3rd Thursday Action Alert: Urge Members of Congress to attend a briefing on Life for Palestinian children under Israeli military occupation
Be a voice of hope for children! Contact your senators and representative today and urge them to attend this important briefing to learn more about the struggles of Palestinian children. Ask them to work for an end to 50 years of military occupation and to support a just and lasting peace for all Palestinians and Israelis.
50 Years of Israeli Military Occupation & Life for Palestinian Children
Thursday, June 8, 2017, 9:30 AM
Cannon House Office Building, Room 122
Confirmed speakers include:
Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director, Human Rights Watch
Brad Parker, Staff Attorney and International Advocacy Officer, Defense for Children International – Palestine
Nadia Ben-Youssef, Director, Adalah Justice Project
Yazan Meqbil, Leonard Education Scholar and student at Goshen College
The briefing marks 50 years since Israeli forces occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Children under 18 years old currently represent 46 percent of the 4.68 million Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This current generation has grown up in the shadow of failed negotiations and with futures stifled by systemic discrimination, persistent settlement expansion, blockade, and repeated military offensives.
Panelists will examine how persistent human rights violations, systematic impunity, discrimination, and a hyper-militarized environment affect the lives of the Palestinian children growing up under a military occupation with no end in sight.
The briefing is sponsored by Defense for Children International – Palestine and American Friends Service Committee as part of their No Way to Treat a Child campaign.
Please feel free to use this sample letter:
Dear Senator/Representative,
I am writing to urge you at attend an important briefing on life for Palestinian children under Israeli military occupation, taking place on June 8 at 9:30 AM in the Cannon House Office Building, Room 122. The briefing is sponsored by Defence for Children International—Palestine and American Friends Service Committee as part of their No Way to Treat a Child campaign.
The briefing marks 50 years since Israeli forces occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Panelists will examine how persistent human rights violations, systematic impunity, discrimination, and a hyper-militarized environment affect the lives of the Palestinian children growing up under a military occupation with no end in sight.
As a person of faith, I believe in the importance of speaking up for the needs of the most vulnerable, including children. I hope you will attend this briefing to learn more about the struggles of Palestinian children. More broadly, I urge you to work for an end to 50 years of military occupation and to support a just and lasting peace for all Palestinians and Israelis.
Thank you,