DEFENSE FOR CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL - PALESTINE V. BIDEN

The evidence of the gross human rights violations Israel is committing against Palestinians, and the aiding and abetting of this genocide by my government only grows every single day. After reading through the plaintiffs’ statements from the Defense for Children International-Palestine v. Biden ongoing court case, my heart only breaks further. I’ve been right every time I’ve told you that Leahy law is being violated. Josh Paul, a high-level, former DoS official who has a multitude of experience in the DoS as an overseer of international arms transfers and human rights abuse allegations, has made it clear that our government is failing to follow the due diligence required by our own laws, and has actively insulated Israel from accountability. Paul resigned on 10/20 because he has every reason to believe that the U.S. arms transfers to Israel would be used to commit gross human rights abuses, lead to significant civilian casualties, and the policies in place to prevent these circumstances from occurring were not being followed. In addition to Leahy law, my government is also violating the Foreign Assitance Act, Arms Export Control Act, and the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy. Most notably, Paul describes how the Israeli government terrorized and stole evidence from an NGO reporting the heinous sexual assault of a Palestinian child by Israeli police. When the U.S. requested information from Israel on these allegations, proof of the believed credibility, the very next day Israel raided the NGO and stole their electronic devices. While horrifying, this is not new behavior. CIRIGHTS recent scoring of Israel’s compliance with human rights shows the worst possible score for allowing human rights groups to operate due to violence, shutdown of operations, and laws that block NGO access. The statements from plaintiffs’ has been difficult to read. You should read them yourself, but here are some notable excerpts: “members and staff of Al-Haq in Gaza have been subjected to increased indiscriminate bombing and displacement…It is the first time in the 44-year history of Al-Haq, that we have been unable to conduct field investigations due to the intensity and scale of the hostilities [of Israel]”. "We are seeing enormous amounts of children with severe dehydration, febrile convulsions.... There are no oral rehydration salts in the Gaza strip” "[my family is] just barely surviving: the most people can hope for is clean water and some food. Medications have become a luxury”. "in the U.S. I am experiencing an immense and unfathomable fear and uncertainty for my loved ones...I feel like I am experiencing an emotional genocide...I don't sleep at night...we as a people are being subjected to a form of psychological torture." "my taxpayer dollars are paying for the bombs being dropped on my family...my children keep asking me questions. How am I supposed to explain a genocide against their people to them?" I demand you call for a ceasefire right now.