MASSACHUSETTS AGAINST ISRAELI ANNEXATION
Organizing to Uphold International Law and End Israeli Impunity
Tell your House Rep. and our two Senators:
CLICK HERE: Your Action is Urgently Needed!
As Israel is continuing its decades-long moves to annex land in the Occupied West Bank, some members of Congress, including our own Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Tel: DC: 202-225-5111; Boston: 617-850-0040), have taken a stand against US funding for this illegal activity. Other Massachusetts members of Congress should join them!
H.R.8050 – The Israeli Annexation Non-Recognition Act, filed this Summer by Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum and now with 11 cosponsors, is the first measure in Congress which declares unequivocally that the US will not recognize or fund Israeli annexation of occupied territory.
The summary of HR 8050 states: “This bill prohibits a federal department or agency from recognizing, or implying recognition of, any claim by Israel of sovereignty over any part of the occupied West Bank in violation of international humanitarian law or customary international law. Further, it prohibits the use of certain federal funds to support specified activities in West Bank territory that has been unilaterally annexed by Israel or to facilitate or support such annexation. The Department of State must make an annual certification regarding any obligation or expenditure of such funds to Israel for these purposes.”
Formal (de jure) annexation, like permanent occupation, is illegal under international law.
Yet Israel has already annexed East Jerusalem and Syria’s Golan Heights, and its taking of Palestinian land for Jewish settlements during more than half a century is also illegal under international law. Just this week, Israel approved thousands of new illegal housing units on occupied land. Instead of imposing sanctions, the US has given over $300 billion in aid to Israel (in 2019 dollars).
It is unacceptable to revert to business as usual by supporting and funding Israel’s long-standing policy of creeping annexation, settlement-building, and land grabs, even if they back off from or postpone de jure annexation. The fundamental problem remains Israel’s long impunity from the rule of international law, regardless of whether or not it announces a new wide-scale annexation.
US taxpayers should not be asked to fund Israel’s continuing annexations, whether de facto or “legal”.
Use this link to email your Senators and Representative.
HR 8050, like the previously filed H.R.2407 – Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act, is an important step in holding Israel accountable for its violations of international law and abuse of US funding. Both bills deserve the support and cosponsorship from Massachusetts members of Congress. We should pressure our House members to do so – while thanking Rep. Pressley (Boston: 617-850-0040; DC: 202-225-5111) for standing up for justice. And we ask our Senators to submit legislation similar to HR 8050 and HR 2407 in the Senate. (Both bills will have to be refiled in the new 2021 Congress, when we should redouble our efforts to rally support for them.)
Now, more than ever, in the age of a coronavirus pandemic which puts huge strains on our federal spending, we cannot afford a permanent blank check for Israel!
Tell our senators and congressmembers: SUPPORT HR 8050 and HR 2407- NO MORE UNCONDITIONAL $BILLIONS FOR ISRAEL!
Prepared by MASSACHUSETTS AGAINST ISRAELI ANNEXATION and endorsed by the following organizations:
Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine * Arlington United for Justice with Peace * Boston College Students for Justice in Palestine * Dorchester People for Peace * Jewish Voice for Peace-Boston * Human Rights Awareness: Palestine Israel/CD3 * Massachusetts Peace Action * Merrimack Valley People for Peace * North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice * Middle East Peace and Justice Coalition of Western Mass * Palestinian Community in Boston * Tree of Life Educational Fund * Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East, MA Chapter