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Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference with House Republican leadership at the U.S. Capitol November 29, 2023, in Washington, D.C.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
An Open Letter to Elise Stefanik: This Is Genocide and You Should Resign
Facts establishing genocide in Gaza are inarguable, yet you have eagerly implicated yourself by voting unconditional military assistance to the Israeli government to facilitate the crime of crimes.
Jan 15, 2024
Dear Congresswoman:
We, the undersigned, urge you to resign immediately for your aiding and abetting genocide of Palestinians in Gaza by voting to send arms to the IDF to perpetrate the crime in violation of the Genocide Convention. It is altogether fitting and proper that you do this.
At a congressional hearing held on December 5, 2023, you voiced outrage at the resistance of the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT to declare categorically that any student who hypothetically called for genocide of Jews would be expelled. No evidence was adduced suggesting such a student is more than a figment of your fevered imagination.
At the same time, you were aiding and abetting an actual and not a hypothetical genocide: namely, the Israeli government's siege of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza to create conditions of life calculated to destroy them physically in whole or in part. “No food, no water, no power, no medicine, no shelter, no hope.” The siege fits the definition of genocide in section 2 of the Geneva Convention like a glove. It is open and notorious and aggressively executed by the Netanyahu administration.
You should resign without tarry for aiding and abetting genocide of real people.
The siege has been accompanied by industrial-scale bombings of homes, places of worship, marketplaces, journalists, refugee camps, hospitals, ambulances, United Nations-marked schools, roads, everything in sight. Babies clinging to life in incubators have foreseeably died because of the siege. Reported Palestinian deaths approach 24,000, with the true number probably a multiple of that number. More than 80% of the entire civilian population in Gaza has been displaced and confront death by disease, starvation, or bombing.
These facts establishing genocide are inarguable. Yet you have eagerly implicated yourself by voting for unconditional military assistance to the Israeli government to facilitate the crime of crimes.
According to your standards, a university president who neglects categorically to pledge to expel a hypothetical student who calls for genocide of Jews should resign, as the president of both Penn and Harvard have now done.
A fortiori, you should resign without tarry for aiding and abetting genocide of real people, 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza (whom the Israeli defense minister has sub-humanized as “animals”) with the use of weapons you voted to supply.
To borrow from Joseph Welch at the Army-McCarthy hearings, "have you no sense of decency?"
Resign and let us be done with you!
Sincerely,
Your constituents and groups representing New York District 21 members and concerned citizens:
David Doonan
Mark Dunlea
Jennifer Baumstein
Linda LeTendre
Frederick Balzac
Bruce Krug
Ekaz Qureshi
The Green Party of New York
Peter LaVenia
Maureen Basalla
Dan Spilman
David Doonan
Howie Hawkins
Jim Brown
Matthew J Funiciello
Cassandra Lems
Janet Clarke
Gail Soltan
Tom Newman
Joseph Naham
Christine Schmidt
Paul Gilman
Daniel Devine
Jim McCabe
Lamia Hermas
Nidal Said
Fadua Shabban
Amal Abdallah
Debra Rosario
Maha Adileh
Adla Rimawi
Waleed Khan
Ama Baj
Lulzime Borova
David Walker
Salma Faraj
Arizena Hazin
Emelyn Judge
Ibtisam Mustafa
Nancy Shihadeh
Martha Janajri
Karen Lopez
Rob Devito
Gloria Mattera
Adam Travis
Matt Oill
Cody Owen
Chris Edes
Darin Robbins
Beth Jacobs
Lena Mara
Christine Farranone
Naomi Jaffe
Ekaz Qureshi
Anna Schupack
Charles Knaebel
Joseph Koczaja
Lou Sebesta
Charles J Gull
Haider Khan
Zion Ayer
Jon Flanders
Bryan Watkins
Joseph Koyajn
Danny Smith
Robert C. Sodowski
Heidi M. Woolever
Felix Simpson
Lou Stoucher
Courtney Novak
Felix Simpson
Andrew Lynn
Colleen Welch
Rafael Ohnson
Shahid Hasan
Maureen Hasan
Noureen Hasan
Collin Thomas
Gail Brown
Sadie Harrison
Gary J. Lessard
Neal Pritchard
Trudy Quaif
Mike Pelly
Alexis Goldsmith
Kristoffer Ross
Eleanor Stein
Ava Berman
Mary Baker
Angela Bartlett
Haley Powers
Spencer Bowen
Tracy Frisch
Lily Bartlett
Sean Seary
Gustaf Myhrberg
Christian Garramone
Jane Hirschmann
Richard Levy
James Rees
Ilham Almahamid
Amanda Bourgoine
Rebecca Hein
Fatimah Brown
Laura Mandel
Line Henriksen
Zuhair Al-Atwi
Luke Bateman
Michael Keenan
Bob Ellenbogen
David Motta
Ryan Featherston
Elissa Davis
Robert Washo
Robert Alft
Keith Jewell
Susan Duncan
Dan Wilcox
Larry McGory
Selina Dean
Leo Parascondola
Karyn Pomerantz
Aneil Rallin
Ian Barnard
Gary Rock
Stephen Ruzbacki
Donna Lessard
Chris Pezzulo
Dorothy Richards
Teresa Roben
PS. We are circulating this letter and will continue to send you updated lists of names.
