Take Action as We Start #Marking50 Years of Israeli Occupation

Today is the first in a series of six special messages #Marking50 years of Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

50 years ago today Israel began a war in which it occupied these Palestinian territories, along with the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and Syrian Golan Heights.

While Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egyptian sovereignty as part of a peace deal, 50 years later Israel remains the Occupying Power of these Palestinian (and Syrian) lands.

The 1967 war was the culmination of Israel establishing its hegemony over all of historic Palestine, a process which began in 1948 when Israel conquered 78 percent of Palestine and engaged in a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing to drive out the majority of Palestinians.

All this week, we’ll let you know how you can take action to protest this half-century of Israeli military occupation and the human rights abuses Israel inflicts on Palestinians to maintain it, from injuring and killing civilians, to the mass incarceration and torture of Palestinians, to the expropriation of Palestinian land and building of illegal settlements, to name a few.

Today, we are asking you to contact your Members of Congress to encourage them to attend a Capitol Hill briefing this Thursday, June 8 sponsored by our friends at Defense for Children International—Palestine and member group American Friends Service Committee.

Members of Congress and their staff need to hear from these panelists who will relate how “persistent human rights violations, systemic impunity, discrimination, and a hyper-militarized environment affect the lives of the Palestinian children growing up under a military occupation with no end in sight.”

Click here for more details about the briefing and to encourage your Members of Congress and their staff to attend.

Also, this week there will be actions across the country #Marking 50 years of Israeli occupation. Click here to find an action near you. There’s still time to register your event as well if you haven’t yet.

And check out our newly-released FAQ on Israeli military occupation. Download and distribute it at actions, to friends, family and colleagues to educate them about the human rights abuses Palestinians face under Israeli occupation.

Thanks for taking action to encourage your Members of Congress to attend this important Capitol Hill briefing #Marking50 years of Israeli occupation this Thursday.

Sincerely,

JOSH RUEBNER
Policy Director

PS: Today we also need you to pick up the phone and call your Senators to tell them to speak and vote against S.Res.176, a resolution which celebrates 50 years of Israeli military occupation of East Jerusalem and calls for the United States to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

The resolution is being debated at 3 PM Eastern today. Click here for more background and contact info your Senators. Please call right now!