Candidate Ceasefire Resolution

to be brought before the current Portland City Council in testimony on May 22nd, 2024

To the Portland City Council Commissioners: 

 

As residents of Portland and candidates for the City Council and Mayoral offices, we are writing to you as concerned citizens to urge the current City Council to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to allow the entry of all available humanitarian aid.

What happens globally affects us all locally. Our Portland neighbors have family members in Gaza who have been killed and are starving as they live through an unimaginable nightmare.

The United States directly supports Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians by using our tax revenue to fund direct provision of weapons such as missiles, bombs, drones, bullets, and other munitions.

As we watch our local community suffer from lack of funds to tackle issues of access regarding affordable healthcare, affordable housing, education, addiction treatment services, and mental health treatment, it is unconscionable that more than $10 million per year of Portland’s tax dollars directly fund Israel’s military. 

Funding bombs and starvation does not align with our local values. There is a moral call for a ceasefire now.

This catastrophe is entirely the result of Israel’s military assault on the people of Gaza. The death count from the Israeli assault has now surpassed 32,000, and another 73,000 are known to be injured (with unknown numbers of dead and injured still not accounted for beneath the rubble of destroyed homes, schools, churches, hospitals, mosques, and other infrastructure). 

According to international experts in food and starvation, more than 1.1 million people in Gaza will be in the most acute phase of famine by July 2024 unless there is an immediate ceasefire allowing unrestricted and internationally bolstered entry of aid.

By many international accounts, what is being unleashed on Gaza is the most catastrophic act of war in recent times. United Nations humanitarian aid workers have stated that more children have been killed in this Israeli assault on Gaza than in all other military conflicts in the past four years combined. 

As has been testified at many Portland City Council meetings, this is not just global issue but a local issue as well. Portland is home to the Oregon-Israel Business Alliance and the Technology Association of Oregon, both of which partner with Israel to support its wartime economy. Israel is listed as one of Oregon’s top ten export partners.

We call on the Portland City Council to issue a resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza to be sent on to all of Oregon’s congressional representatives as well as the current president.

On March 7, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners issued a Ceasefire Resolution. They are joined by more than 70 local governments across the United States, including Portland, Maine, calling for a ceasefire.

This action is necessary at a local level because, despite overwhelming constituent support for a ceasefire, our federal representatives—with the notable exception of Senator Jeff Merkley—have not called for a ceasefire.

Here is a partial list of localities that have called for a ceasefire: 

 

San Francisco, California; Oakland, California; Richmond, California; Cudahy, California; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Wilmington, Delaware; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Maine; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Somerville, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Detroit, Michigan; Dearborn, Michigan; Dearborn Heights, Michigan; Hamtramck, Michigan; Ypsilanti, Michigan; Albany, New York; Akron, Ohio; Providence, Rhode Island; Seattle, Washington, and St. Louis, Missouri.

 

Portland, through such actions as sister-city programs, promotion of international trade, the fostering of diverse community events, and commitment to the most vulnerable of our neighbors sees the connections of local to global. Promotion of social justice and human dignity are core values in the City of Portland. 

Thus, we urge our Portland City Commissioners to immediately pass a permanent ceasefire resolution, call for entry of all humanitarian aid required to end the human suffering in Gaza, and advocate for reparations for the Palestinian people.

As Portland enters a historic election year after the charter reform, there are new voices and perspectives prepared to come to the table. As candidates in this transitional time in Portland’s city government, we urge the current City Council to act now and not wait until the changeover occurs. Please represent the people of Portland in their desire for a ceasefire before the new Council takes office. This is your chance to be remembered for standing up against injustice in favor of protecting human life when it mattered most.

 

Sincerely,

 

Portland Candidates for Mayor and City Council

 

Durrell Javon Kinsey Bey (Candidate for Mayor)

Liv Østhus (Candidate for Mayor)

Cayle Tern (District 1)

David Linn (District 1)

Thomas Shervey (District 1)

Timur Ender (District 1)

Chris Olson (District 2)

Jennifer Park (District 2)

John Middleton (District 2)

Angelita Morillo (District 3)

Chris Flanary (District 3)

Kelly Janes (District 3)

Robin Ye (District 3)

Theo Hathaway Saner (District 3)

Tiffany Koyama Lane (District 3)

Andra Vltavín (District 4)

Jeremy Beausoleil Smith (District 4)

Mitch Green (District 4)