Kansas Lawmakers: Refuse to Endorse Genocide!

Help us demand that Kansas legislators oppose a House Resolution proposed by Representative Owens, affirming Kansas' support for the State of Israel, as it continues to commit genocide against the people of Palestine.

The full, original text of the Resolution is below, with context and corrections provided by Al-Hadaf in italics and bold.

The Resolution contains dozens of factually incorrect statements and outright lies. The Representative is ignoring the united, multi-racial, inter-faith, worldwide peace movement demanding a ceasefire and a free Palestine. Instead of supporting an end to the violence, Rep Owens is asking his colleagues to insist that Kansans stand with a foreign government committing genocide. Over 60% of Americans support a ceasefire, and our local community has been protesting in the hundreds each week demanding an end to Israel’s US-funded massacre in Gaza. At a time where dozens of US and UN officials and human rights organizations have verbally endorsed a ceasefire, Representative Owens wants his colleagues to move in the opposite direction.

Our legislators must listen to their constituents’ calls for an end to the senseless murder of tens of thousands of civilians. This imbalanced, pro-occupation stance that dehumanizes Palestinians suffering under the siege in Gaza and under the occupation of Palestine as a whole cannot be accepted.  

Take action with us to call on our KS legislators to VOTE NO on this draft resolution, and encourage them instead to push for a factually correct, diplomatic solution that immediately ends the collective punishment and mass suffering of Palestinians.

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CORRECTED HOUSE RESOLUTION “SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL”

By Representative Owens

A RESOLUTION condemning the October 7 attacks on the State of Israel and reaffirming Kansas' support and cooperation with the State of Israel.

WHEREAS, Israel was founded following the killing of 6,000,000 Jews during the horror of the Holocaust and World War II (as a result of European anti-semitism, and whose country was placed squarely on land long inhabited by an indigenous Palestinian population) and

WHEREAS, On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched air, ground and sea strikes on Israel, targeting Israel's civilian population (in response to a crippling 17 year long siege of Gaza and the brutal 75 year long occupation of Palestinian land and lives); and

WHEREAS, The United States has considered Hamas to be a terrorist organization since 1997 (a political designation that has been made of many people and entities which have historically resisted foreign or colonial occupation, including Former South African President Nelson Mandela);

WHEREAS, Hamas has murdered, burned, raped, beheaded and disfigured over 1,400 Israelis, including hundreds of women, children and elderly throughout southern Israel while concurrently launching indiscriminate rocket attacks across the entirety of Israel (The Israeli government has not only adjusted that number to hundreds less to account for the violence they enacted on their own people on October 7th, but has retracted the false and sensationalized headlines of beheaded babies, in addition to providing no proof of the rape of women taken hostage); and

WHEREAS, Hamas, deliberately and systematically used sexual violence against women as a weapon (a statement which lacks factual evidence, while Israel has been documented in its use of sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners); and

WHEREAS, American citizens were among those murdered on October 7 (all of whom were dual citizens who lived in Israel, and most of whom were serving in the Israeli Occupation Forces); and

WHEREAS, The attacks on October 7 resulted in the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust and the deadliest day on Israeli soil since the Yom Kippur war in 1973; and

WHEREAS, Over 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza, including over 100 women, children and elderly; and

WHEREAS, The hostages taken included Americans and citizens from around the world; and

WHEREAS, The ages of hostages range from nine months old to 86 years old and include over 30 hostages under the age of 16; and

WHEREAS, Over half of the hostages taken on October 7 remain unaccounted for with no end for their captivity in sight (Half were released when Israel finally agreed to a temporary humanitarian truce, which Hamas negotiators had requested early in October and many more were promised if a ceasefire were agreed to, in exchange for some of the more than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli custody, many thousands of whom are held in administrative detention without charge); and

WHEREAS, Hamas' actions have resulted in a 400% increase in antisemitism nationally, including multiple incidents at the University of Kansas (Antisemitism and anti-muslim bias and hate crimes have been on the rise nationally for years, fueled by hateful rhetoric and misinformation. Blaming Hamas is short-sighted and disingenuous.); and

WHEREAS, Local Jewish communities have had to increase their security, similar to the security presence required after the 2014 antisemitic attacks in Overland Park (An unfortunate effect of the misstated connection between Zionism and Judaism, which is further perpetrated by Israel’s ongoing occupation of the Palestinian people); and

WHEREAS, The people of Kansas share a connection with the people of Israel and view Israel as a trusted ally (The people of Kansas also share a connection to people all over this world, from many countries, including Palestine. To legislate this support is unnecessary at best and alienating at worst.):

Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Kansas: That we condemn the unprovoked attacks on the State of Israel and reaffirm Kansas' support and cooperation with the State of Israel (To say the attacks were unprovoked is disingenuous and factually incorrect. Every year, thousands of Palestinians are killed and imprisoned, their homes are destroyed, their lives subdued by daily oppression and harassment.); and

Be it further resolved: That we demand the unconditional safe return of the hostages (including an exchange of political prisoners being held hostage by Israel); and

Be it further resolved: That we unequivocally support Israel's right to exist, defend itself and protect its citizens from terrorism and harm (Under international law, all recognized people and territories, including Palestinians, have a right to exist, and to defend themselves and protect their citizens from terrorism and harm); and

Be it further resolved: That we place the blame for all violence that occurred on October 7 and thereafter on Hamas, who in their founding charter have stated their intent to exterminate both Israel and the Jewish people at any cost (This is factually incorrect, and a simplification and misconstruing of both the historical and current context of the conflict.); and

Be it further resolved: That we reject all forms of antisemitism, including threats against Jewish people and Jewish institutions (The greatest threat to Jewish people lies in the conflation of Judaism with Zionism, the latter of which is dangerously contained in US support for Israel’s expansion and ethnic cleansing campaign against the Palestinian people.); and

Be it further resolved: That the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives shall send an enrolled copy of this resolution to Representative Owens.