“My colleague and I pushed over and over again for accountability with absolutely no forward movement, no transparency, no insistence that the US protect, at the very minimum, its own citizens against Israeli government forces that have now killed eight US citizens and countless others with impunity,” Jayapal said.
Jayapal was speaking at a press conference alongside the families of Rachel Corrie, Sayfollah “Saif” Musallet, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Aysenur Ezgi Aygi and Mohammed Ibrahim, all US citizens who were killed either by Israeli forces or settlers.
Eight US citizens have been killed, primarily in the last three years, and it is the first time that the families have joined forces to demand a US-led investigation and accountability into their deaths.
The US government has so far failed to investigate the deaths of those killed, and there have been no prosecutions of the Israelis behind the killings or justice for the families left behind.
Jayapal stated that she had recently spoken to the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and he promised to demand answers and accountability, but has failed to do this so far.
“The American people and these families deserve answers, and the US government has to use our leverage to ensure that the Israeli government cannot kill our citizens and cannot continue to commit genocide of Palestinians,” Jayapal added, referring to the genocide in Gaza that has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians so far.
Jayapal noted the US had leverage as the most prominent backer of military aid to Israel and needed to demand that Israel’s government “comply with international law”.
Representatives Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Rashida Tlaib, Mark Pocan, Summer Lee, Lateefah Simon and Delia Ramirez were also at the press conference and have been pushing for accountability.
