Today, Israel's Coordinating Office for Government Affairs in the Territories’ (COGAT) new West Bank regulations will come into effect. Among the regulations are draconian restrictions intended to micro-engineer the public and private lives of Palestinians (including American citizens) that would subject them to a restrictive screening process and arbitrarily limit entry to the West Bank. Unfortunately, Palestinian-Americans are already not afforded the same basic rights as other American passport holders when traveling to Israel and the Occupied Territories –these new procedures officially codify Israel’s informal pervasive discriminatory practices.

At the same time, Israel is requesting to join the United States Visa Waiver Program. If they were deemed eligible, this program would ease and expedite the entry process for Israeli travelers visiting the United States. Until now, Israel has been denied admission to the program due to its failure to give reciprocal treatment to US travelers. The formal implementation of COGAT’s discriminatory practices brings Israel further from eligibility for the Visa Waiver Program.

We support Israel’s admission into the Visa Waiver Program. But if, and only if, they meet all of the requirements. And it is clear that currently, they do not.

 Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived.

Yesterday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee met to consider the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act. While the name of the legislation represents something all schools should aspire to, it is in actuality a thinly veiled attempt to de-legitimize the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and demonize the teaching of the Palestinian narrative. There are real and problematic examples cited by supporters of the bill, which UNRWA takes seriously and is working to address. However, we believe that it is incumbent on schools to teach tolerance and avoid bias in their curriculum on both sides of the Green Line.

1. Bills, Resolutions, Letters
2. Hearings & Markups
3. On the Record

1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters

On 9/14/22, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will mark-up two Middle East-related measures:

• (OBSTRUCT IRAN DIPLOMACY) H. Res. 1266: Introduced 7/26/22 by Foxx (R-NC) and Wilson (R-SC), “Requesting the President to transmit certain documents to the House of Representatives relating to any initiative or negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program.” Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Also see: Foxx (R-NC-5) 09/08/2022: Twitter thread – “BREAKING The House Foreign Affairs Committee is taking up my legislation to force the Biden Administration to comply with transparency provisions of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. (1/2) Reports indicate that the administration is trying to hide the ball on their negotiations until after the midterm elections. Congress must step up and do its job! (2/2)”;  Jewish Insider 9/8/22: GOP resolution seeking draft Iran deal text headed for House Foreign Affairs vote
• (EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY TO TARGET UNRWA & PA) HR 2374: Introduced 4/5 by Sherman (D-CA), Zeldin (R-NY), Gottheimer (D-NJ), Mast (R-FL), and Trone (D-MD), “To require the Secretary of State to submit annual reports reviewing the educational material used by the Palestinian Authority, and for other purposes,” aka, the “Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act.”  Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. This bill was previously introduced (in various forms, by various groupings similar to the cosponsors on this new bill) in 2018 (HR 6034) and 2019 (HR 2343). Mast (R-FL) tweet in support of the bill is here. Also see: Bipartisan House members reintroduce Palestinian education bill (Jewish Insider), US lawmakers reintroduce bill to address hate, violence in Palestinian schools (Jewish News Syndicate), US Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Require State Department Review of Palestinian Curriculum (Algemeiner)

 Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived.

Today, Americans for Peace Now sent a letter signed by over 400 activists to Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding that the administration fulfill its duty and conduct an independent and transparent investigation into the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh, an American citizen covering the West Bank for Al-Jazeera TV. She was shot to death on May 11th in the town of Jenin during an Israeli military raid.

The letter reaffirms the need articulated by both President Biden and Secretary Blinken for a “full and transparent accounting” and an “independent, credible investigation” and urges the administration to fulfill its obligation by ensuring this occurs.

Dear Secretary Blinken, 

We write to you as American citizens who are deeply concerned about the lack of an  independent, credible and transparent US-led investigation into the May 11, 2022 killing of  Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. 

We share the conviction that both you and President Biden have expressed that there is a need  for a ‘full and transparent accounting’ and an ‘independent, credible investigation.’  Unfortunately, there has yet to be an investigation that meets these criteria. 

The United States Security Coordinator’s (USSC) involvement in an independent forensic  analysis of the bullet that killed Shireen Abu Akleh was an encouraging first step. However, it is  not a sufficient comprehensive investigation into her killing. 

Freedom of the press is of paramount importance, and it is vital to the safety of our foreign press  that other countries, particularly our allies, understand that the United States will not allow the  killing of our journalists to be brushed aside. 

The United States has an obligation to conduct a full independent, credible, and transparent  investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing. We urge this administration to do so immediately. 

Sincerely, 

APN