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Mark Dunlea
Mark Dunlea is a retired attorney, cofounder of NYPIRG, and former Poestenkill Town Board member.
David Doonan
David Doonan is the web manager for the Green Party of the United States and union shop steward. He previously served as Village Mayor for Greenwich, New York from 2008 until 2016.
Dear Congresswoman:
We, the undersigned, urge you to resign immediately for your aiding and abetting genocide of Palestinians in Gaza by voting to send arms to the IDF to perpetrate the crime in violation of the Genocide Convention. It is altogether fitting and proper that you do this.
At a congressional hearing held on December 5, 2023, you voiced outrage at the resistance of the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT to declare categorically that any student who hypothetically called for genocide of Jews would be expelled. No evidence was adduced suggesting such a student is more than a figment of your fevered imagination.
At the same time, you were aiding and abetting an actual and not a hypothetical genocide: namely, the Israeli government's siege of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza to create conditions of life calculated to destroy them physically in whole or in part. “No food, no water, no power, no medicine, no shelter, no hope.” The siege fits the definition of genocide in section 2 of the Geneva Convention like a glove. It is open and notorious and aggressively executed by the Netanyahu administration.
You should resign without tarry for aiding and abetting genocide of real people.
The siege has been accompanied by industrial-scale bombings of homes, places of worship, marketplaces, journalists, refugee camps, hospitals, ambulances, United Nations-marked schools, roads, everything in sight. Babies clinging to life in incubators have foreseeably died because of the siege. Reported Palestinian deaths approach 24,000, with the true number probably a multiple of that number. More than 80% of the entire civilian population in Gaza has been displaced and confront death by disease, starvation, or bombing.
These facts establishing genocide are inarguable. Yet you have eagerly implicated yourself by voting for unconditional military assistance to the Israeli government to facilitate the crime of crimes.
According to your standards, a university president who neglects categorically to pledge to expel a hypothetical student who calls for genocide of Jews should resign, as the president of both Penn and Harvard have now done.
A fortiori, you should resign without tarry for aiding and abetting genocide of real people, 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza (whom the Israeli defense minister has sub-humanized as “animals”) with the use of weapons you voted to supply.
To borrow from Joseph Welch at the Army-McCarthy hearings, "have you no sense of decency?"
Resign and let us be done with you!
