SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
August, 18 2022, 02:25pm EDT
Contact:
Jen Nessel, Center for Constitutional Rights, jnessel@ccrjustice.org
Center for Constitutional Rights Denounces In Strongest Terms Israel's Assault on Leading Palestinian Human Rights Organizations, Calls on Biden Administration to Do Same
In response to Israel's overnight military raids of the offices of several prominent Palestinian human rights organizations in Ramallah in the occupied Palestinian territory, in which Israeli occupying forces sealed shut their doors, taped notices ordering them closed, and seized computers and other confidential materials, the Center for Constitutional Rights issues the following statement:
WASHINGTON
In response to Israel's overnight military raids of the offices of several prominent Palestinian human rights organizations in Ramallah in the occupied Palestinian territory, in which Israeli occupying forces sealed shut their doors, taped notices ordering them closed, and seized computers and other confidential materials, the Center for Constitutional Rights issues the following statement:
Today's physical assault by Israeli occupying forces on the offices and property of prominent Palestinian civil society organizations must be urgently condemned by the Biden administration in the strongest terms, with concrete actions in response to the criminalization of human rights defenders to follow. Israeli authorities designated these six Palestinian civil society organizations as "terrorists" in October of last year. Since then, states and donors that have reviewed the evidence alleged to support the Israeli designation have found it baseless and, along with U.N. officials, bar associations, and local and global civil society, have issued statements affirming their support of the Palestinian organizations. Just last month, nine European member states officially rejected the Israeli designations and affirmed that they would continue working with the six groups.
In the face of this absolute dismissal by the international community, Israeli authorities again escalated their attacks on Palestinian civil society and human rights defenders. Having failed to cut off international support with unsubstantiated "terrorist" smears and having failed to halt the critical work of the six organizations - documenting Israel's human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory, representing detained Palestinian children, supporting political prisoners, and advocating for workers' rights and women's equality - Israel, as a belligerent occupying power, today sought to physically block their operations.
Such an escalation would not have been possible had the Biden administration been forceful in its rebuke of Israel's assault on human rights when it first designated the groups in October 2021, and in the interim, despite repeated efforts by the six organizations and human rights advocates to appeal to the administration. In October 2021, 304 U.S.-based social justice, civil rights, and human rights groups wrote a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the U.S. to protect the six organizations. They were met with silence. On July 18, 2022, Representative Ayanna Presley led a Congressional call to the administration denouncing this "deeply repressive measure" against "essential" Palestinian organizations and demanding action. It is imperative that President Biden and the U.S. State Department act decisively to ensure the rights to freedom of expression and association and, more than ever, offer explicit and concrete support for the crucial human rights and advocacy work undertaken by Palestinians as they resist Israel's brutal military occupation and apartheid regime.
The Center for Constitutional Rights continues to proudly #StandWithTheSix.
The six Palestinian organizations are: Defense for Children International - Palestine, Al Haq, Addameer, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and Union of Palestinian Women's Committees. The Health Work Committee (HWC) and a church, which share offices with the Palestinian organizations were also raided, with HWC receiving a similar notice of closure.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
(212) 614-6464LATEST NEWS
Senate-Passed No Tax on Tips Bill a 'Distraction From the Real Fight'
"We cannot tax-break our way out of an economy that continues to pay people less than it costs to live," said the group One Fair Wage.
May 21, 2025
After the U.S. Senate on Wednesday unexpectedly passed a bill that would exempt some tips from federal income tax, one labor group that campaigns for raising wages warned that while the bill would offer moderate relief to some Americans, it does not address the poverty wages facing many in the service sector—a message the group has hit on in the past.
"For all the bipartisan celebration, this bill is a distraction from the real fight," said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, in a statement on Wednesday. "If Democrats want to offer a true alternative, they need to say it loud and clear: it's time to raise the minimum wage and end the subminimum wage once and for all."
The bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday, the No Tax on Tips Act, would establish a new federal tax deduction of up to $25,000 for cash tips reported to employers by employees for the purposes of withholding payroll taxes. Qualified cash tips include "any cash tip received by an individual in the course of such individual's employment in an occupation which traditionally and customarily received tips on or before December 31, 2023," according to the bill text. Employees who made more than $160,000 in the prior tax year are not able to claim the deduction.
Currently, for tax purposes, tips are treated the same as regular wages. The bill was cosponsored by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and was passed by unanimous vote. It will now go to the House.
