October 1, 2024 IN: Press Room
SEARAC Urges Congress and Biden Administration to Stop Arming Israel’s Military, Prioritize Ceasefire
Nearly a year ago, horrified at the terrorist attacks in Israel and retaliatory military campaign targeting Gaza, SEARAC urged the Biden Administration to negotiate an immediate ceasefire and release of all hostages.
Since then, we, along with the rest of the world, have borne witness to nearly a year of ongoing terror, a violence that continues to escalate across the entire region.
Our hearts continue to grieve for the more than 1,200 Israelis who were killed during brutal acts of terrorism on Oct. 7 and the 97 Israeli families still waiting for the return of loved ones taken hostage.
As an organization founded to support Southeast Asian American refugees in the aftermath of war, genocide, and displacement, we also condemn the suffering inflicted upon the people of Gaza in the form of genocidal acts, including indiscriminate bombings and the systemic denial of access to such basic needs as food, medicine, and medical supplies.
Their staggering death toll is unconscionable: more than 40,000 Palestinians killed, including more than 11,000 children, 6,000 women, and 2,900 people aged 60 and older – and scores more who have been wounded, whose homes and communities have been destroyed, and who now find themselves fleeing their home country as refugees, like so many Southeast Asian Americans did nearly 50 years ago.
SEARAC’s core belief is that all people have a right to live free from fear, violence, and persecution. Today, we reaffirm our call for the Biden Administration and Congress to support a ceasefire not just through words but also through action—specifically, discontinuing US funding of Israeli weapons being used in its war on Gaza.
Today and every day, we must keep fighting for a world that embraces humanity across boundaries, including the 120 million people displaced around the globe, from Gaza to Syria, Sudan to the Ukraine, Afghanistan to Myanmar, and many others.
