Draft backed by over a dozen Democrats says Palestinian rights ‘as a people and nation’ must be urgently upheld
More than a dozen Democratic members of Congress have signed on to a letter that urges the Trump administration to recognise Palestinian statehood, in a draft copy shared with the Guardian.
Congressman Ro Khanna of California is leading the letter addressed to the president and secretary of state Marco Rubio, and is joined by several House progressives, including Greg Casar of Texas, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, and Maxwell Frost of Florida.
“This tragic moment has highlighted for the world the long overdue need to recognize Palestinian self-determination,” the letter reads. “Just as the lives of Palestinians must be immediately protected, so too must their rights as a people and nation urgently be acknowledged and upheld.”
The letter comes as human rights experts sound the alarm over the unfolding famine in Gaza, and as some of Israel’s key western allies, including France and Canada, have recently pledged to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly.
