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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=avaaz@avaaz.org href="mailto:avaaz@avaaz.org">Ricken Patel - Avaaz.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=dlj725@hughes.net
href="mailto:dlj725@hughes.net">dlj725@hughes.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, November 30, 2012 6:13 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Huuuuge Victory - UN Recognizes Palestine!!</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Avaazers, it's time to celebrate! <BR><BR>A few minutes
ago, <B>the UN voted overwhelmingly to recognise Palestine as the world's
194th state!!!</B> It’s a huge victory for the Palestinian people, for
peace, for our community, and people across the world are joining with massive
crowds in Palestine to celebrate.<BR><BR>The Palestinian people's journey to
freedom is far from over. But this is a powerful step, and our community played
a key role in it. Palestine's Ambassador to Europe said
today:<BR><BR><B><I>"Avaaz and its members across the world have played a
crucial role in persuading governments to support the Palestinian people's bid
for a state and for freedom and peace. They have stood with us throughout and
their solidarity and support will be remembered and cherished across
Palestine."</I></B> - Leila Shahid, General Palestinian Delegate to
Europe<BR><BR>
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<TD><I>Brussels Action: While EU leaders were met, THIS was
happening right outside their windows</I>
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<TD><I>Madrid Action: Avaaz members want Spain PM Rajoy to say
YES!</I> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The US and
Israeli governments, beholden to extreme lobby groups (yes, sadly even Obama has
given in), threw everything they had at crushing this vote, using financial
threats and even threatening to overthrow the Palestinian President if he went
ahead. <B>Europe was the key swing vote,</B> and under intense US pressure,
leaders were, just two weeks ago, leaning towards not supporting the Palestinian
state. Knowing the stakes, our community responded with the speed and democratic
force that we needed to win:<BR>
<UL>
<LI><B>Nearly 1.8 million of us signed the petition</B> calling for
statehood.<BR>
<LI>Thousands of us donated to fund public opinion polls across Europe --
showing that <B>a whopping 79% of Europeans supported a Palestinian
state.</B> Our polls were plastered all over the media, and repeatedly
cited in Parliamentary debates in the UK, Spain and France!<BR>
<LI>We sent <B>tens of thousands of emails, Facebook messages and Tweets
to leaders across Europe</B> and made thousands of calls to foreign
ministries and heads of state.<BR>
<LI>We unfurled a giant <B>4-storey banner outside the EU Commission in
Brussels (right) while leaders were meeting inside.</B> Then, we staged
another stunt in Madrid. Previously, we had sailed a flotilla of ships past
the UN calling for a vote. Our actions made headlines all over Europe.<BR>
<LI><B>Avaaz staff and members met with dozens and dozens of government
ministers,</B> top advisors, senior journalists, parliamentarians and thought
leaders in each of the key countries, in many cases teaming up to win over
leaders one by one through advocacy, pressure, parliamentary resolutions and
public statements, always drawing on the surge in people power behind this
cause.<BR>
<LI>We reached out to <B>key thought leaders like Stéphane Hessel, a
94-year old survivor of Nazi concentration camps,</B> and Ron Pundak, an
Israeli who played a key role in Oslo peace process, to speak out in favour of
statehood.</LI></UL>One by one, key European states broke with the US to answer
the call of justice and their peoples. In the final vote tally we got just now,
only 9 countries out of 193 have voted against! <B>France, Spain, Italy, Sweden
and most of Europe has voted for Palestine.</B><BR><BR>The US and Israel argued
first that statehood was dangerous for peace, and then, when they'd lost, that
it didn't matter and the vote was just symbolic. But if it were just symbolic
they wouldn't have done everything to try and stop it. And after years of
bad-faith negotiations and Israeli comfort with the status quo as they steadily
colonize more Palestinian land, <B>this move shows the US and Israel that if
they do not engage in good faith, the Palestinians and the world are prepared to
move forward without them</B>. It's a more balanced basis for real peace talks.
And that's the best alternative to the kind of violence we saw Israel's
government and Hamas offer in Gaza this month. <BR><BR>For decades the
Palestinian people have suffered under a stifling Israeli military dictatorship,
repressive controls on their travel and work, continual denial of their rights
and the constant threat of insecurity and violence. 65 years ago today, the UN
recognized the state of Israel, beginning a path to the establishment of a safe
home for the Jewish people. <B>Today the Palestinians take a step down the same
path, and gain a dignity in the eyes of the international community that they
have been denied for a generation. And from that dignity, we can build the
foundations of peace.</B><BR><BR>With hope and joy,<BR><BR>Ricken, Alice, Ari,
Wissam, Allison, Sam, Julien, Pascal, Wen, Pedro, Saravanan, Emma, Ben, Dalia,
Alexey, Paul, Marie, Aldine, Luca, Jamie, Morgan and the whole Avaaz team.
<BR><BR>PS Here are some sources - The <A
href="http://news.yahoo.com/un-vote-recognizes-state-palestine-us-objects-222714646.html">Associated
Press</A> covers today's victory, the <A
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/19/palestinian-statehood-wins-european-backing?INTCMP=SRCH">Guardian</A>
covers our polling two weeks ago, Avaaz's <A
href="http://en.avaaz.org/1170/see-who-voted-for-palestine">Daily Briefing</A>
provides a map of the vote result, and <A
href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/germany-backtracks-on-palestinian-bid-israeli-official-we-lost-europe.premium-1.481392">Haaretz</A>
describes Israel's response.<BR><BR><BR><IMG border=0
src="http://open.avaaz.org/act/open/2225053795.gif"><BR>
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