USPC Annual Elections Results
Dec 5, 2023
We are pleased to report to you our slate of newly elected USPC board of directors for the coming year. Many thanks to the Nomination Committee!
In accordance with our bylaws, we are pleased to announce the results of the 2023–2024 election. The newly elected officers and board are:
John Dabeet, President
Abed Elghouleh, Vice President
Samiah Bahhur, Secretary
Shukri Taha, Treasurer
Nazeeh AbuHadba
Dunia Ghanimah
George Habeeb
Nasser Herzallah
Emad Khatib
Mahmoud Khal
Khaleda Laymon
The mission of the US Palestinian Council (USPC) as a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization is to represent, educate, and advocate on issues of concern to Palestinian Americans, strengthen ties between the US and Palestine, and push forward a vision based on liberty, justice, and human rights for all.
We encourage you to connect with us and to take an active role in attending future USPC events
ACTION ALERT
U.S. Palestinian Council
October 27, 2023
We urge President Biden to use wisdom and rationale and ask for an immediate cease fire. The administration is being complacent in the genocide of Palestinian children. Over 5,000 Palestinians have been brutally bombed by Israel as collective punishment in violation of international law. Residential apartments, hospitals, a church and a mosque have been bombed.
This has ignited Islamophobia and hate in the country that we haven’t seen in 20 years. A six year old American Palestinian child was stabbed to death because of the hate speech that has been spread by public elected officials. This MUST stop!
We are appalled by President Biden’s decision to veto the UN Resolution to allow humanitarian aid in Gaza and the UN Resolution for a ceasefire. Upholding human rights is more than just words, it’s action, and the Biden Administration’s actions continue to rob the American people of our moral and human values.
We demand the USA support an immediate ceasefire and works on restoring human life necessities - power, water, and food - to Gaza.
We call on everyone to please call the White House at 202.456.1414 and demand an immediate ceasefire and stop genocide in Gaza.
August 17, 2020
Call to Action: Help Save This Jerusalem Home
Please call your senators & members of Congress to ask them to sign-on to Congresswoman Speier's letter to save a Palestinian family's home in Jerusalem.
Below, is the text of the letter that Congresswoman Speier's office is circulating for signatures. The request for signatures ends at COB ET on Tuesday, August 18th.
Calls are the best way to contact your senator and let them know your concern, and if you would like to also send an email please use:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/congress-sign-letter/
_____________________
Prime Minister Netanyahu
c/o Embassy of Israel to the United States 3514 International Dr NW
Washington, DC 20006
Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu,
We write to you regarding the ongoing attempts of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to evict the Sumarin family from their home in East Jerusalem and ask for you to take action to prevent this eviction and ensure the Sumarin family is able to remain in their family home.
Thirty years ago, the JNF asked the Israeli government to seize the Sumarin family home based on Israel’s Absentee Property Law, even though the family had rightful title and were never absent. On May 23, 1991, without notification to the family that this process had been initiated, the property was subsequently purchased by the JNF from the Development Authority in a land barter. In 1994, Judge Yehudit Tzur ruled that the declaration of the property as absentee property was unlawful and therefore denied the claim for eviction, yet the land and the title to their home were never returned to the Sumarin family. The Israeli Government’s Klugman Commission later noted “grave findings regarding the functioning of the Custodian of Absentee Properties” and pledged to end the use of that law going forward but failed to apply the policy retroactively to past eviction cases.
On June 30, 2020, the Jerusalem District Court rejected the Sumarin family’s appeal against eviction by the JNF, requiring the family to vacate the home by August 16th. If the family does not comply, the JNF can then ask for removal by force, a potentially explosive act in East Jerusalem. On August 5th, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and issued an order delaying the eviction.
We believe that the eviction of the Sumarin family and expropriation of their property sets a dangerous precedent that is detrimental to the stability of Jerusalem and further undermines the opportunity for peace. We are highly concerned that, if the government of Israel permits the misapplication of the Absentee Property Law in the case of the Sumarin family, it will further apply it in any area that Israel acquires unilaterally through the proposed annexation of West Bank territories. This could formalize the illegal expropriation of private Palestinian land on a massive scale.
As strong supporters of Israel as a democratic state, we urgently request that the Government of Israel intervene on behalf of the Sumarin family and halt their eviction from their long-standing home.
Sincerely,
Jackie Speier Member of Congress
August 13, 2020
USPC Statement on UAE - Israel Agreement
Today, Thursday, August 13th, the United Arab Emirates announced that they are establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel through a US-brokered deal. The deal required Israel to suspend its plan to annex occupied West Bank land belonging to Palestinians.
