Take action: Congress needs to do more than just condemn Israeli settlements

Last Thursday, 107 House Democrats condemned the State Department’s recent change of position concerning Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the representatives expressed “strong disagreement” with the State Department’s abandonment of a 1978 legal opinion that Israeli settlements are “inconsistent with international law.”

“The State Department’s unilateral reversal on the status of settlements, without any clear legal justification, therefore has offered a tacit endorsement of settlements, their expansion, and associated demolitions of Palestinian homes,” the letter continued.

AMP is encouraged that such a large number of members of Congress signed this letter and thanks them for their stand. However, the letter doesn’t go far enough to stop Israel’s colonization of the West Bank.

TAKE ACTION. Click here to find out if your representative signed the letter and then write your representative urging Congress to do more than just condemn Israel’s ongoing, illegal colonization of Palestinian land. 

Let your representative know that there are more concrete steps that they can take to stop Israel’s encroachment on Palestinian land. AMP has developed a plan of action with three asks that we have been presenting to members of Congress on Capitol Hill. 

A public opinion poll last year by Brookings found 40 percent of people in the United States, and 56 percent of Democrats, support sanctions or more serious measures against Israel to stop its ongoing, illegal colonization of Palestinian land. 

It’s not enough for Congress to condemn Israeli settlements, as this poll shows. It’s time for Congress to take meaningful steps to actually oppose and end Israeli colonization.

Thank you for taking action.

Sincerely,

Jamal Najjab 
Director of Government Relations