The Senate will vote tonight on Senator Kyl's amendment. The late breaking nature of the amendment means even just a few letters faxed to some key Senators could determine the outcome of this vote.
Add your name to our letter opposing the Kyl amendment and we'll fax it automatically to your Senators' offices.
Background Information
The recent fighting between Israel and Palestinian armed groups (including Hamas) left at least1300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. In addition, schools, universities, mosques and thousands of homes in Gaza were destroyed. In surveying the damages in Gaza, Amnesty International researcher Donatella Rovera said "there is no camera lens wide enough to capture the destruction," adding that Gaza looked like a "moonscape."
The conflict only exacerbated the dismal conditions that were set in place well before the fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas. Hospitals faced severe electrical and supply shortages and some hospitals were only able to function for a few hours a day. Of the estimated 5,000 wounded Palestinians, many have not been able to seek proper medical attention because the facilities in Gaza are inadequate and often the wounded were prevented from entering Egypt or Israel for treatment. Amnesty International also reported that schools have not been able to fully operate because they have not received the paper needed to print textbooks. Employment continues to be a problem with the blockade affecting many factories and other factories being destroyed during the recent conflict. According to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, unemployment in Gaza reached 45% in June 2008, the highest in the world.
The US has taken an important step in pledging $900 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. But some of the aid, such as basic foods supplies like pasta, are still prevented by Israel from entering Gaza, a fact that Senator John Kerry mentioned during his visit to Gaza. Many of the containers of aid are sitting in cargo trucks but because of strict Israeli blockades, Palestinians in Gaza often cannot even access to US funded aid that awaits them just at the border.
The United States is a party to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. All countries that are party to the Convention or its Protocol are obliged to consider claims for refuge without discrimination. The US provides world leadership on refugee issues by refusing to discriminate on the basis of nationality, ethnicity or religion when determining who will be admitted as a refugee. Indeed, the goal of the 1980 Refugee Act sought to assure greater equity in the protection of refugees by repealing the previous law's discriminatory treatment of refugees. Contrary to 30 years of extending protection to refugees on the basis of need, the Kyl amendment seeks to discriminate against an entire group based on nationality alone. Any refugee deemed in need of third country resettlement who meets the criteria of the US refugee program and the security protocols of the Department of Homeland Security should have access to our program irrespective of his or her nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
The Obama administration has taken admirable steps to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including dispatching Middle East envoy George Mitchell on the second day of the new administration. US refugee policy should reflect this positive commitment by refusing to discriminate against Palestinian refugees from Gaza, and considering for resettlement any refugee deemed in need who meets the criteria of the US refugee program and security protocols of the Department of Homeland Security, irrespective of his or her nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
Add your name to our letter opposing the Kyl amendment and we'll fax it automatically to your Senators' offices.
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