Some have been praising President Donald Trump for delivering what can be considered a key foreign policy victory. However, the Palestinian American community harbors major doubts about how this move might seriously affect the future of the Palestinian people.
Although we recognize the pressing need for peace in the region, peace cannot be accomplished without the involvement of the Palestinian people. Prematurely jumping to conclusions about how this agreement might help establish peace in the region will lead to a severely false sense of progress. While Israel still occupies Palestinian land and unapologetically abuses Palestinian human rights, no real progress towards peace will ever be made. Genuine peace can only be achieved when Israel and the US respect the full rights of the Palestinian people and adhere to pertinent U.N. resolutions and international laws calling for an end to Israel's illegal occupation and its unrelenting dispossession and oppression of the Palestinians.
This move by President Trump is no more than a political stunt designed to shore up his sagging popularity. It does nothing to alleviate Palestinian suffering or put an end to Israel’s illegal occupation and its continued human rights abuses. Calling on the Arab world to normalize relations with Israel while Israeli occupation and daily oppression of the Palestinians go totally unchallenged by the US administration is a perversion of justice and an insult to all those who aspire for freedom and yearn for genuine peace. Normalizing oppression, occupation, and injustice is certainly no way to achieve peace.
Sincerely,
USPC Board
June 29, 2020
Palestinian Principles Launches Statement of Principles and Policies for 2020 Elections
Click HERE to visit the official Palestinian Principles website, which lists the signatories of this statement. This document was created, approved and signed by leaders and members of every major U.S. Palestinian organization.
“We, the undersigned Palestinian Americans declare the following set of principles. Our support for candidates to federal offices shall be determined by their level of recognition and agreement with these tenets.
The Palestinian people possess an inalienable right to self-determination.
The Israeli occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza must immediately and unconditionally end.
Palestinian refugees possess an inalienable right to return to their homelands. Per UN Resolution 194, all refugees wishing to "return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date," and "compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."
The United States embassy shall be returned to Tel Aviv.
Israel must treat all peoples under its control equally, regardless of race, color, religion, or national origin. "All peoples" includes both Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem.
Nonviolent boycotts, including BDS activities, reside on "the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values," as declared by the United States Supreme Court. Anti-BDS legislation that seeks to disparately treat BDS supporters is unconstitutional. Pro-BDS activity does not equate to anti-Semitism.
The unlawful and inhumane blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has decimated its economy, devastated its public health system, and caused widespread destruction, poverty, illness and death, must immediately and unconditionally end.
Per UN Security Council Resolution 2334, the United States shall condemn "all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including, inter alia, the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions."
United States recognition of Israeli annexation of any territories occupied since 1967 shall be denied and/or reversed.
The Wall, constructed since 2002, which extends deep into lands illegally occupied by Israel since 1967, and which the International Court of Justice in 2004 declared as "contrary to international law," shall be dismantled.
Israel’s 2018 nation-state law," declaring that the right to self-determination in Israel is extended to Jews only, is racist.
Per House Resolution 2407, "Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act," United States funds shall "not support the military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children."
United States military aid to Israel should be conditioned on ending Israeli practices that violate Palestinian rights and contravene international law.
Palestinian Americans speak for ourselves. We do not define the Palestinian issue solely in terms of religion, but rather in terms of human, political, and civil rights. We expect all campaigns to include Palestinian American voices in their decision making processes, and we ask that all candidates running for federal office affirm these principles and policies founded in morality, human rights, and international law.”
May 28, 2020
On the Murder of George Floyd
George Floyd was a 46-year-old black American man who was unapologetically murdered by Minneapolis police last week. Most Americans by now have seen the original video of former officer Derek Chauvin applying his full body weight to George Floyd’s neck while 3 additional officers positioned themselves on top of Floyd’s back and torso, leading to Floyd’s quick suffocation and death (ruled a homicide by autopsy reports). Especially chilling to hear in this rare video capture are the pained and desperate pleas made by Floyd, begging officers to let him breathe—a sentiment that was fiercely echoed by agitated bystanders shocked at the murder they were witnessing.
This type of racist policing is a violation of international human rights, and should be indisputably condemned by US institutions. Once again, we are faced with the crushing reality that the United States police institutions are thoroughly corrupt and operate in a predatory nature towards black Americans and other individuals of color.
As Palestinian Americans, it is our responsibility to acknowledge the daily reality that black Americans experience in the United States on account of specific racial targeting, systemic oppression, and a corrupt, unchecked police force.
We must advocate for the end of police brutality towards the black community as passionately as we advocate for the human rights of those living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The same imperial force that targets Arabs overseas has militarized the police in black communities here in the US—black Americans are often subjected to similar surveillance, repression, and criminalization that Arabs experience in Palestine and other parts of the colonized Arab world.
We stand in solidarity with George Floyd, his family, and the entire Black Lives Matter movement. We demand the appropriate prosecution of every officer involved in this murder, and we call for an end to police violence against black communities and those who protest these injustices.
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" – Martin Luther King Jr.
USPC Board
January 29, 2020
JOINT STATEMENT ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S PEACE PLAN
The unveiling of the so called “Deal of the Century” is yet another disgraceful act by the Trump Administration. A “peace deal” is supposed to entail conflict-ending terms that are to the mutual benefit of both parties, and can only be reached through a level playing field. This so-called “deal” is nothing more than an attempt by President Trump to impose an extremist Israeli agenda on the Palestinians, without regard to their most basic rights or aspirations. This Administration’s policy towards the Palestinians is not based on any moral or legal principles, but caters exclusively to the President’s far-right domestic constituency at the expense of peace, stability, and the U.S. national interest.
The timing of this plan’s release also appears to be politically motivated, as President Trump seeks to distract the public’s attention from the mounting evidence of his corruption in the midst of his impeachment trial in the Senate. The same can be said of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also facing corruption charges. As Dr. Hanan Ashrawi stated, this is a “lethal diversionary tactic at the expense of Palestinian rights and international law.”
The Trump administration’s so-called “deal” is a violation of International Law, attempting to legitimize illegal Israeli settlements in the face of world-wide condemnation. As the occupying power, Israel must abide by the norms of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) governing situations of belligerent occupation, particularly the 1907 Hague Regulations and Geneva Convention IV (GC IV). As part of its obligations, Israel is forbidden under Article 49 GC IV from forcefully transferring or deporting the local population from the occupied territory, or from transferring its own population into the occupied territory. The establishment and continued development of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is not only a clear violation of international law, but even amounts to a war crime (rule 156; ICC Statute, art. 8(2)(b)(viii)).
It has also been the long-standing policy of U.S. through successive administrations that Israel’s settlement policy is indeed a violation of International Law and an impediment to peace. Just a month before President Trump took office, President Barack Obama broke with a pattern of U.S. shielding of Israel from accountability at the United Nations, allowing a resolution to pass without U.S. objections that reaffirmed the status of Israeli settlements as “illegitimate” and a “flagrant violation under International Law”. While the Obama administration failed to apply meaningful pressure on Israel to change course, its approach of criticizing Israeli violations of international law and Palestinian rights gave the U.S. better credibility to pursue a peace agreement.
After over 70 years of displacement and over 50 years of brutal occupation, the Palestinian people remain steadfast and resilient in demanding justice and restoring their rights. There can never be a just and lasting peace agreement without securing the freedom of the Palestinian people. To that end, we call upon our fellow Americans to reject the Trump Administration’s ‘Charade of the Century,’ and call for applying real accountability on Israel, by conditioning U.S. military aid to Israel on Israel ending the occupation, so that both Israelis and Palestinians can live together in peace and security.
Signatories:
Humanitarian Relief Fund HRF
Jerusalem Center of Greater, Chicago
Palestinian American Woman Association
Palestinian American Youth League
Save Families
The American Federation of Ramallah Palestine AFRP
Palestinian American Council/ Louisiana
Americans & Palestinians for Peace.
Palestine Aid Society of America.
Palestine American League, California.
Al Nahda Center
The Arabic Network of Culture, Opinion, and Media.
PACC- The Palestinian American Community Center – Arizona.
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Coalition of Palestinian American organizations.
US Palestinian Council
Palestinian American Community Center
Dallas Palestine Coalition
Palestinian Democratic Coalition-USA.
Students for Justice in Palestine/Chicago
American Muslims for Palestinian AMP/Chicago
Deir Debwan Charity
National Arab American Women’s Association (NAAWA)
Palestinian American Council – Chicago
Methodist Federation for Social Action
Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land
Peace for Children
Palestinian Americans Athletic Association
Bryn Mawr Peace Coalition
Jerusalem Conference
Shido Alrehal
Palestinian American Cultural Center- Houston
US Palestinian Community Network
Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights
Palestinian American Coalition – SF / Bay Area