The idea of getting rid of federal taxes on tipped wages was touted by U.S. President Trump on the campaign trail and then-presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris also embraced the idea.
An analysis published last year by Yale's Budget Lab found that a "meaningful share" of tipped workers already pay nothing in federal income tax and that tipped work is a very small slice of the labor market.
Less than 4% of workers in the bottom half of hourly wage jobs, people making below $25 an hour in 2023, are in tipped jobs. Thirty seven percent of tipped workers in 2022 made so little that they paid zero in federal income tax before factoring in credits, according to Yale's analysis, and for non-tipped occupations, the equivalent share was much smaller—only 16%.
A report from One Fair Wage released last summer found that the annual income of tipped restaurant workers was so low that 46% of them do not earn enough to pay income taxes based on their individual income.
According to analysis from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), in addition to helping relatively few workers, exempting taxes on tips could potentially undercut pay for many more workers, would encourage tax avoidance, and would reduce pressure on employers to increase base pay, among other concerns.
According to One Fair Wage, the true relief from the country's affordability crisis will come through raising wages, not through "tax gimmicks."
"We cannot tax-break our way out of an economy that continues to pay people less than it costs to live," the group added.
EPI also calls ending taxation on tips "a distraction from proven methods for supporting low-wage workers, like raising the minimum wage and eliminating the subminimum wage for tipped workers."
Keep ReadingShow Less
In 'Anti-Science Move,' FDA Expected to Broadly Restrict Access to Covid Vaccines
"I think that changes like this will lead to more unnecessary deaths," said one doctor.
May 21, 2025
Public health experts on Tuesday warned Tuesday that forthcoming Food and Drug Administration guidance on the Covid-19 vaccine would "cause confusion" and result in fewer people getting inoculated against the virus that killed 350,000 people in the U.S. before the shots became available.
Dr. Vinay Prasad, head of the agency's vaccine division, and Dr. Martin Makary, the FDA commissioner, wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine that the vaccine "booster" doses that have been available for the last several years to anyone aged six months and older carry "uncertain" benefits for much of the population.
The officials said the next round of shots will be available only for adults over 65 and those with certain medical conditions.
They said that before a new round of updated vaccines are made available in the fall, the FDA "anticipates the need" for new clinical trials for many patients under 65. Participants in the trial would be given either the new shots or a placebo and followed by vaccine manufacturers for at least six months to determine if the vaccines continued to provide them with protection from Covid.
Both Prasad and Makary were vocal skeptics of vaccine mandates and other public health measures during the coronavirus pandemic, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—who oversees the FDA—has spread baseless misinformation about the Covid shots and other vaccines.
Kennedy said in 2021 that the shots were the "deadliest ever made"; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found the vaccines reduce people's risk of developing serious illness, long-term symptoms, and hospitalization.
Dr. Daniel Griffin, a physician in New York, toldThe New York Times that the FDA's plan will ultimately "very slowly [reduce] vaccination in the country."
"I think that changes like this will lead to more unnecessary deaths," said Griffin.
Makary and Prasad made their announcement days before scientific advisers to the FDA are set to decide on the composition of the Covid vaccines that will be offered this fall.
Dr. Lucky Tran, director of science communication and media relations at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, emphasized that many Americans have conditions that raise the risk of severe illness when they get Covid—including asthma, pregnancy, diabetes, obesity, and some mental health conditions.
"However, limiting Covid vaccines to people with specific conditions only causes confusions and decreases uptake," said Tran. "Most are unaware they have a condition that puts them at risk, so many who would want to get vaccinated may not try because they think they don't qualify."
About 74% of people in the U.S. have at least one condition that puts them at higher risk for severe disease, according to the CDC.
For people without medical conditions who are under age 65, it was unclear Wednesday whether they will be able to get vaccinated in the fall—and if shots are available to them, whether insurers will cover the costs.
William Schaffner, an infectious disease physician who is on the CDC's vaccine advisory panel—which recommends who should get FDA-approved vaccines—toldThe Washington Post that the panel could include in this year's recommendations that health people under 65 can still get a shot to protect themselves.
"They could add that line... and it would allow those people very focused on prevention who would like to get the vaccine and have it paid for by their insurance," Schaffner told the Post.
But Prasad said the FDA could still limit access because the agency "can only approve products if it concludes, based on the available scientific evidence, the benefit-to-harm balance is favorable."
