NEW YORK (RNS) — Forty of New York’s Latino faith leaders, representing more than 30,000 residents across different Christian denominations, have called for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

During a news conference outside City Hall on Wednesday (March 6), the Rev. Samuel Cruz, who started the initiative, denounced the Biden administration’s ongoing support of Israel amid a mounting death toll in Gaza, where more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the five months since war broke out.

“We can’t stay quiet in the midst of this brutality taking place in Gaza. … As people of faith we have to stand up and ask for this to stop,” he said.

Cruz was joined by Felipe Luciano, a civil rights figure and co-founder of The Last Poets, and the Rev. Raymond Rivera, founder of the city’s largest social service agency, the Latino Pastoral Action Center. 

Besides a cease-fire, the group also demanded that Hamas release all the remaining hostages taken during its deadly attack on Oct. 7 in southern Israel, which left as many as 1,200 dead and ignited the war. The faith leaders also called for the end of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, noted Cruz.

Five participants stood with the faith leaders and observed a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the war, and parts of the news conference were translated into Spanish. “Por la Paz y una Palestina libre” — for peace and a free Palestine — read one of the signs brought by an attendee.

The Rev. Samuel Cruz, center, flanked by Felipe Luciano, left, the Rev. Raymond Rivera, right, and other New York Latino faith leaders, speaks during a news conference about a cease-fire in Gaza, March 6, 2024, outside City Hall in New York. (Video screen grab)

Until Wednesday, religious leaders from the city’s Latino community had mostly been silent on this issue, explained Cruz, who noted the difference between that silence and the efforts made by Black church leaders who have been vocal in denouncing the killing of Palestinian civilians.

“Latinx leaders in NYC have been particularly cautious for fear of inspiring any additional discrimination against the city’s vibrant Jewish community,” wrote the group’s leaders in a press release.

Rivera, who is chairman of the Micah Faith Table, a coalition of multifaith leaders advocating for social justice, said his colleagues have been quick to denounce rising antisemitism and Islamophobia in the city and on college campuses. But Rivera agreed the Latino community has avoided taking stances on the Israel-Hamas war, fearing calls for a cease-fire would be interpreted as a lack of solidarity with Latinos’ Jewish allies and might lead to accusations of antisemitism, he explained.

“In New York City, the Jewish community has collaborated on issues that affect the Latino community, comprehensive immigration reform, comprehensive criminal justice reform. The Jewish leadership tends to be progressive and supports not only Latino but the African community,” he said.

Rivera condemned the deadly attacks on Israeli villages by Hamas on Oct. 7 but added that Israel’s military response was disproportionate.

The group said it hopes to influence members of the Latino community to take similar stances and advocate more loudly for a cease-fire in Gaza.

“We can no longer be silent because it just reached such tragic proportions in Gaza that we are calling for an immediate cease-fire,” said Cruz.