PHILADELPHIA (April 25,2022) On April 26, 2022, Rep. Betty McCollum will join Christian faith leaders and organizations for a virtual briefing to discuss the importance of promoting justice, equality and human rights for Palestinian children and families. Rep. McCollum will be talking about H.R.2590, which would prohibit Israeli authorities from using U.S. taxpayer funds to detain and torture Palestinian children, demolish, and seize Palestinian homes, and further annex Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
The event is organized by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Churches for Middle East Peace, and the Faith Forum on Middle East Policy, and will include remarks from Christian leaders. They will also share a letter signed by over 20 Christian denomination and organization leaders in support of the Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act (H.R.2590).
Since the year 2000 an estimated 13,000 Palestinian children between the ages of 12 and 17 have been detained, prosecuted, and incarcerated by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank. H.R.2590 was introduced by Representative McCollum in 2021 to hold Israel accountable for such violation of human rights. “Since last year, 180 organizations around the country, including groups from all faith backgrounds, have voiced support for this important bill on Palestinian rights,” said Jennifer Bing, who serves as director of the Palestine Activism Program at AFSC. “Christian communities across the U.S. are concerned about the deteriorating conditions for Palestinians who continue to live under a brutal Israeli military occupation.”
Register for the virtual briefing to learn more about HR 2590, and ways to support advocacy efforts to ensure that U.S. policy and foreign assistance prioritizes concern for the rights of the most marginalized and conforms with U.S. and international law. Faith leaders and the organizations who have signed the letter are committed to highlighting the conditions on the ground and contribute to the flourishing of all Palestinian and Israeli lives.
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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. Drawing on continuing spiritual insights and working with people of many backgrounds, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life that transform social systems.