End U.S. Military Funding to Israel
Israel’s brutal assault on the Palestinian people has escalated throughout and since the Unity Intifada of summer 2021, as Israel:
- demolishes homes in Al Walaja, Silwan, Masafer Yatta, and beyond
- attacks and jails protesters in sites of Palestinian steadfast resistance like Jenin, Nablus, and Jerusalem
- collectively punishes prisoners
- bombs the Gaza Strip, killing 254 Palestinian people in May 2021 and 49 Palestinian people in August 2022
- and continues its ongoing colonization and ethnic cleansing across Palestine.
Divesting from violence & building toward justice
Each year, at least $3,800,000,000 ($3.8 billion) of our U.S. tax dollars are invested in the Israeli military’s oppression of the Palestinian people. We must rise in resistance. Our tax dollars are funding Israel’s crimes against humanity, while here at home we are told there is not enough money for Medicare for All, minimum wage, or public infrastructure—all of which cause disproportionate harm to Black and Brown communities.
We must divest from systems of violence and invest in systems of care. That means divesting from the Israeli military and instead reinvesting in justice and care at home. As we raise up struggles in Palestine, we constantly push toward a future of collective liberation. Take action in solidarity with Palestine and end the U.S.’s military funding of Israel’s violence:
- Join over 64,000+ of our supporters in taking action to Rise Up With Palestine: Tell Congress to Sanction Israeli Apartheid.
- Educate yourself on What’s Happening in Gaza and tell Congress to take action (via JVP).
- Defend the 8 villages and 2 schools in Masafer Yatta fighting Israel’s demolitions, take action in solidarity, and check out the action kit from Nakba Day uprising when people across the country rose with Masafer Yatta
Building Power in Congress
On April 15, 2021, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) introduced legislation in Congress that would prohibit U.S. tax dollars from funding the Israeli military detention of Palestinian children, home demolitions, and continual annexation and land theft, including detailed accountability and tracking measures on Israeli use of U.S. funding. H.R. 2590, the Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act, boasts 32 cosponsors and counting. It is the follow-up to H.R. 2407 in the last Congress (and previously, H.R. 4391).
Over 170 organizations endorsed this historic bill, from groups across movement spaces like United We Dream, Detention Watch Network, Movement 4 Black Lives, and Sunrise, to Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, MoveOn and Indivisible, and dozens of local groups.
Together we must defund tax dollars from all systems of harm. H.R. 2590, the Palestinian Children and Families Act, insists on the rights to safety, dignity, and freedom for the Palestinian people and aims to end U.S. funding for Israeli military occupation abuses, laying the groundwork for achieving justice.
This bill builds upon work started by Defense for Children International-Palestine and American Friends Service Committee back in 2016 when they brought the issue of U.S. funding of Israel’s military detention of children to Congress. Every year, Israel detains and prosecutes between 500 and 700 Palestinian children in military courts that lack due process guarantees and have a conviction rate of 99.74%. This issue is just one example among many of U.S. complicity in Israel’s apartheid and ethnic cleansing policies, which the current bill takes on.
Speak up so our representatives hear that, at a minimum, they must cosponsor H.R. 2590, and they should introduce additional legislation to end U.S. military funding to Israel, once and for all.
Tell your member of Congress to sign on to H.R. 2590!
Learn more about pushing for justice for Palestine in U.S. policy:
- H.R.5344: Memo: The Two State Solution Act Fails to Advance Justice & A Rights-Based Foreign Policy (September 2021)
- H.R. 2748.S. 1061: Memo: Protect and Advance Human Rights – Oppose H.R. 2748.S. 1061 Israeli Relations Normalization Act
- 12 members of the House (led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib & Rep. Mark Pocan decry Israeli settler colonialism and demand accountability
- Fact sheet on H.R. 2590 from the No Way to Treat a Child Campaign
- Social Media Toolkit: Help Our Movement Move Congress: Amplify H.R. 2590 & Drive Action
- Freedom is the Future Legislative Guide for more policy demands