UPDATE!

In the next phase of our advocacy, we are urging Irving residents to email City Council members and express support for taking a moral stand by calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

We call on our elected officials to pass a resolution that demands an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the free and unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid, and the protection of every civilian in Gaza and across the occupied Palestinian territories.

The war in Gaza has become one of the worst humanitarian crises of our era. Gaza’s health ministry reports over 60,000 deaths, with approximately 70 percent of the dead being women and children.  Independent excess-mortality studies suggest the true toll could already exceed 100,000, nearly half the population of the City of Irving. Civilians have been shot while waiting for food. Irving physicians who volunteered in Gaza describe children dying in hospital corridors. UNICEF and Save the Children call this the deadliest conflict for children in modern times.

More than 80,000 tons of bombs, missiles, and other explosive weapons have been dropped on Gaza, exceeding the tonnage used on Europe’s most heavily bombed cities during World War II. Neighborhoods and entire cities lie in rubble. Hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, and universities have been leveled. Families with ties to Irving have been wiped out. A man-made famine is spreading.

As parents, neighbors, people of faith, and fellow human beings, we cannot stay silent while children are bombed, hospitals destroyed, and entire communities starved.

Irving is not disconnected. Major defense contractors linked to weapons used in Gaza operate in or near our city. What happens abroad is tied to decisions made here at home.

More than 120 municipalities nationwide have adopted ceasefire resolutions. Aid organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, the International Rescue Committee, UNRWA, Save the Children, and the World Food Programme have all called for a ceasefire. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and other faith leaders have issued joint statements calling the violence a moral emergency. Polls show a majority of Americans, across party lines, support an immediate ceasefire and full humanitarian access.

We know city councils do not set foreign policy. Yet Irving’s Council is the government closest to the people. Local resolutions have influenced national debate before, including during the movement to end apartheid in South Africa. Irving’s own value statements pledge “a commitment to always do right.” Now is the moment to live up to that promise.

Neutrality in the face of mass killing and starvation is not an option. Silence can be mistaken for approval.

On May 29, 2025, a ceasefire resolution was placed on the Irving City Council agenda but was removed without following the Council’s published procedures. We were denied a voice once. We raise it again now.

The resolution we seek:

1. Calls for an immediate ceasefire, not one delayed by negotiations.

2. Calls for a permanent ceasefire, not a temporary pause.

3. Supports unrestricted humanitarian aid. Starving civilians is a war crime. Hostage releases from all parties are called for, but aid must not be conditional.

4. Avoids blaming any single side. The conflict’s roots go back decades; the priority is to stop today’s killing.

5. Acknowledges the scale of destruction.

6. Sends Irving’s plea to state and federal representatives, urging them to act.

We call on the Irving City Council to pass this resolution and reflect our city’s commitment to human dignity, decency, and justice.

Let Irving be counted among the cities that said:

We stood for life.

We stood for peace.

We did not stay silent.

What You Can Do

After signing this petition, please email the Mayor and City Council using this portal, not in opposition, but in encouragement — to let them know that their community supports them in making this moral stand.

Email addresses:

mayor@irvingtx.gov,               jbloch@irvingtx.gov, davidpfaff@irvingtx.gov, akhabeer@irvingtx.gov, lcanosa@irvingtx.gov, mcronenwett@irvingtx.gov, azapanta@irvingtx.gov, amuller@irvingtx.gov, denniswebb@irvingtx.gov

Lead Petitioner: Dr. Bilal Piracha, MD

Platform Managed By: Dr. Ali Anwar, MD