FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 30, 2020

CONTACT:
Yonah Lieberman, press@ifnotnowmovement.org 

Today, as first reported in Politico, a dozen members of the House and Senate, led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, released a letter committing to support legislation that would place conditions on the $3.8 billion in military funding if the Israeli government annexes any part of the West Bank. The full and final text of the letter is below.

This Dear Colleague letter comes out as five other letters circulating in the Jewish community — collectively signed by over 3,200 American Jews — demand the Israeli government be held accountable for annexation and for Jewish institutions to take actions beyond issuing statements.

The number of signatures on the Jewish community letters would indicate widespread support from American Jews for Rep. Ocasio Cortez and Jayapal's policy proposal to begin holding the Israeli accountable by conditioning military funding.

Three of the letters were written by alumni of various communities: 1000 alumni of J Street U, the campus arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby; 450 alumni of Habonim Dror, a Jewish summer camp; and 200 alumni of Israel gap-year Fellowships, including Dorot, Bronfman, and NIF. In addition, 400 alumni of various Jewish institutions and fellowships signed an open letter and over 1,2000 signed an IfNotNow petition to Jewish progressive members of Congress.

“Our generation of American Jews are clearly encouraged by the progressive leadership of the Members of Congress on this letter, who are modeling what it means to fight tooth and nail against annexation, and for the dignity and security of both Palestinians and Israelis,” said Emily Mayer, IfNotNow’s political director, “Our Jewish values compel us to do everything in our power to stop annexation and end the occupation, and we are excited to walk hand in hand with these leaders as we move towards that vision. It is time to stop holding America’s number one recipient of military funding — Israel — to a lower standard than we hold all other countries, exempting it from consequences when it violates our most basic values.”

Key excerpts from the various Jewish grassroots letters, showing support for the sorts of legislative policies being put forward by AOC and Jayapal:

 J Street U Alumni (over 1000 signatures):

Israel’s leaders must understand, instead, that proceeding with annexation will come at a cost. Only when Israeli leadership feels that doing so will jeopardize a portion of its $3.8 billion in annual American assistance will it have a real reason to reconsider. 

Habonim Dror, a Jewish summer camp (over 450 signatures) 
We know that making a public statement and/or running peulot or other educational programs will not suffice, as statements and education do not challenge the movement’s own complicity in the ongoing oppression of Palestinians. We believe that HDNA must act now to ensure that we are no longer complicit in supporting the Israeli government and instead are working actively against its plan to go through with formal annexation. 

Israel gap-year Fellowships Dorot, Bronfman, NIF/Shatil (about 200 signatures) 
As major institutions and organizations are doing the work of examining the ways in which we are part of upholding unjust systems of white supremacy and racism in the United States — and how each is accountable to dismantling it — we ask you to commit to the same process of interrogating how our communal institutions are part of upholding racist and exclusionary systems in Israel. How is your organization part of shielding the injustices of Israel’s occupation from accountability, and what steps are you committing to take to dismantle it? 

General Jewish Institutional Alumni (about 400 signatures) 
We urge the leadership of our community to act in every possible way to oppose this disastrous step and to hold Israel accountable for its actions. 

IfNotNow's petition from American Jews to Jewish progressive politicians (over 1200 signatures) 
I am calling on you to help develop and support legislation to ensures that U.S. funding is used to move towards preventing annexation and achieving freedom and dignity for all Palestinians and Israelis — and does not fund any activities of annexation, such as home demolitions or building additional Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories.

Zoe Goldblum, President of the J Street U National Board 2017-2018: “I want to thank the over 1000 J Street U alumni who agree that it is time to put conditioning aid on the table as a response to annexation. We understand that historically, U.S. refusal to use its leverage  — as we would do with other countries — has enabled a right-wing annexationist agenda to succeed in Israeli politics in the first place. We want lawmakers to know that young Jews are behind them if and when they do speak out — and we are hopeful that J Street will say the same.”

Rebecca Hornstien, Rabbinical Student and Organizer of Jewish institutional alumni letter: “The number of signatures by some of the American Jews most deeply engaged in Jewish institutions shows that the future leadership of our community is ready to support real action that will hold the Isreali government accountable. The time for empty rhetoric is over — the time for real action is now.

Ariel Hasak-Lowy, Organizer of Habonim Dror letter, “We will not participate - and therefore be complicit - in the current status quo in Israel/Palestine. Habonim Dror has let too many lines be crossed by the Israeli government without taking adequate action to show our unwillingness to support the unofficial and official annexation of Palestinian land.”

AOC FULL LETTER TEXT: 

June 29, 2020
The Honorable Mike Pompeo 
Secretary of StateU.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 

Dear Secretary Pompeo:

We write to you to express our deep concern over the planned annexation of occupied Palestinian territory by the government of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said annexation could begin as early as July 1, 2020. Should the Israeli government move forward with these plans, they would actively harm prospects for a future in which all Israelis and Palestinians can live with full equality, human rights and dignity, and would lay the groundwork for Israel becoming an apartheid state, as your predecessor John Kerry warned in 2014.[1]

We call on you to take all necessary action available to reverse course on this proposal, which will cause more tension and conflict for decades to come. While the full scope and details of the plan are not yet public, Palestinians have overwhelmingly rejected the idea of annexation, and have understandably refused to participate in a process that is not grounded in a recognition of their national rights under international law.

Leading human rights experts warn that annexing parts of the West Bank will perpetuate and entrench human rights violations against the Palestinian people, including limitations on freedom of movement, mass expropriation of privately-owned Palestinian land, further expansion of illegal settlements, continued demolitions of Palestinian homes, and a loss of Palestinian control over their natural resources.[2]

Furthermore, Israel has stated it will not grant citizenship to Palestinians living in annexed territory or to the many more Palestinians living in the isolated enclaves that Israel will opt not to annex, formalizing in law the separate and unequal treatment of the two populations and paving the path toward an apartheid system. Indeed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967 has stated that it would “crystalize a 21st century apartheid, leaving in its wake the demise of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”[3]

Of further concern, Israeli annexation of the West Bank is a clear violation of international law. Annexation is prohibited by Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and is a prohibited act of aggression under Article 47 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, of which Israel is a party.[4] Forty-seven of the independent Special Procedures mandates appointed by the Human Rights Council at the United Nations reaffirm this.[5]

Further, already existing Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, amount to a war crime under Article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court because Israel, as the Occupying Power, is prohibited from transferring, either directly or indirectly, parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Annexation is specifically prohibited because it incites armed conflict, political and economic instability, systematic human rights abuses, and, most importantly, legitimizes the erasure of identity. There is no question that the acre by acre de facto annexation since 1967 for the purpose of new Israeli settlements is a blatant attempt to suppress Palestinian identity and nationhood.

Unilateral annexation in the West Bank is in direct opposition to the principles of democracy and human rights that the United States of America is supposed to stand for. At a time when the American people are taking to the streets to demand justice for all in our own country, there is no question but that such an action would alienate many U.S. lawmakers and citizens. Members of Congress should not be expected to support an undemocratic system in which Israel would permanently rule over a Palestinian people denied self-determination or equal rights. 

Should the Israeli government continue down this path, we will work to ensure non-recognition of annexed territories as well as pursue legislation that conditions the $3.8 billion in U.S. military funding to Israel to ensure that U.S. taxpayers are not supporting annexation in any way. We will include human rights conditions and the withholding of funds for the offshore procurement of Israeli weapons equal to or exceeding the amount the Israeli government spends annually to fund settlements, as well as the policies and practices that sustain and enable them.

The United States must remain committed to a future in which all Israelis and Palestinians live with full rights, dignity, and democracy. This means that we do not support policies that would prevent that future, as annexation would. We therefore urge you to make clear to the Israeli government that such a move is unacceptable.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.    

###IfNotNow is a 501(c)3 nonprofit to cultivate, support, and train a volunteer-led movement to shift the American Jewish community to end our community’s support for the occupation and stand for freedom and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians. Find out more at www.ifnotnowmovement.org.