J Street welcomes a new letter in the House of Representatives, signed by 80 Members of Congress, which calls on the Biden Administration to show strong, principled leadership to support peace, human rights and democratic freedoms for Israelis and Palestinians.
J Street supporters across the country were proud to advocate in support of the letter, led by Reps. David Price, Barbara Lee, Jennifer Wexton and Joaquin Castro. It warns that the Israeli-Palestinian situation appears to be deteriorating and, in the absence of strong American leadership, is in danger of growing worse. “Dangerous flashpoints related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have a way of rapidly increasing tension and violence in the region without active U.S. leadership.”
The full text of the letter and its signers can be found here.
The letter points to a number of ongoing harmful actions that the Biden Administration should take “concrete steps” to deter, including ongoing settler violence and settlement expansion, the Israeli government’s displacement and demolition of Palestinian communities, and the Palestinian Authority’s ongoing prisoner payments program. The Representatives note that “the increased rate of settlement growth has been accompanied by an alarming spike in settler violence committed against Palestinians, encroachment on Palestinian grazing and farming lands, and continued investment in settlement infrastructure—all of which exacerbate an untenable political situation and undermine both the Palestinians’ aspirations for national self-determination and Israel’s own security and democratic interests.”
“This urgent message from Congress stresses that the Biden administration must demonstrate real leadership to promote peace and prevent the further deterioration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said J Street’s Director of Government Affairs, Hannah Morris. “As the President prepares to travel to the region in June, lawmakers are strongly encouraging him to push back on harmful, unacceptable actions that trample on human rights, exacerbate violence and imperil the future of both peoples.”
The new letter comes a week after a bicameral letter signed by 20 Senators and 63 Representatives called on the Biden Administration to immediately engage with the Israeli government to prevent the forced displacement of approximately 1,000 Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank area of Masafer Yatta.
Contact: Logan Bayroff, [email protected]