A Juneteenth Reminder to Divest from War

My remarks to the Naperville City Council to stand on the right side of history

NOTE: I delivered the below remarks on June 18, 2024, at the Naperville City Council Meeting. You can watch my remarks on video, or read the text of my comments below. Thank you for your support, and as always, subscribe to help me continue this advocacy for human rights and to demand accountability of those in power.

My name is Qasim Rashid. I’m a human rights lawyer residing here in Naperville with my wife Ayesha and our three children. And I’m here to ask the Naperville City Council to uphold justice and divest from the horrific siege on Gaza that has, to date, killed more than 37,000 Palestinian civilians.

As we observe Juneteenth this month, we have much to reflect on, including on the long history of solidarity between Black and African, Palestinian and Arab liberation. This is an especially important moment of learning for us non-Black and non-Arab communities.

The Naperville City Council has received this earnest request from its residents to divest, numerous times—from its Muslim residents, its Jewish residents, its Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist residents, believer and non-believer residents, of all races and backgrounds.

But the Naperville City Council has yet to act.

Is it because the City Council does not have the authority to divest from the siege on Gaza? No. Indeed, as the sovereign elected authority over this city you certainly do.

Is it because there is no precedent of City Councils divesting from foreign countries? No. Indeed more than 90 major American cities divested from apartheid South Africa, and helped enable the passing of federal divestment. Several American cities have already divested from Israel, and many more are taking it under consideration, as are many American universities.

Is it because acknowledging that our dollars are funding war crimes is some fringe position? No. In fact it is the undisputed global consensus.

• In February the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must “ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit [genocide].” Israel has since killed an additional 14,000 Palestinians.

• In May, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant for crimes against humanity, namely, “the criminal acts of intentionally causing death, starvation, great suffering, and serious injury to body or health of the civilian population.”

• Again in May the US State Department admitted that Israel is violating international human rights law by killing civilians. 

• And this June the United Nations itself investigated the Netanyahu government’s actions and concluded that they have committed “crimes against humanity of extermination, gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys, murder, forcible transfer, and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment.”

And yet the Naperville City Council has yet to act.

I close with wisdom from Nelson Mandela, a man who suffered in an apartheid South Africa prison for 27 years, only for his calls for justice. He admonished in 1997,

“But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians. These Palestinian and Israeli campaigners for peace know that security for any nation is not abstract; neither is it exclusive. We must make our voices heard calling for stronger action by world bodies as well as those states that have the power.”

This Juneteenth, I once again call on the Naperville City Council to embrace your power, heed the call of justice and act for peace and security. Divest from war crimes. Divest from genocide. Let the future attest that Naperville stood on the right side of history. Thank you.