A Letter to Rep. Huizenga
Jan. 10, 2025
“Dear Rep. Bill Huizenga,
My name is Daniel Smith. I’m 71 years old, retired from Pfizer and WMU, and I live in Portage, not far from your Portage office. Thanks for opening this office in our community and for your public service. I am writing to ask you to consider three requests regarding the situation in Gaza.
But first, you might wonder why I have an interest in something happening halfway around the world. It comes from my parents. My father was a Presbyterian minister and both he and my mother instilled in me a concern for the voiceless, downtrodden members of our world. My father’s sermons in church reflected his values. I remember my mother fixing a plate of fried eggs for a homeless man who came to our door. The image of this man energetically licking the plate of eggs to not waste a single morsel of yolk, sticks with me even today. This concern extended beyond our community and out to the world.
Today the people of Gaza are suffering a horrific genocide. Freezing cold, living in tents, homes destroyed from relentless bombing for over a year now. There is very little drinkable water and people are literally starving. The healthcare infrastructure is almost totally destroyed. At least 7 Palestinian infants have frozen to death in Gaza during the harsh winter because the Biden administration has actively armed and enabled Israel to block aid. The bombs and weapons causing all this destruction are made in the USA and paid for by the US taxpayer.
My first request: Urge the US State Department to use its influence to free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and his colleagues.
What happened, who is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya ?
Israel torched and destroyed Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, burning doctors and patients alive inside, while expelling the rest and forcing them to strip at gunpoint in the winter cold. The Israeli military committed horrific field executions and sexual assault, documented in a @euromedhr report. The hospital’s director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, refused to abandon his patients, and so Israel beat him with batons and abducted him along with members of his medical staff. Their whereabouts are as yet unknown, please help. Unfortunately, this case is only one of thousands of abductees.
My second request: Co-sponsor and vote for HR 9649, to restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that provides life-saving aid to Palestinian refugees. This is the only lifeline they have.
My third request: Publicly call for an IMMEDIATE arms embargo and an end to U.S. military funding to Israel and a permanent ceasefire now.
Thank you for your careful and serious consideration of these requests.
Sincerely,
Daniel Smith”
KNOW Communications Administrator, Daniel Smith, is encouraging all Kalamazoo community members to visit and hand deliver your own letters to Representative Bill Huizenga’s at his Portage office located at 5228 Lovers Lane in Suite 108 anytime Monday through Thursday from 9am to 4pm.
