Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. All Saints and the Episcopal Church have long advocated and worked for a peaceful and equitable resolution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. This week we are urging Congress to pass legislation, H.R.3103, that will help protect the human rights of Palestinian children.

In 2018, General Convention passed a resolution: Call for Guaranteed Basic Rights and Protection of Palestinian Children. The resolution appealed to the U.S. government to certify annually that no funds obligated or expended by the United States for aid to Israel have been utilized to support the military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in violation of international humanitarian law.

The Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) has written, “We recognize the connections many Episcopalians have to Palestinians, in particular to Shadi Khoury, a 16-year-old Palestinian and a student at the Ramallah Friends School, and his grandmother Samia Khoury, the co-founder of Sabeel. In October of 2022, Shadi was kidnapped from his home in East Jerusalem, arrested, and detained by Israeli forces. After 41 days, he was released and put under house arrest. We know that this case is one among many that partners such as Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) regularly document. The Episcopal Church is a founding member of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), which is one of our partners who have been engaged in this. A CMEP statement on Shadi’s arrest and detention can be found here.’

‘The arrest and detention of Palestinian children is all too common. DCIP records say that between January and September 2020, Israeli authorities imprisoned an average of 167 Palestinian children per month. DCIP also found that these arrests are often made using excessive force and prevented the children from seeking legal counsel. General Convention passed a resolution in 2018 condemning this practice, and we have endorsed legislation that would aim to ensure no U.S. funds go to supporting the detention of children.”

Legislation introduced by Representative Betty McCollum – H.R. 3103 or Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act – would ensure that no U.S. taxpayer funds “support the military detention of Palestinian children, the unlawful seizure, appropriation, and destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians in the West Bank, or further annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law.”

Please sign a letter asking your members of Congress to support The Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act (H.R. 3103) which would prevent any U.S. funds from supporting the detention of children.

Options to Take Action:

1. Sign a letter at the Action Table on Sunday.
2. Download, sign and mail an action letter to your Members of Congress.
   Letter for California Residents                Letter for Residents of other states
3. Go to the Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) website and participate in the action there.

Episcopal Church resolutions:

2018-C038: Call for Guaranteed Basic Rights and Protection of Palestinian Children

2018-D018: Negotiating the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

1994-C024: Call for Ratification of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

1991-A149: Urge a Full Accounting of the Use of Foreign Aid in the Middle East

++++++++++

If you ever need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators check here: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

To find contact information for your California State Senator or California State Assemblymember check here: www.senate.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov.