According to the American Counseling Association (ACA), the promotion of social justice is a core professional value, an advocacy competency, and a moral imperative. Social Justice is defined by the ACA as: “the promotion of equity for all people and groups for the purpose
of ending oppression and injustice affecting clients, students, counselors, families, communities,
schools, workplaces, governments, and other social and institutional systems.”

The American Counseling Association has a history of advocating for social justice and human rights internationally, by using their platform to combat and condemn multiple forms hatred and injustice, such as when the ACA stood against apartheid in South Africa by only investing in corporations that adopted the Sullivan Principles, which were designed to support corporate social responsibility. The ACA has also rightfully used their platform to condemn Russia's incursion and war crimes in Ukraine, in accordance with their commitment to social justice. 

During the current Palestine/Israel conflict, the ACA put out a statement, which can be viewed here: https://www.counseling.org/about-us/about-aca/values-and-statements/israel-palestinian-conflict

While welcoming the ACA's ability to condemn all violence, and acknowledge the collective trauma, it is disappointing that the ACA has failed to use its platform to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to further prevent the killing, maiming, displacement, and deep traumatization of millions of innocent civilians, as has been the position of most major human rights organizations and experts, UN agencies and representatives, in addition to the position of millions of global citizens who have been marching daily for almost two months, asking that their governments help end what has been called an unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza by human rights experts, and a genocide or potential genocide by experts and historians on the subject of genocide. 

This petition asks that the ACA, along with its Counselors for Social Justice and its Texas Counseling Association divisions to use their platforms to call for the enforcement of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where it is estimated that over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed by indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes, of which over 8,000 are children; where millions have been displaced; and where millions are suffering through an indescribable humanitarian crisis due to Israel's blockade of fuel, electricity, water, and food from reaching the Gaza strip, which has led to a crisis where millions have struggled to find food, clean water, and basic necessities. 

It is no secret that prior to current events, most children in Gaza suffered from complex trauma. As a mental health association, the ACA most certainly recognizes that the trauma that Palestinian civilians are currently enduring is extremely deep, complex and unfathomably tragic. Because of this, this petition asks the ACA to use its knowledge to advocate for a permanent ceasefire, to prevent the accumulation of any further trauma or psychological, physical, and emotional pain. Calling for a ceasefire is currently the bare minimum, after which it is the duty that all people of conscience answer the call of the Palestinian people to live free of violence, displacement, occupation, and apartheid. The only way to end the cycle of violence is to promote the right of all people to freedom and self determination, which Palestinians have been deprived of for over 75 years.