Not Another Nickel, Not Another Dime – Progressives Block $1bln for Israel in Govt. Funding Resolution
WASHINGTON, DC, September 21, 2021 – Progressives in Congress just heeded grassroots demands for Palestinian rights and blocked another $1 billion in taxpayer dollars from funding weapons to Israel. After House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer attempted to sneak this $1 billion funding into the continuing budget resolution at the last second, progressives in Congress fought back and forced him to remove it.
Their action to stop further military funding to Israel signals a larger shift: The people support Palestinian rights, and true progressives in Congress are realizing they need to listen up now. Recently nine representatives cosponsored an NDAA amendment that would block a $735 million weapons sale to Israel, including the same precision-guided missiles Israel used to bomb the Gaza Strip and murder 260 Palestinian people in May 2021. These representatives listened to the demands of over 100 civil society organizations and 1,860 people’s cosponsors of the amendment who expressed their support at bit.ly/BlockTheBombsAction. Now we’ll continue pushing our representatives to end U.S. complicity in Israel’s ethnic cleansing and massacres.
“The people have spoken, loudly and repeatedly: we must center Palestinian rights and we must insist on accountability for Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people,” says Sana, USCPR Manager of Policy and Advocacy Campaigns. “That means protecting Palestinian life from Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing, blocking bombs and all military funding to Israel, and investing in justice and community care.”
We know the people support Palestinian rights! According to a recent Data for Progress poll, 72% of Democratic voters support H.R. 2590, the Palestinian Children and Families Act, compared to only 13% of House Democrats. Our representatives must align with the will of the people they represent.
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About the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) is a national network of activists and organizations who are committed to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and who work to end U.S. complicity in their oppression. USCPR is a political home for all who believe that freedom for the Palestinian people is an integral part of achieving our collective liberation. USCPR provides resources and strategic support to the U.S.-based Palestine solidarity movement, channeling grassroots power into positive change in U.S. policy and public opinion. USCPR works with local organizers and activists, policymakers, movement leaders, media, and advocacy organizations to advance a rights-based, accountability and justice-oriented framework from the U.S. to Palestine.