On December 19, more than 500 federal taxpayers from 10 northern California counties filed an unprecedented class-action lawsuit against their congressional representatives. Seth Donnelly et. al. v. Mike Thompson, and Jared Huffman charges that the defendants — two Democratic congressmembers — illegally abused their tax and spend authority on April 20, 2024, when they voted for the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which authorized $26.38 billion in military aid to Israel.
Unfortunately, U.S. courts at present do not see any Palestinian rights that our Congressmembers have any duty to respect, to paraphrase an infamous Supreme Court decision. The original lawsuit (still well-worth a read) was dismissed in February 2025. The plaintiffs have since turned to the international community to get some accountability from our members of Congress. See the story here by Leon Kunstenaar.
DAWN has also taken action to hold U.S. officials accountable.
The International Criminal Court (“ICC”) should investigate former U.S. officials President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for their accessorial roles in aiding and abetting, as well as intentionally contributing to, Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, said DAWN in a 172-page communication to the ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan made on January 24, 2025.
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