Washington, D.C. | adc.org | June 26, 2023 – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has demanded that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland immediately investigate possible criminal involvement of U.S. citizens in the recent violence targeting Palestinian villages in the Occupied West Bank. In communications with State Department and the Department of Justice (DOJ), ADC calls for an investigation into the role U.S. citizens setters are currently playing in the recent wave of violence in Palestinian towns and villages.
Since June 21, Israeli settler mobs have been terrorizing Palestinian villages in the West Bank daily. They have destroyed homes, burned vehicles, and killed at least one Palestinian. For decades U.S. Citizens have moved to Israeli settlements, where they engage in violence against Palestinians, all with impunity. Many of these U.S. Citizens also take advantage of American non-profit tax laws to fund settlements and violence against Palestinians.
ADC Executive Director Abed Ayoub said, “We have strong reason to believe that American citizens are among the perpetrators of the most recent brutal and violent attacks. These U.S. citizens are participating in the terrorizing of Palestinians and other U.S. Citizens. They must be held accountable for their actions, and the U.S. must take measures to ensure that these individuals are brought to justice for what they have done.”
Among the Americans victimized is Illinois State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid, who is visiting his family in the village of Turmusayya. He was there with his family when hundreds of settlers invaded the village, terrorizing him and his family including his seven and eleven year old children. It is unconscionable that American families and elected officials are under attack by Israeli settler gangs that are given cover and outright protection by the Israeli government and its armed forces.
ADC expresses concern for the safety of Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim Americans should the citizens that participated in the violent attacks return to the United States, and seeks assurances from the federal government that our communities would be protected.
In addition to call for an immediate investigation into the criminal culpability of U.S. citizens, ADC requested a meeting with the Departments of State and Justice to discuss what steps the U.S. Government is taking to protect its citizens from the continued assault and targeted violence in Palestine.