For Immediate Release                                                               Contact:

July 30, 2014                                                                                  Roslyn Singer, 212-613-8227

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, applauded the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate for unanimously passing bipartisan resolutions condemning Hamas’ use of civilians as human shields and reaffirming Israel’s right to defend itself.

Sponsored by Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Ted Deutch (D-FL) in the House and by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in the Senate, the resolutions also called on the international community to condemn Hamas’ use of human shields; placed responsibility for the rocket attacks against Israel on Hamas and other terrorist organizations; expressed condolences for the families of the innocent victims on both sides of the conflict; and supported Palestinian civilians who reject Hamas and all forms of terrorism. In addition, the House resolution condemned Hamas’ repeated refusals to accept a ceasefire with Israel; supported efforts to permanently demilitarize the Gaza Strip; and condemned the UN Human Rights Council’s biased commission of inquiry into Israel’s Gaza operations. The Senate resolution called on Mahmoud Abbas to condemn the use of innocent civilians as human shields by Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

In a video statement, Representatives Ros-Lehtinen and Deutch called the use of civilians as human shields “deplorable.” They thanked the members of the Orthodox Union for supporting the resolution and urged viewers to contact their U.S. Representatives to ask them to support the resolution. The video can be viewed here.

“Using civilians as human shields is a violation of international law and is something that everyone—no matter what they believe or where they’re from—should oppose,” said Rep. Deutch in the video.

“The resolutions are a powerful statement against Hamas and all terrorist organizations that consider the use of human shields an acceptable practice,” said Nathan Diament, Executive Director for Public Policy for the Orthodox Union. “Using civilians as a tool in warfare is a cowardly act that must be condemned by all governments and human rights organizations.”

“We applaud Representatives Ros-Lehtinen and Deutch and Senators Cruz and Gillibrand for sponsoring the resolutions and for leading Congress to condemn unanimously the use of human shields. We hope that the international community—particularly the UN Human Rights Council—will follow suit and denounce this true violation of international law,” said Diament.

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The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, applauded the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate for unanimously passing bipartisan resolutions condemning Hamas’ use of civilians as human shields and reaffirming Israel’s right to defend itself.