US congresswoman introduces bill to restrict aid to Israel

World
By William

The move, backed by 17 Democrats, would ban US aid to Israel that contributes to the detention of Palestinian children.

Washington, D.C. – A United States congressman has made a renewed effort to ensure that aid to Israel does not fuel abuses against Palestinians, especially children, as progressive lawmakers continue to push for conditions to be placed on the aid.

On Friday, Democratic Congresswoman Betty McCollum introduced another bill that would prohibit US aid from contributing to the detention of Palestinian children and military activities that would facilitate “further unilateral annexation” of the occupied West Bank.

“Not $1 of U.S. aid should be used to commit human rights abuses, demolish families’ homes or permanently annex Palestinian land,” McCollum said in a statement.

“The United States provides billions each year in aid to the government of Israel — and those dollars should go to Israel’s security, not actions that violate and harm international law.”

Israel, accused of apartheid by leading human rights organizations including Amnesty International, receives at least $3.8 billion in US aid annually.

The bill, called Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act, has little chance of passing in Congress, where Israel enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support.

But Palestinian rights advocates say such moves spark debate over US policy and highlight the push to question unconditional aid to Israel. They point to polls showing that a growing number of Americans, especially Democrats, sympathize with Palestinians and support restrictions on aid.

McCollum’s bill was co-sponsored by 16 Democrats, including Virginia Representative Don Beyer; Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal; Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib; and prominent progressives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley.

Representative Barbara Lee, who is running for the U.S. Senate in California, and Summer Lee — a first-term congresswoman who earned millions of dollars in campaign spending against her last year from pro-Israel groups — also support the bill.

“Israel’s pursuit of maintaining its control over the occupied West Bank results in other grave violations of international law, including the unlawful demolition of Palestinian homes and the forcible transfer of Palestinian civilians,” the bill said.

It also noted that between 500 and 700 Palestinian children between the ages of 12 and 17 are detained by Israel and prosecuted in military courts each year.

“In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, there are two separate and unequal legal systems, with Israeli military law being imposed on Palestinians and Israeli civilian law being applied to Israeli settlers,” the proposed legislation said.

McCollum first presented a version of the bill in 2017 and has since resubmitted it to every Congress every two years. The measure was never considered by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, currently chaired by Michael McCaul, a staunch pro-Israel Republican.

“The dehumanization of the Palestinian people has been such an effective narrative that 75 percent of Congress wants absolutely no restrictions on US military aid to Israel, effectively supporting the systematic oppression of Palestinian society,” the congresswoman said in a statement. 2021 against Al Jazeera, when they last introduced the bill.

Last month, 14 lawmakers — including Senator Bernie Sanders and many of McCollum’s measure co-sponsors — issued a letter urging Democratic President Joe Biden to investigate whether U.S. guns were being used to commit rights abuses against Palestinians. commit.

The letter called for ensuring that “U.S. taxpayer funds do not support projects in illegal settlements.”

The Biden administration has criticized Israel’s settlement plans, but U.S. officials often stress that Washington’s commitment to Israel is “rock-solid.”

As a candidate in late 2019, Biden — a self-proclaimed Zionist — rejected the setting of conditions on aid to Israel as a “bizarre” idea.

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