Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week we are signing a letter to our members of Congress with copies going to President Joe Biden urging them to forcefully express to the Israeli government the objections of the United States to that government’s disregard of the human rights of Palestinian children and to their continuing to allow the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The Israeli military has prosecuted between 500 and 700 children each year in military courts that lack fundamental fair trial rights and protections. Organizations such as UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, and B’Tselem, have found that ill-treatment of Palestinian children by Israeli forces is widespread, systematic, and institutionalized from the moment a child is detained in the Israeli military detention system. The United States Department of State and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child have also raised serious concerns about the mistreatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military custody.

We are urging support for H.R. 2590 and any similar Senate legislation, which would prohibit U.S. military aid from being used by foreign armed forces to support the military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment of children in violation of international humanitarian law. It would be a first step in protecting the rights of all children, including Palestinians.

The ongoing Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian land that represents the Israeli right’s efforts to entrench permanent, undemocratic control over the West Bank through a cycle of demolitions and construction. The United States cannot in any way tolerate or empower this destructive and unlawful behavior. It undermines hopes for peace and the values of justice, equality and democracy on which the US-Israel relationship is founded.

We call on Congress and the Administration to show leadership — and to support both Palestinian rights and Israel’s democracy — by explicitly calling these settlements out for what they are: a direct violation of international law.

Options to Sign:

1. Sign a letter at the Action Table Sunday morning.
2. Download a PDF copy of the letter to sign and mail.

Letter used at the Action Table.       Letter used for those outside of California.

3. Click on these links to sign petitions on line regarding Human Rights for Palestinian Children and Illegal Israeli Settlements in the West Bank.

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 .