PROTECT PALESTINIAN CHILDREN
In a historic first, Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN) recently introduced the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act prohibiting the U.S. from funding the detention and prosecution of Palestinian children in Israeli military courts. While most Israel-Palestine issues are politicized in the United States, the protection of children should not be, which is why Emgage Action is calling upon Congress to pass this historic legislation.
The bill comes after a recent report by Israeli rights groups, with the support of the European Union, which revealed “broad, systemic abuse by Israeli authorities,” against Palestinian teenagers detained in occupied East Jerusalem. The bill does not request any adjustment or cuts to the amount of money already officially allocated from the U.S. to Israel, instead it requests that none of the funding go toward any of the following practices against children:
- Torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment.
- Physical violence, including restraint in stress positions.
- Hooding, sensory deprivation, death threats, or other forms of psychological abuse.
- Incommunicado detention or solitary confinement.
- Administrative detention (detention without charge or trial under “secret evidence”
- Denial of access to parents or legal counsel during interrogations.
- Confessions obtained by force or coercion.
Along with McCollum, the bill has the backing of nine other Democrats in congress: Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL). Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International USA, along with 16 other human rights groups, support the bill.
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