Nithya, Stand With Us For Palestine — An Open Letter

This is an open letter to Nithya Raman by the citizens of Los Angeles, but we encourage anyone to add their name using this link here.

Dear Councilmember Raman,

We are Angelenos concerned about the relationship between our city, our elected officials, and the movement for Palestinian rights. Many of us invest substantial time, energy, and enthusiasm in your campaign for Mayor. We are deeply committed to your successful election and mayoralty.

We sincerely appreciate that you spoke plainly about the genocide in Gaza, condemned Israel's occupation and apartheid, and affirmed that Palestinians deserve freedom, dignity, and self-determination. You joined Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martínez in introducing a resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and you stood up for the rights of students protesting for Palestine at UCLA and USC. We deeply appreciate and acknowledge the political leadership you have already shown on these issues, and they reflect deeply held convictions shared by most Angelenos.

The genocide in Palestine is the moral crisis of our time. We have watched families lose their loved ones, homes, and communities, and an entire people subjected to unimaginable suffering. American weapons have made this destruction possible. The City of Los Angeles itself has been deeply complicit through indirect financing and distribution through LAX. For those of us who believe that Palestinian lives and freedom matter, we must not only change how we describe and condemn these injustices, but also advocate to remove this material support enabling the genocide.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a peaceful effort to use economic and political pressure to advance Palestinian rights.

At the September 29 Jewish Federation mayoral forum, you described BDS as a legitimate form of peaceful protest and defended people's right to participate in it. You also explained that BDS was not part of your municipal platform and identified legal limitations on actions available to the mayor.

We recognize those legal limitations on the mayoral office. We understand that the mayor of Los Angeles does not control American foreign policy, and municipal officials have legal and fiduciary obligations that constrain their actions. We are not asking you to promise actions beyond the authority of your office.

But we believe fundamentally that political leadership also means taking a clear stand on questions of fundamental human rights, even when the solutions extend beyond the powers of any one office.

Los Angeles is deeply connected to these questions. Our public infrastructure, purchasing decisions, investments, and political leadership all show our city’s responsibility in these crimes. There are real, meaningful opportunities for Los Angeles to contribute to the struggle for Palestine, including through efforts to investigate military cargo transported through LAX.

Across the country, socialist elected officials and municipal leaders have addressed these questions in concrete ways. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has publicly supported the BDS movement and taken action concerning municipal boycott policy. In Washington, DC, Janeese Lewis George, who won the Democratic mayoral primary this June, has committed to supporting municipal divestment measures and legislation ending city contracts with companies complicit in violations of Palestinian rights. In Dearborn, Michigan, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud supported city investment policies excluding companies implicated in human rights violations, including suppliers of weapons used by Israel. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also helped secure his city's call for a ceasefire. These examples show how elected officials can express support for Palestinian rights while considering the powers and limitations of municipal government. It is clear that mayors of U.S. cities can support these actions.

The people of Los Angeles also support Palestinian rights and an arms embargo. An April 2026 survey by Data for Progress found that 67% of California likely voters supported blocking specified bomb transfers to Israel, including 79% of Democrats. A more recent Center for Strategic Politics survey of California’s 34th Congressional District (in Los Angeles) showed 65% of voters want to cease all military aid to Israel, and 61% said Palestine was “extremely important to their vote.” 80% of voters who view Palestine as extremely important want to cease military aid.  Dozens of other surveys reflect the same thing: there is a mandate for supporting Palestine, including actionable support like an arms embargo. Major cities across the country have elected pro-Palestine mayors, not in spite of their stances, but in large part because of them. Moral clarity around genocide signals honesty and strong leadership while governing

With that in mind, we ask you to make three public commitments:

1. Publicly affirm your support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, including its goals of ending Israel's occupation and apartheid and securing freedom, equality, and self-determination for Palestinians. We ask that you not only defend the rights of others to participate in BDS, but also support BDS publicly as a movement for Palestinian rights.
2. Publicly support an arms embargo on Israel, including an end to American weapons transfers that facilitate violations of Palestinian human rights. We ask you to stand alongside the growing movement calling for an end to American complicity in the destruction of Gaza.
3. Commit to working with DSA-LA, labor unions, Palestinian solidarity organizations, and other community groups to advance these goals through the lawful powers of the mayor's office. This includes supporting efforts to investigate and provide public accountability for military shipments through LAX, as you discussed in your DSA-LA endorsement questionnaire, and identifying other concrete municipal actions that can advance Palestinian rights.

We recognize that fulfilling these commitments will require collaboration, serious legal and strategic consideration, and sustained organizing. We are not asking for symbolic statements in place of action, nor are we asking you to undertake responsibilities that belong to the federal government. There is great potential in what our movements and your mayoralty can accomplish together. It is essential that this relationship be built on shared commitments, shared values, and mutual respect.

We believe Los Angeles can be a city that stands for justice, not only for its own residents but in solidarity with people struggling for freedom around the world. We believe that a mayor who speaks about the suffering of Palestinians can provide that leadership. There is great potential in what our movements and your mayoralty can accomplish together. It is essential that this relationship be built on shared commitments, shared values, and mutual respect.

We hope you will respond publicly and affirm these commitments. We stand ready to work with you to turn those principles into action.

In Solidarity,

The undersigned Los Angeles residents

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