My letter to Ann Arbor City Council -- With four of my political opinion cartoons:
March 19, 2023
My letter to Ann Arbor City Council, including Mayor Pro Tem Travis Radina, Councilmember Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, Councilmember Jen Eyer, and Mayor Christopher Taylor:
As I've done for many years, I urge you to adopt my 7-word human rights resolution -- "We are against military aid to Israel."
Since you won't listen, then you can look.
Look at my four attached political opinion cartoons -- and stop whoring for the apartheid state of Israel.
There is nothing more filthy than a City Council which throws its weight into the service of racist mass murder by an apartheid state.
You cannot avoid responsibility for the thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese people killed by the Israeli military.
-- That is because you have spent over 20 years stonewalling every resolution against military aid to Israel. You have a lot of Palestinian blood on your hands.
-- Additionally, the previous Mayor threw the City's weight behind Israel, while Israel was killing nearly two thousand Palestinians in the First Intifada. The Mayor did so by welcoming an Israeli official -- Eitan Broshi -- to an Ann Arbor City Council meeting, and by presenting a gift to Broshi on behalf of the City of Ann Arbor.
For contrast, look at the Detroit Free Press article on a nearby City Council that actually has a heart --
The Hamtramck, Michigan City Council has announced a proclamation for Palestinian rights, against military aid to repressive governments, and against occupation:
Ann Arbor City Council cannot ignore the galaxy of major human rights organizations who declare that Israel is indeed committing the crime of apartheid:
You, the Ann Arbor City Council, do that heartless stonewalling even though a large plurality of Democrats (49%) sympathizes with the occupied people of Palestine and a much smaller number (just 38%) sympathizes with Israel, according to a Gallup poll:
You heartlessly stonewall Palestinian rights resolutions even while the U.S. showers Israel with military aid, granting a U.S. visa to Israel's high-ranking cabinet minister who just called for an entire Palestinian town to be "wiped out":
You do that heartless stonewalling despite an avalanche of campus resolutions for Palestinian rights and against Israeli apartheid, also known as BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions).
• Those campus resolutions for Palestinian rights, and against Israeli apartheid, include student government resolutions from U-M Dearborn, U-M Ann Arbor, and Wayne State University.
• Those Palestine resolutions span the continent, coming from the Harvard Crimson, the New York University student council, UCLA, and many more:
- April 29, 2022 – The Harvard Crimson‘s editorial board supports BDS and a free Palestine – Cambridge, Massachusetts
- December 22, 2021 – NYU student council endorses BDS, and 11 other BDS resolutions passed across U.S. college campuses – National
- March 5, 2019 – In revote, Swarthmore College Student Government votes for divestment from companies supporting Israel’s occupation – Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
- December 6, 2018 – NYU Student Government passes divestment resolution – New York, New York
- May 23, 2018 – California State University-East Bay Associated Students, Incorporated Board of Directors votes unanimously for divestment from corporations profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestine – Hayward, California
- May 23, 2018 – Associated Students of the University of Oregon pass BDS resolution by 2/3 margin – Eugene, Oregon
- April 27, 2018 – George Washington University passes senate divestment resolution – Washington, DC
- April 19, 2018 – Barnard College student body votes for divestment by wide margin – New York, New York
- April 12, 2018 – Fifty NYU groups pledge solidarity with the BDS movement, including academic boycott – New York, New York
- Spring 2018 – New York University Student Senate votes to boycott Israel study abroad program – New York, New York
- March 22, 2018 – Federation of Teachers at Los Rios, the largest community college in California, votes to divest from Caterpillar and G4S – Sacramento, California
- March 11, 2018 – Univ. of Minnesota student body votes to divest from companies involved in Israeli oppression, mass incarceration and immigrant detention, and violations of indigenous sovereignty – Minneapolis, Minnesota
- November 15, 2017 – After more than a decade of organizing, Univ. of Michigan student government passes resolution on divestment from companies involved in Israel’s human rights abuses – Ann Arbor, Michigan
- May 10, 2017 – Associated Students, Inc. Senate at Cal State University – Long Beach (CSULB) passes resolution to divest from Israel – Long Beach, California
- April 27, 2017 – Univ. of Wisconsin Associated Students of Madison approve divestment – Madison, WI
- April 25, 2017 – University of California at Riverside Student Senate calls for divestment– Riverside, California
- April 19, 2017 – Pitzer College passes new bylaws prohibiting use of student funds for companies or products associated with Israeli occupation – Claremont, California
