By World BEYOND War, December 8, 2023
Madison for a World BEYOND War, the local chapter of World BEYOND War in Madison, Wisconsin, together with allies, has been urging Senator Tammy Baldwin to oppose the war on Gaza. Here’s news coverage:
See the original at Channel 3000.
Efforts have included daily vigils from 9 to 5 at the senator’s office, encouraging everyone who shows up to speak with her staff in support of peace.
Madison for a World BEYOND War sent this letter to the senator’s office:
December 7, 2023
To Senator Baldwin’s staff:
Thank you for all your work on the staff of Senator Tammy Baldwin. We hope that each one of you is part of the unprecedented movement among staffers of Democrats in Congress to push the electeds to speak up for ceasefire, and to stop funding weapons for the war in Israel and Palestine in this horrifying time.
Members of Madison for a World BEYOND War have been vigiling 9 – 5 daily inside and outside of Tammy’s Madison office since the bombing of Gaza began again last week. Tomorrow we will begin reading names of the dead children there at your office, in remembrance of the thousands of precious children killed in Palestine. We will invite the press.
We ask that you schedule a meeting for us with the Senator as soon as possible. We want to ask her to make a strong public statement, as Senators Sanders, Van Hollen, Welch, and Durbin have done. She should please commit to voting no on more funding for weapons.
As Nicholas Kristof wrote yesterday in the NYT:
So Many Child Deaths in Gaza and for What?
“… 16,248 people have been killed in the enclave so far, about 70 percent of them women and children….
“The pace of killing of civilians has been much greater than in most other recent conflicts; the only one that I know of that compares is perhaps the Rwanda genocide in 1994. Far more women and children appear to have been killed in Gaza than in the entire first year of the Iraq war, for example.”
Please let us know when we can meet with Tammy.
Madison for a World BEYOND War put out this press release:
Noon Today – Reading of the names of children who have been killed. Music, poetry, signs. 30 W Mifflin St.
(Madison, WI) Madison for a World BEYOND War has been vigiling from 9 am – 5 pm daily inside and outside of Tammy’s Madison office since the bombing of Gaza began again last week. Today at noon they will hold a vigil with music, poetry, and to read names of some of the thousands of children killed by the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza.
The event is co-sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace – Madison, Madison Veterans for Peace, Chapter 25, and Building Unity.
“As an Israeli-American, I am appalled and disturbed by the massacre of Palestinian innocents by Israel, the military aid Israel is receiving through American citizens’ tax money, and the support offered by my Senator, Tammy Baldwin. I wholeheartedly agree with actions to force Baldwin to listen to her constituents and change her current stance.” – Esty Dinur, member of Jewish Voice for Peace-Madison
The groups are asking Senator Baldwin to join the ranks of the congresspeople who are making public statements, for ceasefire and against continued funding for Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of civilians. The senators speaking up include Sanders, Van Hollen, Welch, Durbin, Merkley, and Warren, and many US representatives including Madison’s, Rep Mark Pocan.
The vigilers and sponsoring groups ask Senator Baldwin to:
- Call for a total and permanent ceasefire in Israel and Palestine now.
- Introduce and/or sign on to legislation to cut military aid to Israel completely, and demand that the Israeli government commits to abide by international law and begins sincere negotiations with Palestinians to end the occupation.
Nicholas Kristof wrote Wednesday in the New York Times, in an editorial entitled, So Many Child Deaths in Gaza and for What?, “… 16,248 people have been killed in the enclave so far, about 70 percent of them women and children. … The pace of killing of civilians has been much greater than in most other recent conflicts; the only one that I know of that compares is perhaps the Rwanda genocide in 1994. Far more women and children appear to have been killed in Gaza than in the entire first year of the Iraq war, for example.”
Under the UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and Article 6 of the Rome Statute, the crime of genocide occurs when a nation deliberately inflicts on the group “conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
Under these terms, Israel commits US-funded genocide in Gaza when it bombs civilian targets-hospitals, schools, UN refugee centers, journalists, UN workers, mosques, apartments and escape routes– while denying an imprisoned population water, food, medicine and fuel. Since October 7th, Israel’s assault with US weapons has resulted in tens of thousands of Gazans killed or wounded and 1.7 million people displaced, including almost a million in 154 UNRWA shelters, some of which Israel has bombed. In the words of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, “Gaza has become a graveyard for children.”
World BEYOND War is a global movement to end all wars. World BEYOND War is participating in the Merchants of Death war crimes tribunals that are now taking place to hold war profiteers accountable. Learn more here: https://merchantsofdeath.org/
2 Responses
Mankind now has the abilty technologically speaking to solve World problems of water insecurity and food. To promote invest in green fuel, correcting the pollution of our sea, invest in sustainable farming, create equity and inclusion for the disadvantaged and determining if we as humans will step forward as a united front in our World. We no longer can remain in an isolation mentality of our Country’s values are superior when in fact our World is becoming smaller and more connected because of technology.
Your position regarding a ceasefire in Israel requires me to respond. While I am against the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and the settlements established in the name if Israeli security, your call for an unconditional cease fire without also calling for the immediate release of all the hostages held by the Hamas terrorists is appalling, shameful, and worst of all, cynical. It exposes the disease of anti-Semitism and the inability of your organization to recognize the pain, loss and existential threat imposed on innocent Israeli civilians on October 7th. By doing so you directly attack the legitimacy of Israel to defend itself against a nihilistic terrorist organization that uses it’s own civilian population and institutions as shields while firing rockets indiscriminately into sovereign Israel territory. If your call for a cease fire does not also include the call for a release of all the innocent hostages held by Hamas, then you are simply a useful tool for those who would annihilate Israel if given the opportunity.