Action Alert demands the City of Grand Rapids divest from companies profiting off the Israeli occupation, Israeli Apartheid and the Israeli brutalization of Palestinians
There have been numerous community-based efforts to get the City of Grand Rapids to take action on the Israeli genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.
In November, there was wide support from the community to get the Grand Rapids City Commissioners to adopt a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The City Commission refused and said that it was not relevant to the work that they do. In December, dozens of community members addressed the Grand Rapids City Commission with the demand to adopt a ceasefire resolution, and once again they refused.
What is interesting is that the City of Grand Rapids did listen to the community and took action back in 1982, when groups working on divestment from South Africa’s Apartheid regime got the City of Grand Rapids to divest.
Following that 1982 divestment model, several community organizers went to the Grand Rapids Community Relations Commission in April to present a proposal of divestment from companies that the City of Grand Rapids has, companies that are profiting from the Israeli occupation, Israeli Apartheid and the Israeli genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.
The Community Relation Commission has enthusiastically supported a divestment resolution and adopted a resolution that was first drafted by community organizers, which you can read here. Just last week, the Community Relations Commission sent a copy of the resolution of divestment to the Grand Rapids City officials and a letter recommending they adopt the divestment resolution. The divestment resolution is calling for the City of Grand Rapids to:
- Terminate its current contract with Granicus by January 1, 2025;
- Ceases funding to Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. if it continues to utilize AmazonAW3 technology for its committees (Amazon’s services include cloud and AI support for the Israeli military targeting Palestinians) by January 1, 2025;
- Commits to refraining from entering into financial contracts with Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions, Hewlett-Packard, and G4S Corporation, until the Israeli government’s policies and treatment of Palestinians have been reformed and dismantled.
Community organizers are now asking for people to sign the linked Action Alert, which includes the divestment resolution, to send a clear message to Mayor Bliss, City Manager Mark Washington and the six City Commissioners to adopt the divestment resolution and end their contracts with companies profiting off the oppression and death of Palestinians. Please sign the linked Action Alert, then share it with others so we can generate thousands of messages to Grand Rapids City officials to Divest Now!
Sources used to identify Amazon as profiting off the Israeli occupation and current war crimes:
https://theintercept.com/2022/05/18/google-amazon-israel-military-nimbus/.
https://bdsmovement.net/IAW2024-Amplify-NoTechforApartheid
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 
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