THANK YOU LETTER TO ARTISTS 4 CEASEFIRE

THANK YOU, ARTISTS 4 CEASEFIRE!

As Israelis calling for ceasefire and a just peace, we thank you for refusing to be silent.

Thank you for sharing our deep desire to stop more bloodshed. Thank you for using your cultural power to demand that your leaders stop enabling Israel's brutal bombardment of Gaza. Thank you for standing for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people.

Despite our grief, we – like you – are motivated by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity. The killing of Palestinian civilians will not bring back Israelis who lost their lives, nor return hostages to their families. Indiscriminate destruction and a siege harming innocents will not bring healing, justice, or security.

Thank you for refusing to silently bear witness to Israel’s war on an entrapped population of refugees now multiply displaced in their own homeland with nowhere safe to turn – battling famine, freezing, and disease, and facing the threat of further displacement if they survive.

WE AGREE WITH YOU THAT SAVING LIVES IS A MORAL IMPERATIVE – THAT COMPASSION, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, MUST PREVAIL.

We are just some of the many people in Israel-Palestine who are resisting the status quo by struggling for a just peace. We are under attack by our own society for speaking out against the war and expressing empathy for Palestinian suffering – but we refuse to give up our moral, humane position. We refuse to give in to despair or the urge for vengeance. Keeping our faith in the human spirit’s inherent goodness is more vital than ever.

Together with our Palestinian friends and neighbors, and with allies like you around the world –

WE DEMAND AN END TO THE BOMBARDMENT OF GAZA, THE ENTRY OF AID, AND RESTORATION OF VITAL RESOURCES LIKE WATER AND ELECTRICITY. WE DEMAND THE SAFE RETURN OF ALL HOSTAGES. WE DEMAND AN END TO THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION AND EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE.

Together we can turn the tide of this horrific current reality for which no military solution exists. The only path to peace is for us to create a society with equality and dignity for every person.

We are inspired by Palestinians’ sumud صمود – steadfastness – despite decades of injustice. We must remain resolute, too, in our collective commitment to fight for what’s right, rooted in the truth that Palestinian liberation is deeply intertwined with our own.

As Israelis working to end Israeli occupation and war, your solidarity lets us know that we are not alone.

PLEASE KEEP RAISING YOUR STRONG VOICES TO DEMAND A JUST AND LASTING PEACE.

We need you – and we are with you.

In gratitude, grief, solidarity, and hope,

Atalya Ben-Abba, on behalf of The Refuser Solidarity Network – Voices Against War*

*Please help us share this urgent message with the world by following our campaign and letting others know about our @VoicesAgainstWar. If you’d like to speak with someone from the Israeli war resistance community, send us a message and we will respond.