Pediatricians expressed concern for children's safety if vaccines become unavailable to them; the CDC reported 150 pediatric deaths from Covid over the 12-month period that ended last August.
"I think there is strong data to suggest Covid should be part of routine childhood vaccinations," Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician, toldSTAT News. "We vaccinate kids for things that have less morbidity and mortality than Covid, like chickenpox for example."
Tran denounced the anticipated guidance as "an anti-science move that will kill more Americans."
"The FDA is being led by people who have consistently spread misinformation about Covid and vaccines," said Tran. "Their record indicates that they cannot be trusted to implement evidence-based guidance for vaccines, and their policies will kill people and make them sicker."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Outrage After Israeli Occupation Forces Shoot Live Rounds at Foreign Diplomats in West Bank
Among those shot at were representatives of three nations that threatened "concrete actions" if Israel doesn't end its assault and siege on Gaza and others that support a genocide case against the country.
May 21, 2025
Israeli occupation forces fired what they called "warning shots" at a large delegation of international diplomats visiting the besieged Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on Wednesday, an incident many critics said was an attempt to intimidate countries that just two days earlier issued an ultimatum to stop annihilating Gaza and others that have joined a genocide case against Israel.
Palestinian officials were briefing a group of more than 20 diplomats about the crisis in the illegally occupied West Bank—where Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians including hundreds of children since October 2023 while pushing ahead with massive land theft and colonization—when they came under fire.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the delegation "deviated" from the route approved by Israeli occupation authorities "and entered an area where they were not authorized to be," prompting Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers to fire "warning shots to distance them away."
"The IDF regrets the inconvenience caused," the ministry added.
Israeli soldiers intentionally fired at a delegation of about 30 Arab & EU diplomats, ambassadors and consuls, visiting Jenin refugee camp, in the West Bank. Israel claims "it was an accident" and that they fired "warning shots" because they "felt in danger". Israel was trying to intimidate them.
[image or embed]
— Anonymous ( @youranoncentral.bsky.social) May 21, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Israeli media reported IDF troops fired shots in the air. However, video footage of the incident appears to show soldiers aiming their guns and firing straight ahead in the direction of the diplomats as they scrambled for cover. Israeli officials have often been caught lying about the actions of IDF troops in Palestine.
The delegation included diplomats from the European Union and countries including Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, India, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
On Monday, three of those countries—France, the United Kingdom, and Canada—issued a rare joint statement condemning Operation Gideon's Chariots, the ongoing Israeli campaign to conquer and indefinitely occupy all of Gaza and ethnically cleanse much of its population.
On Tuesday, the U.K. announced it is suspending negotiations with Israel on a free trade agreement, explaining that "it is not possible to advance discussions on a new, upgraded FTA" with a government "that is pursuing egregious policies in the West Bank and Gaza."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza including extermination and forced starvation.
The U.K. additionally sanctioned three far-right Israeli extremists, including settler leader Daniella Weiss, as well as three illegal settlement outposts and two groups "that have supported, incited, and promoted violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank."
Also on Tuesday, European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas—who is the E.U.'s foreign policy chief—said the 27-nation bloc would review its political and economic agreement with Israel in light of the "catastrophic" situation in Gaza.
Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, Jordan, Mexico, Spain, and Turkey have either joined or expressed support for the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice—which last year found that Israel's 58-year occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza is an illegal form of apartheid that must be ended as soon as possible.
Israel's 592-day assault and siege on Gaza has left more than 189,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and over 2 million others forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned what it called Wednesday's "heinous crime" against the diplomats.
"The delegation was undertaking an official mission to observe and assess the humanitarian situation and document the ongoing violations perpetrated by the occupying forces against the Palestinian people," the ministry said. "This deliberate and unlawful act constitutes a blatant and grave breach of international law and of the fundamental principles of diplomatic relations as enshrined in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."
Kallas said Wednesday that "any threats on diplomats' lives are unacceptable."
"Israel is also a signatory to the Vienna Convention, I mean the obligation to guarantee the security of all foreign diplomats," Kallas noted. "We definitely call on Israel to investigate this incident and also hold accountable [those] who are responsible for this."
The governments of other countries whose diplomats were targeted on Wednesday condemned the incident, with some, including France and Italy, summoning their Israeli ambassadors.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular