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International Action Center
121 West 27^th St., Suite 404
New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212-633-6646
IACenter.org

December, 2024

Dear friends and supporters,

The world has looked on with horror as Israel has bombed Gaza for 14 months. This genocide has been committed with U.S.-supplied 2,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs and the political support of the Biden administration and Congress. Over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed, 44% of them children and 26% women. The journal Lancet said the death toll could be as high as 186,000 people Medical personnel, humanitarian aid workers and journalists are among the dead. Bodies remain under the rubble. Some 66% of Gaza has been destroyed, including hospitals, universities, displaced persons camps, churches, mosques, food distribution centers, over 200 historic  buildings and museums. Israel’s troops have committed torture and withheld food, water and medical aid, resulting in starvation and lack of medical equipment to treat the thousands wounded.

South Africa courageously brought charges of Israel’s genocide and violations of international law to the International Court of Justice a year ago at The Hague, Netherlands. The high court ruled that Israel must take all measures to stop acts of genocide and and allow  humanitarian aid to reach Gaza’s population. Israel has ignored the court’s decision. Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.  However, to no one’s surprise, Israel’s leaders have continued to flout these rulings and the Genocide Convention. Washington has sided with Israel.

Global opposition to Israel’s siege of Gaza

The people of the world have responded to Israel’s siege with huge demonstrations of solidarity, totaling millions of pro-Palestinian individuals, demanding an immediate ceasefire, an end to this genocidal war and calling for Washington to stop sending bombs to Israel and supporting genocide.

In the U.S., hundreds of thousands of people – of many nationalities and religions – have demonstrated in countless national and local actions demanding this government call for a ceasefire and stop arming Israel. The International Action Center has joined local protests and sent delegations to Washington,  D.C., to join other organizations to demand the U.S. stop financing and arming Israel’s siege and  pressure Israel’s leaders to allow humanitarian aid into  Gaza. An IAC delegation joined thousands of demonstrators in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention to protest Washington’s support for Israel’s war.  Our local chapters have joined student encampments, and the IAC opened up its national headquarters to campus protesters for work sessions, providing materials and phone banking.

The IAC condemns Israel’s leaders and soldiers and right-wingers in the U.S. for spewing racism against Palestinians and other Arab and Muslim peoples. We call for Israel to stop pushing Palestinians out of the West Bank, bombing Lebanon and shooting missiles at other West Asian countries.

The IAC has continually opposed U.S./NATO expansion in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, and we warn of their increasing militarism, bringing threats of more war; our members joined an anti-NATO demonstration in Washington in July. The IAC is part of the newly formed U.S. Out of Korea Coalition, initiated by NODUTDOL. (Some 30,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed in South Korea.)

Sanctions Kill!

The IAC is instrumental in the ongoing Sanctions Kill campaign, which operates out of our national office.  U.S./U.N. sanctions impact over 40 countries and are a form of economic warfare against one-third of the world’s people.  In October, Sara Flounders, an organizer of this project and IAC co-director, spoke at a U.N. Forum titled:“ Group of Friends in Solidarity with the Charter of the United Nations.” The event’s moderator was H.E. Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s representative to the U.N.

On Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, Sanctions Kill is participating in a meeting and webinar via Zoom on “Solidarity with People-Centered Human Rights” at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington. (See sanctionskill.org) In other news, the book “Sanctions: A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy,” has been translated into Chinese and that edition will be published in the spring.

IAC chapters have joined actions against racism, police brutality, the death penalty, gentrification and for workers’, women’s, LGBTQIA2S+ and civil rights and freedom for political prisoners, including Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier. Our Boston chapter provided sound, food and logistical help at the National Day of Mourning, in Plymouth, Mass., an annual event to honor Indigenous peoples here and worldwide.

Stop attacks on immigrants/Your help is needed!

The coming right-wing administration is sharpening its cudgels, getting ready to carry out mass deportations.  Already, reactionary politicians attacked Haitian immigrants, revving up racism and xenophobia. Immigrant rights and legal organizations are planning measures to counter the deportations. Progressive forces, including the IAC, will protest this terrible policy and show solidarity with targeted immigrant families and communities.

Trump’s first administration separated, 5,500 children from their parents; many held in cages, still traumatized.. The U.N. calls this “torture.” Since the government didn’t keep records, legal and humanitarian groups searched for parents and children; 1,000 children are still missing. Even legal groups are calling for mass protests, saying the courts alone won’t stop these deportations.

The IAC must meet the many challenges ahead in 2025! We oppose an ominous bill circulating through Congress, known as the “Nonprofit Killer Bill,” which would allow the Treasury Department to strip tax-exempt status from progressive nonprofits, endangering many the upcoming administration doesn’t like. We will join allies and doggedly oppose the U.S/Israel war on Palestinians and in West Asia, denounce U.S./NATO militarism and support people’s movements protesting attacks on their rights and threatened cuts to essential social programs and benefits, like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Organizing requires funds and resources.  Meeting the challenges of the coming rightist administration will require a lot of the IAC and many groups. Your involvement, support and financial aid are vital to our work. As in every year, we turn to our supporters to donate so that the IAC can continue to mobilize, hold educational meetings and webinars, provide a work space for a variety of organizations and meet our responsibilities as a vital political, activist organization. (Donate here)

In solidarity and with appreciation,

The International Action Center staff