1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

You have a duty and an obligation to hold the Department of Defense and Department of State accountable with regard to their compliance with the Leahy Laws (Section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, 22 U.S.C. 2378d). You must urge these departments to withhold military aid to Israel. If the Department of State does not already have credible evidence to support withholding aid to Israel, I urge you to pressure the Department of State to launch an independent investigation into the conduct of the Israeli military. The US Department of State must investigate Israeli military units for human rights violations against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza. The US Department of State must investigate the Israeli government for blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza. I will never forget the images I have seen. Please help stop this. Unconditional support for Israel is unacceptable. You personally voted YES to continue sending billions of dollars in military assistance to Israel. You have a personal responsibility to ensure that aid is not used to violate international humanitarian laws. I implore you to consider that humans learn nothing useful from punishment, organized abandonment, and revenge. Our response should not have been to arm our Israeli siblings. Our response should have been to hold them and soothe them, while we asked our Palestinian siblings why they were so angry and desperate that they did this horrible thing and ask what they need to feel safe enough to lay down their weapons. This is why I am begging you not to allow our government to continue arming our Israeli siblings. Helping them to continue to murder Palestinians will not keep them safe; it will only lead to more harm and violence. Diplomatic solutions must prevail. I urge you to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. I urge you to support an end of apartheid in the Holy Land. I urge you to support a proposal like A Land For All, which describes a confederation of two states that share land and resources so that all who live in the Holy Land can thrive in partnership. Please find the courage to use your power and influence to end this violence. And to the staffer who is reading this message, you can help end this. Please find the courage to speak up. Thank you for your time.