Palestinian American Bar Association

Tuesday's Senate hearing on hate crimes was nothing short of a disgrace. Rather than confronting anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim hate, senators like John Kennedy chose to perpetuate it. NAABA, alongside our co-sponsoring bar associations, stand in support of Maya Berry and demand accountability for Senator Kennedy's conduct. Read our full statement below. National Arab American Bar Association - Michigan Chapter (NAABA-MI) Arab American Bar Association of Illinois (AABAR) ???????????? ?????? ?????????????????????? ???? ???????????????? ???????????????????? Palestinian American Bar Association Muslim Bar Association of Chicago ???????? ???????????????? ?????? ???? ??????????????????????????; New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association Arab American Lawyers Association of Southern California (AALASC)

AMBA is heartbroken by Israel’s unlawful killing of American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli forces in the Occupied West Bank on September 6th?while participating in a peaceful weekly?protest?against settler violence and terror with the International Solidarity Movement.?Based on eyewitness testimony that no one in the vicinity of Aysenur posed a threat at the time of her shooting (https://lnkd.in/e-JsMaGZ), this killing appears to constitute a targeted assassination and grave crime against humanity. We stand with the family of Aysenur in calling for an independent investigation into?Aysenur’s murder.?Subject to such an investigation, accountability must?include tangible consequences such as sanctions and the withholding of further US arms shipments to Israel. According to eyewitness testimony obtained by CNN, Aysenur was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head by Israeli?snipers stationed nearby.?Aysenur was sheltering behind a dumpster at the bottom of a hill.?One shot was fired at the dumpster; the second fatally struck Aysenur in the head (https://lnkd.in/ef5xbeqs). Aysenur’s murder?is not an isolated event - it occurred?in the context of an ongoing terror campaign by Israeli settlers to ethnically cleanse the Occupied West Bank: ●?????She was the third American citizen shot dead by?Israeli forces in Occupied West Bank this year alone (https://lnkd.in/e-VuHM8S). ●?????Daily, illegal Israeli settlers, armed and escorted by the Israeli military, are terrorizing and evicting Palestinians from land they have lawfully owned and lived on for generations. ●?????According the Israeli human rights group B’TSELEM, since October 7, 2023, the Israeli government has forcibly displaced?at least 168 Palestinian families from “Area C” of the Occupied West Bank (https://lnkd.in/eZ2VX5P4). President Biden has repeatedly declared consequences for anyone who harms an American citizen. The United States government must not allow the cold-blooded murder of its citizens with impunity.?Likewise, it must not abdicate its responsibility to uphold justice for murdered US citizens to an Israeli government that is brazenly complicit in the genocide, ethnic cleansing, and illegal occupation?which enable these crimes against humanity. The burden is on the United States government, President Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris to demonstrate through action that they?care about the life and limb of all Americans, and Muslim Americans?in particular.?If?the United States government is indeed committed to justice for murdered American citizens, it must bring swift justice to the killers of Aysenur and other American citizens murdered by the Israeli government.

Please see PABA's summary of?the July 19, 2024 International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on the matter of Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Pabalaw.org.

Upcoming events over the next two months!

Join us for a discussion on how occupation affects immigration, displacement, and refugees’ experiences. Presented by immigration attorneys: Mazen H. Rasoul, Heba Tellawi, Ghassan Shamieh, Esq., and also joined by Gaza’s youngest journalist. 5:00 PM Palestine 12:00 PM New York 11:00 AM Chicago 9:00 AM Pacific Zoom link at pabalaw.org.

PABA condemns all forms of anti-Palestinian racism, including the use of the term “Palestinian” as a racial slur. #proudtobepalestinian #endracism #standagainsthate