I am writing to thank Chris Larabee for covering the movement to pass a cease-fire resolution in Greenfield. As we near the four-month marker in the horrific genocide and ethnic cleansing of occupied Palestine, we are all waking up to the knowledge that our federal government will not withdraw its support for these crimes without massive pushback from the citizenry.

Cease-fire resolutions signed by city governments are important in helping galvanize this mass resistance. They also make it easier for cities to pass additional legislation that can have a more material impact, for example withdrawing from partnerships with weapons manufacturers like Elbit, L3 Harris, and other corporations that profit off the genocide while being subsidized in various ways by local governments.

In January, the International Court of Justice determined that the evidence shows Israel may indeed be committing genocide, and they imposed “provisional measures” which Israel must abide by as the court continues examining the case. These measures include the injunction to immediately stop killing Palestinians, and to allow desperately needed food and medical supplies into the besieged Gaza Strip. Every member of the Geneva Accords is now bound by law to enforce these measures, and some countries have begun to do so, for example, by barring all military exports to Israel.

Israel itself, on the other hand, ignored the ICJ ruling and escalated its assault. Just last week, it bombed a refugee camp packed with starving people whose homes have been destroyed. This, like so many of Israel’s other activities, is a war crime under international law.

The Biden administration has similarly ignored the court by continuing to support Israel financially and politically. Each day, Israel kills and maims hundreds of civilians, a historically unprecedented number of whom are children. Most of the bombs it drops are made in the U.S. We citizens of this country are absolutely complicit in this genocide, in other words: our tax dollars are paying for it, our manufacturing firms and military corporations are enacting it, and the politicians we vote for are working overtime to protect Israel from all attempts to stop it.

Every one of us thus has a responsibility to find ways of intervening in this unbearable crime against humanity, and I commend the brave resisters who are stepping up to do so. I urge the Greenfield City Council to heed their call and unanimously adopt a cease-fire resolution.

Marianna Ritchey lives in Greenfield.