October 26, 2023

Congressional Support for a Cease-Fire Isn’t Too Much to Ask

Demanding that all 200 hostages be released as a condition for signing the cease-fire resolution is only an excuse to not sign it at all.

Dave Zirin

Police officers take a protester into custody as Jewish activists stage pro-Palestinian demonstration at United States Capitol building in Washington D.C., on October 18, 2023.

(Celal Gunes / Anadolu via Getty Images)

On October 20, at a bookstore in Takoma Park, Md., I watched Representative Jamie Raskin speak to the people of his district. During the Q&A that followed, I asked why he had not signed the cease-fire resolution that was being passed around Congress calling for an immediate stoppage of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. He answered that, while he was focused on getting humanitarian aid to Gaza, he would not sign any cease-fire resolution unless it included a demand for Hamas to free all 200 Israeli hostages. Immediately after he finished his passionate response, there was a smattering of applause. An exception was two people that started chanting, “cease-fire now.”

After the event, Raskin stayed behind for 40 minutes to speak with eight people outside—myself included—holding candles and signs, ready to argue with him about why he should support the resolution. Raskin reasserted that he supported aid to Gaza but was against a cease-fire without the hostages first being set free. He also took the discussion in other directions, from the formation of Hamas to the wide range of views on Israel/Palestine among his constituents. But through it all, when we redirected the discussion back to the resolution, Raskin insisted that he would endorse no cease-fire agreement that did not call for the releasing of hostages as a precondition for stopping Israeli hostilities.

It was an intense conversation. Since then, I’ve seen multiple other officials repeat his insistence on these same conditions: no cease-fire without the release of hostages. After several days of thinking this through, I believe that this argument is not only incorrect but also acts as a cover to not sign a cease-fire resolution at all.

First and foremost, to wait for 200 hostages to be released as a precondition to stop the bombings only condemns more Gazan civilians to unimaginable human suffering. While we stand by for the hostages, the assaults, the attacks on hospitals, and the bombing of any possible safe crossing out of the south of Gaza will continue. Humanitarian aid entering the country, which Raskin says is his priority, also becomes far more difficult. We cannot hold off a moment more.

Second, a cease-fire will actually make the situation safer for the hostages. Israel has shown that they will bomb areas of Gaza regardless of “civilian-rich” targets. There were claims last week that 13 hostages died in one IDF attack. For Netanyahu, their safety seems secondary to destroying Hamas by pummeling Gaza. We need a cease-fire for their own protection.

Third, hostages are already being freed. Yes, it is happening more slowly than anyone would like, but high-level negotiations would be ongoing whether it were part of the cease-fire agreement or not. Let the hostage negotiators do their damn jobs—and under conditions of a cease-fire. It would be for everyone’s welfare

Current Issue

Cover of May 2025 Issue

The last reason Raskin is incorrect is because he is letting Israel off the hook for its hypocrisy. Yes, 200 Israelis are currently hostages. But 4,000 Palestinian laborers from Gaza working in Israel have also been taken into military custody since October 7. Separately, the IDF has also arrested more than 1,000 others in overnight army raids in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. That means in just over two weeks the IDF has almost doubled the more than 5,000 Palestinians currently buried in their prison system without rights or due process. “Arrests are taking place 24 hours a day,” Sahar Francis, head of the Ramallah-based Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association, told Al Jazeera. The conditions are unspeakably brutal, with allegations of starvation and torture. How many are innocent? How many will receive any semblance of due process? We should say, “Free all the hostages. But don’t wait until a cease-fire.”

Raskin has become a national figure through his work on the January 6 Committee. He has also shown his principles on a host of issues near and dear to progressive struggles. But his compass is off on this one. Waiting for hostages to be released before a cease-fire is signed only consigns more Palestinians to misery and death. We need a cease-fire now.

