Madison-Rafah Sister City Project welcomes the temporary ceasefire in Gaza.  Any pause in this genocide is good news, but we urge everyone not to look away because:

(1) While the current ceasefire brings relief to the people of Gaza who have lived through more than a year of genocide, they are wary. The ceasefire needs to be permanent and there is every indication that Israel and the US do not intend for that to happen. As it has in Lebanon, Israel has already broken the ceasefire. The US continues to send billions to arm Israel and give it the green light to do whatever it wants.

(2)  Israel immediately escalated its military campaign in the West Bank, particularly the city and camp of Jenin. Israeli leaders have openly vowed to repeat what they did in Gaza. And the IDF is supporting the latest violent “price tag” pogrom by Israeli settlers trying to drive Palestinians off their land.

(3) The aid that is finally starting to get into Gaza is welcome, but woefully inadequate 
to counter the apocalyptic level of human suffering and destruction that Israel has inflicted in order to make Gaza uninhabitable. To make matters worse, on January 28, Israel is set to outlaw UNRWA, the agency upon which millions of Palestinian refugees depend, while the US government continues to cut off all UNRWA funding.

Our partners at the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) have issued this update on the ceasefire from the perspective of their staff (who have continued their work on the ground in Gaza throughout this horrible time) that we urge everyone to read. We also ask that those who can please donate to Gaza relief – either at the link at the end of MECA’s update, or via MRSCP’s MECA donation page.

Finally, and very importantly, never rely on the mainstream news for accurate information. Our website has a list of recommended news sources.