Statement on the War in Gaza and Israel
October 31, 2023 — The Council for Global Equality (CGE) mourns the pain and suffering from those brutally victimized by Hamas, as well as the Palestinian civilians who have been harmed and killed in the Israeli response. We call out all attacks on civilian populations as grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
CGE calls on the U.S. government to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel, and to support sufficient and unhindered humanitarian corridors to Gaza to prevent greater harm to civilians. We urge the United States to ensure that U.S. military and financial support are not used for the collective, retaliatory punishment of Palestinians, including journalists, children, and other vulnerable groups. We also call on the U.S. government to work for a negotiated release of all the hostages currently in Gaza as an immediate priority.
As a human rights organization in the United States, CGE works to ensure that the foreign policies of the U.S. government are inclusive of the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons. A basic tenet of our work, and of international human rights law in general, is a belief in the universality of rights – that each human being deserves the same rights as every other human being, regardless of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or geography. This is why as a human rights organization that focuses on a particularly vulnerable population, we caution against the application of double standards in protecting one group of civilians over another.
We recognize that the United States government and President Biden in particular have unique influence with the government of Israel. We call on President Biden to continue to leverage this longstanding and bipartisan support to demand better humanitarian access and to limit civilian casualties, recognizing that particularly vulnerable civilians, including LGBTQI+ civilians, will face challenges in accessing protection. Ultimately, we firmly believe that the United States must prioritize support for a new and meaningful peace process as the only option to ensure long-term security for all civilians in the region.
We, like many others, continue to follow the news from Israel and Gaza and are heartbroken by the loss of life. We will continue to listen and learn from our partners in the region in the weeks to come.
We also appreciate statements from several of our CGE member groups expressing similar concerns, including: