Read the full letter here:
July 23, 2024
Dear Members of Congress,
We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our strong opposition to House Speaker Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Schumer's invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress and ask you to do the same. More than 200 of your staffers—across the party line—signed a letter in protest of Netanyahu's address, over this "issue of morality," as the congressional staff describe it.
Giving Prime Minister Netanyahu our government's most dignified platform would be a tacit endorsement of Israel's grave crimes in Gaza, which the International Court of Justice concluded plausibly constitute genocide, and most recently the Court's calling for an end to the "unlawful" settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Furthermore, the invitation undermines international law, subverting a pending application for an arrest warrant against Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. It erodes the credibility and standing of the United States as a nation committed to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, and our national security interests in preserving global respect for a rules-based international order, including the ability to hold accountable other war criminals. Countries around the world will continue to take note of U.S. defiance of international court orders and its protection of war criminals, emboldening them to follow suit and defy efforts to prosecute other war criminals, like Vladimir Putin.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has pursued a vicious and unlawful military campaign in Gaza that has deliberately and indiscriminately targeted civilians and destroyed the vast majority of civilian infrastructure in the territory. The official death toll of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza is currently 38,794, at least 60 percent of whom are reported to be women, children, and the elderly. Humanitarian experts believe the actual death toll exceeds 50,000 people if we include those likely buried under the rubble and others who have and will succumb to injury and starvation. Israel has deliberately destroyed hospitals, schools, universities, factories, and farms throughout the territory and tightened its already illegal siege, blockading and hindering the delivery of food, water, medicine, fuel, and electricity—items essential for survival. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an international consortium of states and humanitarian agencies, has concluded that 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine and starvation. In light of this catastrophic assault on Gaza, the International Court of Justice is currently hearing charges against Israel for genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and has ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah and to end its interference with aid delivery.
The Speaker and Majority Leader's invitation comes on the heels of the House of Representatives passage of H.R. 8282 to sanction anyone participating in or supporting the International Criminal Court investigation into Israeli officials. Not only is this bill a shocking effort to attack and intimidate an international court and the global civil society groups cooperating with it, but it also exposes U.S. lawmakers to sanction and arrest themselves for obstruction of justice, in violation of Article 70 of the Rome Statute. It is also deeply disturbing that our Congressional leaders have extended this invitation to Prime Minister Netanyahu despite new revelations of an illegal Israeli government campaign to target over 120 U.S. legislators and millions of U.S. voters with misinformation and propaganda that includes hundreds of fake Facebook and Instagram accounts posing as American citizens.
We urge members of Congress to take the following actions:
- Urge Senator Schumer and Speaker Johnson to revoke this invitation.
- If the speech takes place, vocally communicate your disapproval through boycott or protest.
- Publicly reaffirm U.S. compliance with international court orders and decisions.
- In light of Israel's ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity, enforce an arms embargo on Israel.
Sincerely,
- DAWN
- American Friends Service Committee
- Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action)
- American Muslims for Palestine
- American University Alumni Association
- Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR Action)
- Center for Jewish Nonviolence
- Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID)
- CODEPINK: Women For Peace
- Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine Network
- Friends of Wadi Foquin
- Institute for Policy Studies – New Internationalism Project
- Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
- Libyan American Alliance
- Muslim American Society
- Muslim Public Affairs Council
- National Interest Foundation
- Palestine Action of South Sound
- Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
- Yemen Relief Reconstruction Foundation
