BALTIMORE ACTIVISTS to DO a SIT-OUT to SUPPORT a CEASE-FIRE IN THE GAZA STRIP.

The Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212 Ph: 410-323-1607 Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] Comcast dot net

PRESS RELEASE-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 29, 2023

CONTACT: Max Obuszewski 443-761-5899 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or Janice Sevre-Duszynska at 859-684- 4247

BALTIMORE ACTIVISTS to DO a SIT-OUT to SUPPORT a CEASE-FIRE IN THE GAZA STRIP.

WHO:   The Baltimore Nonviolence Center, like peace and justice groups around the world, condemns the attack by Hamas on October 7 which targeted a mostly civilian population.  UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese indicated she was “shocked and appalled” by the violence unfolding in the region and “horrified by the narrative, by the discourse, because it is possible, and necessary, to stand both with the Palestinians and the Israelis without resorting to ethical relativism, to selective outrage or worse, calls for violence.” Albanese wants the international community to be “wise and even-handed” when confronting the result of “decades of oppression imposed on the Palestinians…”

WHAT/WHEN/WHERE:   Taking the lead from groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, the Baltimore Nonviolence Center is also condemning the collective punishment exacted upon Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.  It can be argued that genocide is taking place because of the constant bombing, and the cut-off of food, water, medical supplies and other necessities. Protesters around the world are calling for a Cease-Fire. 

 Rep. Cori Bush [D-MO] and Rep. Rashida Tlaib [D-Mich] introduced H. Res. 786 calling for an Immediate De-escalation and Cease-Fire in Israel and Occupied Palestine. In the Baltimore area, activists have called, written letters, sent emails and visited the offices of Kweisi Mfume, representing the Seventh District in Maryland and Dutch Ruppersberger, representing the Second District.  Unfortunately these members of Congress have refused to co-sponsor H. Res. 786, and currently some 8,000 Palestinians have been killed, and more than half were women and children.    

 

  So on Monday, October 30 from 2:30 to 5 PM, members of the Nonviolence Center plan to do a Sit-Out at Rep. Mfume’s office at 1010 Park Avenue, Baltimore 20201 with signs. For example, the signs will carry these messages: Rep. Mfume & Rep. Ruppersberger refuse to support a Cease-Fire; Collective Punishment is a War Crime; Killing 3,000 Palestinian children is a War Crime; and We are protesting genocide in the Gaza Strip.

 

WHY:  War crimes are ongoing against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. However, the Biden administration wants to use US tax dollars and weaponry to support what legal scholars are calling a genocide in the Gaza Strip.  Those of us familiar with photographs of what atomic bombs did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are startled by the similarities to what happened to buildings in the open-air prison controlled by Egypt and Israel. The World Health Organization recently appealed to “the humanity in all those who have the power to do so to end the fighting now.” Thus this is not a time to remain silent, but rather this is time, as Bayard Rustin used to say, to Speak Truth to Power. As peace and justice activists, we support an end to U.S. military funding for war crimes against the Palestinian people, the expansion of settlements, and the occupation of Palestinian lands.  Finally, we support an end to the blockade of Gaza.

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