Rep. Betty McCollum introduces non-recognition of Israeli annexation bill
Yesterday, the United States, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates announced a new agreement to begin the full normalization relations between Israel and the UAE. The deal, which marks a decisive shift for the region is the culmination of a longer-term process during which Israel and the Arab Gulf States have built ties based on mutual economic, political, and security interests. This deal has nothing to do with Palestinian freedom or a push for ending Israeli oppression of the Palestinians. This is nothing more than a ploy by Trump and Netanyahu to distract attention from Israel’s ongoing theft of Palestinian land and its apartheid regime.
Just now, seeing through the bluster and charade of this latest Trump-Netanyahu scheme, progressive members of Congress released the ‘‘Israeli Annexation Non-Recognition Act." Introduced by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Rep. André Carson (D-IN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the act would prohibit United States government recognition of Israeli claims of sovereignty over any part of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and prohibit U.S. military funding to Israel to be used to further annexation of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
We thank these Members of Congress for their leadership. Refusing to accept and recognize Israel's illegal theft of Palestinian land is an important first step towards peace and justice.
We have so far to go. We know that a just resolution must be grounded in addressing the root causes of oppression and injustice. A singular focus on military occupation reinforces the imposed colonial fragmentation of the Palestinian people and fails to seek solutions that are holistic and lasting. Historic justice requires dismantling all the systems that Israel uses to control the lives of Palestinians, not only in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but across geographies in Gaza, Haifa, the refugee camps across the Arab world, and in the United States.
If we seek a lasting solution for all, we must try the most obvious approach—address the root cause and center Palestinians and their demands for freedom.
It's pretty basic really. We won't accept any deal that doesn't center our rights and freedoms. Thank you for your commitment to being in radical solidarity with the Palestinian people.
With appreciation,
Sandra Tamari, Executive Director
P.S. Please join us on Wednesday 8/19 to hear from Palestinian organizers and advocates about what it means for Palestinians to claim their right to narrate, tell their own stories, and demand an end to US complicity in their oppression. I invite you to register at bit.ly/right2narrate
