Members of Congress took action!
With your help, in August, 2021, 200 Senate and House office asked to meet with Rebuilding Alliance to hear how to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes and neighborhoods. We scheduled nearly 100 briefing with constituents and guest speakers from Jerusalem and the West Bank on the line, asking each office to intervene to keep Palestinian villages standing by making two calls. This advocacy strategy is effective in preventing the demolition of Palestinian communities.
Fall, 2021 Update:
Over the past months, Rebuilding Alliance has worked with hundreds of constituents, Palestinians, Israelis, human rights activists, and volunteers from all corners of the globe (including Israel, Palestine, the US, the UK, Peru, India, and Pakistan) to brief Congressional offices on injustices taking place in Israel/Palestine and to ask for their intervention:
Pinwheels for Peace briefings: In celebration of International Peace Day, September 21st, Rebuilding Alliance spent the past month supporting constituents through a series of Pinwheels for Peace briefings. In our experience, the children's in-person presentations in briefings in Washington DC have been the most effective advocacy ever. We hoped this could now happen on Zoom calls. We've arranged ten briefings thus far with House and Senate offices, and led by constituent hosts, we heard from Palestinian youth in East Jerusalem and the West Bank about their visions for peace.
Briefings to Prevent August Rush of Demolitions and Evictions: At the end of July, the advocacy team sent an invitation to all Congressional offices inviting them to briefings to prevent the rush of demolitions and evictions that affect Palestinian communities each August. 200 offices replied! So throughout August, we held 75 briefings with House and Senate offices on both sides of the aisle, and we’re still scheduling into the months of September and October.
2017 Updates:
Here are public letters focused on keeping the Palestinian village of Susiya standing. Many more have made calls and sent letters privately.
On Dec. 4, 2017, Rep. Anna Eshoo and 10 colleagues in the House sent a letter to President Trump, urging him
to take immediate action to prevent the demolition
of Susiya and Khan al Ahmar.
Click here to download the letter!
On Nov. 29, 2017, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and nine colleagues in the Senate sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu urging him not to demolish Susiya.
Click here to download the letter!
On Oct. 12, 2017, Rep. Anna Eshoo and 10 colleagues in the House sent a letter (drafted by the RA team) to Sec. of State Tillerson, urging him to protect Susiya and Khan al Ahmar.
Click here to download the letter!
Senator Feinstein's correspondence with Israel's Prime Minister to keep Susiya standing
July 28, 2015 - Aug. 23, 2016
““Demolishing Palestinian homes, displacing residents, and seizing additional Palestinian territory in the West Bank is a step away from peace.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein with families from Umm al-Kheir and Susiya in September 2015.
On July 17, 2015 Congresswoman Anna Eshoo + 10 MORE
sent a letter to Secretary Kerry saying,
'I care about peace, I care about Susiya.'
Click Here to Download the letter
In response to the July 15, 2017 announcement released by Rabbis for Human Rights describing the Israeli Army's announcement that the demolition of Susiya would take place immediately following the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, Representative Anna Eshoo and 10 other representatives urged Secretary of State John Kerry to take immediate diplomatic action to prevent the demolition from happening.
