CALL TO ACTION

#StopWeaponsSaveLives

As a part of our ongoing ceasefire advocacy, Artists4Ceasefire is calling for a halt to weapons transfers that violate U.S. and international law.* We stand with international humanitarian organizations, unions, policymakers, grassroots movements, a majority of Americans and citizens around the world who want immediate action to stop the killing and achieve a permanent ceasefire.

It is illegal to supply or use weapons to commit “grave human rights violations,” including striking schools or hospitals, restricting humanitarian aid, and killing children.

Artists4Ceasefire stands for an immediate and permanent ceasefire now, the release of all hostages, delivery of humanitarian aid, and freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people.

The “Barb Wire Peace Dove,” created by renowned artist Shepard Fairey for Artists4Ceasefire, represents our common humanity, and the action needed to save precious lives.

Approximately 1,200 Israelis were killed on October 7th, 2023 and over 200 were taken hostage by Hamas. In the last 11 months, Israel’s military operations in Gaza have killed at least 42,000 Palestinians, 16,500 of them children. Starvation, dehydration, and disease have reached devastating levels in Gaza, with nearly all 2.2 million people there displaced from their homes. 

Ceasefire Now. Stop Weapons. Save Lives. 

Compassion Must Prevail.

*Arms Export Control Act, Foreign Assistance Act/Leahy Law, Geneva Conventions of 1971 & Additional Protocols

RESOURCES & INFORMATION

Policy & Legal Information

  • Arms Export Control Act (AECA), Section 4:  Mandates that the U.S. approve weapons transfers on the condition that they are used for legitimate self-defense and internal security, and will not be used in violation of human rights.

  • Biden Administration Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy: U.S. policy prohibiting arms transfers if there's a high likelihood that weapons will be used in grave breaches of international law. 

  • Foreign Assistance Act, Section 502B: Prohibits the U.S. government from providing security assistance, including arms transfers, to “any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violation of internationally recognized human rights.”

  • “Leahy Law” (Foreign Assistance Act Section 620 / Title 10 Section 362): Two statutory provisions prohibiting the U.S. Government from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights. 

  • Geneva Conventions of 1949 & Additional Protocols: Internationally-recognized humanitarian law, outlining provisions for humane treatment during armed conflicts, including protecting wounded soldiers, prisoners of war, civilians, and medical personnel. 

Statistics

  • On October 7, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack, and over 200 hostages were taken.

  • As of September 2024, 117 Israeli hostages have returned home, and over 100 still remain in Gaza. The bodies of 37 Israeli hostages have been repatriated, including 6 hostages killed by Hamas, and 3 hostages killed by friendly fire.

  • Since October 2023, at least 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 16,500 children. 

  • Nearly all 2.2 million people in Gaza have been displaced from their homes, including over 700,000 children, with many people forced to flee repeatedly. 

  • As a result of continued cross-border military escalation between Israel and Lebanon, approximately 60,000 Israelis have been forcibly displaced, and at least 110,000 Lebanese have been forcibly displaced.

  • An estimated 20,000 Palestinian children are missing, buried in mass graves, detained by the Israeli military, or trapped under the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings. 

  • More than 370,000 homes in Gaza have been damaged — 79,000 of those have been completely destroyed. 

  • Over 500 schools have been attacked, killing thousands of people sheltering inside. All of Gaza’s universities have been destroyed.

  • Over 19,000 Palestinian children have been orphaned.

  • More than 10 children lose a limb every day in Gaza. 

  • 96% of Gaza’s population is facing acute food insecurity, with 1 in 3 children acutely malnourished, due to restriction of international and U.S. humanitarian aid delivery.

  • Infectious diseases, including an emerging polio outbreak, are rampant in Gaza due to displacement and lack of access to medical care and clean water.

  • Over 129 journalists have been killed in Gaza in the last ten months — more than all the journalists killed during WWII. 

  • It will take at least 80 years to rebuild the destroyed homes in Gaza once a ceasefire is reached.