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Thursday 27 Aug 2015 - 11:52 Makkah mean time-12-11-1436
Democratic Congresswoman Betty McCollum (Image from huffingtonpost)
Minnesota, US (IINA) - For the second time in two months, a member of the US House of Representatives wrote a letter to the US State Department demanding concrete actions against Israel’s systematic violations of the rights of Palestinian children, The Electronic Intifada reported.
Released on 18 August by Democratic Congresswoman Betty McCollum of Minnesota, the letter calls for sanctions on the Israeli border police unit responsible for killing Palestinian teenagers Nadim Nuwara and Mohammad Abu Al-Thahir on 15 May 2014. The boys were shot at a Nakba Day protest near the Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank village of Beitunia.
In June, McCollum penned a letter; co-signed by 18 other members of congress, slamming Israel’s “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of Palestinian children” in military detention as “an anomaly in the world” that demands US action.
This second letter goes a step further. By calling for sanctions on the Israeli unit involved in the Nakba Day murders, it marks a daring move in a political space monopolized by Israel lobbying groups.
The congresswoman’s letter highlighted the cold-blooded Nakba Day killings as demonstrative of Israel’s “brutal system of occupation that devalues and dehumanizes Palestinian children,” which “merits both condemnation and action by the U.S.”
“As these killings exemplify, Israel’s treatment of Palestinian youth in the Occupied West Bank is unacceptable and must not be tolerated by the U.S. or the international community,” McCollum states. “It is time for a strong and unequivocal statement of U.S. commitment to the human rights for Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation.”
Nadim and Muhammad were gunned down an hour apart. The killings were captured on video, proving that neither teen posed a threat before being shot.
Due to solid evidence and relentless agitation from Nadim’s family for criminal charges, the Israeli soldier who killed Nadim was indicted last October and is currently awaiting trial for manslaughter.
On 6 August, Nadim’s father Siam Nuwara met with state department representatives and members of congress to demand justice for his son.
SM/IINA
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