Dear Neighbors,
After months of advocacy, petitions, and appeals to conscience, it appears that what is being called a “ceasefire” may soon take hold. Yet across international media — Reuters, Al Jazeera, BBC, and The Guardian — experts have noted that this arrangement largely restores the pre–October 7 status quo: a return to blockade, surveillance, and control over a devastated population. It pauses open bombardment, but not oppression.
As residents of Irving, we therefore cannot treat this as closure. It is deeply disappointing that our City Council could not bring a ceasefire resolution to the agenda when it mattered most — when moral clarity and public courage were most needed. Not one discussion. Not one vote. Not one acknowledgment of the people of Gaza enduring atrocities that shocked the world.
During the City Council meeting on November 6, 2026, when a citizen stood to speak for humanity, he was met with heckling. And when prejudice was voiced from the dais, no correction followed. Video link.
We recognize that a municipality cannot rewrite foreign policy, but it can model moral integrity. Leadership that fails to speak when lives are at stake cannot be trusted to act courageously when local stakes are high. Local leadership means standing for what is right, not waiting for permission from Austin. Gaza remains a mirror — revealing who stands for principle and who hides behind procedure.
We support every sincere effort toward ending the violence, but even now, Palestinians continue to be killed in occupied land. Aid is entering Gaza, but it does not meet even half the urgent need caused by a deliberate humanitarian blockade. Families remain trapped in conditions that no human being should endure. We believe true peace demands accountability, the right of return, and equality under law for all.
That begins here at home. We, as U.S. citizens, must demand the enforcement of the Leahy Law, the registration of lobbying entities like AIPAC under FARA, and a redirection of our federal tax dollars away from weapons and toward housing, healthcare, and education. These are not foreign issues — they are the moral and economic concerns of every American city, including Irving.
Our petition may conclude today, but our advocacy does not. We will continue to call for a city guided by justice, humanity, and truth. As voters, we will remember which leaders stayed silent and which stood up for life, law, and human decency.
We encourage residents to continue writing to elected officials. Visit www.LetGazaLive.org to take action.
If you want to invite us at your local church, temple, club or private event, our Irving physicians who served in Gaza on humanitarian missions would like to share their observations with you all.
In solidarity,
Gaza Strategic Movement
gazastrategicmovement@icnacsj.org