Dear Marc Molinaro,
I'm a U.S. Army veteran (101st Airborne) and I am Jewish. I have been to the West Bank in Palestine twice, with other veterans, including IDF veterans. We have seen with our own eyes and experienced with our bodies just some of the horrors that Palestinian children and their families experience under Israeli occupation. I knew people who fought against the Nazis in WWII and also Holocaust survivors who are equally appalled at what the Israeli's are doing – with support from the U.S. government!
AIPAC, the lobby that encourages support for what most of the world sees as a blatant apartheid state must be resisted. Palestinian children must be allowed to live without the fear of Israeli soldiers breaking down their family doors and dragging them off in the middle of the night or of having their homes bulldozed, or being beaten, imprisoned or killed.
I am writing as a constituent and as a member of Jewish Voice for Peace Action to urge you to become a cosponsor of Congresswoman McCollum’s Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act.
This critically important legislation would ensure U.S. taxpayer funds are not used by the Israeli government to detain and torture Palestinian children, steal and destroy Palestinian homes and property, or further annex Palestinian land.
The bill could not come at a more critical moment. At the end of 2022, Israelis elected the most far-right and extremist government in the country’s history. Israel’s systemic violence and apartheid rule has denied Palestinians their human rights for decades, and it has only grown worse under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.
The U.S. sends $3.8 billion in military funding to Israel every single year and it is long past time for Congress to take action to prevent this funding from supporting human rights violations against Palestinians.
I urge you to become a cosponsor of this important legislation.
Thank you.
Tarak Kauff
NYC Veterans For Peace
NYC Veterans For Peace