2. return is the future:
Justice Requires our right of return
Palestinians demand the fulfillment of the right of all Palestinians to return to their homeland. Like all people, Palestinians should have the freedom to stay, the freedom to move, and the freedom to return to their homes. Palestinians demand the right to travel freely to Palestine with no interrogations, deportations, racial or religious profiling, or militarized borders. Return is the first step towards realizing historic justice and ending Israeli apartheid.
Congressional Framing and Vehicles
6 - Publicly support the right of refugees to return to their homes.
(+) Follow the example of Representative Marie Newman, D-IL 3 and other Members of Congress.
“I believe that Palestinian refugees and Palestinians living in the diaspora whose homes in Israel and the Palestinian territories were lost as a result of the conflict have the right to reside in Israel or Palestine and that the resolution of the conflict should include a fair and just resolution of the rights and aspirations of Palestinian refugees and Palestinians in the diaspora in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions."
7 - Ensure that American equipment and weapons are not being used by Israel to further displace Palestinians and annex Palestinian land.
(+) Co-sponsor H.R. 2590; use provisions under the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and oversight provisions in the Foreign Assistance Act to push for transparency and accountability.
- From H.R. 2590:
- SEC 6. OVERSIGHT AND ADDITIONAL REPORTING.
The Secretary of State shall include, in each report required under section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n)
- (1) a description of the nature and extent of detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children by Israeli military forces or police in violation of international humanitarian law;
- (2) a description of the nature and extent of the seizure, appropriation, or destruction of Palestinian property in the Israeli-controlled and occupied West Bank by Israeli authorities in violation of international humanitarian law; and
- (3) a description of the nature and extent of Israeli settlement activities, including an assessment of the compliance of the Government of Israel with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016).
- SEC 6. OVERSIGHT AND ADDITIONAL REPORTING.
The Secretary of State shall include, in each report required under section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n)
- SEC. 7. GAO REPORT ON ISRAEL’S EXPENDITURES FOR OFFSHORE PROCUREMENT.
- Not later than September 30, 2021, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General shall prepare and submit to Congress a report that—
- (1) identifies the specific programs and items funds for offshore procurement in Israel have been allocated to, including specific armed forces, branches, units, and contractors;
- (2) assesses executive branch compliance with legislative requirements governing offshore procurements in Israel;
- (3) identifies, in detail, all end-use monitoring the Government of Israel is subject to with respect to United States-origin defense articles; and
- (4) analyzes the effects of offshore procurements on Israel’s military budget and domestic economy since 1991, including an assessment of the manner and extent to which these funds have directly or indirectly supported illegal Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
- Not later than September 30, 2021, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General shall prepare and submit to Congress a report that—
- An example of leveraging the AECA can be found in the Rep. Mark Pocan letter to Secretary Pompeo issued in November 2020, which recognizes this practice as creeping annexation, and follows an earlier March 2020 letter on home demolitions led by Representatives Khanna and Eshoo which reads in part:
8 - Continue full funding to the United National Relief and Works Agency for essential services like food aid, healthcare, and schools for registered Palestine refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and reject attempts to further marginalize the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Our Values Extend Across Our Movements
Other Relevant Policy and Legislation
- Support the American Dream and Promise Act to ensure that the temporary protections offered under DACA are put into legislation to provide a clear future for undocument immigrants to become U.S. citizens.
- Support the BREATHE Act, as well as the Movement For Black Lives’ Reparations toolkit which are powerful policies that seek reparations for past and continuing harm to Black people caused by the legacy of slavery and ongoing police violence. This includes immediately passing H.R. 40 Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act.
- Support indigenous demands for landback and return of indigenous sovereignty over some native lands including the Black Lakota Hills.
- Support migrant justice legislation, as part of the “We Are Home” campaign to fight for the end of deportations and the rights of migrants and asylum seekers to remain in the United States, without concurrent criminalization of some migrants, and without border militarization.
Resources
- Erasing the Palestinian refugees: Trump, UNRWA and the Nakba at 72 (Dalal Yassine, Al-Shabaka)
- Fact Sheet on the Nakba and Palestinian Refugees (Institute for Middle East Understanding)