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May 11 marked the one-year anniversary of the murder of Palestinian America journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was killed by an Israeli soldier while wearing a clearly marked vest while on assignment to cover a military raid in Jenin refugee camp in the illegally occupied West Bank. To date, the U.S. has not held Israel accountable.
Our government is morally bound to hold Israel accountable for this and any other extrajudicial killings in Palestine because of the nearly four billion dollars of military aid our taxes provide to Israel and our unwavering disapproval of any action by the U.N. to hold Israel accountable under international law. It’s our responsibility as U.S. citizens, to hold our government to the highest moral standards. Israel must be held accountable for its human rights violations, and the US must stop paying for human rights abuses!
Israeli defense forces have killed at least 23 journalists in Palestine since 2002, according to UNESCO data, and hundreds have been injured by or targeted with violence. (1)
Representative André Carson reintroduced the Justice for Shireen bill, H.R.3477 - To require a report on the death of Shireen Abu Akleh on May 18, 2023. (2) In his statement in the Congressional Record, Representative Carson noted that he previously led a letter signed by 58 members of congress to the FBI and State Department calling for an independent and open investigation and stated that 24 Senators have echoed this request.
His current bill requires an identification of any United States defense materials implicated in the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh. (3) Carson stated, “American taxpayers should not be paying for any violation of human rights abroad.”
What we can do:
You can send a message to your MOCs and President Biden here.
Call or email Representative Joyce Beatty and ask that she co-sponsor H.R. 3477.
614-220-0003
202-225-4324
https://beatty.house.gov/contact.
- Unesco. Statistics on Killed Journalists | UNESCO.
- H.R. 3477. Full Text of the Bill.
- Reintroduction of H.R. 3477. State by Representative André Carson in the Congressional Record.
