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For Immediate Release
April, 15 2021, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Sonya E Meyerson-Knox, sonya@jvp.org, 929.290-0317
JVP Action Proud to Endorse the Palestinian Children & Families Act
"Congress needs to stop funding the Israeli government's oppression of Palestinians."
WASHINGTON
JVP Action endorses and celebrates the introduction of Representative Betty McCollum's historic legislation to restrict U.S. military funding so that it can no longer be used by the Israeli government to violate Palestinians' human rights. The bill has received overwhelming support from progressive movements, with more than 70 endorsing organizations. In particular, the landmark bill condemns the Israeli government's imprisonment and torture of Palestinian children, theft and destruction of Palestinian homes and property, and any further annexation of Palestinian land.
The Palestinian Children and Families Act was introduced with 13 original cosponsors, including the full squad: Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-01), Andre Carson (IN-07), Danny Davis (IL-07), Chuy Garcia (IL-04) Raul Grijalva (AZ-03), Marie Newman (IL-03), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Bobby Rush (IL-01), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13).
The groundbreaking legislation states: "The United States rejects any undemocratic system or act of aggression in which Israel unilaterally exercises permanent rule over a Palestinian people denied self-determination and human rights." The bill makes clear that claiming to oppose human rights violations without demanding accountability enables abuse and oppression.
"This legislation could not come at a more critical moment. The pandemic has exposed and intensified brutal systemic injustices around the world - and Israel is no exception," said Beth Miller, Senior Government Affairs Manager with JVP Action. "The Israeli military has continued to imprison Palestinian children and, horrifyingly, at a time when we are all asked to stay at home, the Israeli government has actually increased the rate at which it is demolishing Palestinian homes. It could not be clearer: Congress needs to stop funding the Israeli government's oppression of Palestinians."
"True peace can only come with justice and accountability," added Stefanie Fox, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action. "The Palestinian Children and Families Act forces us to reckon with how we spend our money. Why, when millions of Americans live without healthcare and struggle to make ends meet, does Congress send $3.8 billion in unconditional military funding to the Israeli government? This hurts us all."
The bill is endorsed by a powerhouse group of over 70 organizations ranging from well-known Palestinian rights groups such as Defense for Children International Palestine, the Adalah Justice Project, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, American Muslims for Palestine, and the American Friends Service Committee, to organizations leading on a range of social justice movements such as the Working Families Party, the Movement for Black Lives, United We Dream, and Justice Democrats.
JVPA staff are available to speak with the media
Endorsing orgainzations: Adalah Justice Project, Al-Haq, Americans for Peace Now (APN), American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Friends Service Committee, American Muslims for Palestine, Arab American Institute, Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Center for Constitutional Rights, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Jewish Allies for a Just Peace in Israel/Palestine, Churches for Middle East Peace, Church of the Brethren - Office of Peacebuilding and Policy, Coalition of Palestinian American Organizations, CODEPINK, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), DAARNA, Dallas Palestine Coalition , Defense for Children International - Palestine, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), Detention Watch Network, Disciples Israel Palestine Network, DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group, The Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Eyewitness Palestine, Freedom Forward, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Friends of Sabeel - Colorado, Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), Good Citizens Of DFW, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, IfNotNow, Institute for Policy Studies - New Internationalism Project, Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA), J Street, The Jerusalem Fund, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, Justice Democrats, MADRE, Massachusetts Peace Action, Middle East Children's Alliance, Movement for Black Lives, MPower Action Fund, National Council of Churches USA, National Lawyers Guild, National Union of Palestinian Youth, New Generation for Palestine, NGP Action, Norwegian Refugee Council, Palestine American League, Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, Palestine Legal, Peace Action, Presbyterian Church (USA), Progressive Democrats of America, Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, Rebuilding Alliance, Reformed Church in America, ReThinking Foreign Policy, Sacramento Democrats for Justice in Palestine, Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights, Tree of Life Educational Fund, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East, United Church of Christ, United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network, United Methodists for Kairos Response, United We Dream Network, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), US Palestinian Council, Veterans For Peace, Virginia Coalition for Human Rights, War Resisters League, Win Without War, Working Families Party
Jewish Voice for Peace Action (JVP Action) is a multiracial, intergenerational movement of Jews and allies working towards justice and equality for Palestinians and Israelis by transforming U.S. policy.
