Defending the Amazon & Refugees in Gaza: Actions
Collection of action initiatives, appeals, & sources seeking cease fire
“We defend our lands not just for our people but for all of humanity. Your company is harming our collective future. We have lived here in the heart of the Amazon for over 4,000 years. But now our world hangs by a thread.”
– Beka Saw Munduruku
Last week, Amazon Watch had the honor of accompanying young Indigenous leader Beka Saw Munduruku to the United States to confront Cargill, a corporate giant responsible for the destruction of her people’s lands and violations of their rights.
As the largest agribusiness company in the world, with sprawling operations in the Brazilian Amazon and the neighboring Cerrado biome, Cargill’s reckless practices drive an ever-expanding wave of deforestation, pollution, and violence against local communities.
Beka was chosen by her people to appeal to the Cargill-MacMillan family, about 20 people who own 88% of the company, rather than to its executives who have repeatedly failed to honor their promises. The family is the fourth richest in America, with more billionaires than any other family on Earth.
On Thursday, Beka hand delivered her letter to security outside of Cargill’s Minneapolis headquarters, after being denied access to the building. It is appalling that an emissary who traveled 4,000 miles to deliver an urgent message from her people would be treated with such dismissal and disrespect.
READ BEKA'S LETTER & LEARN MORE »
END HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES »
The horrors unfolding in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories are heartbreaking and reprehensible. As the death toll mounts and more civilians are put at risk, we must urgently focus on upholding human rights and preventing more suffering.
According to media reports, in the latest wave of violence, the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City — where many civilians were sheltering — was attacked, killing at least 500 Palestinians. The death toll may rise as people are pulled from the rubble.
As you watch this catastrophe unfold, you may wonder, “Is there anything I can do to protect human rights and save civilian lives?”
Bee — President Biden is visiting Israel today, and we need him to hear our call for a solution that puts human rights first, NOT an escalation of violence.
This aerial photo shows heavily damaged buildings following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 10, 2023.
Amnesty always opposes human rights violations — however, whenever, and wherever they occur.
As the civilian death toll in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories increases with no end in sight, we must demand human rights solutions that protect the lives, security, dignity, and well-being of all.
Most urgently, Israel must stop attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, and ensure that people in Gaza have access to food, clean water, electricity and humanitarian aid. Hamas must free Israeli civilians taken hostage immediately.
Civilians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories will continue to suffer if we don’t address the systematic violations that fuel this violence: including impunity for war crimes by all sides and dismantling the government of Israel’s system of apartheid against all Palestinans.
We condemn the unlawful attacks on civilians by Hamas and other armed groups. They must be held accountable for these war crimes, and we call on all Palestinian armed groups in Gaza to release all civilian hostages unconditionally and immediately, and refrain from firing indiscriminate rockets into Israel. As the events unfold, we’ll continue our investigations to determine the full range of crimes under international law.
Additionally, we demand that the Israeli authorities immediately restore Gaza’s electricity supply and stop blocking food and fuel from entry into the area. We reiterate our call on the government of Israel to end its 16-year-long illegal blockade on Gaza, which has created a humanitarian crisis.
Nothing can ever justify deliberately killing civilians, hostage taking, disproportionate attacks, or collective punishment.
With evidence still emerging, our crisis response teams will continue to investigate the situation and document war crimes. We’ll keep you informed on what we learn and share more ways for you to help.
In solidarity with all the victims of these latest attacks,
Paul O’Brien
Executive Director
Amnesty International USA
Between Saturday, October 7 and yesterday, October 17, at least 1,400 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians have been killed -- including 30 U.S. citizens. Many, many more have been wounded and traumatized.
Civilians always pay the highest price in the breakout of war and violence. As chaos rises, following the attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel’s continued bombing, Israeli politicians have openly broadcast their collective punishment of innocent civilians.
Relentless bombing continues to pound the densely populated Gaza Strip, where Israeli and American hostages, Palestinian Americans, and Palestinian civilians are all in the line of fire. The Israeli government has cut off water, food, fuel, medicine, and electricity as well. Refusing to accept Palestinian Americans from Gaza or to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza is also a violation of international law.
This is a humanitarian crisis jeopardizing people throughout the region. With the visit of President Biden to Israel today, we have a responsibility as Indigenous peoples and allies in the U.S. to push our political leaders to call for a ceasefire and deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza as soon as possible.
But President Biden’s administration and most U.S. Congress members are not listening to calls for a ceasefire even as Jewish leaders and activists are sitting in at the US Capitol demanding a ceasefire and an end to the assault on civilian lives, saying, "not in our name!"
Please add your name now to support the Ceasefire Now Resolution in Congress, which urges the Biden administration to call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire and to send humanitarian aid to the people under siege and trapped in Gaza.
In announcing the Ceasefire Now Resolution, Representatives Cori Bush (MO-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), André Carson (IN-07), Summer Lee (PA-12), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) are some of the only members of Congress calling for a ceasefire.
Stefanie Fox, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, said while endorsing the resolution: “We call on every member of Congress who values the preciousness of human life to join them in demanding a ceasefire now.”
Our Indigenous values and traditions teach us that all life, human and the natural world, is precious and interconnected.
The only Palestinian American in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib said that her colleagues are trying to silence her voice “because I want the violence to stop, no matter whether it’s toward Israelis or toward Palestinians.” She said: "I cannot believe I have to beg our country to value every human life, no matter their faith or ethnicity. We cannot lose sight of the humanity in each other."
