This week in DC: We spotlight a guest contribution and details on the first session in our Palestine speaker series.

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Issue 33: Friday, 9 July 2021

THIS WEEK IN DC — Biden Backs Major Reform to Military’s Handling of Sexual Assault; FBI Launches Flurry of Arrests Over Attacks on Journalists During Capitol Riot; Taliban Seizes Key Districts in Afghanistan as Govt Forces Flee; Poll: 62 Percent of Americans Approve of Biden’s Job on Pandemic, Vaccine Hesitancy Remains; Progressives Ramp up Medicare Expansion Push in Congress; Unlikely Coalition of Veterans Backs Biden on Ending the Afghan war; Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Bin Salman Meeting Top US officials; Biden Admin Extends Temporary Protected Status for Yemenis in the US; Adams Wins Democratic Primary for Mayor of New York City; Iraqi Militia Leader Vows Retaliation for Deaths in US strikes; Afghans Say Recent Taliban Advances Forced Them to Take Up Arms; Capitol Police Plan to Open Field Offices Outside Washington to Track Threats to Lawmakers; A Planned Biden Order Aims to Tilt the Job Market Toward Workers; Democrats Race to Push Infrastructure Bill Through Senate; Biden Says U.S. Troop
Withdrawal From Afghanistan Will End Aug. 31.

IN THIS ISSUE
* Featured Issue: Why Was Syria Just Elected to the WHO’s Executive Board?
* ICYMI: “The Voice of the Church” brought to you by The Forums at MPAC
* Palestine: Share your Story
* Israel/Palestine Legislative Tracker

FEATURED ISSUE


** Why Was Syria Just Elected to the WHO’s Executive Board?
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A regime that bombs hospitals and blocks convoys of baby formula does not deserve a leading role in global health.

By Guest Contributor: Zaher Sahloul
A critical care specialist in Chicago and the president of MedGlobal. This piece was originally published ([link removed]) in the Foreign Policy on July 6, 2021.

Throughout the course of the Syrian civil war, the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad has displaced half the country’s population. It has depopulated whole cities and villages by bombing hospitals and schools, thereby undermining the principle of medical neutrality and impartiality — which mandates noninterference with medical services in times of armed conflict and civil unrest. The regime has moreover starved its people by blocking convoys of humanitarian aid — including those carrying baby formula — from reaching besieged civilians. It has also used prohibited chemical weapons more than 300 times ([link removed]) , with children frequently among the victims, and allowed infections like polio ([link removed]) and leishmaniasis ([link removed]) that were effectively eradicated in Syria to
resurface by blocking vaccines and medications from reaching regions that fell under the control of the opposition. The life expectancy of a Syrian child has been reduced by 13 years.

In return, the Assad regime has been rewarded by being elected to a leading role in the World Health Organization (WHO). In May, Syria won a seat ([link removed]) on the WHO Executive Board — atop the same organization that reported ([link removed]) last year that it had documented 494 attacks on health care facilities in Syria from 2016 to 2019, mainly in areas under assault by Assad’s forces.

This is not a joke.
Read full article → ([link removed])



** ICYMI: “The Voice of the Church” brought to you by The Forums at MPAC
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The Biden Administration acknowledged the Black church made a difference in him getting elected as the 46th United States President. In today’s socio-political times, how is the church making a difference for its congregation?

We invited church leaders together to discuss the civic power of its congregants.

Click here ([link removed]) or the image above to watch the full webinar.



Palestine, the world needs to hear your account of what is happening.

In order to advocate for meaningful change in U.S. policy impacting Palestine, the Muslim Public Affairs Council is amplifying human stories of Palestinians and their families by ensuring top officials in the Biden administration see them. To submit your story, please use the form below. Upon submission you will receive an email acknowledging its receipt. If your story is one we’d like to follow up on for further details or if we have questions, we will contact you at the phone number and email provided.

Your voice, and your stories can impact change.
SHARE YOUR STORY → ([link removed])

GOOD TO KNOW
* Nikole Hannah-Jones to Join ([link removed]) Howard Faculty After UNC Tenure Controversy
* ‘I Want to Take This Global’: The Success ([link removed]) of the Muslim Golf Association
* Haitian President Assassinated ([link removed]) at Home
* ‘In the End We Felt Betrayed’ Vietnamese Veterans See ([link removed]) Echoes in Afghanistan
* Palestinian Community in West Bank Demolished ([link removed]) for 7th Time
* Pfizer Sees ([link removed]) Waning Immunity From Its Covid-19 Vaccine, Says Developing New Booster
* Louisiana Teen Becomes ([link removed]) the First African American Contestant to Win National Spelling Bee



LEGISLATIVE TRACKER:

Review status of key legislation on issues we're covering —

Please review our legislative tracker-- this is a resource MPAC updates on a weekly basis, allowing our supporters to see what legislation we are supporting. Our tracker includes the bill number, Representative or Senator who sponsored the bill along with a brief summary or description.
1. HR.2590 Introduced by Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4]
Referred to Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 4/15/21
To promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation and to ensure that United States taxpayer funds are not used by the Government of Israel to support the military detention of Palestinian children, the unlawful seizure, appropriation, and destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians in the West Bank, or further annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law.
2. S.Res.225 - Introduced by Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on 5/19/21
A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the value of Palestinian and Israeli lives and urging an immediate cease-fire and diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
3. H.J.49 - Joint Resolution introduced in the House by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY-14}
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 5/20/21
A resolution calling for congressional disapproval of the proposed direct commercial sale to Israel of certain weaponry and munitions.

What can you do to help?

Contact your local congressional offices. ([link removed])

UP-AND-COMING:

Each Friday until August 20, we’re bringing diverse voices to the table for informative discussions on the Palestinian struggle for peace. Join us tonight at 6pm PT to kick off our lecture series in collaboration with the Islamic Center of Southern California! We will begin by learning the history of Palestine with Hussein Ibish, columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and The National.
Register here and be part of the conversation → ([link removed])


- THIS WEEK IN HISTORY -

July 4, 1918 - The last Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne; July 4, 1887 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah begins his studies; July 4, 1966 - Lyndon Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into law; July 5, 1950 - The Knesset in Israel passes the Law of Return allowing all Jews to return to Israel; July 5, 1999 - President Bill Clinton puts trade and economic sanctions on the Taliban in Afghanistan; July 6, 1964 - Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom; July 9, 2011 - South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan; July 10, 1947 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah is recommended as the first Governor-General of Pakistan by then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Clement Attlee.

July 4, 1776 - US Congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Great Britain; July 4, 1796 - 1st Independence Day celebration is held; July 4, 1826 - Past presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both die on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence; July 4, 1875 - White Democrats kill several blacks in terrorist attacks in Vicksburg; July 4, 1881 - Booker T. Washington establishes Tuskegee Institute (Alabama); July 4, 1884 - Statue of Liberty presented to US in Paris; July 5, 1852 - Frederick Douglass, fugitive slave, delivers his 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?' speech, condemns the celebration as hypocritical sham; July 6, 1853 - William Wells Brown publishes "Clotel", first novel by an African American; July 7, 1981 - US President Ronald Reagan nominates Sandra Day O’Connor to become first female member of the Supreme Court; July 8, 1776 - The fist public reading of the Declaration of Independence; July 8, 1797 - First US senator
(William Blount of Tennessee) expelled by impeachment; July 9, 1868 - First African American cabinet member in South Carolina, Francis L. Cardozo, as Secretary of State; July 9, 1955 - E. Frederic Morrow is the first African American executive on U.S. White House staff.


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