent ceasefire brings us one step closer to an all-out regional war.
Over 16,000 Palestinian children have been killed, their bodies crushed by bombs or pierced by sniper fire, while more than 22,500 individuals are now living with life-altering injuries. In May, UNICEF reported that nearly 600,000 Palestinian children were “injured, sick or malnourished.” The UN estimates that over a million people in Gaza will go hungry in September as Israel uses starvation as a weapon of war, restricting the flow of food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies. On the Israeli side, 100 hostages remain in captivity, while more than 9,400 Palestinians are being held as detainees, in some cases facing waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, and other forms of torture and mistreatment.
Despite an unprecedented and growing global outcry, the Israeli government has pressed on with its unjustifiable destruction of Palestinian life. While we might try to look away, feeling helpless, we must not. More than 2 million survivors of the genocide in Gaza are counting on our attention and solidarity at this very moment, as are Palestinians in the West Bank, who are facing intensifying settler and state violence.
The UK government recently announced a limited ban on arms exports to Israel, while Germany has halted arms shipments in response to legal challenges. These are steps in the right direction, and long overdue. But for arms restrictions to have an impact on the situation, it is the Biden administration that must step up to the plate. The U.S. now stands alone as the main supplier of offensive military weapons to Israel, and has continued to provide arms despite findings by the U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department refugee’s bureau that Israel is preventing the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid. U.S. law requires the Biden administration to halt the flow of weapons on this basis, yet they have pressed on with enabling Israel’s unceasing destruction. Members of Congress have a responsibility to rein in Israel’s unlawful use of U.S. military aid and can support the joint resolutions that Senator Bernie Sanders introduced this week, which would halt more than $20 billion in offensive arms sales to Israel.
Americans are currently focused on a high-stakes presidential race, calling on one another to “defend democracy” and “fight facism.” But we cannot fight fascism in one country while enabling it in another. The interconnected world we live in today demands a morally consistent approach to state violence and authoritarianism. The same weapons, technology, and policies used to surveil, silence and kill people in one territory will surely be used against those in another.
To defend democracy, we must also uphold the constitutional rights of those who protest, and reject laws meant to silence them. Every new law and policy implemented to silence supporters of human rights in Palestine will be replicated to silence others for speaking out against other forms of oppression and violence. Each and every repressive policy and action we allow to pass is a marker on the road to dismantling democracy.
For all these reasons, we reiterate our original call, below, and invite others to join us at this critical time. We also ask that as peers in the philanthropy sector, we take another powerful stand together by divesting from companies profiting from the destruction of life – not only in Palestine but anywhere in the world. Striving to “do no harm,” and mobilizing resources for Palestinian organizations who are literally saving lives, as well as for those taking action to stop military aid to Israel, are two of the most important actions that we as funders can take at this moment. Each of us, no matter the scope or amount of our funding, has a role to play.
We are moved beyond words by the courage of Palestinian communities who continue – in the face of such horrifying realities – to center collective humanity, social justice, and life itself. We are also deeply inspired by each of you who has chosen to take a stand, often at some level of personal or organizational risk. It means a great deal to be able to continue collaborating with our peers in philanthropy toward a common purpose in this critical moment.
Funders for a Ceasefire Now
Initiating Group:
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Black Feminist Fund
CLIMA Fund
Common Counsel Foundation
Cultural Survival
EDGE Funders Alliance
Emergent Fund
Farhad Ebrahimi
Fund for Global Human Rights
Global Fund for Women
Global Greengrants Fund
Grassroots International
Human Rights Funders Network
Jerrod MacFarlane
Kolibri Foundation
NDN Collective
Prospera International Network of Women's Funds
Radical Imagination Family Foundation
Resource Generation
Sagner Family Foundation
Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples
Social Justice Fund NW
Solidaire Action
Thousand Currents
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Urgent Action Fund For Feminist Activism
We Are Purposeful
Women Donors Network
