[Peace] action of the week invitation / no settlements in the West Bank

[Karen Medina]

AWARE selects a current issue in the news to act on -- to contact our
representatives. We then invite the Peace list to join in on the
action.

This week, the current issue in the news is Israel's illegal
settlements in the West Bank Palestinian territory, Vice President
Biden's and President Obama's stated support for Israel.

Jewish Voice for Peace, the counter group to AIPAC (America's
Pro-Israel Lobby: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee), has
set up a web form where you can let Obama and Congress know that AIPAC
doesn't speak for us, and that the time is over for unconditional aid
to support settlement expansion and human rights violations.

Send a letter to Congress and Obama now (U.S. residents click here:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2643
Internationals click here:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2652
)

------- below is the message from Jewish Voice for Peace -----------

Tell Congress and Obama NO to unconditional support, NO to settlements.

Last night at AIPAC's gala dinner in Washington DC, Israeli Prime
Minister Bibi Netanyahu defended settlement expansion in Jerusalem by
insisting on the historic right of Jews to build anywhere in the city,
including in its eastern section.

Today he will meet with U.S. President Obama and say the same.

But Netanyahu is wrong, and Secretary of State Clinton and President
Obama, who have called for a settlement freeze as the first step
towards a true peace, are right. East Jerusalem was illegally annexed
in 1967. The 1,600 Jewish-only housing units the government has
approved for construction are illegal according to international law.

Send a letter to Congress and Obama now (U.S. residents click here:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2643
Internationals click here:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2652
)

Our message for AIPAC, the Israeli government, and all those opposed
to the U.S. call for a settlement freeze:

Don't settle! Not anywhere in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Our message to Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Congress:

Don't settle for anything less than Israel's full compliance with
international law. Words aren't enough. Withhold aid until Israel ends
settlement expansion and human rights violations and follows the law.

Our message to you:

Don't settle down, don't calm down, don't quiet down just because some
people think it's OK to take Palestinian land at will. Settlements are
wrong. They're illegal, they're immoral, and they enable thousands of
Jews to live on land that doesn't belong to them. Settlements come at
the price of Palestinian lives and livelihoods, Israeli security, and
American lives, as General Petraeus stated last week. Settlements are
incompatible with a just peace, and they're made possible by U.S.
support.

Let Obama and Congress know that AIPAC doesn't speak for us, and that
the time is over for unconditional aid to support settlement expansion
and human rights violations. It's the only way we'll ever achieve a
lasting peace.

Thank you,

Cecilie Surasky
Jewish Voice for Peace


P.S.  Obama and team can also look in their backyard to see another
source of support for illegal settlement expansion that can be
stopped: the network of tax-exempt US-based charities which send
millions of dollars to fund illegal settlements in places like Hebron
and East Jerusalem.

JVP has just released a new policy paper on settlement funding. Click
here to read it now:
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_1275.shtml

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