Dear Congressman Brandon Williams,

We the undersigned members of the Cazenovia community ask that you hear the story of Medhat El-Rabai and take action to protect him and his community members. 

Medhat was born and raised in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. He came to the United States at 16 years old through Youth Exchange and Study (YES), a foreign exchange student program, and attended Cazenovia High School during the 2022-2023 academic school year. This was the first time in his entire life he was permitted by the Israeli government to leave the besieged Gaza Strip. He stayed at my family’s home during that time. Over the course of eight months, our family and community got to welcome Medhat and learn more about him. We learned that his time in Cazenovia would likely be his only opportunity out of Gaza and we wanted to make it a very special year for him. Some of his favorite experiences in the US was visiting Washington, D.C. and New York City; he was so excited to go to the Intrepid Museum, Central Park, and eat a food truck hotdog (he may have been slightly disappointed by the meal, but he was so delighted to find out that they were halal and it meant a lot for him to meet other Muslim people living in America).

He came with us to a local farm to cut down our Christmas trees during the holidays, he decorated them with ornaments and was tasked with putting the star at the very top. On school mornings, we learned he’s a perpetually late child who constantly had to run down the driveway to catch the school bus. He left his room a mess and he played video games and he loved challenging our family to games of chess where he almost always won. He stopped at Caz Pizza after school almost every day. He took his classmate to prom, dressed in his best attire, and stayed up late with friends. He is a typical teenage boy with a big personality, witty humor, and aspirations of coming back to the United States for college. 

On October 7th, we were horrified to hear about the brutality and violence carried out by Hamas militants when they killed an estimated 1,400 Israeli civilians. Since that day, we have watched in agony as Israel, backed by our tax dollars, continues to pummel densely populated civilian areas with advanced weapons, and with complete impunity. We know that a member of our community is living every day thinking it might be his last. Since October 7th, over 10,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombing, and over half of those are women and children. This would be like if our small town of Cazenovia’s population was wiped out almost four times. Medhat and his family are not guilty of perpetuating the attacks of October 7th and we will not accept these civilian deaths as casualties of war.

Medhat has been able to keep some communication with us, though with Israel targeting power sources and shutting off electricity and internet, our ability to communicate has been diminished significantly. When we have communicated, there have only been messages of love and hope, not of vengeance or hatred. All he has asked of us is to share his stories, share the photos, videos that are being taken on the ground, and let the world see what his community has had to experience this last month. Ultimately, he and his community ask us to support a ceasefire – to stop the bombing of innocent civilians.

We call on you to join your colleagues in endorsing the Ceasefire Now Resolution in Congress. Our country has the power and sway to put this violence and suffering to an end, and we need strong, unafraid voices now more than ever to call for peace and work toward a lasting solution in the region that protects the safety, dignity, and humanity of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Thank you for your time.