- April 9, 2017 – Tufts Community Union Senate passes divestment – Medford, Massachusetts
- March 21, 2017 – Sacramento City College becomes first city college to pass divestment resolution – Sacramento, California
- March 15, 2017 – De Anza becomes first Community College Student Senate to pass divestment – Cupertino, California
- March 3, 2017 – University of South Florida students pass referendum to divest from Israeli apartheid, fossil fuels, private prisons, human rights violations – Tampa, Florida
- February 2, 2017 – University of California at Riverside Associated Students vote unanimously to remove Israeli military-associated company Sabra hummus from campus – Riverside, California
- November 13, 2016 – Manchester University — home of first Peace Studies in world — Student Senate votes unanimously in support of BDS, divestment – North Manchester, Indiana
- October 26, 2016 – Associated Students of Portland State University Pass Divestment Resolution In Support of Palestinian Human Rights – Portland, Oregon
- May 31, 2016 – Evergreen State College students vote to condemn the presence of Caterpillar equipment on campus – Olympia, Washington
- May 31, 2016 – Overwhelming 73.9% Vote by Evergreen State College Students to Deshelve Sabra Hummus on Campus – Olympia, Washington
- May 19, 2016 – University of Wisconsin at Madison Graduate Student Union Endorses BDS– Madison, Wisconsin
- May 17, 2016 – Religious Studies Scholars Endorse BDS
- April 26, 2016 – University of California at Merced Student Government Passes Divestment Resolution – Merced, California
- April 12, 2016 – University of Minnesota student government passes divestment – Minneapolis, Minnesota
- April 12, 2016 – University of Chicago College Council Votes to Divest from Israeli Apartheid– Chicago, Illinois
- April 4, 2016 – Rutgers University-Newark Student Governing Association Passes Divestment Resolution – Newark, NJ
- April 2, 2016 – University of Indianapolis Student Senate passes resolution to divest from companies profiting from occupation, deshelve Sabra hummus – Indianapolis, IN
- March 6, 2016 – Vassar Student Association Passes Resolution Endorsing the BDS Movement – Arlington, NY
- February 22, 2016 – Thirty Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Faculty and Staff Group Endorses Boycott of Israel – Indianapolis, IN
- February 16, 2016 – University of Illinois at Chicago Undergraduate Student Government Assembly Passes Divestment Resolution Unanimously – Chicago, Illinois
- January 19, 2016 – University of South Florida Student Government Senate Passes Joint Resolution for Divestment – Tampa, Florida
- November 18, 2015 – San Jose State University Students Pass Resolution to Divest from Corporations that profit from the Israeli Occupation – San Jose, California
- June 22, 2015 – Columbia University divests from private prisons including G4S, following coalition-led campaign – Manhattan, New York
- April 30, 2015 – Oglethorpe University student goverment passes resolution to divest from Israeli occupation – Atlanta, Georgia
- April 29, 2015 – Princeton graduate students pass divestment referendum – Princeton, New Jersey
- April 22, 2015 – Earlham Student Senate passes resolution in support of divestment from Israeli occupation – Richmond, Indiana
- April 16, 2015 – Wesleyan University president agrees to divest university from prisons as first step when Wesleyan students call for divestment from fossil fuels, prisons, and Israeli occupation – Middletown, Connecticut
- March 25, 2015 – Student Government of Loyola Chicago passes resolution to divest – Chicago, Illinois
- March 2, 2015 – Toledo student government calls for University divestment by margin of 21:4 – Toledo, Ohio
- February 19, 2015 – Northwestern University Student Government calls for university divestment – Evanston, Illinois
- February 17, 2015 – Stanford divestment passes in a landslide victory – Stanford, California
- February 8, 2015 – University of California Student Association — representing hundreds of thousands of UC students statewide — endorses call for UC divestment in support of Palestinian rights – State of California
- May 29, 2015 – University of California at Davis Associated Students pass divestment bill – Davis, California
- December 5, 2014 – Wesleyan University Dining Facilities Remove Sabra Following Successful Boycott Campaign – Middletown, Connecticut
- November, 2014 – University of California at Los Angeles undergraduate student government passes divestment resolution – Los Angeles, California
- August 9-10, 2014 – United Students Against Sweatshops Endorses BDS
- May 28, 2014 – University of California at Santa Cruz student government passes divestment resolution – Santa Cruz, California
- May 23, 2014 – DePaul student body votes for divestment despite Israeli government interference – Chicago, Illinois
- May, 2014 – Wesleyan Students Association divests its student endowment from Israeli occupation, calls for full university divestment – Middletown, Connecticut
- April, 2014 – More than 10,000 Univ. of South Florida students call for divestment — largest petition in state’s history – Tampa, Florida
