A Statement in Support for
an Arms Embargo on Israel
Progressive Democrats of America

(August 27, 2024) — Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) reaffirms our call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza. We also join with dozens of allied organizations, including the Not Another Bomb coalition — and PDA’s End Wars and Occupations Committee (read their full statement here, which PDA endorses) — in calling for a complete arms embargo on Israel.

Only a halt to all hostilities can stop the killing of innocent Palestinian civilians and the continued destruction of Palestinian cities, secure the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and enable the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

PDA has always condemned and continues to condemn Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023. The mass murder and kidnapping of civilians is a war crime.

PDA also recognizes the right of all peoples to defend themselves; but there is no right, per the rules of war and all human decency, to take offensive military actions that predictably lead to the mass slaughter of civilians.

Within days of October 7th, it became clear to anyone with their eyes open that the Israeli government responded with mass indiscriminate killing and maiming of civilians, the destruction of occupied buildings and homes, and the obliteration of life-supporting infrastructure — and this has continued for over ten months through to the present.

As such, PDA fully supports the work of the ICC and ICJ in prosecuting these war crimes and calls upon the US Government to stop undermining international law, and fully back the work of the ICJ and ICC now and in perpetuity.

However, we in the United States must do more for the obvious reason that Israel cannot continue committing these war crimes without the steady flow of US arms.

We, at PDA, assert that the sacredness of every human life must be a baseline, embraced by our government and all our allies’ governments.

As active political participants in a democratic society, which asserts the sovereignty of “we the people,” we must never countenance the mass murder of innocents being done in our name.   We are compelled to demand no more arms shipments to a government actively committing war crimes — one that is continually killing, harming, and jeopardizing innocent human life.

PDA calls for the immediate cessation
of US arms sales to the State of Israel
Before closing, we want to make clear (lest bad faith actors try to make absurd and false claims) that PDA unequivocally condemns all antisemitism, islamophobia, anti-Arab hate, and all forms of racism and bigotry.

Last, we acknowledge that we must do more than call for a ceasefire and an arms embargo. Indeed, we join with a growing worldwide consensus (tragically, not shared by all governments) — in saying enough is enough. The horrible conflagration and oppression in Israel/Palestine must not be tolerated, tacitly accepted as a given. We must demand a change in policy and practice from those forces that propel it ever forward.

PDA calls upon the U.S. Government to change course and push for a just and balanced peace in the Middle East.

The implications of this are clear. Look, for instance, at the Balkans. Where there was once war, there is peace. The Croatians, the Serbs, the Bosnians, the Slovenians, and the Montenegrins all have self-determination, full human and civil rights, and their own military, police, and land. Palestinians deserve the same. All people do.