Petition to the Scotts Valley City Council, Congressman Panetta, Senators Laphonza Butler and Alex Padilla, and President Joseph Biden to demand a Ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank, Humanitarian Aid to Gaza and the Westbank, and Cessation of taxpayer dollars from being used for alleged war crimes and genocide.
On December 29, 2023 South Africa filed a case in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians. Their case was supported by over fifty other countries.The United States has been put on notice that it too will be accused of complicity in genocide due to the ongoing financial and resource support the United States is providing to Israel, enabling crimes against the people of Gaza (source). It is estimated that at least $176,000 of Scotts Valley taxpayer money goes to the Israeli military each year (source).
As a mother, lawyer and resident of Scotts Valley, CA, I am deeply troubled by the ongoing horrors in Gaza and the West Bank. The repeated cries of children suffering from the ongoing violence of the past 3 months, funded by our taxpayer dollars, are unbearable. Every day we witness horrific images of men, women and children in Gaza who have been maimed or killed and are suffering from unfathomable physical and emotional injuries caused by weapons supplied to Israel by the United States. (Estimate of budget so far , source)
Below is a shortlist describing the horrific conditions of Gaza:
Israel is openly depriving 2.3 million people, half of whom are children of food, water, and electricity for for the last 100 days and counting. As a result, 800,000 Palestinians face death by forced starvation and due to water shortages. 335,000 children under 5 are at risk of severe malnutrition. According to the United Nations, as the risk of famine conditions continues to increase, a whole generation of children is now in danger of suffering from stunting. (Source)
Israel has killed 117 journalists in Gaza since October 7, 2023 - more journalists than were killed during the entirety of WWII or the Vietnam War. (Source)
Israel has killed 24,000civilians and counting, with over 10,000 children killed and over 60,000 people wounded. Statistics show that a mother in Gaza is killed every two hours and nearly 180 children are killed each day.
Israel has destroyed every single hospital in Gaza. Of the 36, there is not a single hospital that is functioning in Gaza according to the World Health Organization.
Israel has also destroyed every university in Gaza
Israel has destroyed at least 192 mosques and at least 3 churches
Israel has destroyed at least 100 heritage sites including the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the Great Omari Mosque, and a 2000-year old Roman cemetery that was recently excavated
Israel has not allowed humanitarian aid to the population to pass through freely
There are no signs of this bloodshed and destruction stopping and our President and our local elected leaders are the reason the international community has been unable to intervene and call for a ceasefire.
And these are the examples of Israeli officials that South Africa used to demonstrate Israel’s intent to commit genocide:
President of Israel Isaac Herzog. In a press conference to foreign media — in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, over one million of whom are children, he stated : “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware not involved. It’s absolutely not true. … and we will fight until we break their backbone.”
Israeli Defense Minister. On 9 October 2023, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in an Israeli Army ‘situation update’ advised that Israel was “imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
Israeli Minister of National Security. On 10 November 2023, Itamar Ben-Gvir clarified the government’s position in a televised address, stating: “[t]o be clear, when we say that Hamas should be destroyed, it also means those who celebrate, those who support, and those who hand out candy — they’re all terrorists, and they should also be destroyed.”
Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure. On 13 October 2023, Israel Katz stated: “All the civilian population in Gaza is ordered to leave immediately. We will win. They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world.” On 12 October 2023, he ‘tweeted’: “Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home. Humanitarianism for humanitarianism. And no one will preach us morality.”
Israeli Minister of Finance. On 8 October 2023, Bezalel Smotrich stated at a meeting of the Israeli Cabinet that “[w]e need to deal a blow that hasn’t been seen in 50 years and take down Gaza.”
More expressions of genocidal intent from high ranking Israeli Government and Army Officials can be found in South Africa’s application to the International Court of Justice (pgs. 59-67): https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf
A Local Issue:
This may be happening 7,000 miles away, but these atrocities could not happen without our tax dollars and without the support of our elected officials. This is why this issue is a local issue for citizens of Scotts Valley. Our elected federal representatives have failed to call for a ceasefire or to stop using tax payer dollars to kill innocent civilians in Gaza, resulting our alleged complicity in war crimes and genocide.
The at least $176,000 of Scotts Valley residents' annual tax payer dollars that the United States is sending to the Israeli military could instead be used to fund local infrastructure, afterschool programming for children, and hosting greater community and cultural events. Not killing children abroad.

A Call to Restore Humanity
This petition calls on the Scotts Valley City Council to demand our local federal representatives and the President of the United States call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank, the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza and the West Bank and forbid our tax dollars from being used to commit alleged war crimes or genocide.
This petition also urges the Scotts Valley City Council to reaffirm its desire to protect all people of Scotts Valley no matter their faith or ethnicity.
Please sign this petition today – let's show that as residents of Scotts Valley we value justice, peace and equality and the lives of all human beings