Pressure the U.S. State Department to take action! |
Dear friend,
At the start of January, Israel’s minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir declared the Palestinian flag a symbol of “terrorism” and gave police orders to remove them from public spaces. Weeks later, the Israeli occupation forces carried out a raid on Jenin refugee camp, murdering 10 Palestinians.
Last year was the deadliest year for Palestinians since the second intifada, with 35 Palestinians already killed this month. Despite this, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken decided to hold a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday where he reaffirmed the U.S.’s “ironclad” ties to Israel. The State Dept. even boasted how they “help” Palestinians!
Tell the State Department: Relations with Israel don't help Palestinians!
Not only did Blinken visit Netanyahu, the same day, the State Department released a “U.S. Relations with Israel” factsheet which expressed staunch support for Israel and outlined a few methods by which the U.S. will support the apartheid state. It stated that the U.S. will continue to fund $3.8 billion to Israel’s military every year—the same military that routinely murders and exiles Palestinians. The U.S. is shamelessly funding the occupation of Palestine.
The combination of ever-increasing Israeli aggression, U.S. support for Israel, and continued normalization efforts does not bode well for Palestinians. The U.S. must put pressure on Israel to stop the occupation, not reinforce its relationship with the occupier. Add your name to this petition to tell the State Department that their relationship with Israel is normalizing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians!
I didn’t think I would be writing to you with such dire news during my first week as CODEPINK’s new Palestine organizer. My name is Nour and I’m getting ready to launch a brand new campaign for Palestine soon, so stay tuned. In the meantime, you can support Palestine further by learning more about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement and commit yourself to boycotting Israeli goods!
Towards a free Palestine,
Nour and the entire CODEPINK team