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israeli settlements
10 Reasons Netanyahu Should Not Address Congress
Members of Congress should boycott Netanyahu’s address, and the public should join the protests being organized during his visit.
Jul 23, 2024
On Wednesday, July 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to deliver his record-setting fourth address to a Joint Session of Congress. Here are 10 compelling reasons why he should not have been invited and why members of Congress should boycott his visit:
- Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: Under Netanyahu’s leadership, the Israeli government has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza, predominantly women and children; has forcibly displaced 90% of the population; and has used starvation as a weapon, plunging Gaza into a famine that will likely result in thousands more dead.
- International Criminal Court (ICC) Arrest Warrant: The chief prosecutor of the ICC is seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- International Court of Justice Ruling on Occupied Territories: The International Court of Justice has just issued an unprecedented, sweeping condemnation of Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a ruling that Netanyahu has denounced as he continues to green light new settlement construction and empower violent settlers.
- Child Rights Abuses:The United Nations secretary-general has listed Netanyahu’s government as a violator of children’s rights, citing horrific instances of abuse and mistreatment of Palestinian children. Netanyahu responded by attacking the United Nations, saying, “The U.N. put itself on the black list of history today.”
- Corruption Charges: Netanyahu is currently under criminal prosecution in Israel for bribery, fraud, and conflict of interest. That’s why U.S. President Joe Biden said it was “reasonable” to conclude that Netanyahu was prolonging the war in Gaza for his political benefit.
- Judicial Independence: Netanyahu has been attempting to undermine the impartiality and independence of the Israeli judiciary. Before October 7, there were massive protests against his efforts to weaken judicial oversight.
- Intelligence Failure: Netanyahu is responsible for the monumental intelligence failure on October 7, 2023, which led to the devastating Hamas terrorist attack. It is considered the worst Israeli intelligence failure since the surprise attack that led to the Arab-Israeli war of 1973.
- Torture and Abuse: Netanyahu’s government has been implicated in the torture and abuse of thousands of Palestinian detainees. Over 9,000 Palestinians from the West Bank have been detained since October 7, while thousands more have been “forcibly disappeared” from Gaza. Netanyahu’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has advocated denying prisoners sufficient food and water and called for the government to deal with overcrowding by shooting prisoners in the head.
- Opposition to a Cease-Fire: While President Biden put forward a cease-fire plan that supposedly came from Israel, Netanyahu immediately dismissed the plan, saying, “We’re committed to continuing the war after the truce,” and that the idea that Israel would agree to a permanent cease-fire before Hamas was destroyed was a “non-starter.” Netanyahu’s government lacks a plan to end the conflict with Hamas other than the extermination of Palestinians.
- No Interest in a Long-Term Solution: On July 17, the Israeli Knesset voted overwhelmingly by 68 to 9 to reject any creation of a Palestinian state, a policy that has been the stated goal of the U.S. government. Netanyahu’s cabinet includes officials such as Security Minister Ben-Gvir and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi who have called for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
For these reasons, members of Congress should boycott Netanyahu’s address and the public should join the protests being organized during his visit.
'Disturbing Milestone': Israeli Settler Attacks in West Bank Surpass 1,000 Since October 7
"While a few individuals have been detained, no civilian or soldier has been prosecuted in connection with any of these 1,000 attacks," said a coalition of aid agencies.
Jul 05, 2024
A coalition of aid agencies on Friday implored the international community to take concrete, punitive action against the Israeli government and settlers after the number of settler attacks in the occupied West Bank since October 7 surpassed 1,000.
The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), a group of international organizations working in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement that the rate of settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank has doubled since the same time last year, from an average of two per day to four.
"At least 10 people, including two children, have been killed during these attacks, and at least 234 have been injured, including 20 children. Since 7 October, 1,260 people, including 600 children, have been forcibly displaced amid settler violence and movement restrictions. The displaced households are from 20 herding and Bedouin communities throughout Area C of the West Bank. As one survivor of settler violence explained, 'No place is safe here.'"
"Settler violence is premeditated and orchestrated by organized groups from known outposts and settlements, with the support of Israel's government, including local and regional settlement councils," the group added, noting the limited sanctions that the United States and the European Union have imposed on individual settlers "have failed to reduce the frequency of attacks."
