The following letter was written by a group of Jewish residents in support of the passage of a Greenfield cease-fire resolution. In under one week it has been signed by 52 Jewish residents of Greenfield and 29 Jewish residents of Franklin county, representing themselves and their families. We will present the final number of signers to the City Council ahead of their vote.

We ask the Greenfield City Council to vote in favor of a resolution for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. We are signing onto this letter as Jewish residents of Greenfield and Franklin County. We hope that our community can come together to call for peace. We hope that our city, joining with the more than 70 other U.S. municipalities that have passed cease-fire resolutions, can send a strong message to our state and federal decision makers that this senseless loss of life must end.

We view our support of a cease-fire as in alignment with our Jewish histories and values. As members of a people that has survived genocide and mass pogroms, we oppose attacking or mistreating innocent civilians of any faith, nationality, or ethnicity. We firmly reject the notion that calling for peace and for freedom, justice, and equality for Palestinians is antisemitic. Instead, for many of us, it is specifically because we are Jewish that speaking out is a necessity. We refuse to remain silent when atrocities are being committed. We urge you to join us in calling for an end to U.S. complicity in the bombing and annihilation of Gaza and for the removal of obstacles to urgently needed humanitarian aid.

Aviv Nisinzweig, Emily Eliot Miller and Alyssa Bauer

Greenfield