Who says that Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal? The International Court of Justice, the countries pledged to uphold the Geneva Convention, the International Red Cross, the United Nations General Assembly, the Security Council – and the U.S. Government. Every administration, Democratic and Republican, since Lyndon Johnson has declared the Israeli settlements either illegal or “illegitimate” and “obstacles to peace.”
There are now 800,000 Israelis living in settlements on Palestinian land beyond the internationally-recognized Green Line—100,000 more than when President Obama took office. The settlements continue to expand.
A resolution (below) has been submitted to the State Democratic Committee, affirming this simple truth and supporting President Obama’s efforts to spotlight the Israeli settlements as obstacles to progress toward peace in Israel-Palestine.
Please act right away to contact any State Committee member you know, or who represents your State Senate district, to tell them to vote YES on this resolution.
State Committee members represent each State Senate district. A list of State Committee members, by senate district and with contact information, can be found here: http://www.massdems.org/index.
If unsure of your State Senate district or senator, you can look it up here: http://wheredoivotema.com/bal/
RESOLUTION ON PEACE AND SECURITY FOR ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS
There will be no end to the conflict in Israel and Palestine unless there is a negotiated agreement in conformity with international law and the rights of both peoples. Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace and security.
In advancing the pursuit of peace, we affirm our support for the long-standing US policy of the State Department* and every administration from President Lyndon Johnson to President Barack Obama, that Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank are obstacles to peace.
Therefore we the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, call upon our members of Congress to express their support for President Obama’s opposition to Israeli settlements in the occupied territories in the pursuit of a negotiated peace, and, accordingly, ask the State Committee to transmit a copies of said resolution to their offices.
*As the US State Department declared on July 27, 2016: We strongly oppose settlement activity, which is corrosive to the cause of peace. These steps by Israeli authorities are the latest examples of what appears to be a steady acceleration of settlement activity that is systematically undermining the prospects for a two-state solution… this is part of an ongoing process of land seizures, settlement expansion, legalizations of outposts, and denial of Palestinian development that risk entrenching a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict. We remain troubled that Israel continues this pattern of provocative and counterproductive action, which raises serious questions about Israel’s ultimate commitment to a peaceful, negotiated settlement with the Palestinians. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/
