Dear John,

This week, U.S. silence on Gaza represented a step forward.

On Monday, the UN Security Council finally managed to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where deaths now top 32,000. Having vetoed multiple previous ceasefire resolutions, on Monday the U.S. abstained from the vote. The resolution passed.

And on Thursday, the International Court of Justice ordered the Israeli government to allow unfettered humanitarian assistance and basic services into Gaza, which is on the brink of famine due to restrictions on food and other aid.

Just days earlier, Congress passed (and President Biden signed) a budget that defunds UNRWA, the main aid agency in Gaza.

Since President Biden took office, the watchword for his administration in foreign policy has been to lift up the “rules-based order.” If the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice don’t represent that order, then what does?

By abstaining from the ceasefire vote, the U.S. signaled that even if it’s not ready to lead on promoting international law, it may at least get out of the way. It’s an important sign that the ongoing ceasefire movement is having an impact.

In solidarity,

Lindsay, Alliyah and Kufre

P.S. Also this month, President Biden released his FY 2025 budget proposal, calling for $1 trillion in militarized spending. Find out more.

TRADEOFF: PENTAGON vs. CHILDCARE

President Biden's budget proposal for FY 2025 makes a big deal out of new childcare and early childhood investments. They couldn't be more needed, with childcare centers shutting down, childcare workers severely underpaid, and families looking for solutions.

But that proposal also spends more than $1 trillion on militarized visions of security. The Pentagon budget just increased by $28 billion in FY 2024 while most programs’ budgets stayed flat. That $28 billion could more than triple enrollment in HeadStart’s early childhood programs.

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https://www.nationalpriorities.org/blog/2023/12/05/hunger-strike-permanent-ceasefire/

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

PSA: ALL IMMIGRANTS ARE PEOPLE

In his State of the Union address, President Biden called an undocumented person “illegal” (to say nothing of what another politician said) and pushed for more border militarization. This month, he also signed a budget that increased detention capacity from 34,000 detention spots to 41,500.

At the state level, the Texas government wants the draconian SB4 immigration law to take effect. SB4 would permit police to detain anyone suspected of being a non-U.S. citizen, and require judges to deport migrants to ports of entry along the US-Mexico border. That law is temporarily blocked as it goes through the courts.

It’s time to end the criminalization and dehumanization of immigrants in language and in practice. We must keep our communities safe at all levels of government – federal, state, and local – as immigrants are an integral part of our communities.

Read our Op-Ed

Photo by Kufre McIver.

BOYCOTT POWER TAKES MCDONALD'S

Never underestimate the power of a dollar. With people around the world organizing to show their support for Palestinian lives and freedom any way they can, one of the most widespread actions has been a massive boycott of companies that have supported Israel's military.

One of the main targets of the boycott, McDonald's, recently revealed in a quarterly earnings report that a global metric of sales growth came up nearly 28% lower than expected. The drop was concentrated in the Middle East, but CEO Chris Kempczinski clarified that McDonald’s was also experiencing slowing sales in other Muslim-majority countries, as well as Muslim-majority neighborhoods in Western countries like France and the United States.