Israel’s genocide against the 2.3 million people of Gaza, half of them children, has created a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Families are trapped with no way to escape, as food, water, medicine, and fuel are deliberately cut off. This is collective punishment and it is a crime.

Global Exchange, together with millions worldwide, has pressed U.S. leaders across administrations, appealing to both Presidents Biden and Trump and to Congress, to end U.S. complicity, stop the flow of weapons, and use their power to halt Israel’s genocide. Those in power have refused to listen, but we will not be silent.

All life is sacred. Civilians must be protected. To achieve peace, we must end Israeli occupation, dismantle settlement expansion, and guarantee security and dignity for all. At this critical moment, the demand is urgent and clear:

Ceasefire Now. Arms Embargo Now. End the Genocide. Free Palestine.

Take Action

The genocide in Gaza is ongoing and U.S. complicity continues. Here are ways you can take action with Global Exchange:

  • Follow and share coverage from the Global Sumud Flotilla.  Global Exchange partner Ernesto Ledesma of Rompeviento TV is aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, reporting from what is set to be the largest coordinated civilian flotilla in history. This unprecedented action brings together movements from across the globe with a common goal: to break the illegal siege of Gaza, open a humanitarian corridor, and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. Through Ernesto’s frontline reporting, Global Exchange is helping to amplify this act of nonviolent resistance and its urgent call for justice and freedom for Palestine.Watch the coverage here.

  • Tell Congress: Stop U.S. weapons to Israel. The United States continues to send billions of dollars in weapons to Israel, fueling war crimes and genocide in Gaza. Join Global Exchange and thousands of others in demanding that your Senators and Representatives immediately halt weapons transfers and end U.S. complicity. Send your message now

  • Stay connected through the Global Solidarity for Peace in Palestine Coalition. Global Exchange is part of this international alliance of grassroots groups pushing governments to end the genocide and uphold Palestinian rights. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram for updated calls to action coming out of this coalition.

We will never give up demanding justice for the disappeared. 

Right now, the family of Ricardo Lagunes Gasca and representatives of Antonio Díaz Valencia are in Washington DC, meeting with policy makers and the international diplomatic community to push for answers and to demand accountability.

Ricardo Lagunes Gasca, a human rights and Indigenous territories lawyer, and Professor Antonio Díaz Valencia, the leader of the Nahua Indigenous community of San Miguel de Aquila, Michoacán, Mexico, were victims of enforced disappearance on January 15, 2023 for successfully defending Indigenous rights in courts.

They violently disappeared after participating in a community assembly discussing the next steps after winning the case. There are allegations that both received threats from Ternium, the company operating the Aquila mine – a company that has received scrutiny for its blatant disregard of Indigenous rights in the region.

Unfortunately, the plight of Ricardo and Antonio is far from unusual in the region. Between 2002 and 2023, 96 environmental defenders and 62 Indigenous Rights activists have disappeared.

Since their disappearance, Ricardo’s relatives have been demanding a full investigation from the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances and Inter-American Commission.

Ana Lucía and Antoine Lagunes Gasca, Ricardo’s siblings, are visiting Washington D.C. this week, from November 8 to 11, for a meeting with the U.S. State Department’s Task Force of Environmental defenders, a private hearing with the Inter-American Commission, the Office of the High Commissioner and the Mexican Government, and with several allies.

They are seeking support from the international community and international organizations to advocate for the return of both defenders and achieve international technical assistance in the search and investigation in order to seek their humanitarian recovery, find the truth and seek justice in the case.

Watch a video (in Spanish) featuring the families of Ricardo and Antonio below:

One of the key demands of the People’s Movement for Peace and Justice is accountability and justice for the disappeared. Further, Global Exchange has been an ally of human right defenders in Mexico for over 30 years. Our Mexico Human Rights Senior Fellow, Alberto Solis, was contacted by the families and the lawyers of Ricardo and Antonio to support them in their visit to DC. We will be with them to make sure the US State Department follows up on their commitments with the case and the victims. The People’s Movement for Peace and Justice stands with these families, and with all the families of the disappeared.

Will you stand with us, and sign our petition calling for justice for the disappeared, as well as a set of demands to bring peace and accountability to the region?

The spiraling escalation of inhumane violence in Gaza over the last week is heartbreaking and unacceptable. Further bloodshed and the suffering of innocents cannot and will not resolve anything.

