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CMEP Weekly Bulletin: US Urges IDF to Re-evaluate Use of Deadly Force After Palestinian Toddler Killed A look at many tragic deaths as the US asks for accountability and more news in this week’s bulletin. CMEP’s Bulletin is a weekly round-up of news from the Middle East and represents an array of perspectives on the issues we cover. CMEP does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in the articles, and they do not speak on CMEP’s behalf. | | | |
 | Image: Mourners carry the body of 2.5-year-old Mohammed Haitham al-Tamimi during his funeral in the village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank, June 6, 2023. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP) | | | US urges IDF to re-evaluate use of deadly force after Palestinian toddler killed Times of Jerusalem “The US on Tuesday (June 6) urged Israel to probe its use of deadly force during military operations among civilians, a day after a two-year-old Palestinian boy died as a result of being mistakenly shot by Israeli troops during a West Bank gunfire exchange last week. Last Thursday (June 1), two-and-a-half-year-old Tamimi and his father were hit by gunshots as Israeli soldiers returned fire at Palestinian gunmen who had shot toward them at the settlement of Neve Tzuf.” | | | | | |
 | Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images) | | | U.S. ambassador to Israel sent Bibi letter urging him to suspend NGO bill Axios “U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week urging him not to move forward with legislation that would limit the ability of Israeli nongovernmental organizations to raise money from foreign governments, two Israeli and U.S. officials told Axios. Why it matters: Netanyahu took the legislation off the table for further review following U.S. and European pressure.” | | | | | |
 | Image: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) questions Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during a Senate Subcommittee, March 22, 2023. (Greg Nash) | | | Democratic senator calls for Biden to release report on Israeli shooting death of American journalist The Hill “A Democratic senator is calling on the Biden administration to publicly release its findings into the shooting death of Shireen Abu Akleh… Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that a report compiled by the U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority provides relevant information about the ‘the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit involved in that operation as well as other IDF units operating in the West Bank.’” | | | | | | | | | |
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 | CMEP Film Screening: Sunday, June 25, 2023. On average, two Palestinian kids are arrested every night by the Israeli army. They are interrogated, tried, and sent to prison. The film Two Kids a Day describes the use of minors' arrests to control and repress Palestinian society. Join Churches for Middle East Peace on Sunday June 25th at 12 pm Pacific/3 pm Eastern for a virtual screening of the film and a conversation with the film director and co-producer. If you are interested in hosting a satellite screening of this event at your church, contact Jennifer at jennifer@cmep.org | | | | |  | Action Alert: HR 3103 The Palestinian Children and Families Act. With the rise of violence in the West Bank growing by the day under the new Israeli government, it is critical members of Congress join Rep. McCollum and sponsor HR 3103. Congress must ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used to violate Palestinian human rights and further annex Palestinian land in the West Bank. Such actions–which only exacerbate the conflict–should not be funded with assistance from the U.S. government. | | | | |  | Fast and Pray for Palestine: Join Churches for Middle East Peace for our second monthly prayer session as we gather to pray for the end of the Gaza Blockade on June 14th at 12:30-1pm EST via zoom. We will be joined by George Antone, the director of the Caritas Medical Center in Gaza and a lecturer at the Latin Patriarchate Thomas Aquinas Center. | | | | | |
| | | | | | Support CMEP: While the US has begun to ask questions about these unjust killings in the West Bank, we at CMEP still say not enough is being done. Join us on our journey as we advocate for action from the US government. | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | Image: Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Archbishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, leads a Palm Sunday march on April 2. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) | | | Israel Foreign Ministry to boycott event focused on spitting attacks against Christians Axios “The Israeli Foreign Ministry will boycott a conference in Jerusalem next week that will focus on the growing wave of attacks by Jewish Israelis against Christians in Jerusalem, according to the organizers and Israeli Foreign Ministry officials. Why it matters: It's a highly unusual decision. Israel's Foreign Ministry is the main government agency tasked with strengthening relations with the Christian world and Israel's ties with the different churches.” | | | | | |
 | Image: Israeli soldiers console one another outside the Mount Harif military base near the city of Mitzpe Ramon in Israel's southern Negev desert, adjacent to the border with Egypt, on June 3. (Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images) | | | Three Israeli soldiers and an Egyptian policeman killed in rare border crossing incident
CNN “IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Israel was investigating the incident in conjunction with the Egyptian armed forces. He did not directly address the Egyptian contention that the Egyptian policeman had entered Israel in pursuit of drug smugglers and that the three IDF troops were killed in a gunfight resulting from chasing the drug smugglers.” | | | | | |  | Image: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan… May 25, 2023. (Sputnik/Ilya Pitalev/Kremlin, via Reuters)
| | | Russia's Putin sees prospects of settlement between Azerbaijan, Armenia Reuters “Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (May 25) said that despite difficulties, he felt Azerbaijan and Armenia were moving towards a settlement to their decades-old conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Putin made his remarks in a televised Kremlin meeting with leaders of both nations.” | | | | | | | |
| | CMEP's Bulletin is a weekly round-up of news from the Middle East and represents an array of perspectives on the issues we cover. CMEP does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in the articles, and they do not speak on CMEP's behalf. | | | | Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
110 Maryland Ave NE, Suite 505 | Washington, District of Columbia 20002
(202) 543-1222 | info@cmep.org | | Please note our offices have changed locations to 110 Maryland Ave NE #505 | | | | | |
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