Washington, DC — Palestinian American advocates gathered at the United States Capitol for a day of lobbying, urging lawmakers to oppose a newly proposed $2.8 billion arms transfer to Israel reportedly approved by the administration of former President Donald Trump.
The event, organized by Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action), brought together more than 300 constituents from across the country who met with the offices of over 100 US lawmakers. The advocates pushed for legislative initiatives addressing the ongoing conflict in Gaza, surging Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, and the use of immigration laws to suppress Palestinian advocacy in the United States.
Jenna Escheik, a 19-year-old from Virginia, met with lawmakers and staffers, including Democratic Senator Tim Kaine and Republican Representative Rob Wittman. She emphasized that the advocacy is not just about international policy, but about domestic values. “I think the main point that we’re trying to get across to every single office is that we’re all proud to be American, and we all have our taxpayer dollars that we just don’t want to see going to wars,” Escheik, who is originally from the West Bank, stated.
Similarly, Yaseen Shaikh, a 22-year-old traveling with a delegation from Cleveland, Ohio, met with the offices of Republican Senator Jon Husted and Senator Bernie Moreno. Both senators have consistently opposed legislative efforts to restrict arms sales to Israel. Shaikh expressed optimism about the potential for grassroots advocacy to drive policy changes, stating, “As I stand among my peers here, among people who I stand on their shoulders, I can only feel hopeful and optimistic that we will make a difference and that change will come… We just have to be vehicles for that.”
Palestinian Rights ‘Catching Up’ with Lawmakers
For decades, successive US presidential administrations and Congress have resisted calls to condition military aid to Israel, even as the conflict in Gaza approaches its third anniversary. To date, nearly 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, with hundreds more lost since the implementation of a ceasefire agreement in October 2025.
The recent $2.8 billion military package approved by the Trump administration reportedly includes 20,000 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs and 20,000 BLU-117 munitions—weapons previously linked to severe civilian casualties in Gaza. Several Democrats have already pledged to block the transfer, with Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, successfully slowing congressional clearance of the package last week.
Osama Abu Irshaid, executive director of AJP Action, argued that the proposed weapons package contradicts shifting public opinion, which increasingly favors conditioning US military aid to Israel. “I think now we are functioning within this context, where what happens in Palestine, the genocide that took place and continues to take place, what the terrorist settlers are doing in the West Bank, what the US and Israel are doing in the Middle East is catching up with us here, and we’re paying a price,” Irshaid noted.
Despite persistent, entrenched support for arming Israel among certain factions of the Democratic Party, advocates point to what they view as a historic shift in recent months. In July of last year, 26 Democratic senators voted to block certain arms transfers to Israel, marking the first time a majority of the chamber’s Democrats did so. Earlier this year, similar resolutions achieved a record 40 votes in the Senate, though they ultimately failed to pass. Meanwhile, the “Block the Bombs Act” in the House of Representatives, which proposes a partial arms embargo against Israel, garnered 81 co-sponsors as of August.
Additionally, 22 Democratic senators introduced a resolution last week calling on the US Department of State to investigate violence committed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank, where at least nine US citizens have been killed in recent years.
Abu Irshaid remains hopeful about making progress within the Republican Party, despite its current internal divisions over US support for Israel. A December poll by the IMEU Policy Project revealed that a majority of Republicans under the age of 45 prefer presidential candidates in 2028 who support reducing taxpayer-funded weapons shipments to Israel. “I think what we’re seeing now is that the dam within the Republican Party is cracking,” Irshaid said. “But the question is, ‘What is after Donald Trump when Donald Trump no longer owns the Republican Party, owns the MAGA movement?’ I think that’s when you will see more cracks taking place.”
‘The Same System’
In addition to military aid, advocates highlighted what they described as the Trump administration’s use of immigration law to stifle pro-Palestine advocacy. Among their policy priorities is reforming language in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which the administration has cited in efforts to deport individuals whose presence in the US is deemed to have “adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, spoke at the Capitol after being detained by ICE in April and released in June. His legal team alleges that the long-term US resident was targeted based on a coerced confession made when he was detained by Israeli forces in his youth. Sarsour, who still faces deportation proceedings, stated that his ICE detention mirrored his experience in Israeli custody. “Those criminals that [detained me], they still exist. The same criminals that destroy Gaza, they killed tens of [thousands] of children and women, and men and family members,” he said.
Leqaa Kordia, who was targeted by immigration enforcement agents following a wave of pro-Palestine protests on university campuses in 2024, described the “dehumanization” of her 368 days in ICE detention. She drew a direct parallel between her experience and the treatment of Palestinians. “And then it hit me that…the same system that threw me in an ICE jail is the same system that funds and arms the military prisons in Israel,” Kordia, who also continues to face deportation proceedings, told the gathering. “The same dehumanisation logic that allowed a guard to humiliate me allows the Israeli soldier to kidnap Palestinians and throw them into the shadows. The same power that keeps my case in limbo is the same power that sends billions of US tax dollars in bombs and weapons to fuel the Palestinian genocide.”
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