Post by Roberta on Jul 28, 2020 17:03:12 GMT -8
An inspiring list of endorsing organizations, to which I have just added the mighty Montrose Peace Vigil. I’m gonna print out and send to Joe!
Dear Vice President Biden,
We write to you as organizations and individuals deeply concerned about the continuing escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people and the urgent need for a different U.S. policy -- one based on the principles of equality and justice for all.
Current U.S. positions supporting, indeed enabling, Israeli government violations are out of touch with voters. A February 2020 Gallup poll found increased support for Palestinians, especially among young people. The same is true for American Jews, who are becoming more and more critical of Israeli government policies and more and more supportive of Palestinian rights.
U.S. foreign policy on Israel/Palestine should be rooted in the same values and principles that are supposed to guide U.S. policy throughout the rest of the world -- respecting human rights and international law, promoting the peaceful resolution of conflicts, supporting diplomacy over military intervention, and utilizing multilateralism and multilateral institutions for dispute resolution. The United States should affirm the right of every human being to live with dignity, equality, freedom, and respect for human rights -- and that should include Palestinians and Israelis.
The United States has directly intervened in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for nearly 30 years (since the 1991 Madrid Conference). It has promoted versions of a two-state solution to that conflict for even longer. It is time to acknowledge that those efforts have failed -- primarily because of U.S. failures to act as an honest broker. Longtime U.S. diplomat, Aaron David Miller, central to the process over several administrations of both parties, said the U.S. role was that of "Israel's lawyer." Providing Israel’s government with unlimited diplomatic protection and massive military financing has enabled the country to entrench its occupation, expand its illegal settlements, impose a 13-year-long siege and wage three wars against Gaza, pass laws that officially deny equal rights to Israeli citizens who are not Jewish, all under the veneer of peacemaking.
A new policy with any chance of success requires the United States to abandon its insistence on being the sole mediator of the conflict. The United Nations, as well as regional actors such as the European Union and the Arab League, should be involved as full and equal partners in a process aimed at ensuring full equality and rights for all people now living in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
What many American voters, including many Jewish voters, young voters, and voters of color are looking for in presidential candidates includes:
* explicit opposition to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and its unlawful blockade (abetted by Egypt) of the Gaza Strip;
* recognition of Israel’s obligations toward the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, a protected population, according to international law;
* support for conditioning U.S. military funding to Israel on an end to Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights and adherence to all relevant U.S. laws, including the Arms Export Control Act and the Leahy Law;
* support for H.R. 2407, the “Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act,” sponsored by Representative Betty McCollum, to ensure that no U.S. dollars contribute to Israel’s a military detention, interrogation, abuse and/or other ill-treatment of Palestinian children;
* calling on Israel’s government to repeal the Jewish Nation-State Basic Law and to ensure that Palestinian citizens of Israel and other non-Jewish citizens in the country enjoy equal rights with Jewish citizens by passing a basic law guaranteeing those rights;
* opposition to the use of U.S. security assistance against protected populations, including in Gaza, and calling on Israel’s government to protect civilians from settler violence;
* support for Palestinian refugee rights consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions;
* promise to relocate the U.S. Embassy back to Tel Aviv until such time as the international status of East Jerusalem has changed from its current status as occupied territory;
* a promise to provide full U.S. cooperation with the International Criminal Court’s investigation into alleged war crimes committed by all sides in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip;
* rejection of U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over any territories now occupied, absent an internationally recognized final agreement with the Palestinians.
* a promise to reduce regional tensions and enhance regional stability by restoring U.S. support for and participation in the Iranian nuclear agreement (The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
We ask that you take these issues to heart and revise your policy positions accordingly. We look forward to communicating with you and your campaigns.
Sincerely,
ORGANIZATIONS:
Action Corps
Alliance for Global Justice
Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
American Friends Service Committee
American Muslims for Palestine
Asian American Advocacy Fund
Baltimore Nonviolence Center
Bay Area Women in Black
Cafe Palestina
Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
Center for International Policy
Central Pacific Conference Palestine Israel Network
Chicago Area Peace Action (CAPA)
Chicago Committee Against War and Racism
Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy
CODEPINK
Christian Peacemaker Teams- Palestine
College of Charleston Catholic Students Association
Community of Living Traditions at Stony Point Center
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Cultures of Resistance
Demand Progress
Dorchester People for Peace (Boston)
Episcopal Bishop's Committee for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land ( Diocese of Olympia)
Episcopal Peace Fellowship - Palestine Israel Network
Fellowship of Reconciliation - USA
FEMENA
Feminist Foreign Policy Project
Florida Peace Alliance
Fox Valley Citizens for Peace & Justice
Freedom Forward
Friends of Palestine Wisconsin
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition
Global Exchange
Green Mountain Solidarity With Palestine
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
Historians for Peace and Democracy
Holy Land Ministry at Spirit of Grace
If Not Now
Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center, Inc.
