John,

Today marks the 77th year of the Israeli government’s ongoing Nakba against Palestinians.

In 1948, the Israeli government ethnically cleansed 75% of Palestinians, forcing them from their homes, destroying hundreds of Palestinian villages and cities, and massacring tens of thousands of people. Some of those Palestinian families still have keys to their original homes, but have never been allowed to return.

This Nakba, or catastrophe, has not ended. The brutal campaign to erase Palestinians from their homeland is ongoing. This week, Israel’s leaders voted to take over all of Gaza and permanently control it, openly declaring that their “goal is the complete occupation of the Gaza strip.”

Last week, I spoke out on the floor of the House of Representatives against the forced starvation of millions of people trapped in Gaza. There are trucks lined up with food and medical aid that just need to come in, and the Israeli government is blocking them all.

It’s time for my colleagues in Congress to end their silence. Many are OK with war crimes being committed against the Palestinian people. They make an exception for Palestinians’ human rights. They turn away and pretend it’s not happening. As long as our leaders continue to close their eyes and vote for more weapons, these war crimes will continue.

Our country is an accomplice in this genocide, and our government has the power to end it.

So I’m reintroducing a resolution in Congress today to recognize the ongoing Nakba—and demand an end to U.S. complicity in the Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinians.

This Nakba Day, will you add your name as a grassroots co-sponsor of my resolution to demand Congress recognize the ongoing Nakba and end U.S. support for genocide?

Instead of agreeing to the offered ceasefire and release of all hostages, war criminal Netanyahu announced his plans to forcibly expel and ethnically cleanse the entire Palestinian population.

This was always the plan. In October and November 2023, Israeli politicians proclaimed: “Right now, one goal: Nakba! A Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of 1948. Nakba in Gaza” and “We are rolling out the Gaza Nakba.”

About 70% of Gaza’s residents are descendants of refugees from the 1948 Nakba, and over 90% have been forcibly displaced from their homes since October 2023. As the Israeli military bombs and occupies even more of Gaza, almost nowhere is safe.

In the West Bank, violent attacks on Palestinians have been escalating, forcing Palestinians from their homes. This week the Israeli government expanded and solidified its illegal control over the West Bank.

The world’s top court has ordered Israel’s government to end its apartheid and occupation, withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank, and let Palestinian refugees return. But the U.S. and Israel are defying those orders.

We must stop slaughtering children with U.S. bombs and U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Please join me today in calling on Congress to recognize the ongoing Nakba and end U.S. complicity in the genocide of Palestinians.

Thank you for continuing to stand against genocide, apartheid, military occupation, and the oppression of people everywhere.

I won’t stop pushing for an arms embargo to stop these war crimes. I will continue reminding my colleagues in Congress that Palestinians are human beings, and we’re here to stay.

Together, we will keep defending human rights at home and abroad.

In solidarity,

Rashida