As we commemorate the Ibrahimi massacre, you can take action for Palestine

(CHICAGO 02/25/2016) – Today we mark 22 years since the pre-dawn massacre of 29 Palestinian worshipers in Ibrahimi mosque in Al Khalil, Palestine. They died when the Jewish American physician Baruch Goldstein walked into the mosque and shot them in cold blood as they prostrated in prayer. Israeli Occupation Forces killed an additional 11 Palestinians and all told 125 were hurt.

Settlers erected a statue to honor the murderer. Israel punished Palestinians by seizing two-thirds of the mosque and giving it to Israeli settlers. In what is leftover for Palestinians, cameras record every sound and movement worshipers make. Palestinians also are being punished by severe closures and restrictions that have made the once robust marketplace a ghost town. Al Khalil bears the brunt of a brutal and insane occupation.

But now there is another danger. The Al Aqsa mosque complex, the third holiest site in Islam, is under threat from the same fate. With the growth of the Temple Movements along with nationalistic, racist bills in the Knesset and Jerusalem municipality, Al Asqa is facing threats that range from prohibiting Muslims on several days a week to its total destruction.

We can best honor the Ibrahimi mosque victims by calling loudly for an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine; by joining the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement; and by working to raise awareness about how the occupation contravenes international law and deprives Palestinians of their basic human rights.

You can also lend your voice to the growing chorus calling on Congress to change foreign policy by joining AMP’s Palestine Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill on April 19, 2016. This year’s event will include a briefing with the US State Department for participants. More information is coming soon.