We write as pro-peace Americans who are deeply concerned about ongoing settler violence that is terrorizing the children of Umm al-Khair.

For more than three months, extremist settlers from the neighboring settlement of Carmel have been blocking the path Umm al-Khair’s children use to reach their school with barbed wire. When residents sought help from Israeli authorities, soldiers instead fired tear gas toward the children.

Settlers are also preventing a family from accessing their own outhouse, forcing their children to knock on neighbors’ doors or walk to the community center just to use the bathroom.

No child should be prevented from safely attending school. No family should be subjected to harassment and humiliation by extremists acting with impunity.

We urge Members of Congress to sign Reps. Jamie Raskin, Rosa DeLauro, Sean Casten and Sara Jacobs’ letter calling on Prime Minister Netanyahu to remove the barbed-wire fence blocking the children’s route to school and ensure that every child in Umm al-Khair can safely access their education.

Sincerely,
The undersigned