I was one of hundreds of Jews arrested at the Capitol for making that demand because of the urgency of the moment weighing on us. Using the hostages to prevent the resolution from getting traction is simply wrong—and out of step with Raskin’s constituents, who want to see an end to the violence, and don’t want our leaders to be party to a prospective genocide. It would be a major step toward peace for someone of Raskin’s stature to sign the resolution. He would be joining the ranks of the thousands of Jews currently saying “not in our name,” and who hope that he reconsiders—because time is growing very short.

Hold the powerful to account by supporting The Nation

The chaos and cruelty of the Trump administration reaches new lows each week.

Trump’s catastrophic “Liberation Day” has wreaked havoc on the world economy and set up yet another constitutional crisis at home. Plainclothes officers continue to abduct university students off the streets. So-called “enemy aliens” are flown abroad to a mega prison against the orders of the courts. And Signalgate promises to be the first of many incompetence scandals that expose the brutal violence at the core of the American empire.

At a time when elite universities, powerful law firms, and influential media outlets are capitulating to Trump’s intimidation, The Nation is more determined than ever before to hold the powerful to account.

In just the last month, we’ve published reporting on how Trump outsources his mass deportation agenda to other countries, exposed the administration’s appeal to obscure laws to carry out its repressive agenda, and amplified the voices of brave student activists targeted by universities.

We also continue to tell the stories of those who fight back against Trump and Musk, whether on the streets in growing protest movements, in town halls across the country, or in critical state elections—like Wisconsin’s recent state Supreme Court race—that provide a model for resisting Trumpism and prove that Musk can’t buy our democracy.

This is the journalism that matters in 2025. But we can’t do this without you. As a reader-supported publication, we rely on the support of generous donors. Please, help make our essential independent journalism possible with a donation today.

In solidarity,

The Editors

The Nation

Dave Zirin

Dave Zirin is the sports editor at The Nation. He is the author of 11 books on the politics of sports. He is also the coproducer and writer of the new documentary Behind the Shield: The Power and Politics of the NFL.

More from The Nation

Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Mark Carney waves to supporters at a victory party in Ottawa, Ontario on April 29, 2025.

In Canada’s Anti-Trump Election, Liberals Eke Out a Victory In Canada’s Anti-Trump Election, Liberals Eke Out a Victory

As recently as January 20, it looked like the conservatives were on track for a historic victory—but then Trump came to power next door.

Jeet Heer

The crew of “Missing” arriving for the screening at the 35th Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 1982.

Chile in Our Hearts Chile in Our Hearts

John Dinges’s revisionist account of Missing.

Steven Volk

An Apple Store in Brussels, Belgium on March 4, 2024, after. European Union slapped tech giant Apple with over 1.8 billion euros in fines for alleged antitrust violations.

Will Europe Back Down Against Big Tech? Will Europe Back Down Against Big Tech?

The attempt by Brussels to regulate Silicon Valley is a bargaining chip in the trade crisis.

Harrison Stetler

Pope Francis greets Bolivian native children next to Bolivian President Evo Morales on July 8, 2015.

Pope Francis Upheld the Spirit of Liberation Theology Pope Francis Upheld the Spirit of Liberation Theology

In his criticisms of the church and defiance of traditionalists, Pope Francis continued the legacy of a movement the Vatican itself tried to silence.

Greg Grandin

Demonstration against far right movements at the Place de la République in Paris, France on April 6, 2025.

Report From Europe: The Center Does Not Hold Report From Europe: The Center Does Not Hold

Frustration with established parties across Europe has created openings the right has been quick to fill. Can a divided left rally in response?

Katrina vanden Heuvel and Robert L. Borosage

Pope Francis arrives at the end of the mass on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, April 13, 2025.

A Pope Who Prays for Palestine A Pope Who Prays for Palestine

Pope Francis, who is in daily contact with Gazans, has consistently called for an end to the Israeli assault and for Palestinians and Israelis to be able to live in peace.

John Nichols