Institute for Policy Studies, New Internationalism Project
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Islamophobia Studies Center
Jerusalem Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
Jews Against Anti-Muslim Racism
Jewish Voice for Peace Action
Jewish Voice for Peace - Hudson Valley
Jews Say No!
Joining Hands for Justice, Palestine/Israel
Justice For All
Just Foreign Policy
Just World Educational
Kairos Puget Sound Coalition
Kairos USA
KPSC
Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land
Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
MADRE
Mass Peace Action
MennoPIN
Methodist Federation for Social Action
Middle East Children's Alliance
Middle East Justice and Peace Group of South Central PA
Middle East Peace & Justice Coalition of Western Massachusetts
Middle East Ministry of All Saints in Pasadena CA
MidEast:JustPeace
Muslim Peace Fellowship
Middle East Peace & Justice Coalition of Western Massachusetts
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Lawyers Guild - Palestine Subcommittee
Nonviolence International
Northwest Coast Presbytery Israel Palestine Mission
Ollin Women International
Pace e Bene and Campaign Nonviolence
Palestine / Israel Network (PIN) of Edmonds / Lynnwood
Palestinian American Coalition San Francisco
Palestinian American Counsel - Chicago
Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace
Palestinian Media Center In Europe
PAX Christi USA
Peace Action
Peace Justice And sustainability NOW!
Peacehome Campaigns
PEACEWORKERS
Peregrine Forum of Wisconsin
Popular Education Project
Presbyterian Church, USA, Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN)
Progressive Democrats of America PDA
Quaker Palestine Israel Network
Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
Rethinking Foreign Policy, Inc.
Roots Action
Sisters of St Francis
Students Against Hindutva Ideology (SAHI)
Students for Justice in Palestine, UMass Amherst
Texas Coalition for Human Rights
The Oakland Institute
The Resistance Center
Traprock Center for Peace and Justice
Tree of Life Educational Fund
Tzedek Chicago
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East
United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network
United for Peace and Justice
United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)
United Methodists' Holy Land Task Force
United Voices
University of the Poor
U.S. Boat to Gaza
Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land
Vermonters for Justice in Palestine
Veterans for Peace
Veterans For Peace Chapter 014
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Voices For Peace in the Middle East - Whatcom County WA
We Are Not Numbers
WESPAC Foundation
Western Mass CODEPINK
Western New York Peace Center
Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
Win Without War
Women Against Military Madness
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) US
World Beyond War
World Beyond War - Central Florida
Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
Dear Vice President Biden,
We write to you as organizations and individuals deeply concerned about the continuing escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people and the urgent need for a different U.S. policy -- one based on the principles of equality and justice for all.
Current U.S. positions supporting, indeed enabling, Israeli government violations are out of touch with voters. A February 2020 Gallup poll found increased support for Palestinians, especially among young people. The same is true for American Jews, who are becoming more and more critical of Israeli government policies and more and more supportive of Palestinian rights.
U.S. foreign policy on Israel/Palestine should be rooted in the same values and principles that are supposed to guide U.S. policy throughout the rest of the world -- respecting human rights and international law, promoting the peaceful resolution of conflicts, supporting diplomacy over military intervention, and utilizing multilateralism and multilateral institutions for dispute resolution. The United States should affirm the right of every human being to live with dignity, equality, freedom, and respect for human rights -- and that should include Palestinians and Israelis.
The United States has directly intervened in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for nearly 30 years (since the 1991 Madrid Conference). It has promoted versions of a two-state solution to that conflict for even longer. It is time to acknowledge that those efforts have failed -- primarily because of U.S. failures to act as an honest broker. Longtime U.S. diplomat, Aaron David Miller, central to the process over several administrations of both parties, said the U.S. role was that of "Israel's lawyer." Providing Israel’s government with unlimited diplomatic protection and massive military financing has enabled the country to entrench its occupation, expand its illegal settlements, impose a 13-year-long siege and wage three wars against Gaza, pass laws that officially deny equal rights to Israeli citizens who are not Jewish, all under the veneer of peacemaking.
