Rally for Gutierrez for opposing Israeli detentions of children, Chicago, IL

Congressman Luis Gutierrez will be honored by leaders and activists on Monday March 12, 2018 for his leadership in calling on Israel to end its policies of imprisoning and detaining children.

Gutierrez, who has represented the Illinois 4th Congressional District since January 1993, has co-sponsored House Resolution HR 4391 which calls for an end to Israeli military detention of Palestinian children. The bill was introduced by Congresswoman Betty McCollum, but Gutierrez’s support has put a bright spotlight that has forced the media to cover the effort.

The rally is being co-hosted by Jewish Voice for Peace, one of several leading moderate Jewish American organizations that have protested Israel’s government extremism and has called for Israel to end its oppression of Palestinian civilians.

Gutierrez is also an outspoken critic of policies that have suppressed the rights of immigrants, not just Hispanics but also Arabs and Muslims.

The event will be held at the Lincoln Methodist Church, 2242 S. Damen Street, in Chicago, Illinois. Gutierrez will urge other members of Congress to support the bill’s passage and join the 21 other members of Congress who have signed on to the bill.

The bill prevents US taxpayer dollars from being used to support grave human rights violations against Palestinian children detained and imprisoned without trial by Israel’s oppressive, brutal military occupation. The bill also demands that Israel abide by the International Rule of Law.

The event is also sponsored by American Friends Service Committee, American Muslims for Palestine.

SEATING LIMITED. RSVP HERE to help us track attendance and to make it easier for us to follow up! (RSVP does not guarantee seating – we just don’t have capacity to reserve seats): https://bit.ly/2HNmzDi

The body of 4 year old Rahaf Hassan is prepared for burial in a Gaza Mortuary. Rahaf was murdered along with her mother, and her mother’s unborn baby by an Israeli military terrorist airstrike against civilian targets in Zeitoun, Gaza Strip early Sunday morning, Oct. 11, 2015. Copyright (C) 2015 Mohammed Asad. All Rights Reserved.

5:15 pm: Doors open

5:30 pm: Space available for Maghrib prayer

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm: Program

Co-convened by American Friends Service Committee, American Muslims for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago, the event will include personal testimonies from members of Chicago’s Palestinian community about their own or their relatives’ experience with the Israeli military’s mistreatment of Palestinians.

Each of these organizations is a member of the No Way To Treat A Child campaign, which has been organizing against Israel’s systematic mistreatment of Palestinian children in the West Bank. More information on the campaign here: https://nwttac.dci-palestine.org/

ACCESSIBILITY:

The event will take place in the sanctuary on the second floor – unfortunately, it is not wheelchair-accessible as there is no elevator. There will be an overflow room on the first floor – must go over a small step to enter. Stay tuned for exact measurement on height of step.

Organizers are working on live Spanish-English translation, stay tuned for confirmation.

MORE BACKGROUND: In November 2017, Representative Betty McCollum introduced H.R. 4391, the “Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act,” which would prohibit U.S. financial support to Israel from being used to support the military detention and ill treatment of Palestinian children in violation of international humanitarian law. Since then, 21 Members of Congress have signed on as cosponsors for this legislation, including Chicago-area representatives Luis Gutierrez, Danny Davis and Bobby Rush.

From the moment of arrest, Palestinian children encounter ill-treatment and torture at the hands of Israeli forces. Three out of four experience physical violence during arrest or interrogation.
Israel is the only country in the world to automatically prosecute children in military courts that lack basic safeguards for a fair trial. 500 – 700 Palestinian children between the ages of 12 and 18 are held in Israeli military detention each year.

HR 4391 seeks to ensure that US taxpayer funds are not being used to support grave human rights violations against Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces, to enhance transparency, and to demand that Israeli forces comply with international law. The findings provisions in the bill, based on persistent and credible evidence-based reports from UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, and others, establish that ill-treatment of Palestinian children by Israeli forces is widespread, systematic and institutionalized from the moment of arrest in the Israeli military detention system.

By aligning US policy toward Israel and the Palestinian people with international law norms, the bill would help increase protections for children and work to end grave human rights violations against Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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