The National Women’s Caucus of the Green Party calls on Congress to pass HR 4391, “Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act.”
The bill, submitted by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party-Minn.), would prevent the use of US tax dollars for the Israeli military’s ongoing detention and mistreatment of Palestinian children.
Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi may spend 10 years in jail for slapping an Israeli officer. Here's the whole story as told by her cousin, the world's youngest journalist, Janna Jihad. pic.twitter.com/QuttER2ux0
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 4, 2018
Recent news of Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian teenager who was interrogated and charged with assault by Israeli military forces for slapping an Israeli soldier in December and threatened with rape by an Israeli journalist, highlights the need to recognize that massive detentions and violent interrogations of minors are horrific violations of human rights and international law and need to end.
“I met Ahed’s family when I was in Palestine in October. This family has been put through hell, their home has been raided over 200 times in the past six years,” said Diane Moxley, a member of the National Women’s Caucus.
#FightForAhed by organizing for the freedom of all Palestinian political prisoners. She's rightfully close to our hearts, and is also one of over 6,000, including dozens of women and more than 300 other children. https://t.co/mATzyecAeV
— Joe Catron (@jncatron) January 3, 2018
“The recent incident with Ahed occurred shortly after her 14-year-old cousin was shot in the face with a rubber bullet and required surgery as the bullet lodged in his skull, and another raid of their home, which included tear gas canisters being thrown at windows. We heard stories of many injuries to protesters, at least two deaths, detentions and violent interrogations of minors, adults are held administratively sometimes for years with no hearings,” said Ms. Moxley.
“When we hear stories about what is happening in Palestine, sometimes the children are forgotten in these stories,” said Joy Davis, co-chair of the National Women’s Caucus. “Numerous Palestinian children are being detained, tortured, and have been killed.”
ICYMI: Canada's Green Party adopts Israel BDS into its platform #Canada #Palestine #BDS https://t.co/S3Rjk4T4ni
— Yasmin (@Yasthetwit) June 2, 2017
“Palestinian children have witnessed horrendous atrocities that have happened to their friends and family members. Their sense of normalcy has disappeared and this is their new normal. A life that includes the Israeli military invading their homes, separating them from their families, shooting at them, attacking them with grenades, and water cannons. At a time when children should be playing with their friends, Ahed Tamimi had just witnessed her cousin being shot by Israeli soldiers,” said Ms. Davis.
“The Green Party stands unequivocally opposed to torture and rape and threatening women and girls with violence,” said caucus member LuAnne Kozma. “Given the current publicity about sexual predation being raised by the #MeToo campaign, it is an outrage that any remotely professional journalist could write, referring to the detention of women and girls: ‘In the case of the girls, we should exact a price at some other opportunity, in the dark, without witnesses and cameras.'”
Ajamu Baraka on What A Green Party Foreign Policy Would Look Like – Israel, Palestine, Syria & Saudi Arabia https://t.co/p2nk2xgfYH
— صمود Ziomythologist (@Aer_O_Head) October 3, 2016
The Green Party of the United States has endorsed BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) and cutoff of US military aid until Israel complies with UN directives including the right of return for refugees, ending the occupation of Palestinian territories, and guaranteeing full human rights and equality for Palestinians within the occupied territories and for all Palestinian-Israeli citizens who comprise more than 20 percent of the Israeli population.
The party has also condemned the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.
The Green Party, for which nonviolence is a founding principle, opposes all violence directed at unarmed civilians, regardless of which side commits such violence in any conflict, and endorses a cutoff of US aid for countries that violate human rights. The party condemns all acts motivated by antisemitism and Islamophobia.
(PC, Social Media)
