EMERGENCY ADVOCACY DAY FOR GAZA

Where: Capitol Hill
When: Thursday, July 24, 2014 from 9AM-5PM

As the violence in this tragic humanitarian crisis continues to escalate, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) encourages you to take part in this unique opportunity to directly participate in the democratic process by meeting with your Congressional Representatives and Senators to advocate for the human rights of the Palestinians.  It takes a community of engaged and organized members to change public policy.  The Arab-American community must be unified with itself, as well as with other civil and human rights organizations, in order to change Congress’ anti-Palestinian policies.

Click here to sign up for Advocacy Day.

To facilitate Advocacy Day, ADC, Code Pink, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the Coalition of Palestinian American Organizations (CPAO), and other advocacy organizations will provide memos to highlight specific talking points.  ADC will also hold a pre-meeting briefing in the Rayburn House Office Building at 9am and a debriefing at 4:30pm on Thursday, July 24, 2014. The briefings will be held in Room 2456.

Contact your Senators and Representatives today to request meetings for Thursday, July 24, 2014 between 10 AM and 4 PM. Ask to meet with the leglislative assistant or staffer who handles foreign affairs. Please call to schedule your own meetings in the Senate and House offices in the state and congressional district in which you are registered to vote. 

Click here to search your Representatives’ phone numbers by state
Click here to search your Senators’ phone numbers by state

In order to help us coordinate meetings, please email us at advocacy@adc.org to let us know which meetings you have scheduled.  This way, those who do not schedule their own meeting may be able to join in on meetings with other Advocacy Day participants from their state. For help scheduling a meeting, or for additional information about ADC Palestine Advocacy Day, please send an email to advocacy@adc.org. 

Take Action to Stand with Palestine:  Participate in Advocacy Day for Gaza

Over the past week, Israel has launched an assault on Gaza over that has resulted in the deaths of at least 548 Palestinians as reported by Reuters on Monday, July 21th.  At least 111 children have been killed. The death toll in this asymmetric warfare continues to rise, and over 3,000 Palestinians have been wounded. Over 80,000 Palestinian civilians were forced to flee their homes in northern Gaza and take shelter in UN facilities to escape Israeli bombs and shelling. Further, the UN reported that 77% of the people who were killed in Gaza were civilians, and called for a cessation of hostilities and a comprehensive peace agreement. 

While many media outlets have objectively covered the Gaza crisis from a human rights perspective, and even highlighted the disparate plight of Palestinian suffering, Congress remains a bastion of staunchly pro-Israel support: 

• Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reaffirmed their uncritical support for Israel by passing a completely one sided Resolution: S. Res. 498, “Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding United States support for the State of Israel as it defends itself against unprovoked rocket attacks from the Hamas terrorist organization.” The resolution condemned only Hamas, and failed to mention any Palestinian deaths caused by Israeli airstrikes. 

• Thursday, the Senate voted to send an additional $621 million to Israel. This is on top of the $3.1 billion we already give to Israel every year. According to a Congressional Research Service Report from April, 2014: “Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II. To date, the United States has provided Israel $121 billion in bilateral assistance. Almost all U.S. bilateral aid to Israel is in the form of military assistance.” Congress claims that this strong bilateral relationship is based on “a mutual commitment to democratic values,” yet Israel is clearly not committed to democratic values; Israel has been bombing civilians and children in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Congress is complicit in Israel’s crimes. This blatant disregard for the human rights of the Palestinian people is unacceptable. Congress must be informed that the status quo of Israeli occupation and impunity is unacceptable to their constituents, including the Arab-American community and all those who value human rights.  In order to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine, we must first end the Israeli occupation of Congress.  The next intifada must take place not in Occupied Palestine, where Israel kills with impunity. The next battle must take place in the halls of the United States Congress, where we have equal rights under law, and constitutionally protected freedom of expression.

Take Action: Click here to sign up for Advocacy Day.

Click here to send a letter to Congress and the President now!