California Jewish Legislators Stand in Solidarity with Ukraine

SACRAMENTO - Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills) and Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), Chair and Vice-Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, released the following statement regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:

“President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is beyond horrific, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. It is jarring to see such unprovoked and unjustified violence against the Ukrainian people.

California must consider all options to reinforce U.S. and international sanctions to isolate the Putin regime, including divestment of state pension funds and other state investments, seizure of real estate and other assets held in California, suspension of sister state relationships, and mobilization of state resources.

California also must explore all options to deliver humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people, and to support and accept refugees. We strongly encourage the community to join us in supporting organizations that provide direct humanitarian aid. As a Caucus, we will support the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles’s Emergency Fund, Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco’s humanitarian aid fund, and the Red Cross. 

At this difficult time, our thoughts are also with the Ukrainian Jewish community. Ukranian Jews, including Holocaust survivors and their descendants, are again fearing for their lives and deciding whether or not to flee their homes. Putin’s absurd claim that an invasion was needed to ‘de-nazify’ Ukraine is both wildly untrue and deeply offensive to the memory of the Holocaust. Adding to the absurdity, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish, and many of his family members were killed in the Holocaust.

Our Caucus stands proudly with the Ukrainian people and everyone praying for peace and an end to this conflict.”

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