A Plea by Recipients of American Grants to Immediate Intervention to Halt the Unprecedented Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

To the office of the United States of America secretary of state ,

In unwavering accordance with the timeless principles laid down by the founding fathers of the United States in the Declaration of Independence, asserting the inalienable equality of all, the American dream stands upon the steadfast belief that every human is entitled to the same rights, free from discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, gender, or nationality.

We, the undersigned, write with an unyielding sense of urgency and deep-seated concern to express our vehement outrage over the relentless conflict and escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. As recipients of fully or partially funded grants from the United States government and the Department of State, we arrived on American soil imbued with the profound belief in the principles of equality, human rights, and justice that America purports to represent.

Recent developments in the Gaza war have left us not merely saddened but utterly frustrated. The apparent endorsement by the United States government and its representatives in the Department of State for the heinous massacres and brutal warfare has resulted in unprecedented death and destruction, impacting tens of thousands of civilians in one of the world's most hostile living environments.

We mourn the loss of life and harbor grave fears for the safety of our friends—once our colleagues in American grants—now trapped in Gaza, on the precipice of death. Some have already perished due to the relentless attacks on civilians, depriving them of the most basic necessities mandated by international law, such as clean water and food. All our extraordinary colleagues besieged in Gaza firmly hold the United States government ethically responsible for its failure to intervene and halt this unparalleled humanitarian disaster of the twenty-first century.

We urgently and unapologetically demand that the United States government fulfill not only its legal but also its profound moral obligations by taking immediate and unequivocal action to halt this war and the abhorrent war crimes being perpetrated against civilians in Gaza. As a united front of impassioned youth, we assertively believe in the values that America purports to represent: human rights and equality. However, our current skepticism arises from the stark incongruity between the principles we imbibed through the grants we received and the tangible actions taken by the US government. We are deeply frustrated, saddened, and enraged by the apparent indifference of the US government, which has played a significant role in perpetuating a humanitarian disaster unparalleled in the world.

We, the undersigned, emphatically call upon the United States government to leverage its unparalleled influence to bring this devastating conflict to an immediate and unequivocal halt and to resolutely uphold international humanitarian law. We ardently believe in the efficacy of diplomacy and insist that you work tirelessly toward an immediate cease-fire and the urgent facilitation of humanitarian aid to the severely affected population. We demand that the United States rise to the occasion, stand up to injustice, and play a pivotal role in bringing an end to the suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza.

Sincerely,

Mahmoud Abdelwahd    Contact the author of the petition