Jacobs, Ramirez, 18 Members of Congress Urge President Biden to Urgently Address Rising Settler Violence in West Bank
Congresswomen Sara Jacobs (CA-51) and Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) led 18 members of Congress in calling President Joe Biden to take immediate action to address settler violence and protect the lives and well-being of Palestinians in the West Bank. In the letter, also addressed to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the members of Congress urged the Administration to thoroughly investigate and take the urgent necessary actions to hold all parties accountable, including determining if any of the 60,000 Americans in Israeli settlements and outposts are responsible for crimes committed against Palestinians.
Since the horrific terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, settler violence in the West Bank has been on the rise. According to reports from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 1,014 people, including 388 children, have been displaced; 232 Palestinians, including 61 children, were killed; and more than 3,000 Palestinians, including 500 children, have been wounded during settler violence in the West Bank. So far, 2023 has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since OCHA began recording casualties in 2005.
“The severity of these [settler violence] incidents [reported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] underscores the urgent need for immediate action to address settler violence and protect the lives and well-being of Palestinians in the West Bank. The majority of these incidents of settler violence are happening in the Israeli Government-controlled Area C, where 700,000 Israeli settlers reside in approximately 230 settlements and where approximately 300,000 Palestinians live in 532 residential areas that are regularly subjected to land confiscations by settlers,” wrote the members of Congress in the letter.
In the letter, the members of Congress urge the administration of Biden to follow a series of steps to ensure the safety of Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank:
- Continue to urge the Israeli Government not to distribute weapons to settlers in the West Bank.
- Take every necessary measure to protect at least 60,000 Palestinian Americans in the occupied West Bank.
- Declassify and publish all United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority report on settler violence.
- Provide a detailed report to Congress on what the Biden Administration is doing to hold the Israeli Government accountable for the three violations identified in the reports.
- Prevent U.S. funding from being used to expand settlements and outposts.
- Determine if the 60,000 Americans in settlements and outposts are responsible for crimes committed against Palestinians and refer all U.S. citizens involved to the Department of Justice for prosecution.
The letter is being co-signed by U.S. Representatives Becca Balint (VT-AL), Donald Beyer (VA-08), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-01), André Carson (IN-07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Al Green (TX-09), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (GA-04), Summer Lee (PA-12), Alexandria Ocasio Cortes (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Presley (MA-07), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-12).
Organizations, including American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Amnesty International USA, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, American Friends Service Committee, Churches for Middle East Peace, Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD), National Iranian American Council Action, MADRE, West Street Recovery, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine (AFRP) and U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, endorse the call from the Members of Congress.
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.