[ ]J Street [ ]
Friends --

Omar Assad was 78 and walked with a cane. Still, his family said whenever
he was in the room, he was the life of the party.

Born in the British Mandate of Palestine, Mr. Assad ran a grocery store in
Milwaukee and lived in America for 40 years, becoming a US citizen in the
1980s. 

In 2009, he moved back to retire with his wife in his hometown of Jiljilya
in the occupied West Bank. Three weeks ago, he died after being detained
at an Israeli military checkpoint.

Soldiers dragged Mr. Assad from his car in the early hours of the morning,
leaving him bound, blindfolded and gagged at a cold construction site.
When he was eventually untied, he was slumped and non-responsive.

The soldiers abandoned Mr. Assad without seeking medical aid, later
telling investigators they thought he was asleep. Witnesses said Mr. Assad
was left blindfolded on his stomach, that he was not breathing, and that
his face had turned blue. An autopsy found he died of a stress-induced
heart attack.

[ [link removed]- ]Add your name to urge the Biden Administration to thoroughly
investigate Mr. Assad’s death and Israel’s treatment of Palestinian
civilians >>

For Palestinian civilians, arbitrary arrests, excessive force and deaths
at the hands of Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank are
distressingly and unacceptably frequent. Accountability and consequences
for those responsible are very rare.

In this terrible case, involving an American citizen, diplomatic pressure
is making a difference.

An internal IDF investigation resulted in professional suspensions for the
officers involved, with a report finding the incident to be “grave and
unfortunate” and a result of “moral failure and poor decision-making.” Yet
no systemic changes were recommended -- and given the appalling nature of
what happened to Omar Assad, and the fact that it was not an isolated
incident, this hardly feels sufficient.

Importantly, the US State Department is now pushing for a more
comprehensive criminal investigation to ensure a measure of justice and
accountability for Mr. Assad’s grieving family. And from the state of
Wisconsin, Senator Tammy Baldwin and Congresswoman Gwen Moore have called
on the US government to launch its own investigation into reports that
conflict with the IDF’s version of events, and to investigate whether US
laws may have been violated in this incident. This is critically important
Congressional leadership, and we are proud to echo and support it.

At J Street we strongly support the push for greater accountability and
justice. Along with elected representatives from Omar Assad’s home state,
we’re urging the US to investigate whether the nature and method of Mr.
Assad’s detention are common practice in Israel’s occupation of the West
Bank and whether US-supplied military equipment is used in such instances
contrary to US law, Palestinian rights and Israel’s own true security
interests.

[ [link removed]- ]Read, sign and share our letter to the US government >>

As an American, Mr. Assad deserves the justice due to any US citizen
harmed abroad. As a Palestinian and a human being, he deserves
accountability from those who violated his most basic rights.

As supporters of peace, equality and freedom for both Israelis and
Palestinians, we must stand up to the oppressive and all too often deadly
occupation that tramples on the rights of civilians, fuels the conflict
and obstructs hopes for a better future. We must insist that our
government face up to and investigate the harmful realities on the ground
and work tirelessly to change them -- for the sake of both peoples and our
own democratic values.

Thank you, sincerely, for your attention to this.

Yours,

Dylan Williams
Senior Vice President of 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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