Rep. McCollum reintroduces bill to restrict Israel’s use of US funds

Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum on Friday introduced legislation that if passed would prohibit Israel’s government from using any American funds to oppress civilians in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

The legislation comes in the wake of five months of violence by Israel’s military and Israeli settlers, which has taken more than 100 civilian lives. About a dozen Israelis, including soldiers and settlers, have been killed.

McCollum said that the legislation “prohibits Israel’s government from using US taxpayer dollars in the occupied West Bank for the military detention, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention; the seizure and destruction of Palestinian property and homes in violation of international humanitarian law.”

The law would also prohibit US funding from being used to “assist or support” the unilateral annexation of Palestinian lands in violation of international humanitarian law.

“Not $1 of US aid should be used to commit human rights violations, demolish families’ homes, or permanently annex Palestinian lands,” Congresswoman McCollum said

“The United States provides billions in assistance for Israel’s government each year — and those dollars should go toward Israel’s security, not toward actions that violate international law and cause harm. Peace can only be achieved when everyone’s human rights are respected, and Congress has a responsibility to not ignore the well-documented mistreatment of Palestinian children and families living under Israeli military occupation.”

McCollum cited support from 16 Congressional colleagues and 75 Arab, Jewish and Christian organizations.

“Support is growing rapidly for the Palestinian people, who deserve justice, equality, human rights, and the right to self-determination,” McCollum said.

“Prominent civil society groups, as well as Christian, Jewish, and Muslim organizations, have signed on in support of this bill — because we all agree that no Palestinian child and no Jewish child should go to bed at night fearing ongoing violence. There is a path to a peaceful future, and it requires leading with our US values of democracy and equal justice for all.”

The violence by Israelis against Palestinians began immediately after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu organized a new ruling coalition that partnered with some of the most extreme rightwing political parties.

During the first four months of 2023, the Israeli center for human rights, B’Tselem, has documented a series of assaults that resulted in excessive Palestinian deaths.

This one B’Tselem report clarifies how Israeli settlers provoke Palestinians, with the backing of Israeli soldiers, and then justify violence resulting in the killing of Palestinian civilians.

“On Saturday, 11 February 2023, at around 4:00 P.M., about 30 settlers, some of them armed with handguns and rifles, came to the outskirts of the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan. About 10 of them entered a house still under construction and went up to the second floor, where two brothers were working. The settlers pounced on one of the brothers, punching him. The other got away and alerted local residents. Within a few minutes, his brother also managed to escape the settlers,” B’Tselem stated in a report issued on April 20.

“A few minutes later, dozens of young men from the village arrived and threw stones at the settlers to drive them away. The settlers fired in the air and at the young men. One of the settlers fired at a group of young men who were throwing stones, from a distance of about 30 meters away. The bullet hit 27-year-old Mithqal Rayan in the face, killing him.”

The significance of the legislation’s co-sponsors is that it includes many mainstream members of Congress including: Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (NJ-10), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ-03), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), Rep. Cori Bush (MO-01), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-12), Rep. Summer Lee (PA-12), Rep. Dwight Evans (PA-03).

The bill is also co-sponsored by the only Palestinian in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), who is Muslim, and McCollum’s Minnesota colleague, Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), who is Somali Muslim.

Among the 75 organizations supporting the legislation are many mainstream, Christian and Jewish groups, including: Amnesty International USA; American Friends Service Committee; Human Rights Watch; the pro-peace Jewish American lobby J Street; the Jewish group Americans for Peace Now; the Norwegian Refugee Council; the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association; the feminist rights movement CODEPINK; the United Methodist (Christian) Church; Churches for Middle East Peace; the Presbyterian Church (US); and the Episcopal Church.