169 CHICAGO ORGANIZATIONS & 100 MAYORAL & ALDERMANIC STAFFERS CALL FOR AN IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE NOW
DECEMBER 12, 2023
We are a cross-section of organizations based in Chicago that are sharing this letter in solidarity with the Chicago Progressive Staffers (read letter) and their collective demands for the Mayor’s office and Chicago’s City Council to call for a permanent ceasefire now.
We are bearing witness to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, which has resulted in the killings of over 20,000 Palestinians - half of whom are children. Simultaneously, we are responding to a massive uptick in anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim violence. CAIR reported that they have responded to over 774 bias-related incidents. This includes the brutal murder of 6-year-old Wadea al-Fayoume who was stabbed over 26 times in his home, his mother who survived a violent attack from their landlord, and the shootings of three Palestinian students, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmed who were wearing a Kuffiyeh and speaking Arabic. There have been hundreds of reports of anti-Palestinian racism against students. All of these incidents are still an undercount of the actual violence communities are experiencing, including right here in Chicago. We have also witnessed tens and thousands of Chicagoans pour into the streets calling for an immediate permanent Ceasefire, many of whom have been met with police brutality and violence. Further, we know that every single year, millions of dollars from taxpayers in Chicago are given to support US’s military funding to Israel.
In addition, given Chicago will host the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in 2024, we believe Chicago can take leadership and demonstrate the city’s united support for human rights and justice. Given the city is planning to spend public dollars to support the convention, we support the Chicago Progressive Staffer’s call that we cannot invest in programs that do not support calls for peace.
Therefore we support the following demands made by the Chicago Progressive Staffers:
Support Chairwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez’s resolution R2023-0005730 by:
1) Emailing Rossana.RodriguezSanchez@cityofchicago.org to sign onto her letter to Chairwoman Michelle Harris asking that the resolution move from the Committee on Committees and Rules to the Committee on Health and Human Relations.
Signing onto the resolution itself as a co-sponsor. We implore our city leaders to call for President Biden and the DNC to demand an immediate ceasefire. The people of Chicago are on the right side of history in disavowing the United States’ complicity in Palestinian genocide and we hope our Mayor, our Council Members, our bosses and their coworkers can find time to hear them too and support the call for a ceasefire.
As organizations that work in Chicago, we hope the city’s elected officials endorse the call for a Ceasefire. This call is the bare minimum and silence at this moment is an endorsement of genocide and settler-colonialism against Palestinians. From Palestine to Chicago, we must endorse justice, peace, and collective liberation.
Signed,
Muslims for Just Futures | USPCN | CHICAGO PROGRESSIVE STAFFERS | GoodKidsMadCity |
Jewish Voice for Peace- Chicago | Students for Justice in Palestine | American Muslims for
Palestine | Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression | Chicago VoteS | Love &
Struggle Photos | Axis Lab | Sensitive Visuals | LSJP Chicago | Mamas Activating Movements for
Abolition & Solidarity (MAMAS) | United Neighbors of the 35th Ward | ANSWER Coalition | PO Box
Collective | Party for Socialism & Liberation Action Center on Race and the Economy | IL
Muslim Civic Coalition | Rayo Counseling & Community Co-op | Justice Cream | Justice for
Palestine at NEIU | American Friends Service Committee-Chicago | Chicago Liberation Center |
Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE Chicago) 39th Ward
Neighbors | United Chicago Torture Justice Memorials | Rogers park free store | Dissenters | The
#LetUsBreathe Collective | Bosniak Brotherhood of Genocide Survivors | SoapBox Productions
and Organizing | Nikkei Uprising | Resource Generation Chicago | Latino Union of Chicago |
Freedom Road Socialist Organization - Chicago | F.L.Y. Radical Therapy Healthcare Workers for
Palestine - Chicago | Black Village Foundation | 33rd Ward Working Families | Care Not COVID
Chicagoland | Chicago Loot Drop | Neighbors for Ceasefire Now | Pilsen Alliance | World
Council of Muslims for Interfaith Relations | Ujimaa Medics Chicago for Abortion Rights | SABAH
MUSLIM Islamic and Cultural Center | Asian American Midwest Progressives | 48th Ward
Neighbors for Justice | INNER MUSLIM ACTION NETWORK (IMAN) | Just Practice | UChicago
United for Palestine | Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC) | Chicago Desi Youth Rising
(CYDR) | Helping Hearts of Bosnia & Herzegovina | Circular Force Self Defense Academy | Apna
Ghar | KTRL | Heartful Healing | Hanuma USA Lilies of Hope 30th United | HELP FROM USA TO BIH
| Illinois Coalition for Human Rights Healthcare workers for Palestine-Chicago | Chicago Faith
Coalition on Middle East Policy | Generative Chaos | American Muslims for Palestine / Chicago |
48th Ward Neighbors for Social Justice | Chicago Asian Americans for Environmental Justice
Neighbors for Environmental Justice | Final 5 Campaign | Liberate Ward 46 Ward 44 Neighbors |
Indigenous Graduate Student Association at UIC | The Southwest College | Rogers Park MOVES |
Never Again Action Chicago | Middle Eastern North African Medical Student Association |
Chicago Sikhs for Ceasefire | Sanad pantry | Muslim Student Association - Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine Love & Protect Organized Communities Against
Deportations (OCAD) Chicago United Solidarity Project (CUSP) | 40th Ward Workers United
Better Streets Chicago Action Fund | Pushing Envelopes Chicago | Policing in Chicago Research
Group | Teachers for Social Justice | 50th Ward United Working Families | Radical Public Health
at UIC | ChiResists - Chicago Solidarity Network | Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine |
Faculty for Justice in Palestine, UIC | FreeStyle Chicago| CODEPINK Chicago | THE NICKOLAS LEE
FOUNDATION | SOUL | Rampant Magazine | Warehouse Workers for Justice | Alternatives | Girl Forward
Circles and Ciphers | Project Taqwa | Sikh Youth of Chicago | People's Response Network and more
(See form below for updated list and endorse below)