Here is my letter I e-mailed to my U.S. congressional reps for my state, the Chairmans of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Senator James Risch) and House Committee on Foreign Affairs (Rep Brian Mast), & the Chair of the Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Senator Lindsey Graham). Please take as is or make adjustments as you see fit to send to members of Congress.

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Gaza

The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, with the recorded death toll since October 7, 2023, rising to over 72,773 killed and 172,723 injured. Despite a nominal ceasefire announced in April, residents report that attacks are increasing daily, including a recent strike near a Gaza City hospital that killed one civilian and another that severed a critical water line in Khan Younis. Israel has now occupied approximately two-thirds of Gaza, pushing past agreed-upon boundaries as part of a broader seizure of roughly 1,000 square kilometers of territory across the region. The nearly two million Palestinians in the strip continue to face severe shortages of food, medicine, and essential goods due to the intensified maritime and land blockade by Israel.

West Bank

The governments of the UK, Germany, Italy, and France recently issued a joint statement demanding that Israel end settlement expansion and address escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank. These European nations specifically highlighted the E1 settlement project, which they warn is designed to bisect the West Bank, and reaffirmed that such settlements are illegal under international law. Within Jerusalem’s Old City, Palestinians report a climate of fear and intimidation exacerbated by the annual Jerusalem Day march, where ultra-nationalist settlers celebrate Jewish ownership of the entire city. Some activists within the Third Temple movement have openly called for the demolition of the Al-Aqsa mosque, while others have expressed radical views regarding the removal or "destruction" of the Muslim population. Observers note that the settler movement has become increasingly empowered and influential, now sitting at the heart of the Netanyahu government.

In response to the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the Israeli settlement expansion and violence in the West Bank, I urge you to:

·         Support H.R.3565 Block the Bombs Act to provide for a limitation on the transfer of defense articles and defense services to Israel.

·         Support S.3634 AWARE Act to impose sanctions on Israeli officials to discourage the government from obstructing humanitarian assistance

·         Support H.R. 3045 West Bank Violence Prevention Act

·         Support H.R.7545 Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation

As American support for Israel plummets, it is our moral responsibility to question the continuation of U.S. financial assistance to their government. Israel continues to violate the rights of Palestinians, international law, and U.S. laws. The U.S. Members of Congress must push to end our military support of Israel.

Israel and its primary lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), wield immense influence over U.S. politics.

AIPAC threatens free speech, devastates workers' economic interests, advocates for endless wars, and sabotages international diplomacy — all at the cost, and against the will, of the American people.

Over the last two years, Americans have watched in horror as our tax dollars fuel genocide and forced starvation. Enough is enough.

Join the campaign to reject Israeli influence on U.S. policy

🎙️In this episode of the Sumud Podcast, Dr. Ed Hasan sits down with acclaimed poet, writer, and educator Mosab Abu Toha for a deeply personal conversation on literature, displacement, memory, and survival. Mosab reflects on growing up under siege, founding the Edward Said Library, writing through war and family separation, and using poetry to preserve truth amid destruction. He also shares the stories behind his poems, his experience of detention, and why books, memory, and storytelling remain acts of resistance.

🌍 Mosab Abu Toha is a Palestinian poet and writer who was born in Gaza. In 2025, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his series of essays on Gaza published in The New Yorker. He is the founder of the Edward Said Library, Gaza’s first English-language library, and the author of two acclaimed poetry collections. His debut, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear (City Lights, 2022), won an American Book Award and a 2022 Palestine Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His second collection, Forest of Noise (Knopf, 2024), was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and won the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize. Abu Toha was also named to the 2026 CULT100 list by Cultured Magazine. His poetry and reporting have appeared in major outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Paris Review, and Poetry. His work has been further recognized in several Best American anthologies, including The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2024, The Best American Poetry 2025, and The Best American Essays 2025. A frequent guest on international broadcast media, he has been interviewed on CNN by Christiane Amanpour, PBS NewsHour, Democracy Now!, MSNBC with Chris Hayes, and NPR.