Urgent Action: Call on Wyden to Vote YES on Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to BLOCK BOMBS and BULLDOZERS to ISRAEL!

Since its founding in the weeks following the October 7 attacks, the Jewish-Palestinian Alliance of Oregon has called consistently for one thing above all else: STOP ARMING ISRAEL. Today there is an urgent and concrete opportunity for the U.S. Senate to do exactly that and Oregon's senators need to hear from us now. With Israel continuing its bloody bombing of Lebanon, massacring hundreds of civilians as it targets apartment blocks in Beirut and undermines the tenuous ceasefire with Iran, this legislation needs our vocal support now.

Please click on the "Start Writing" button to the right to send your message to Senator Wyden! Continue reading for more details about this urgent legislative initiative.

On March 19, Senator Bernie Sanders filed three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval that would block the sale of nearly $659 million in offensive U.S. weapons to the Israeli government. Sanders has also filed S.J. Res. 32 to block the sale of $295 million in Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers to Israel. Oregon's own Senator Jeff Merkley is a co-sponsor of the three bomb sale resolutions and Sanders has committed to bringing all four to a Senate floor vote this April.

The three bomb resolutions would block specific and documented arms sales: $298 million for 5,000 "defense articles" related to 250-pound small-diameter bombs, $209 million for 10,000 500-pound bombs, and $151.8 million for 12,000 1,000-pound bombs — these bombs would translate into mass killing, more horrific destruction wrought by the genocidal Netanyahu regime on the peoples of Iran, Lebanon and Gaza. The D9 bulldozers are weapons in their own right: the Israeli military uses them to demolish Palestinian homes, destroy civilian infrastructure, and permanently displace Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank in what human rights organizations have documented as possible war crimes.

Earlier this month the Trump administration notified Congress of its intention to declare an "emergency" in order to bypass Congress and push these sales through. Senator Sanders put it plainly: these bombs are directly implicated in tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. The arms transfers violate U.S. law on multiple grounds. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 requires that U.S. arms transfers be consistent with internationally recognized human rights standards and advance U.S. foreign policy interests. The Leahy Law prohibits U.S. military assistance to any foreign security force unit credibly implicated in gross violations of human rights. Reliable human rights monitors have documented countless incidents involving Israeli military units and these weapons systems leading to mass civilian death and harm — yet the United States has never once applied the Leahy Law to deny assistance to a single Israeli military unit. These resolutions are an opportunity for the Senate to begin enforcing the law.

Under Senate rules, a Joint Resolution of Disapproval is a privileged resolution — it cannot be filibustered or amended, and its sponsors can force a floor vote. Every senator's position will be on the record. Senator Merkley is co-sponsoring the three bomb sale resolutions. Senator Wyden needs to stand with his constituents by co-sponsoring, actively supporting, and voting YES on all four.

Please contact Senator Wyden today. Click on "Start Writing" to email Senator Wyden with this urgent message. After you send that message you'll see phone numbers to call both senators — to thank Senator Merkley and to drive home your message to Ron Wyden that he must STOP ARMING ISRAEL!