NY Renews Steering Committee Calls for a Ceasefire in Palestine
Contact: Stephan Edel, Executive Director, stephan@nyrenews.org
Web: @NYRenews | www.nyrenews.org
NY Renews Steering Committee Calls for a Ceasefire in Palestine
The war on Palestine is now entering its 75th day, with no end in sight to the violence. NY Renews adds our voice to the growing movement calling for a permanent ceasefire, the end of the blockade, the release of all Israeli and Palestinian captives, the cessation of violence, and a pathway toward justice and peace.
NY Renews was formed to combine our resources and strength to shift policies and systems toward justice, so that we may avert the worst of the climate crisis’ causes and impacts—the pollution and destruction of land and resources; climate disasters such as flooding, heat, and storms; and the resulting tremendous human suffering and loss of life. NY Renews seeks to uphold its commitment to representing the diversity of our membership and the shared values that drive our coalition. We have valued members of the NYR community who are feeling vulnerable as this war continues, and we are committed to their safety and liberation.
The NY Renews’ 370+ organizations joined together around a shared set of beliefs, known as our Points of Unity. These points unite us, guide our coalition’s actions, and state: “We seek a sustainable future for the earth and its people. We believe that all people have a right to live and make a living on a living planet… Climate protection must serve as a means to challenge environmental and racial injustice.”
The movement for climate justice is deeply focused on ensuring all people have basic necessities and human rights, such as electricity, water, clean air, food, and self-determination. The Israeli Government’s current policy is to explicitly control access to those necessities in the Gaza Strip and prevent access to them as part of a military operation, killing, wounding, and disabling tens of thousands of Palestinians in the process. We also know fossil fuel drives and sustains war and its operations, and that these activities produce global warming emissions at a time when scientists say we are reaching our climate tipping point faster than anticipated. Bombs and the illegal use of white phosphorus destroy land and contaminate the air, soil, and water, threatening the health of the environment and people, with the lasting impacts of such pollution on human health and the planet yet to be determined.
The climate crisis is linked to every system of oppression. NY Renews opposes all forms of systemic oppression and war. War and violence have global impacts, driving the climate catastrophe and deepening the vulnerability of communities worldwide to its hazards.
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NY Renews is a coalition of nearly 400 environmental justice, community, faith, labor, and multi-issue organizations fighting for a just climate future in New York State. We are the force behind the nation's most aggressive climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (2019). The Climate, Jobs, and Justice Package is the next step in our fight for a just energy transition in New York. www.nyrenews.org