Policy Research Note
Punishing the Victim
AIPAC’s 290 Congressional co-sponsors and staffers are facing massive opposition in their bid to pass punitive legislation on Palestinians. An array of organized opposition from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Council for the National Interest, Council on Arab Islamic Relations, and Jewish groups such as the Israel Policy Forum, Americans for Peace Now, and Jewish Alliance for Justice has swamped representative offices with calls to scuttle the legislation.
The bill makes a number of outrageous and purposefully unrealistic demands on the Palestinian Authority while selectively ignoring the history of Israel. Like other legislation, the H.R. 4681 makes no mention of Israeli actions driving the cycle of violence in the region: illegal settlements, annexations of Palestinian territory, theft or retention of Palestinian financial assets, and ongoing targeted killings sanctioned by the Israeli government or colonizers. Essential facts are ignored by H.R. 4681. In the ongoing conflict since the year 2000, Israelis have killed nearly four times as many Palestinians. 29,786 Palestinians have been injured in the violence, vs 7,633 Israelis.
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