In addition to immediate humanitarian aid and a ceasefire, we also need actual negotiations to end the military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, which harms both the Israeli and Palestinian people. No one is safe with the current status quo. For now, the focus is on saving as many lives as possible in the region.
Please sign onto the Ceasefire Now Resolution if you agree: The U.S. government must urgently save Palestinian, Israeli, and American civilian lives. Our tax dollars go to Israel’s military, so we must push Israel’s government to stop the siege on Gaza and ensure humanitarian aid to Gaza now.
Hawwih (thank you) for taking action in defense of all life.
Judith LeBlanc (Caddo)
Executive Director
Sign the petition to say: Do everything you can to stop all loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives NOW!
Dear MoveOn member,
The recent violence against civilians by Hamas and the military response by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has already killed over 3,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis and wounded thousands more, with hundreds of people held hostage and hundreds more missing.1,2 If you’re heartbroken, you are not alone. We can hold space in our hearts to mourn these deaths, while also taking action to call on U.S. policymakers to use their power to do everything they can to stop all further loss of innocent lives.
Will you join in solidarity and sign the petition?
As the whole world grapples with the escalated violence in Israel and Palestine, the Israeli government has stopped all food, fuel, water, electricity, and humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza, and this has already had devastating impacts on over 2 million people, half of whom are children.3,4
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees just announced that "Gaza is running dry," and hospitals in Gaza reported that their backup generators would soon run out of fuel, cutting off life support and vital systems.
This action has exacerbated the existing humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli government's air, land, and sea blockade and will likely result in catastrophic loss of life if continued. Nearly half of Gaza's residents are under the age of 16, and 65% are under the age of 25, effectively meaning that Palestinian children are bearing the brunt of the Israeli government’s collective punishment.
President Biden and our leaders must publicly call for an immediate ceasefire and deescalation; demand the protection of all civilians, including securing the release of hostages; and tell the Israeli government to turn on electricity in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid for Palestinians to enter!
While the Biden administration is close to an aid agreement with Israeli government officials to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and establish ‘safe zones,’ there is still no action or plan in place. The United Nations and aid organizations are sounding an alarm that conditions in Gaza are dire right now. There is no time to spare. A military response from Israel will not secure the safety of those currently hostage or trapped, some of whom are Americans, and instead punishes a generation of young Palestinians living in Gaza.
Netanyahu, facing mounting pressure and polling the lowest among Israeli voters, has led decades of policies that have resulted in no more peace or safety for Israelis. The Biden administration must call for a ceasefire and urge Netanyahu to do everything in his power to reunite hostages with their loved ones without putting more lives in danger.
Israelis and Palestinians must not be bargaining chips, and their lives must be protected through diplomacy and new solutions.
Will you join thousands and take action by signing the petition?
The Israeli government is preparing a massive ground attack of Gaza as you read this, and they have already been targeting and bombing civilians in their attacks, which is a violation of international law.5,6,7,8,9
This comes as Israel dropped tens of thousands of leaflets from the sky to issue an evacuation order to Gazans living in the northern Gaza Strip, telling 1.1 million Palestinian residents to evacuate south within 24 hours, which the U.N. said would be impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences.10,11 Then, despite naming which routes would be safe for evacuation, the Israeli government bombed Palestinians evacuating.12
Humanity and millions of human lives are at stake here. We must collectively act now to stop loss of life. Sign the petition to demand that U.S. policymakers act now to do everything they can to stop all loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives.
A United Nations human rights expert has confirmed that Palestinians are facing mass ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Israeli government and occupation forces.13 United States leaders have the massive power to step in and stop it. And the time is NOW to come together and demand it end.
The people of Palestine and Israel deserve to live their lives without fear of violence and mass death.
Thanks for all you do.
–Mana, Alexis, Amy, Emma, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Israeli forces, tanks amass at border with Gaza," Al Jazeera, October 16, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184709?t=9&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
2. "Israel-Hamas War Intensifies: Egypt Faces Pressure to Open Border to Refugees," The Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184710?t=11&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
3. "UN expert warns of new instance of mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, calls for immediate ceasefire," OHCHR, October 14, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184711?t=13&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
4. "Palestinian Statistics Bureau: Approximately Half of the Population is Comprised of Children – Palestinian Statistics Bureau Press Release," United Nations, accessed October 16, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184712?t=15&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
5. "Israel prepares ground attack as Gaza battles humanitarian crisis," NBC News, October 15, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184713?t=17&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
6. "Is Israel violating the laws of war meant to protect children?" Al Jazeera, October 14, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184714?t=19&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
7. "What Gaza infrastructure has been damaged since Israel declared war?" Al Jazeera, October 13, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184715?t=21&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
8. "UN expert warns of new instance of mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, calls for immediate ceasefire," OHCHR, October 14, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184711?t=23&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
9. "Israel: White Phosphorus Used in Gaza, Lebanon," Human Rights Watch, October 12, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184716?t=25&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
10. "Fear, confusion as Israel issues evacuation order for northern Gaza," Al Jazeera, October 13, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184717?t=27&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
11. "Note to correspondents on Gaza," United Nations, October 12, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184718?t=29&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
12. "Palestinians fleeing along Israeli-designated 'evacuation route' in northern Gaza killed in airstrike," Insider, October 14, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184719?t=31&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7
13. "UN expert warns of new instance of mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, calls for immediate ceasefire," OHCHR, October 14, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/184711?t=33&akid=366961%2E9152249%2EP-QQL7