A Day of Petitioning for a Redress of Grievances
On October 22, members of the ICW and the Downtown Berrigan Collective, as well as, other concerned citizens attempted to meet with our congressperson, Josh Riley, about the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We had written, called, and emailed to no avail. Determined to discuss how to end the US funding of genocide in Gaza with Riley and/or his staff, we went to his Binghamton office (one of four times we have attempted to meet in person with Binghamton staff since August 2025.) After being told by a Riley staff member that someone from the office would speak with the group, we waited. Instead of a welcome to hear our “petition for a redress of grievances”, the police were called to inform us that we had to leave the building. Three members of the group decided to stay since they were told that someone from Riley’s office would come to talk with them. The three, Tom Joyce, Bill Carini, and Dan Burgevin were arrested and charged with trespass. They have pleaded not guilty and plan to go to trial. Below are some of the words we attempted to share with our congressperson
A Litany of Heartbreak and Hope
Dear brother Josh - you acted to protect Israeli war criminals
And Israel killed the children
Dear brother Josh - since October 7, 2023, the US government, with your support, has spent 33 billion dollars to aid Israel's wars
And Israel killed the children
Dear brother Josh - you did nothing to support the Sumud flotilla to aid the Palestinians
And Israel killed the children
Dear brother Josh - you have said that Israel has a right to defend itself, but you have not said that Palestine has a right to defend itself
And Israel killed the children
Dear brother Josh - your ally, Israel, practices genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid
And Israel killed the children
Dear Brother Josh - we invite you to open your heart to compassion and to work for peace with justice for all people
And the children will live
We, your constituents, demand that you advocate for and legislate to…
• send aid to Palestine equal to the aid given to Israel ($33 billion over 2 years)
• join the International Criminal Court and give full support to prosecuting Israelis who have committed crimes against international law
• ban the delivery of US weapons to Israel until Israel has paid appropriate reparations to Palestine and has come fully into compliance with international law, as required under 5 different US laws
• ban the delivery of US weapons to Israel as required under 5 different US laws
As we waited for Riley’s office staff to respond to us, Clare Grady shared what was on her mind and heart:
My name is Clare Grady and I live in Ithaca, New York, on Cayuga land, and I'm part of the Downtown Berrigan Collective. I come here as a Catholic, a US Catholic, and, as a Catholic, I believe that repentance is part of the process for reconciliation. The whole point of religion is to be in right relationship with our Creator, with the land we live on, with the people and all of creation. So, I live in a settler colonial project. I am a settler on this turtle island, and that's a relationship that needs attending to – that we are way out of line with treaties and that relationship with the illegal stealing of the land here.
I'm going to be 67 in a few weeks and my entire adult life has been spent resisting my country's war making and the bloodshed that comes from that and the stealing of the land around the world for greed and profit. Our elder, Phil Berrigan, would say that when you kill, you lie, and when you lie, you're possessed. Lies have accompanied every single war that I have been alive for. So I want to speak to fellow Catholics as we are seeking truth in our quests to love God and neighbor. That truth is important. As I have already stated, I have studied my country's war making for my entire adult life and so I happen to know there is no dispute that the US and Israel are full partners in this genocide. It's not just complicit, it's full partners. XX% of the bombs come from right here. It's part of our project, right? To occupy that land, to steal and occupy that land. So as always, these imperial projects require the triplets that the Reverend Dr. King identifies as racism, militarism and economy of greed. It is basically motivated by economy of greed that we pursue stealing someone's land. And, you have to dehumanize them in order to bomb and kill. That's where the racism comes in and looks like white supremacy. Israel calls Palestinians animals and their children even worse. This is the dehumanization that happens. Pay attention to when that seeps in and takes hold anywhere where it happens. It happens in gross ways and in subtle ways.
Finally, militarism is the enforcement mechanism for stealing the land and killing people. So my friends who are fellow Catholics, who believe the lie by some Israelis that Israel has taken the greatest care not to kill civilians - that is not true. I want to address that piece right now. It is indisputable that Israel has dropped 70,000 tons of bombs on Gaza since October of 2023. That's not disputed. If you have eyes to see and ears to hear, let me take you through a little journey of what bombing a small area that is like the size of Manhattan or the area from Ithaca to Aurora along Lake Cayuga. When you bomb civilian infrastructure, that's a war crime. When you bomb and keep food from people, that's a war crime. When you target areas that are so densely populated, whether you tell us that you think it's Hamas, that's a war crime. When civilians are killed, that's a war crime. We are not only bombing neighborhoods with civilians in them, we are destroying the infrastructure that makes it possible for civilians to live. Think about when you wake up in the morning and you come out of a bed that's warm, and you have a house to live in, maybe, if you're lucky here, and you have a place to go to the bathroom, and you have a place to turn on the water, and you have some water to drink, you have some coffee or tea, or you have some oatmeal or eggs, something to eat, and then you have a place for your children that's safe. Not everyone has that here, but in Gaza, in the last two years, over 2 million people have had those simple, daily practices shred away from them, ripped away from them, bombed away from them, forced away from them. 70,000 tons of bombs indisputably dropped on that small area have left hundreds of thousands of civilians killed and millions without food and water and sewage. I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that is a price you're willing to pay because you are full partners in that genocide, whether or not you even call it genocide. The people who perpetrate genocide do not ever acknowledge that they are committing genocide. That's just the way that goes. When you as a fellow Catholic tell me that it's not a genocide, that it is a matter of opinion, that they don't kill civilians as policy, and that it is a bad apple that targets children with sniper bullets to their head and their chest. That is not true. One of the things, as Christians, we are asked to look at the least. What is happening to the least in this picture? If you have never listened to or felt the cries and the tears and the heartbreak of the people on the ground who are the least, then don't come and tell me, you know the truth. Do not do that. That's not the truth.
We are here taking off time from work, taking off time from our families, taking off time from our community to speak to our representative, beloved brother, Josh Riley, who has not answered any calls from his Ithaca constituents wanting to speak about Israel and Gaza. Josh Riley receives money from AIPAC. Josh Riley went to Israel and Palestine and came back and wrote a letter that he sent to his constituents, saying, I've seen it my for myself and I know that it's okay. Well, Josh Riley, you did not talk to a mother from Gaza. You did not talk to the children of Gaza. You did not talk to the imprisoned, tortured people that have been detained in Israel's prisons. No, you did not. Do not come to the table with an open heart until you do that. We are here, not just fellow citizens, but fellow humans. We want to speak to your heart as well as your mind. We know you have both. We trust you to do better.