Congressional leadership has stooped to new lows with their invitation for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on July 24. Their invitation followed, within a matter of several days, the announcement that the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court had applied for an arrest warrant naming Netanyahu. The charges? That Netanyahu and his minister of defense, Yoav Gallant, as well as leaders of Hamas, “bear responsibility for . . . war crimes and crimes against humanity.” 

War crimes are apparently of no concern to Republican leadership. They issued their invitation to Netanyahu all the same, and Democratic leadership signed on, too. Netanyahu has overseen and continues to drive Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Yet the invitation still stands. Unconscionable and shameful. Were the chambers of Congress not already defiled enough on January 6, 2021? 

There is yet time, though, for us to take action and it is important that we do so. The Rev. Alex Awad, from the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, has written an impassioned and cogently argued ‘Dear Members of Congress’ appeal for our elected officials to stop Netanyahu from addressing Congress. One way to take immediate action is to go to the FOSNA website and, with Rev. Awad’s letter as a guiding script, either send an email to members of your Congressional delegation here or call their office here, or better yet, do both.

After that, do still more. Use these organizations' links for the action alerts that they have created to register protest about Netanyahu’s visit: the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights; Code Pink for Peace; and the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee - ADC. Let your voice be heard again and again. If Netanyahu’s speech goes forward, ask your elected officials at the least to boycott it.

This is a section of the UCCPIN July 2024 E-Newsletter. To read the entire newsletter, follow this link.