U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)
For Immediate Release: Thursday, June 10th, 2021
Media Contact: Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN National Chair, 773.301.4108
Members of the Chicago chapter of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), along with allies from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Black Lives Matter-Chicago, Good Kids Mad City, Organized Communities Against Deportation, and many others, are staging a sit-in right now in the Chicago office (5533 N. Broadway) of U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.
WATCH NOW at Facebook.com/USPCN.
The protesters are demanding that Schakowsky co-sponsor her Minnesota colleague Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s H.R. 2590, the Palestinian Children and Families Act, which would restrict U.S. military aid to Israel from being used to demolish homes, annex Palestinian land, or imprison Palestinian children in military detention facilities.
Last month saw Israel perpetrate unprecedented attacks and attempted ethnic cleansing of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, and numerous other neighborhoods of Jerusalem; another massive assault on Gaza, including the killing of over 240 Palestinians, 67 of them children; and the racist, white supremacist, settler attacks on Palestinians in the streets, including rallies where they chanted “Death to Arabs.”
During this devasting assault by Israel, Schakowsky put out a tepid statement asking both sides for calm, and of course defending Israel’s right to defend itself.
“Israel has the strongest military in the region, and it receives 3.8 billion dollars in aid from the U.S. every year, but Schakowsky insists on this ridiculous notion that Israel has the right to defend itself when it is the aggressor,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, National Chair of USPCN. “And she never affords the Palestinians the same right.”
USPCN is also reminding Schakowsky that her fellow U.S. Representatives from Illinois – Bobby Rush, Danny Davis, Marie Newman, and Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia – are all original cosponsors of H.R. 2590.
“The Congresswoman must speak out in condemnation of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people,” added Abudayyeh. “We’ve given her the benefit of the doubt for so many years because she is considered a progressive, but I don’t know if we can continue to call her that if she won’t lead on this issue.”
USPCN insists on remaining in Schakowsky’s office until she addresses its spokespeople directly.
Abudayyeh can be reached on site, at 773.301.4108.
## End ##
