[ ]J Street [ ]
Friend --

In the wake of last month’s horrific escalation, the situation in Gaza
remains extremely precarious. Thousands of Palestinians are homeless,
power and water supplies need urgent repair, families are sleeping in
schools and the medical system, already pushed to the brink by the
pandemic and Israeli supply restrictions, is running far beyond capacity.

Right now, a bipartisan allocation of $75 million in humanitarian aid to
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank is ready for imminent delivery.
Maddeningly, this desperately needed aid is being held up by the
Republican ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jim
Risch, who is abusing legislative prerogative to single-handedly delay the
funds.

Two-thirds of House Democrats have signed a J Street-supported letter
calling on Senator Risch to end his stonewalling. 17 Senators have signed
a J Street-supported letter calling for robust, immediate humanitarian
relief to Gaza. These letters send a clear signal to the Biden
administration that there is strong, broad support for the White House to
move forward with releasing this urgently needed aid. Given the dire
situation in Gaza, J Street believes the Biden administration should
simply override Senator Risch’s obstruction and disburse these
Congressionally-authorized funds -- just as President Obama was forced to
do when faced with a similar stunt in 2012.

To build upon this momentum, we’re asking our supporters to contact the
White House now to encourage them to take swift action to override this
bad-faith hold on Palestinian humanitarian aid. [ [link removed] ]Can you take a moment
to send a message now?

[ [link removed] ]Email The White House

In
delaying this aid, Senator Risch is cynically attempting to turn urgent
humanitarian assistance into a political football -- despite these funds
already having been passed by Congress on a bipartisan basis and signed
into law under the previous administration. Like all aid to the
Palestinian people, these funds carry some of the most stringent
safeguards used by the United States to ensure aid can only be used by
approved organizations for legitimate purposes.

At J Street, we know that Palestinian suffering does nothing to make
Israel safer. As Israeli security experts themselves have made clear, the
cycle of poverty and deprivation in Gaza and the West Bank strengthens the
hand of extremists whose only answer to injustice and desperation is
violence.

The reality is that the effort to delay these funds is just a continuation
of the Trump playbook on the conflict. It’s a playbook that aims to
bolster Israel’s far right, sideline the Palestinians and entrench a
permanent military occupation with no regard for justice, human rights or
Israel’s long-term future as a democratic homeland for the Jewish
people. It's a playbook that provides no solution to the humanitarian
catastrophe in Gaza, just endless suffering in a cycle of injustice,
retaliation and violence.

As residents of Gaza seek to rebuild, and as a government in waiting takes
shape in Israel, it’s vital for the Biden administration to give real
meaning to its stated commitment to the rights of both Israelis and
Palestinians to live in security, peace, and dignity. We cannot allow
partisan political games at home to get in the way of urgently needed
assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Together, we must show the Biden administration there is broad support for
swift action to override this bad-faith hold and deliver urgently needed
aid. [ [link removed] ]Please take a moment now to let President Biden know you support
the immediate release of US aid to Gaza and the West Bank.

Yours, 

Dylan Williams,
Senior Vice President for Policy and Strategy


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who want
Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the Jewish people.
Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we advocate policies that
advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish and democratic values,
leading to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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