Say No to More Military Aid to Israel

This military aid enables Israel to Occupy the West Bank and Golan Heights. It also enables Israel to secure a blockade around the Gaza that is starving the people of Gaza. In these areas Palestinians have no guaranteed civil rights protections. Respect for their rights is up to the whim of the military commander in the area. Palestinians in these areas are subject to curfews and travel restrictions. As a result Palestinians have difficulty going to work or may not be able to go to work at all. They may not have access to food or medical care. If Israel continues to receive these massive military aid packages it will continue to negotiate in bad faith. In the offer Ehud Barak made which was supposedly such a generous offer after loosing sovereignty of 78% of mandatory Palestine they were given the option of losing most of East Jerusalem. Israel would have continued to militarily control parts of the West Bank and this military control would have split the West Bank in two. The offer was for about 80% of the West Bank and a small section of east Jerusalem. On November 29, 1947 mandatory Palestine had 1.3 million Palestinians and 610,000 Jews. We must also remember that international law calls for Israel to withdraw from the land occupied after the 1967 war. This is recognized by U.N. Security council resolution 242 which was adapted unanimously by the U.N. security counsel on November 22, 1967. This makes Israel an occupier and the Palestinians the occupied. Under international law people being occupied have the right to resist their occupier through armed resistance. Still Many Palestinians have taken specific steps to speak out against using violent resistance in their struggle. Even though much violence has been committed against them by Jewish settlers and Jewish Israeli soldiers. in November 2000, Rema Hammami and Saleh Abdel Jawad publically called out for non-violence in the second Palestinian intifada. They were both Palestinian professors at Birzeit University. It was signed by over 120 fellow Palestinians professors. This while Palestinians were being systematically expelled from their homes in increasing numbers to ethnically cleans them from as much of the West Bank as possible. This occupation has also prevented Israel's neighbors from normalizing relations which would go along way to reducing hostilities in the area. Many Jews agree that the occupation should end including the majority of those living in Israel. Unfortunately, politicians don't always listen to the people they are suppose to represent. In New York state the overwhelming amount of mail urged senator Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer to vote against granting President Bush authorization to invade Iraq. Still they voted to give Bush authorization to invade Iraq. Jewish and Palestinian people will continue to work together to end the occupation. But, they need international help in forcing the Israeli government to end the occupation. Cutting military funding would send a message to Israel that it needs to negotiate in good faith. Olmert has engaged in expansion of the settlements in the occupied territories even after agreeing to freeze settlement activity. He has admitted that he was not complying to what he had agreed to. During the Oslo negotiations as the Israeli government was negotiating a treaty, settlement expansion in the occupied territories occurred at its fastest rate ever. In 2001 the Palestinian authority and the Israeli government were close to reaching an agreement in the January 2001 negotiations at Taba. Jewish Voices for Peace claims the Israeli side was the one to cut off negations. This post is mostly based on information from the Jewish Voices for Peace website. To send a message to your representatives visit U.S. Campaign To End the Occupation and click the top link labeled Take action: Votes on Military Aid to Israel Coming Soon.. The link is www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1661

<p>This military aid enables Israel to Occupy the West Bank and Golan Heights. It also enables Israel to secure a blockade around the Gaza that is starving the people of Gaza. In these areas Palestinians have no guaranteed civil rights protections. Respect for their rights is up to the whim of the military commander in the area. Palestinians in these areas are subject to curfews and travel restrictions. As a result Palestinians have difficulty going to work or may not be able to go to work at all. They may not have access to food or medical care.</p> <p>If Israel continues to receive these massive military aid packages it will continue to negotiate in bad faith. In the offer Ehud Barak made which was supposedly such a generous offer after loosing sovereignty of 78% of mandatory Palestine they were given the option of losing most of East Jerusalem. Israel would have continued to militarily control parts of the West Bank and this military control would have split the West Bank in two. The offer was for about 80% of the West Bank and a small section of east Jerusalem. On November 29, 1947 mandatory Palestine had 1.3 million Palestinians and 610,000 Jews.</p> <p>We must also remember that international law calls for Israel to withdraw from the land occupied after the 1967 war. This is recognized by U.N. Security council resolution 242 which was adapted unanimously by the U.N. security counsel on November 22, 1967. This makes Israel an occupier and the Palestinians the occupied. Under international law people being occupied have the right to resist their occupier through armed resistance. Still Many Palestinians have taken specific steps to speak out against using violent resistance in their struggle. Even though much violence has been committed against them by Jewish settlers and Jewish Israeli soldiers. in November 2000, Rema Hammami and Saleh Abdel Jawad publically called out for non-violence in the second Palestinian intifada. They were both Palestinian professors at Birzeit University. It was signed by over 120 fellow Palestinians professors. This while Palestinians were being systematically expelled from their homes in increasing numbers to ethnically cleans them from as much of the West Bank as possible. This occupation has also prevented Israel's neighbors from normalizing relations which would go along way to reducing hostilities in the area.</p> <p>Many Jews agree that the occupation should end including the majority of those living in Israel. Unfortunately, politicians don't always listen to the people they are suppose to represent. In New York state the overwhelming amount of mail urged senator Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer to vote against granting President Bush authorization to invade Iraq. Still they voted to give Bush authorization to invade Iraq. Jewish and Palestinian people will continue to work together to end the occupation. But, they need international help in forcing the Israeli government to end the occupation. </p> <p>Cutting military funding would send a message to Israel that it needs to negotiate in good faith. Olmert has engaged in expansion of the settlements in the occupied territories even after agreeing to freeze settlement activity. He has admitted that he was not complying to what he had agreed to. During the Oslo negotiations as the Israeli government was negotiating a treaty, settlement expansion in the occupied territories occurred at its fastest rate ever. In 2001 the Palestinian authority and the Israeli government were close to reaching an agreement in the January 2001 negotiations at Taba. Jewish Voices for Peace claims the Israeli side was the one to cut off negations. </p> <p>This post is mostly based on information from the Jewish Voices for Peace website.</p> <p>To send a message to your representatives visit U.S. Campaign To End the Occupation and click the top link labeled Take action: Votes on Military Aid to Israel Coming Soon.. The link is <a href="http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1661">www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1661</a></p>