1. United States
2. La.
3. Letter

The Rafah Superbowl massacres have not ended. Yesterday, journalist Ismail Abu Omar and the rest of his crew were gravely injured in a targeted Israeli drone strike just north of Rafah. Ismail had to undergo an amputation of his leg - without anesthesia or pain medicine. His colleague, Ahmed Matar, is in critical condition from the injuries he sustained. As of February 13, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 85 journalists and media workers have been murdered, with 320 journalists illegally detained. These are among the highest numbers recorded since CPJ's census began in 1992. Israel is one of the world's leading jailers of journalist - tied with Iran. From the West Bank, since 10/7, over 7,000 Palestinians have been illegally detained in military prison. Most have had no charges or trial. There are now approximately 9,000 Palestinians in these horrifying conditions as of December, and this does not even include those who have been abducted from Gaza. There are 440 children confirmed in these numbers, who are facing starvation, torture, sexual assault, and other heinous acts by Israeli jailers as outlined in the 2023 Save The Children report "Injustice". The ongoing horrors are too long to even list them all for you. Right now as you read this, the Nasser Hospital seige has gotten worse. Israel has been directly attacking the hospital and has already caused signiciant damage to the building where sewage water is flooding the ER. People are murdered when they try and leave the area to "evacuate". People are murdered trying to bring injured people to the hospital. People are murdered by snipers for simply existing inside of the hospital. The generators have at most 72 hours remaining as of 2/14. Palestinian-Canadian journalist and independent humanitarian aid worker, Mansour Shouman, is currently trapped inside. No one has heard from him in days. We all fear the worst. I demand that you:  - Call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and all other areas of occupied-Palestine - Call for the immediate end of Israel's occupation and apartheid brutally imposed on Palestine, and support Palestinians in their fight for freedom and peace - Hold Israel accountable for their war crimes and violations of the Genocide Convention and other international laws - Secure the immediate release and safety of all Palestinians who have been abducted and held captive by Israel, including those whose indefinite detention began prior to 10/7 - Immediately resume funding of UNRWA and commit additional resources to all humanitarian groups providing aid to Palestinians not only because it is the right thing to do, but to end U.S. complicity in genocide - Permanently end all monetary, diplomatic, and military aid given to Israel by correcting our budget and enforcing our own laws like Leahy Law - Repeal all federal anti-BDS laws and pass legislation that voids all state-level anti-BDS laws