We’re a year into the Israeli genocide in Palestine, yet it’s still hard to write coherently about ongoing atrocities in Gaza, mounting ground invasions in the West Bank and Lebanon, or the horrific prospects of a regional war. The whole experience is traumatizing at a core human level, changing every single day, and has profound global and local ramifications. The recent Israeli Defense Forces assassination of Seattle-based activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi only added to this, stirring remembrances of Olympia-based Rachel Corrie and reflections on local government and corporate complicity in Israel’s Settler-Colonialist project.
But the chaos and confusion makes it all the more important for candidates and politicians to draw clear lines around values and priorities, particularly when so many others are refusing to do so out of legitimate fear or disappointing cynicism. And recent events cement that need here in Washington. To that end, I worked with seven other pro ceasefire and anti-apartheid candidates over this summer and fall to craft a “Washington Ceasefire Candidates Statement,” which ends with several demands for action. The full text is on my website, and other candidates are welcome to sign on here.
I want to express my deep gratitude to the candidates who signed here or join us in coming days, along with all other elected officials issuing their own personal or collected statements for an investigation into Aysenur’s murder, against genocide and apartheid, and for an immediate arms embargo against Israel. Ours is but one small drop in the collected sea of statements, but we feel it’s important to speak boldly and strongly.
May we collectively stop this brutal, horrific war. May we stay in solidarity with oppressed people around the world. May we free Palestine.
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