Sincerely,
Your constituents and groups representing New York District 21 members and concerned citizens:
David Doonan
Mark Dunlea
Jennifer Baumstein
Linda LeTendre
Frederick Balzac
Bruce Krug
Ekaz Qureshi
The Green Party of New York
Peter LaVenia
Maureen Basalla
Dan Spilman
David Doonan
Howie Hawkins
Jim Brown
Matthew J Funiciello
Cassandra Lems
Janet Clarke
Gail Soltan
Tom Newman
Joseph Naham
Christine Schmidt
Paul Gilman
Daniel Devine
Jim McCabe
Lamia Hermas
Nidal Said
Fadua Shabban
Amal Abdallah
Debra Rosario
Maha Adileh
Adla Rimawi
Waleed Khan
Ama Baj
Lulzime Borova
David Walker
Salma Faraj
Arizena Hazin
Emelyn Judge
Ibtisam Mustafa
Nancy Shihadeh
Martha Janajri
Karen Lopez
Rob Devito
Gloria Mattera
Adam Travis
Matt Oill
Cody Owen
Chris Edes
Darin Robbins
Beth Jacobs
Lena Mara
Christine Farranone
Naomi Jaffe
Ekaz Qureshi
Anna Schupack
Charles Knaebel
Joseph Koczaja
Lou Sebesta
Charles J Gull
Haider Khan
Zion Ayer
Jon Flanders
Bryan Watkins
Joseph Koyajn
Danny Smith
Robert C. Sodowski
Heidi M. Woolever
Felix Simpson
Lou Stoucher
Courtney Novak
Felix Simpson
Andrew Lynn
Colleen Welch
Rafael Ohnson
Shahid Hasan
Maureen Hasan
Noureen Hasan
Collin Thomas
Gail Brown
Sadie Harrison
Gary J. Lessard
Neal Pritchard
Trudy Quaif
Mike Pelly
Alexis Goldsmith
Kristoffer Ross
Eleanor Stein
Ava Berman
Mary Baker
Angela Bartlett
Haley Powers
Spencer Bowen
Tracy Frisch
Lily Bartlett
Sean Seary
Gustaf Myhrberg
Christian Garramone
Jane Hirschmann
Richard Levy
James Rees
Ilham Almahamid
Amanda Bourgoine
Rebecca Hein
Fatimah Brown
Laura Mandel
Line Henriksen
Zuhair Al-Atwi
Luke Bateman
Michael Keenan
Bob Ellenbogen
David Motta
Ryan Featherston
Elissa Davis
Robert Washo
Robert Alft
Keith Jewell
Susan Duncan
Dan Wilcox
Larry McGory
Selina Dean
Leo Parascondola
Karyn Pomerantz
Aneil Rallin
Ian Barnard
Gary Rock
Stephen Ruzbacki
Donna Lessard
Chris Pezzulo
Dorothy Richards
Teresa Roben
PS. We are circulating this letter and will continue to send you updated lists of names.
From Your Site Articles
- Stop Bullying US Students Calling for Justice for Palestine ›
- 'Horrifying Precedent': Penn President Resigns Amid Right-Wing Campus Speech Uproar ›
- 'Two Down,' Stefanik Brags After Harvard President Claudine Gay Resigns ›
- 'Shame! Traitor! Go Home!': Stefanik Mercilessly Booed Off Stage During Local Event in NY District | Common Dreams ›
Mark Dunlea
Mark Dunlea is a retired attorney, cofounder of NYPIRG, and former Poestenkill Town Board member.
David Doonan
David Doonan is the web manager for the Green Party of the United States and union shop steward. He previously served as Village Mayor for Greenwich, New York from 2008 until 2016.
Dear Congresswoman:
We, the undersigned, urge you to resign immediately for your aiding and abetting genocide of Palestinians in Gaza by voting to send arms to the IDF to perpetrate the crime in violation of the Genocide Convention. It is altogether fitting and proper that you do this.
At a congressional hearing held on December 5, 2023, you voiced outrage at the resistance of the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT to declare categorically that any student who hypothetically called for genocide of Jews would be expelled. No evidence was adduced suggesting such a student is more than a figment of your fevered imagination.
At the same time, you were aiding and abetting an actual and not a hypothetical genocide: namely, the Israeli government's siege of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza to create conditions of life calculated to destroy them physically in whole or in part. “No food, no water, no power, no medicine, no shelter, no hope.” The siege fits the definition of genocide in section 2 of the Geneva Convention like a glove. It is open and notorious and aggressively executed by the Netanyahu administration.
You should resign without tarry for aiding and abetting genocide of real people.
The siege has been accompanied by industrial-scale bombings of homes, places of worship, marketplaces, journalists, refugee camps, hospitals, ambulances, United Nations-marked schools, roads, everything in sight. Babies clinging to life in incubators have foreseeably died because of the siege. Reported Palestinian deaths approach 24,000, with the true number probably a multiple of that number. More than 80% of the entire civilian population in Gaza has been displaced and confront death by disease, starvation, or bombing.
