WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (Ore.) led 81 Members of Congress in urging Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to immediately engage with the Israeli government on the potential evictions of more than 1,000 Palestinians from their homes in Masafer Yatta in the West Bank. In a bicameral letter, the lawmakers raised urgent concerns that evictions could spark violence and undermine human rights, international law, and a diplomatic path to peace through a two-state solution.
On May 5, the Israeli High Court paved the way for demolitions in Masafer Yatta to create an Israeli military exercise zone, ending a two-decade legal battle by the impacted communities. The Israeli government has now begun demolitions in one of the largest mass evictions of Palestinian people from their homes since 1967.
“As supporters of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, we believe such evictions undermine our shared democratic values, imperil Israel’s security, and disregard Palestinian human and civil rights,” the lawmakers wrote.
“We are deeply concerned about what may happen if these evictions move forward,” the lawmakers continued. “We agree with comments you made last May regarding actions ‘that in the first instance could spark tension, conflict and war and also ultimately undermine even further the difficult prospects for two states’ and that such actions include the ‘evictions of Palestinians from their homes where they lived for decades and generations.’
“We respectfully request that you immediately engage with the Israeli government to prevent these evictions and further military training exercises in the area. We further ask that you encourage the Israeli government to approve master plans for the villages in Masafer Yatta so that these Palestinian communities may build and maintain homes, schools, infrastructure, and sustain their agricultural and pastoral lands,” the lawmakers concluded. “With President Biden visiting Israel in late June, it is critical that the Administration respond quickly to ensure that this momentous trip can deliver concrete steps toward peace.”
In the House of Representatives, the letter is cosigned by U.S. Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.-04), Donald Beyer (D-Va.-04), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.-03), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.-16), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas-20), Judy Chu (D-Calif.-32), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.-05), Gerald Connolly (D-Va.-11), Danny Davis (D-Ill.-07), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.-04), Pete DeFazio (D-Ore.-04), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.-03), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.-11), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.-12), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas-35), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.-18), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.-03), Bill Foster (D-Ill.-14), Al Green (D-Texas-09), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.-03), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.-05), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.-53), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.-07), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas-30), Hank Johnson (D-Georgia-04), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio-09), Ro Khanna (D-Calif-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.-08), Ann Kuster (D-N.H.-02), Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.-03), Andy Levin (D-Mich.-09), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-19), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.-47), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.-08), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.-04), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.-02), Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.-09), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.-06), Marie Newman (D-Ill.-03), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.-10), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine-01), Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.-02), Katie Porter (D-Calif.-45), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.-07), David Price (D-N.C.-04), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-08), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.-40), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.-01), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.-09), Jackie Speier (D-Calif.-14), Mark Takano (D-Calif.-41), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.-20), Nydia Velásquez (N.Y.-07), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.-43), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.-12), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.-10), John Yarmuth (D-Ky.-03).
In the Senate, the letter is cosigned by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Ore.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brianne Schatz (D-Hawai’i), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The full text of the letter can be found here and below.
Dear Secretary Blinken:
We write with urgent concern over the decision by Israel’s High Court to allow the military to evict approximately 1,000 Palestinian people from their homes in the Masafer Yatta region of the occupied West Bank. We ask that the Biden Administration immediately engage with the Israeli government to prevent these evictions and seek a solution that will keep people in their homes and prevent further conflict.
After litigation lasting over two decades, the court has ruled that the residents of eight villages may be forcibly removed and their homes demolished to make space for Israeli military use. We are deeply concerned that this relocation of Palestinian families from homes they have lived on for generations could spark violence, is in direct violation of international humanitarian law, and could further undermine efforts to reach a two-state solution. As supporters of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, we believe such evictions undermine our shared democratic values, imperil Israel’s security, and disregard Palestinian human and civil rights.
In the early 1980s, Israel established a firing zone in the area of the West Bank that includes the villages of Masafer Yatta. Over the following decades, residents have been denied building permits, had their agricultural lands confiscated, and lived with the threat and reality of demolitions. Additionally, these communities have experienced intensifying attacks from Israeli settlers in nearby settlement outposts built near and within the firing zone.
We are deeply concerned about what may happen if these evictions move forward. We agree with comments you made last May regarding actions “that in the first instance could spark tension, conflict and war and also ultimately undermine even further the difficult prospects for two states” and that such actions include the “evictions of Palestinians from their homes where they lived for decades and generations.” We are encouraged by statements made by State Department Spokesman Ned Price that reiterate your point with regard to the High Court’s decision on Masafer Yatta, that “it is critical for all sides to refrain from steps that exacerbate tensions and that undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution. This certainly includes evictions.
Evicting Palestinian people from their homes is inconsistent with international humanitarian law, according to Articles 49 and 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and inconsistent with efforts to reach a two-state solution.
We respectfully request that you immediately engage with the Israeli government to prevent these evictions and further military training exercises in the area. We further ask that you encourage the Israeli government to approve master plans for the villages in Masafer Yatta so that these Palestinian communities may build and maintain homes, schools, infrastructure, and sustain their agricultural and pastoral lands. With President Biden visiting Israel in late June, it is critical that the Administration respond quickly to ensure that this momentous trip can deliver concrete steps toward peace.
Sincerely,
###
English 
Spanish