WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – A United States congresswoman has renewed a push to ensure that aid to the Zionist regime does not contribute to abuses of Palestinians, particularly children, as progressive legislators continue to call for conditions to be placed on the assistance.
Democratic Congresswoman Betty McCollum has reintroduced a bill that would prohibit U.S. aid from contributing to the detention of Palestinian children and to military activities that would facilitate “further unilateral annexation” of the occupied West Bank.
“Not $1 of U.S. aid should be used to commit human rights violations, demolish families’ homes, or permanently annex Palestinian lands,” McCollum said in a statement.
“The United States provides billions in assistance for Israel each year — and those dollars should not go toward actions that violate international law and cause harm.”
The occupying regime, accused of apartheid by leading human rights groups including Amnesty International, receives at least $3.8bn in U.S. aid annually.
The bill, dubbed Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act, has little chance of passing in Zionist-dominated Congress, where the occupying regime enjoys bipartisan support.
But Palestinian rights advocates say such measures lead to debate about U.S. policy and highlight the push to question unconditional aid to the occupying regime. They point to public opinion polls showing that a growing number of Americans, especially Democrats, sympathize with Palestinians and support placing restrictions on the assistance.
McCollum’s bill was co-sponsored by 16 Democrats, including Virginia Representative Don Beyer; Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal; Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib; and prominent progressives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley.
Representative Barbara Lee, who is running for the U.S. Senate in California, and Summer Lee — a first-term congresswoman who overcame millions of dollars in campaign spending against her by pro-Zionist groups last year — are also backing the bill.
“Israel’s drive to perpetuate its control over the occupied West Bank results in other serious violations of international law, including the unlawful demolition of Palestinian homes and the forcible transfer of Palestinian civilians,” the bill said.
It also noted that between 500 and 700 Palestinian children, aged 12 to 17, are detained by the occupying regime every year and prosecuted before military courts.