These facts establishing genocide are inarguable. Yet you have eagerly implicated yourself by voting for unconditional military assistance to the Israeli government to facilitate the crime of crimes.
According to your standards, a university president who neglects categorically to pledge to expel a hypothetical student who calls for genocide of Jews should resign, as the president of both Penn and Harvard have now done.
A fortiori, you should resign without tarry for aiding and abetting genocide of real people, 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza (whom the Israeli defense minister has sub-humanized as “animals”) with the use of weapons you voted to supply.
To borrow from Joseph Welch at the Army-McCarthy hearings, "have you no sense of decency?"
Resign and let us be done with you!
Sincerely,
Your constituents and groups representing New York District 21 members and concerned citizens:
David Doonan
Mark Dunlea
Jennifer Baumstein
Linda LeTendre
Frederick Balzac
Bruce Krug
Ekaz Qureshi
The Green Party of New York
Peter LaVenia
Maureen Basalla
Dan Spilman
David Doonan
Howie Hawkins
Jim Brown
Matthew J Funiciello
Cassandra Lems
Janet Clarke
Gail Soltan
Tom Newman
Joseph Naham
Christine Schmidt
Paul Gilman
Daniel Devine
Jim McCabe
Lamia Hermas
Nidal Said
Fadua Shabban
Amal Abdallah
Debra Rosario
Maha Adileh
Adla Rimawi
Waleed Khan
Ama Baj
Lulzime Borova
David Walker
Salma Faraj
Arizena Hazin
Emelyn Judge
Ibtisam Mustafa
Nancy Shihadeh
Martha Janajri
Karen Lopez
Rob Devito
Gloria Mattera
Adam Travis
Matt Oill
Cody Owen
Chris Edes
Darin Robbins
Beth Jacobs
Lena Mara
Christine Farranone
Naomi Jaffe
Ekaz Qureshi
Anna Schupack
Charles Knaebel
Joseph Koczaja
Lou Sebesta
Charles J Gull
Haider Khan
Zion Ayer
Jon Flanders
Bryan Watkins
Joseph Koyajn
Danny Smith
Robert C. Sodowski
Heidi M. Woolever
Felix Simpson
Lou Stoucher
Courtney Novak
Felix Simpson
Andrew Lynn
Colleen Welch
Rafael Ohnson
Shahid Hasan
Maureen Hasan
Noureen Hasan
Collin Thomas
Gail Brown
Sadie Harrison
Gary J. Lessard
Neal Pritchard
Trudy Quaif
Mike Pelly
Alexis Goldsmith
Kristoffer Ross
Eleanor Stein
Ava Berman
Mary Baker
Angela Bartlett
Haley Powers
Spencer Bowen
Tracy Frisch
Lily Bartlett
Sean Seary
Gustaf Myhrberg
Christian Garramone
Jane Hirschmann
Richard Levy
James Rees
Ilham Almahamid
Amanda Bourgoine
Rebecca Hein
Fatimah Brown
Laura Mandel
Line Henriksen
Zuhair Al-Atwi
Luke Bateman
Michael Keenan
Bob Ellenbogen
David Motta
Ryan Featherston
Elissa Davis
Robert Washo
Robert Alft
Keith Jewell
Susan Duncan
Dan Wilcox
Larry McGory
Selina Dean
Leo Parascondola
Karyn Pomerantz
Aneil Rallin
Ian Barnard
Gary Rock
Stephen Ruzbacki
Donna Lessard
Chris Pezzulo
Dorothy Richards
Teresa Roben
PS. We are circulating this letter and will continue to send you updated lists of names.
From Your Site Articles
- Stop Bullying US Students Calling for Justice for Palestine ›
- 'Horrifying Precedent': Penn President Resigns Amid Right-Wing Campus Speech Uproar ›
- 'Two Down,' Stefanik Brags After Harvard President Claudine Gay Resigns ›
- 'Shame! Traitor! Go Home!': Stefanik Mercilessly Booed Off Stage During Local Event in NY District | Common Dreams ›
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