 

Today’s attack on the Anglican hospital that killed more than 500 people is just the next exhibit of untold horrors that awaits us on a path of total rage and revenge unleashed.

That is why we are calling on President Biden to use his trip to Jordan and Israel to insist on an immediate cease fire and the swift delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza before more lives are lost.  Please help us send this message:

Dear President Biden,

As the largest provider of military aid to Israel the United States must use all its influence to call for restraint: An immediate ceasefire that allows for urgent humanitarian relief for Gaza as well as the safety and immediate release of hostages.

Wise leadership can turn this moment of extreme peril into an opportunity for peace.

Please President Biden, take the risks of true leadership for peace. Speak up for all the children of the region and their dreams to one day live in peace and freedom from fear.

It is not too late.

STAND WITH THE PEOPLE OF HAITI! NOT ANOTHER INVASION!
JOIN US TO DEMONSTRATE
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10th
SAN FRANCISCO FEDERAL BUILDING 7TH AND MISSION4:00 PM

Message from our friends at the Haiti Action Committee:

Haiti Action Committee condemns in the strongest possible terms the UN Security Council vote on Monday to authorize yet another invasion of Haiti. Organized and promoted by the US, the invasion will be fronted by Kenya, which has pledged to send 1000 police. The Kenyan police force is notorious for its corruption and brutality, including the recent killing of over 30 people in a peaceful demonstration over increased fuel prices. Soon, this police force – along with other foreign troops – will be murdering Haitians.

The authorization comes despite overwhelming opposition from multiple sectors of Haitian society, who have demanded instead the removal of the current regime of unelected and illegitimate Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the installation of a broadly representative transitional government. While the US characterizes this new intervention as an attempt to stop “gang violence,” the real aim is to prop up the current dictatorship and to fend off the broad-based efforts within Haiti to oust it.

This is why Henry, the neoliberal puppet of the US and the Core Group of foreign occupiers, has called for foreign troops and why Kenyan soldiers are preparing an invasion. Faced with collapsing infrastructure, the spectre of famine looming over half the population, a new cholera outbreak, and a defunded health care system, Haitians now fear that the militarized national police and their armed proxies, the paramilitary “gangs” who have been terrorizing dissident communities, will be buttressed by more foreign tanks and troops, to further oppress the civilian population.

We remember the democratically elected governments of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the Lavalas movement that were twice overthrown by US-supported coups d’etat. Had it not been for the coups, “Today, many of the beautiful dreams of the Haitian people would have already materialized,” a recent Fanmi Lavalas statement declared. “The anti-democratic forces have produced a hell on earth: kidnapping, insecurity, misery, hunger, corruption”—a failure that now requires a new occupying army to sustain it.

THIS IS WHY WE OPPOSE A NEW FOREIGN INVASION AND EXPRESS OUR OUTRAGE AT THE US GOVERNMENT’S POLICY

We are devastated by the news that 54 migrants lost their lives and more than 105 were seriously injured last night when the trailer in which they were traveling overturned in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico. This tragedy is a direct consequence of the anti-immigrant policies – put in place by Trump and continued by Biden – that put already at-risk populations (families and individuals fleeing violence, persecution, and poverty) at even greater risk.

The Biden administration has failed in its promise to reverse the worst of Trump’s draconian, anti-immigration policies – not only by continuing, but also expanding Title 42 and the Remain in Mexico Program to deny entry and due process to those seeking safety and refuge in the United States. 

We know these policies violate the human rights of migrants and refugees and put these already vulnerable populations at grave risk of further persecution and violence. 

Governments must end these deadly policies and focus their efforts on protecting the life and rights of everyone, but particularly of vulnerable populations that seek refuge from violence and poverty.

Global Exchange is continuing our work to advocate for an end to Title 42, the Remain in Mexico Program and all “Safe Third Country” agreements. (Watch my recent interview with Marc Lamont Hill on UpFront.)

But today, right now, we are asking you to help us protect those who face the gravest risks as these policies continue. Please make a gift to our Migrant and Refugee Relief Fund; 100% of the funds raised will go to frontline shelters and legal aid organizations across Mexico working to protect and support migrants and refugees.

We have been able to send critical support to shelters that provide humanitarian assistance to the migrant population in Mexico. With your contribution, we can continue to support these vulnerable populations who face increasing hardships and dangers that threaten their lives.

Thank you for supporting the Migrant and Refugee Relief Fund.

Never another night like last night.