Photo: Sean Dougherty with protesters.

My name is Sean Dougherty and I’m running for Congress against Jimmy Panetta.

I call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. There is no military solution. The slaughter of the people of Gaza will accomplish nothing but the creation of more militants and thousands more dead children.

I also call for the immediate end of military aid to Israel. To send bombs to Israel now is to be knowing participants in genocide. Ending the weapons shipments will quickly produce a ceasefire.

Finally, I call for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Peace and stability will only come to the region when the Palestinian people have full human and political rights. The diplomatic process of establishing a Palestinian state must be conducted by the Palestinian people and United Nations, not the US.

Panetta will never support the positions I just outlined, even though a supermajority of rank-and-file members of his party want a ceasefire. Panetta won’t support a diplomatic solution because war is good for the profits of his donors. My campaign has identified at least $200,000 of campaign donations that he has accepted from weapons manufacturers, including $29,000 from Northrop Grumman, $28,500 from Boeing, and $28,000 from Lockheed Martin. These donors are making profits from the obliteration of Gaza and will pressure him to support continued destruction.

Panetta has a consistent record of supporting militarism – it’s not just Gaza. He voted for the use of cluster bombs in Ukraine; he voted to prevent the reduction of our nuclear arsenal; and he’s currently pushing for a buildup of weapons in Taiwan. He is pro-war, and he doesn't care about Palestine or Israel.

I want everyone here to know that I am a Green Party candidate. That means I can’t take corporate money. I vow to answer only to the real people of district 19, not the arms industry. I will fight for Medicare for All, Housing for All, keeping oil in the ground, and a foreign policy based on diplomacy and the UN Charter that respects human rights around the globe.

When you contact Panetta’s office demanding a ceasefire, tell him you’ll vote for me if he doesn’t. We need leverage when we make our demands, and my campaign is that leverage.

Join me and together, we will wage peace and bring long overdue justice to the people of Palestine!

This is the speech given on December 15th at a Palestinian solidarity rally outside Jimmy Panetta’s fundraiser in Big Sur.