- April, 2014 – University of New Mexico Graduate & Professional Student Association vote for divestment from companies involved in human rights violations in Palestine and on U.S.-Mexico border – Albuquerque, New Mexico
- May 5, 2013 – Oberlin College Student Senate passes divestment Resolution – Oberlin, OH
- April, 2013 – University of California at Berkeley Student Senate passes divestment – Berkeley, California
- March 7, 2013 – University of California at Riverside Associated Students Council pass resolution calling for divestment – Riverside, California
- March, 2013 – University of California at San Diego Associated Students Council pass resolution calling for divestment – San Diego, California
- November 14, 2012 – Brown University Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies calls on Brown Corporation to divest from the Israeli occupation – Providence, Rhode Island
- November, 2012 – University of California at Irvine Associated Students unanimously pass resolution urging divestment from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestine – Irvine, California
- September 2012 – Swarthmore College Deshelves Sabra Following Student Petition – Philadelphia, PA
- September 5, 2012 – Earlham College Dining Services Stops Selling Sabra in Response to Student and Faculty Concerns – Richmond, Indiana
- June 5, 2012 – Arizona State University Student Government Votes to Divest from Israel – Tempe, Arizona
- June 4, 2012 – The Evergreen State College Flaming Eggplant Cafe Announces Boycott of Israeli Products – Olympia, Washington
- April 18, 2012 – UMass-Boston Student Government passes resolution to divest from Boeing – Boston, Massachusetts
- March 30 , 2012 – National Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA) Endorses Palestinian Boycott of Israel
- May/November, 2011 – Majority of DePaul students vote to boycott Sabra Hummus; force ethical alternatives offered – Chicago, Illinois
- June 2, 2010 – Evergreen State College student body votes for boycott of Caterpillar equipment, becoming “CAT-free campus”; Student Senate votes unanimously to support BDS
- Spring, 2010 – Evergreen State College Student Body votes for divestment from companies involved in Israeli occupation – Olympia, Washington
- February 12, 2009 – Hampshire College becomes first campus to divest from the Israeli occupation – Amherst, Massachusetts
- 2005, 2006, 2010, 2014 – University of Michigan at Dearborn Student Government passes divestment resolution – Dearborn, Michigan
- April, 2003 – Wayne State University student council votes for divestiture – Detroit, Michigan
You continued your heartless stonewalling even when the historic “Resolution in Support of Ending U.S. Military Support for Israel” was approved by the Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission, in December 2003.
At that time, the Commission urged the Ann Arbor City Council to adopt that resolution:
You responded by stripping the Human Rights Commission of its staff and replacing its members with a heartless lineup of clowns against any mention of the Palestinian people.
The reasons to approve the resolution -- against military aid to Israel -- were abundantly clear even before Israel wiped out thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese lives during the last decade – and thousands more lives in the previous decade.
The reasons to approve this resolution were abundantly clear even before Israel’s close military alliance with Apartheid South Africa was revealed:
If you -- the Mayor and City Council -- can spend your time issuing public statements on global and national issues like carbon neutrality, Ukraine, disability awareness, and the Women’s National Farm & Garden Association, then you can damn well spend a moment approving my 7-word resolution against arming the racist state of Israel. Thousands of lives depend on it.
Your own revulsion against a resolution respecting Palestinian rights is proof of how important that resolution is. Palestinians need this protection. This resolution is a political barrier to protect occupied Palestine against your bombs and bullets. It will be better protection as more City Councils adopt it. That's how Apartheid South Africa got politically encircled and was finally forced to shake off apartheid altogether.
In case you still can't hear me, even though I have demanded to be heard for 20 years in your City Council chambers, let me put it in plain English for you:
What the hell is wrong with you, that you can't simply paste my 7-word resolution into your agenda for a vote -- even as you see Israel using your tax money to massacre Palestine and Lebanon?
To be exact, here is my proposed resolution again: “We are against military aid to Israel”.
Debate it, vote for it, and watch it spread across the country.
Don't stall for time. Don't allow Apartheid Israel to complete its Final Solution against the Palestinian people.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, Ph.D.
Candidate for Ann Arbor City Council, 2022:
Winner of the Rachel Carson Prize, 2015:
Author of the proposed Ann Arbor City Council resolution against military aid to Israel:
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