Promote Human Rights in Israel-Palestine

ACT NOW!

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn.) has re-introduced legislation (this legislation replaces HR 4391 which was introduced in the last session of Congress) to promote human rights for Palestinian children by ending abusive Israeli military detention practices. The Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act, H.R. 2407, amends a provision of the Foreign Assistance Act known as the “Leahy Law” to prohibit US funding for the military detention of children in any country, including Israel.  

Download the above post cards or write a letter on your own stationery to advance H.R 2407, initiated by Rep McCollum.  Be sure to include your name and address along with your electronic and phone contact information.  Please add Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom US Section to let your Congressperson know that you are part of WILPF.

After you put your postcard or letter in the mail, get postcards signed by your members and friends or ask them to write letters.  Make “take action” a part of next membership meeting and ask everyone who attends to sign a postcard or write a letter.  Offer to mail the postcards/letters or, better yet, ask for a meeting with your US Congressperson or their staff and make a formal presentation.  Let them know how important is it that they co-sponsor H.R.2407.  Check this link to learn whether or not your Representative has already co-sponsored.

Background

An estimated 10,000 Palestinian children have been detained by Israeli security forces and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system since 2000. Independent monitors such as Human Rights Watch have documented that these children are subject to abuse and, in some cases, torture — specifically citing the use of chokeholds, beatings, and coercive interrogation on children between the ages of 11 and 15.  In addition, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) found that Palestinian children are frequently held for extended periods without access to either their parents or attorneys. The United States Department of State and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child have also raised serious concerns about the mistreatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military custody.