John,

Last week most of my colleagues in the House of Representatives voted for genocide denial, trying to prohibit U.S. officials from even citing the Palestinian death toll.

This is an unconscionable attempt to hide the U.S.-backed Israeli apartheid government’s genocide of Palestinians, which is happening in real time right now. So I spoke up and read the latest numbers of Palestinians killed and injured into the Congressional record.

Palestinians are not just numbers: They’re real people who’ve had their lives stolen from them and their families torn apart. I cry thinking that if I could somehow humanize the Palestinian people more to my colleagues or show them the unimaginable suffering, they might finally stop it. But the majority of Congress doesn't see Palestinians as worthy of life, safety, and protection.

Recent UN reports found that the Israeli government has intentionally and directly attacked Palestinian civilians, committing crimes against humanity including forced starvation and extermination.

Due to the Israeli government’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians, 10 children a day in Gaza lose at least one of their legs, and six children are killed every hour. There are about 1 million children in Gaza and 90% of them now lack the nutrition they need, facing “severe” threats to their “survival, growth and development,” according to another UN report.

Please sign the petition now to Congress and the White House: Immediately stop sending weapons to Israel’s military and use all of our leverage to force the Israeli government to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza now.

Gaza’s health ministry has confirmed that 15,000 children have been murdered since October, but my colleagues in Congress want to ban the State Department from using this data—even though Israeli and U.S. authorities and the UN have trusted the ministry’s data for years.

I also submitted a recent forensic report into the Congressional record, which found that Israeli forces fired 355 bullets from a tank at the car where six-year-old Hind Rajab was stuck for hours, while she begged paramedics to rescue her after her family members were killed around her. The report found that she was close enough to Israeli soldiers that they had a clear view of her while firing into the car.

Other recent reports have found that around 500,000 Palestinians are currently facing “catastrophic” starvation and going days without eating food. In addition, hundreds of thousands are getting sick from preventable illnesses, due to Israel’s deliberate destruction of Gaza’s water and sewage infrastructure.

Because Israel’s government has also intentionally destroyed Gaza’s medical system, Palestinians in Gaza can’t get care for their injuries, malnutrition, illness, or dehydration.

Another UN report also found that Israeli forces systematically use sexual violence against Palestinian captives in Israeli prisons, “amounting to torture and cruel and inhuman treatment.”

I keep telling my colleagues in Congress: Believe the government of Israel and its leaders when they say they want to eliminate the Palestinian people.

Too many members of Congress and the White House don’t see Palestinians as human beings who deserve to live. They must at least listen to the American people, who do not support this genocide. Polls have shown that across political parties, the majority of Americans—including a majority of Jewish Americans—want the U.S. government to stop sending weapons to Israel’s military.

Please sign to tell Congress and the Biden administration: We must use all the leverage our country has to stop the violence and force the Israeli government to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza—including stopping the sale or transfer of weapons to Israel’s military.

Thank you for taking action. Together, we’ll continue demanding our government’s leaders see Palestinians as human beings who deserve dignity and safety. We must keep up the push to save as many lives as possible.

In solidarity,

Rashida