"While a few individuals have been detained, no civilian or soldier has been prosecuted in connection with any of these 1,000 attacks," AIDA said. "Reports indicate that some illegal outpost farms operated by sanctioned settlers—many of whom have been reported to be at the center of multiple violent incidents—have received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of material support from the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Settlements, the Settlement Administration in the Ministry of Defense, and through local and regional settlement councils."
"Foreign governments must act now to stop this illegal appropriation by taking meaningful measures to hold the Israeli government and perpetrators of these attacks to account."
AIDA urged the international community to "adopt new restrictive measures which go beyond individual settlers to target identified organizations and state entities who promote violence and/or take part in attacks on Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure."
The group also argued that the far-right Israeli government "should be held accountable for the repeated and evidence-based allegations that the military and other state authorities are tolerating, enabling, and at times participating in settler violence."
A Human Rights Watch report published in April found that the Israeli military "either took part in or did not protect Palestinians from violent settler attacks in the West Bank that have displaced people from 20 communities and have entirely uprooted at least seven communities" since October 7.
AIDA's statement came days after the Israeli government announced the seizure of nearly five square miles of land in the West Bank—Israel's largest land grab in the occupied Palestinian territory in more than three decades.
Sally Abi Khalil, Middle East and North Africa director for Oxfam International—an AIDA member—said Friday that settler attacks in the West Bank have reached a "disturbing milestone."
"In a context where outpost legalization is being fast-tracked, and Israel is stealing more and more land," said Khalil, "foreign governments must act now to stop this illegal appropriation by taking meaningful measures to hold the Israeli government and perpetrators of these attacks to account."
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UN Rights Chief Says 'Serious Concerns of Unlawful Killings' by Israel in West Bank
In addition to the "unconscionable death and suffering" in Gaza, the situation for Palestinians in the West Bank is also "dramatically deteriorating," the U.N. human rights chief said.
Jun 18, 2024
The United Nations' top human rights official said Tuesday that the situation in the West Bank was "dramatically deteriorating" and that Israeli security forces and settlers had killed 528 Palestinians in the occupied territory since October, "in many cases raising serious concerns of unlawful killings."
Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, made the remarks to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva at the opening of a weekslong session. He also said that he was "appalled" by the disregard for humanitarian law and human rights by parties to the conflict in Gaza, where "there has been unconscionable death and suffering," with more than 120,000 in the enclave killed or injured since October 7, "overwhelmingly women and children."
"We must urgently make our way back to peace," Türk said in summary, speaking about Palestine and other conflict areas.
“We must urgently find our way back to peace.”
- @volker_turk at the opening of #HRC56 today pic.twitter.com/PNAeDwgNya
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) June 18, 2024
Türk's warning about violence in the West Bank follows a report his office released in December documenting a surge of Israeli settler violence, supported by security forces, after October 7.
The December report cited "unlawful killings," as per Tuesday's comments. Israeli forces reportedly killed bystanders in clashes and used "unnecessary or disproportionate force against Palestinians involved in confrontations and clashes, resulting in unlawful killings," the report states. Türk said at the time that the "dehumanization" of Palestinians was "very disturbing" and that Israeli settler violence and expansion of settlements must stop immediately—a call that was not heeded.
Since that time, media outlets and human rights groups have detailed regular instances of Israeli aggression and violence in the West Bank. "With the world's focus on Gaza, West Bank settlers have used wartime chaos as cover for violence and dispossession," The New Yorkerreported in February. Amnesty International condemned violent attacks in April, arguing they were part of an apartheid system. In May, Human Rights Watch issued a report on "Israeli forces' unlawful killings of Palestinians."
In response to Tuesday's speech, Israel's permanent mission to the U.N. in Geneva accused Türk of "completely omitting the cruelty and barbarity of terrorism." Türk did say on Tuesday that 23 Israelis had thus far been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel, including eight members of Israeli security forces, but didn't mention Hamas' October 7 attack, in which more than 1,100 Israelis were killed. Türk did call for Hamas to release its Israeli hostages.
Israeli forces have killed more than 37,400 people in Gaza since October 7, according to figures released by Gaza's Health Ministry on Tuesday.
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