[Peace-discuss] Americans for Peace Now Backs Kerry on Gaza Ceasefire

[Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss]

Americans for Peace Now Backs Kerry on Gaza Ceasefire
Robert Naiman, Daily Kos, Wednesday, July 30, 2014

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/30/1317767/-Americans-for-Peace-Now-Backs-Kerry-on-Gaza-Ceasefire

*(Revised from a piece yesterday at Huffington Post
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/stand-with-kerry-against-_b_5630989.html>
to
include the Americans for Peace Now alert
<http://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=7354#.U9kXdoBdWoo> and the page of
pro-Kerry-diplomacy tweets
<http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/kerry-gaza-twitter> that Just Foreign
Policy put up.)*

It was bad enough that Israel's government rejected
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/27/world/middleeast/28diplo-cease-fire-draft.html>
Secretary
of State John Kerry's proposal to end the violence in Gaza. Now Kerry has
been subjected to withering criticism in Israel
<http://news.yahoo.com/us-fuming-over-israeli-criticism-kerry-154747943--politics.html>for
seriously trying to end the violence.

Americans for Peace Now came out with an alert yesterday
<http://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=7354#.U9kXdoBdWoo> strongly defending
Kerry from the Israeli media attacks and strongly backing his efforts to
bring about a ceasefire.

Of course the strong "pro-Israel" language of the APN alert will not appeal
to everyone. (There's a pro- diplomacy for ceasefire alert without such
"pro-Israel" language here
<http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/kerry-stand-tall>.) For others, that
"pro-Israel, pro-peace" language is exactly the language that they want to
see, that will enable them to take action to engage. But the broader point
is this: people who want to see the U.S. pursue a more pro-peace policy in
the region need to speak up when the U.S. moves in that direction and gets
attacked by the Netanyahu amen corner.

We've seen this movie before. The Israeli government has thumbed its nose
at the Obama Administration because it believed it could count on Congress,
including Democrats, to undermine the Administration.

We know that this movie could have a different ending than the Obama
Administration backing down under Israeli pressure. If enough Americans urged
Kerry to continue to "stand tall"
<http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/kerry-stand-tall>, he would.

If that seems unrealistic to you, just think what's happened in the last
few years on U.S. policy towards Iran. The people who are now demanding
that the U.S. march in lockstep with Netanyahu on resolving the Gaza crisis
are the same people who demanded that the U.S. march in lockstep with
Netanyahu on the question of Iran's nuclear program. These people have
failed so far in their efforts to blow up the U.S. - Iran negotiations
because enough Democrats rallied behind the Administration to thwart the
efforts of the Netanyahu amen corner to sabotage diplomacy.

If we could do this on U.S. policy towards Iran, why couldn't we do this
with respect to ending the violence in Gaza and lifting the economic
blockade?

In particular, Kerry has been slammed in Israel for including Turkey and
Qatar in the negotiations
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/world/middleeast/kerry-finds-even-a-truce-in-gaza-is-hard-to-win-cease-fire-hamas.html>.
This is because including Turkey and Qatar in the negotiations is widely
seen in Israel as signifying two things: 1) indirectly bringing Hamas to
the table for negotiations to end the violence and 2) trying to lift the
economic blockade of Gaza as part of an agreement.

Many of the times we've won on moving U.S. policy towards diplomacy with
Iran in the last few years happened when we weighed in with Congress on the
side of the Obama Administration when there was a split between the
Administration and the Israeli government. That's what's happening now: a
split between the Obama Administration and the Israeli government. We need
to weigh in with Congress now
<http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/kerry-stand-tall>. If we don't weigh
in with Congress now, Netanyahu will think that he can pressure Kerry to
abandon his efforts by turning to Congress to undermine Kerry.

Take action. The Americans for Peace Now alert is here
<http://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=7354#.U9kXdoBdWoo>. The Just Foreign
Policy petition is here <http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/gaza>. Just
Foreign Policy has a page of suggested tweets in defense of Kerry's
diplomacy here <http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/kerry-gaza-twitter>.
 Take the action that suits you. But don't remain silent.

If not now, when?

*Robert Naiman is Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy
<http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/>.*

*===*
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
(202) 448-2898 x1
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