A new policy with any chance of success requires the United States to abandon its insistence on being the sole mediator of the conflict. The United Nations, as well as regional actors such as the European Union and the Arab League, should be involved as full and equal partners in a process aimed at ensuring full equality and rights for all people now living in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
What many American voters, including many Jewish voters, young voters, and voters of color are looking for in presidential candidates includes:
* explicit opposition to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and its unlawful blockade (abetted by Egypt) of the Gaza Strip;
* recognition of Israel’s obligations toward the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, a protected population, according to international law;
* support for conditioning U.S. military funding to Israel on an end to Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights and adherence to all relevant U.S. laws, including the Arms Export Control Act and the Leahy Law;
* support for H.R. 2407, the “Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act,” sponsored by Representative Betty McCollum, to ensure that no U.S. dollars contribute to Israel’s a military detention, interrogation, abuse and/or other ill-treatment of Palestinian children;
* calling on Israel’s government to repeal the Jewish Nation-State Basic Law and to ensure that Palestinian citizens of Israel and other non-Jewish citizens in the country enjoy equal rights with Jewish citizens by passing a basic law guaranteeing those rights;
* opposition to the use of U.S. security assistance against protected populations, including in Gaza, and calling on Israel’s government to protect civilians from settler violence;
* support for Palestinian refugee rights consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions;
* promise to relocate the U.S. Embassy back to Tel Aviv until such time as the international status of East Jerusalem has changed from its current status as occupied territory;
* a promise to provide full U.S. cooperation with the International Criminal Court’s investigation into alleged war crimes committed by all sides in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip;
* rejection of U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over any territories now occupied, absent an internationally recognized final agreement with the Palestinians.
* a promise to reduce regional tensions and enhance regional stability by restoring U.S. support for and participation in the Iranian nuclear agreement (The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
We ask that you take these issues to heart and revise your policy positions accordingly. We look forward to communicating with you and your campaigns.
Sincerely,
ORGANIZATIONS:
Action Corps
Alliance for Global Justice
Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
American Friends Service Committee
American Muslims for Palestine
Asian American Advocacy Fund
Baltimore Nonviolence Center
Bay Area Women in Black
Cafe Palestina
Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
Center for International Policy
Central Pacific Conference Palestine Israel Network
Chicago Area Peace Action (CAPA)
Chicago Committee Against War and Racism
Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy
CODEPINK
Christian Peacemaker Teams- Palestine
College of Charleston Catholic Students Association
Community of Living Traditions at Stony Point Center
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Cultures of Resistance
Demand Progress
Dorchester People for Peace (Boston)
Episcopal Bishop's Committee for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land ( Diocese of Olympia)
Episcopal Peace Fellowship - Palestine Israel Network
Fellowship of Reconciliation - USA
FEMENA
Feminist Foreign Policy Project
Florida Peace Alliance
Fox Valley Citizens for Peace & Justice
Freedom Forward
Friends of Palestine Wisconsin
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition
Global Exchange
Green Mountain Solidarity With Palestine
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
Historians for Peace and Democracy
Holy Land Ministry at Spirit of Grace
If Not Now
Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center, Inc.
Institute for Policy Studies, New Internationalism Project
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Islamophobia Studies Center
Jerusalem Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
Jews Against Anti-Muslim Racism
Jewish Voice for Peace Action
Jewish Voice for Peace - Hudson Valley
Jews Say No!
Joining Hands for Justice, Palestine/Israel
Justice For All
Just Foreign Policy
Just World Educational
Kairos Puget Sound Coalition
Kairos USA
KPSC
Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land
Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
MADRE
Mass Peace Action
MennoPIN
Methodist Federation for Social Action
Middle East Children's Alliance
Middle East Justice and Peace Group of South Central PA
Middle East Peace & Justice Coalition of Western Massachusetts
Middle East Ministry of All Saints in Pasadena CA
MidEast:JustPeace
Muslim Peace Fellowship
Middle East Peace & Justice Coalition of Western Massachusetts
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Lawyers Guild - Palestine Subcommittee
Nonviolence International
Northwest Coast Presbytery Israel Palestine Mission
Ollin Women International
Pace e Bene and Campaign Nonviolence
Palestine / Israel Network (PIN) of Edmonds / Lynnwood
Palestinian American Coalition San Francisco
Palestinian American Counsel - Chicago
Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace
Palestinian Media Center In Europe
PAX Christi USA
Peace Action
Peace Justice And sustainability NOW!
Peacehome Campaigns
PEACEWORKERS
Peregrine Forum of Wisconsin
Popular Education Project
Presbyterian Church, USA, Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN)
Progressive Democrats of America PDA
Quaker Palestine Israel Network
Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
Rethinking Foreign Policy, Inc.
Roots Action
Sisters of St Francis
Students Against Hindutva Ideology (SAHI)
Students for Justice in Palestine, UMass Amherst
Texas Coalition for Human Rights
The Oakland Institute
The Resistance Center
Traprock Center for Peace and Justice
Tree of Life Educational Fund
Tzedek Chicago
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East
United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network
United for Peace and Justice
United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)
United Methodists' Holy Land Task Force
United Voices
University of the Poor
U.S. Boat to Gaza
Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land
Vermonters for Justice in Palestine
Veterans for Peace
Veterans For Peace Chapter 014
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Voices For Peace in the Middle East - Whatcom County WA
We Are Not Numbers
WESPAC Foundation
Western Mass CODEPINK
Western New York Peace Center
Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
Win Without War
Women Against Military Madness
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) US
World Beyond War
World Beyond War - Central Florida
Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation