Philanthropy Open Letter for Humanity and Justice
Originally posted at Funders4Ceasefire.org. Visit for the updated list of signers.
We are institutional funders, individual donors and philanthropy professionals who are heartbroken and grieving the tragic loss of life in Palestine and Israel. Between October 7 and November 2, more than 9,061 Palestinians in Gaza and 1,400 Israelis have been killed.* In Gaza, this includes over 3,700 children. With every passing minute, we are losing more human lives – people with families and hopes, who once loved and dreamed.
And we fear for what is to come if the violence continues. As the total siege on Gaza prevents essential life-giving resources from entering, families are running out of food and water. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said on October 23, “If more aid for Gazans, including fuel, medicine, food and water, does not arrive in days or even hours, many more people in Gaza will die of hunger, thirst and lack of medical care.” People depending on life-saving medications for chronic health conditions are in grave danger. Babies in neonatal intensive care units will die within minutes when hospitals run out of fuel. 5,500 people in their final month of pregnancy may be forced to give birth in the most dire circumstances. Health care workers – including emergency responders – have been bombed as they try to care for the sick and injured, and ambulances are unable to reach the critically injured as fuel supplies dwindle. Over one million people’s homes have been destroyed, and nowhere is safe, not even UN shelters.
Our conscience moves us to speak out – we will not remain silent. We call for:
- An immediate ceasefire;
- Safe, unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid (including food, water, medicine and fuel), humanitarian organizations, staff and medical professionals into all areas of Gaza in a way that is sufficient and sustained enough to meet the scale of the catastrophe;
- Stopping US and European funding and weapons for the Israeli military; and
- Adherence to international humanitarian and human rights laws by all parties, including the safe release of all civilians taken hostage from Israel as well as of all Palestinians who have been unlawfully detained.
We call for the US and European governments to stop enabling war crimes through unconditional military support, and for Israel to end its collective punishment of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. There is no military solution to this crisis.
We also take seriously our responsibility to address the root causes of what we see unfolding today — the decades of systematic violence, military occupation and displacement that all Palestinians, especially in Gaza, have experienced at the hands of the Israeli government.
In our own backyards, we are horrified by a recent spike in anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic, and anti-Semitic violence and rhetoric. We are united in challenging all bigotries rooted in white supremacy.
Given our work in philanthropy, we acknowledge the importance of providing immediate funding for emergency response, as well as flexible core funding (without donor-imposed restrictions) to support Palestinian civil society for the long-term.
Social movements are extraordinary in their capacity to respond to violence with steadfastness and imagination and mobilize people to transform oppressive realities. Alongside them, we envision a world where Palestinians live with freedom, dignity, and equality, with true safety for Israeli and Palestinian people and a just peace in the region. In the face of so much pain and suffering, we call forth our deepest sense of humanity and justice, to build this possibility together, because we know that none of us are free until all of us are free.
* These are the numbers as of November 2, 2023. More than 130 Palestinians living in the West Bank have also been killed since October 7 in an alarming escalation of both Israeli military and settler violence.
Signatories:
Initiating group:
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Black Feminist Fund
CLIMA Fund
Cultural Survival
EDGE Funders Alliance
Emergent Fund
Farhad Ebrahimi
Fund for Global Human Rights
Global Fund for Women
Global Greengrants Fund
Grassroots International
Human Rights Funders Network
Jerrod MacFarlane
Kolibri Foundation
NDN Collective
Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds
Radical Imagination Family Foundation
Resource Generation
Sagner Family Foundation
Social Justice Fund NW
Solidaire Action
Thousand Currents
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Urgent Action Fund For Feminist Activism
We Are Purposeful
Women Donors Network
Additional organizational signers (partial list):
A.J. Muste Memorial Institute
Amazon Defenders Fund – Amazon Watch
Arab Foundations Forum
Arc of Justice
Arch Community Fund
Art.Coop
Black Migrant Power Fund
Borealis Philanthropy
Carmack Collective
Cast Iron Skillet Fund
CEECCNA Collaborative Fund
Chinook Fund
Children’s Rights Innovation Fund (CRIF)
CIVICUS
Closer Than You Think
Communities for Just Schools
Conant Family Foundation
Conflict Transformation Fund
Constellations Culture Change Fund
Corporate Accountability
Cultures of Resistance Network Foundation
Democracy Fund
Digital Defenders Partnership
Doria Feminist Fund
Eagles Wings Foundation
El Mar Fund
Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy
Equality Fund
Farbman Family Foundation
Fondo de Mujeres del Sur
Fondo Semillas
FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund
Front Line Defenders
Funders For Justice
G4GC-Grantmakers for Girls of Color
Gay for Giving
Global Fund for Community Foundations
Groundswell Fund
Guerrilla Foundation
Het Actiefonds
Hill-Snowdon Foundation
Honnold Foundation
Indigenous Women Rising
Integrated Capital Investing
International Trans Fund
Juniper Roots: Integrated Capital Strategies
Justice Funders
Karibu Foundation
Kataly Foundation
Kindle Project
L’Art Rue / Dream City (Tunis)
Leeway Foundation
Liberation Ventures
MADRE
Mama Cash
María Fund Puerto Rico
Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)
Movement Strategy Center
Ms. Foundation for Women
Nebula Fund
New Moon Network
New York Foundation
North Star Fund
Numun Fund
Pacific Feminist Fund
Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE)
Piece by Piece Fund
PRBB Foundation
Regenerative Economies Learning Collaborative
Reconstruction Women’s Fund
Rsls Fund
Southern Vision Alliance
Sukuamis
Taproot Fund
Tewa
Third Wave Fund
Trans Justice Funding Project
Trio Foundation
UHAI EASHRI
Urgent Action Fund, Asia & Pacific
Urgent Action Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean
Voice Over Foundation
Willow Fund (formerly Gelman Giving)
Women First International Fund
Women’s Foundation California
Women’s Fund in Georgia
Women’s Fund of Rhode Island
Woods Fund Chicago
Zusa – Art of Collaboration