On July 19, 2024, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) signed on to a demand letter to President Biden, asking that the Biden Administration take immediate action for disabled Palestinians.
President Biden has the power to demand that Israel eliminate the “dual-use” label on medical-related supplies, assistive aids, and accessible technology like eyeglasses, wheelchairs, canes, and hearing aids, etc. Based on Oxfam’s analysis, Israel’s inspection process labels some humanitarian items as “dual use,” or as items that have both a civilian and military purpose. Essential medical supplies are frequently rejected from getting to those in need because of this labeling.
Access to medical-related supplies, assistive aids, and accessible technology can mean the difference between life and death, being able to flee or being trapped, living with dignity or left to suffer. Eyeglasses, wheelchairs, canes, prosthetics, walkers, crutches, incontinence pads, catheters, hearing aids and more have been lost or left behind when people were forced to flee. Without these items, people with disabilities are struggling to survive, left isolated, with no independence or sense of autonomy or dignity.
Join DREDF in demanding that President Biden use his power to change this so that Palestinians with disabilities can get basic medications and assistive technology. The deadline to sign on to the demand letter is July 26, 2024.
Share our ask for sign ons on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
Letter to Biden & Harris: Immediate Demands for Disabled Palestinians
Dear President Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris,
As our nation marks July as Disability Pride Month and, this year, the 34th anniversary of the ADA, we cannot celebrate while you are using our tax dollars to fund Israel’s mass bombardment, expulsion, disablement, starvation, and genocide of the Palestinian people. Compounding these atrocities, the US is allowing Israel to withhold life-saving aid, including assistive technology and medication, from Palestinians through the “dual use” designation.
As one of your largest voting blocks in this country, we, Americans with disabilities and our allies, immediately demand the following:
- We demand the U.S. use all its diplomatic and financial leverage to ensure the Israeli government and military, including the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), eliminate the “dual-use” label on medical-related supplies, assistive aids, and accessible technology like eyeglasses, wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and hearing aids.
- We demand that you facilitate the prioritization of entry of assistive technology and medication into Gaza immediately. (See appendix)
- We demand that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State (DOS) ensure that all U.S. aid will prioritize disability-inclusive and accessible goods and services permanently. This must include Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and all countries with Palestinian refugees. (See appendix)
- We demand that the United States Mission to the United Nations (USUN) and USAID use their power in the humanitarian and donor community (see appendix) and within the U.S. private sector to invest in disability efforts that prioritize an inclusive, accessible, and equitable approach to aiding Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction.
- We demand that the U.S. pressure all public and private institutions and organizations to hire Palestinians and Arabs with disabilities and their representative organizations and engage disability-inclusive humanitarian experts to lead the response, recovery, and reconstruction. (See appendix)
As disabled people representing a diversity of religious and racial backgrounds, our specific demands build upon the U.S. and global movements for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, for the end of arms sales to Israel, for the release of all Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages, for an end to settler violence and illegal settlements in the West Bank, for an end to the Israeli occupation and apartheid, and for Palestinian freedom, self-determination, and a complete restoration of Palestinian life and state.
Palestinians with disabilities face immeasurable trauma and access-related barriers under this US-funded genocidal war. This includes those who were disabled before October 7, 2023 and all who have since become and are becoming disabled. Evacuation is not an option for so many. Disabled Palestinians who are able to evacuate have their assistive devices lost, destroyed, or left behind. For those newly injured and sick with cancer, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses, there is no medical treatment available. There is no morphine or anesthesia for amputations or any medical procedures. Language and communication access is also extremely limited. Additionally, the physical, psychological, and psychosocial trauma being inflicted on the entire population is a catastrophic mental health crisis.
When the needs of people with disabilities are met, here in the U.S. or abroad, all of society benefits. Centering the needs of Palestinians with disabilities will benefit everyone in the region, including Israelis with and without disabilities.
President and Vice President, we implore you to pressure Israel to eliminate the “dual use” designation, to allow life-saving assistive technology and medication for Palestinians into Gaza, and to ensure disability-led and inclusive aid and reconstruction are prioritized. It is your duty to protect and promote the rights of all people with disabilities in the U.S. and worldwide. This is enshrined in U.S. law and U.S. foreign policy.
Sincerely,
[Sign on Groups/Organizations]
See appendix click here.
To contact letter signatories: disabilitydemands@gmail.com