(510) 465-1777LATEST NEWS
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As US President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed reporting that he's seeking $200 billion more from Congress to continue waging his unpopular war of choice on Iran, Rep. Ilhan Omar was among those forcefully pushing back.
"We're told there's no money for universal healthcare or to end hunger in this country. But somehow $200 billion more for war will likely move through Congress without question," said the progressive Minnesota Democrat, who fled civil war in Somalia as a child. "Not another penny for another endless war."
Since Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started bombing Iran late last month—creating a spiraling crisis that has now killed and injured thousands of people across the Middle East, plus damaged civilian infrastructure in multiple countries—anti-war lawmakers and organizations have delivered similar messages.
"While they kick 17 million Americans off their healthcare, Republicans want to spend billions on Trump's reckless war of choice," Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in early March. "Hell no."
Last week, shortly after Pentagon officials told Congress that just the first six days cost Americans more than $11.3 billion, over 250 groups collectively told lawmakers on Capitol Hill to "vote against any additional funding for Trump's unconstitutional war."
At the time, the reported figure was a quarter of what it is now: $50 billion. The coalition noted that the funding "would be enough to restore food assistance for 4 million Americans that was taken away in the tax and budget reconciliation bill, establish universal pre-K education, and pay for the annual construction of more than 100,000 units of housing, among other possible priorities."
After Trump confirmed that he wants four times more than expected, one coalition member, the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) Policy Project, took to social media to highlight other ways the money could be spent to improve the lives of working Americans, from school meals and paid leave to funding all levels of education.
Another coalition member, Public Citizen, released a Thursday statement in which co-president Robert Weissman ripped Trump's spending request as "grotesque beyond words."
According to Weissman:
It should properly be understood not just as a request to replenish supplies, but to expand, escalate, and perpetuate the illegal, unconstitutional, unpopular and devastating war on Iran. Congress should understand that approving any portion of this funding opens the gates for one, two, and potentially many more war funding requests in the future.
How dare the administration propose this gargantuan sum to expand an illegal war of choice at the same time it has rammed through deep cuts in healthcare and food assistance, refuses to spend foreign assistance at a cost of millions of lives, and has cut spending on protecting clean air, maintaining our national parks, investing in health research, protecting consumers from fraud, and so much more.
$200 billion is enough to materially change the lives of Americans and truly make our country stronger. It would be enough to restore food assistance to the 4 million Americans and Medicaid to the 15 million Americans who will lose those crucial supports under the Republican reconciliation bill; establish universal pre-K education; pay for the annual construction of more than 100,000 units of housing; double the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency; and expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing.
Weissman argued that "every member of Congress should announce, right now, that they will reject this monstrous war funding proposal, before it is formalized."
Despite rising casualties across the Middle East and polls showing that the US assault on Iran is unpopular, even with Trump voters, a few Democrats voted with nearly all Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives earlier this month to reject war powers resolutions intended to end Trump's Operation Epic Fury. The upper chamber blocked a similar effort late Wednesday.
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Deputy German Foreign Minister Josef Hinterseher said during a press conference in Berlin that his country "will not intervene" on Israel's side in the South Africa v. Israel genocide case filed at the Hague-based tribunal in December 2023.
This is a marked departure from Germany's January 2024 announcement that it would intervene on behalf of Israel in the case, arguing that the genocide allegation made by South Africa had "no basis whatsoever."
Nearly two dozen nations, most recently the Netherlands, Namibia, and Iceland, have either formally intervened on the side of South Africa or announced their intent to do so. The Herero and Nama peoples of modern-day Namibia suffered a genocide during the region's colonization by Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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In 2024, Nicaragua filed a case against Germany at the ICJ, arguing that the European nation “has not only failed to fulfill its obligation to prevent the genocide committed and being committed against the Palestinian people... but has contributed to the commission of genocide in violation" of the Genocide Convention.
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German police punch an anti-genocide woman in front of the cameras.
[image or embed]
— Antifa_Ultras (@antifa-ultras.bsky.social) October 7, 2025 at 2:20 PM
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