Tell Congress: Defend Masafer Yatta & Support Rep. Cori Bush’s Policy Letter
Last week, supporters like you sent more than 2,000 emails to Congress to defend Masafer Yatta. Thanks to this grassroots pressure, 14 members of Congress signed on to Rep. Cori Bush’s Dear Colleague letter today to stop the Israeli government’s destruction of Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta. This is what people power looks like, as we urgently pressure Congress to defend Palestinian human rights.
As the Washington Post reported, the so-called Israeli firing zone in Masafer Yatta, and others like it, are deliberate attempts by the Israeli government to dispossess Palestinians. The Israeli military has already begun demolishing Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta, so it’s urgent that the Biden administration take immediate action.
Rep. Bush’s policy letter calls out Israel’s war crimes and demands that the Biden administration pressure Israel to stop its home demolitions and displacement. Over 65 organizations have endorsed the letter, including partners across our movements, like NDN Collective, the Movement for Black Lives, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
You can take action now by following up with your representative—to thank them if they signed on to this policy letter, or to tell them to speak up now if they didn’t. Send them a message here.
This month, thousands of us took to the streets to resist Israel’s violence and remember the ongoing Nakba, or catastrophe, of Israel’s mass killing and removal of Palestinian people from their land. Across the country, we called for justice—for Shireen Abu Akleh, and for Palestinian families in Masafar Yatta who Israel has already been violently forcing out of their homes.
Despite Israel’s actions, the powerful sounds of our voices echoing the Palestinian people’s demands is carving a path forward. We have witnessed solidarity in the fight to resist white supremacy, violence, and colonialism, from Palestine to Buffalo, New York, to Uvalde, Texas, and we’ve continued fighting for collective liberation, together.
We’re seeing vital movement building toward justice: schools teaching critical race theory and history despite repression against it, and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib introducing a historic Nakba Day resolution in Congress.
Now we can build off this momentum and demand action to defend Palestinian communities in Masafar Yatta. After a decades-long legal battle to stay on their native land, and after facing repeated destruction of their homes and harassment by the Israeli military, over 1,000 Palestinian people in Masafar Yatta in the South Hebron Hills are at risk of being removed from their lands entirely.
We need to ramp up international pressure to stop the Israeli government’s violent expulsions now. Will you join us and add your voice to defend Masafar Yatta?
Keep up the pressure on social media too. Share these Masafer Yatta Dear Colleague letter graphics on Instagram and Twitter, and tag your representative.
Thank you for taking action.
