Report Back from #CeasefireNow Grassroots Advocacy Days

April 25, 2024

Last week, Peace Action New York State representatives were in Washington, D.C. for #CeasefireNow Nationwide Grassroots Advocacy Days. More than 600 activists from more than 50 peace organizations and 35 states collectively attended over 100 meetings with members of Congress — whether on Capitol Hill, at their local offices, or virtually — to urge elected representatives to support an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza; to prevent the conflict from becoming a wider regional war; to oppose further military aid and offensive weapons shipments to Israel; to require the State Department to provide a human rights report on Israel’s campaign in Gaza; and to remove the ban UNRWA aid.

As part of the roughly 30-person New York delegation, PANYS representatives joined with representatives from NIAC, FCNL, WESPAC, and more to meet in-person with the offices of 5 New York representatives: Bowman, Goldman, Jeffries, Malliotakis, and Velazquez. We also met with the offices of both Senators Gillibrand and Schumer.

These meetings with members of Congress were especially timely, coming in the aftermath of Iran’s retaliatory strike and as Congress debated greenlighting additional supplemental military aid to Israel. We thank Representatives Jamaal Bowman, Nydia Velazquez, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for voting NO on an April 20th supplemental military aid package which ultimately included another $26 billion in military aid to Israel.

Thank you to Dasha Bough for the photos!