Terrified child in Gaza City following Israeli airstrike.
Israel & Palestine: Stop the Carnage! Cease Demolitions and Evictions.
Campaign for Peace Disarmament and Common Security / Statement of CPDCS Board & MoveOn Foreign Policy Team
(May 15, 2021) — The world is confronting yet another round of death and destruction in the Middle East with the ever-present danger of regional Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalating into wider conflagration.
Ending the carnage is a moral urgency underscored by images of dead, wounded and traumatized children. The fighting must stop — now.
In seeking that goal, the role of the United States government is crucial, given its political influence in the region and as the prime supplier of weapons. United States citizens must demand that our government immediately call for a cease-fire, for a moratorium on evictions of Palestinians from their homes, and for suspension of aid to Israel aimed at ending the fighting.
We urge that the White House be flooded with such demands. Members of Congress should be called upon to raise their voices for a cessation of the fighting. Every moment that the bloodshed goes on constitutes an incalculable danger of wider war and an impermissible violation of human rights. We must all act now to end the catastrophic death and destruction
1. End the carnage in Palestine and Israel. Ceasefire now!
2. Immediately send the strongest possible diplomatic message to Israel to desist from its plans
to demolish Palestinian homes in Al-Bustan and evict Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah;
3. Publicly reiterate that US policy opposes Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and that East Jerusalem is Occupied Territory under international law.
4. Undertake an expeditious review of previous Congressional requests that the State Department investigate whether Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes with US weapons violates the Arms Export Control Act (AECA);
5. If Israel proceeds with its plans to demolish Palestinian homes in Al-Bustan and evict Palestinian residents from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, then the US Embassy to Israel should send observers to document Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians, including details on the military units involved in these operations and the usage of any US weapons for purposes of oversight and accountability regarding Leahy Law and AECA violations
For more information: https://www.cpdcs.org; JGerson80@gmail.com
Campaign for Peace Disarmament and Common Security, 143 Charles Street, Fitchburg, MA 01420.
Petition to Biden:
Call for a Ceasefire and an End to Forced Evictions of Palestinians
Israeli airstrike kills a family of ten in Gaza refugee camp.
MoveOn Foreign Policy Team / MoveOn Civic Action
The Petition:
President Biden must take urgent action
to de-escalate the situation in Palestine and Israel,
and secure an immediate ceasefire.
(May 15, 2021) — In the past week, graphic videos and images of the violence engulfing Israel and Palestine have circulated around the world, capturing international attention as the threat of increased military action looms. The violence has already led to dozens of deaths, including children.
President Biden campaigned on advancing human rights and a diplomacy-first foreign policy to restore America’s leadership around the world. In addition to brokering a ceasefire, the Biden administration must address the root causes of this decades-long crisis including calling on the Israeli government to put an immediate stop to the forced evictions and displacement of Palestinian families in order to achieve a just solution grounded in human dignity.
Devastating videos of Israeli forces attacking Muslim Palestinians praying in Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan began to proliferate on social media late last week. In one video, Palestinian women in the mosque are seen screaming and running from stun grenades fired by Israeli soldiers. This is in one of the holiest places of worship in one of the holiest months for Muslims around the world. Israeli forces injured hundreds of Palestinians, including medics treating injuries nearby, and the Israeli government has used airstrikes, rockets, and rubberized steel bullets to inflict violence against any resistance from the Palestinians.
These troubling videos followed the decision of the Israeli government to forcibly evict families from the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. Although the Israeli Supreme Court stepped in to pause the evictions, this is part of a larger decades-long pattern of forced evictions, home demolitions, and displacement of Palestinians.
The violence that started in Jerusalem has continued and spread, leading to massive unrest in the region and the worst escalation of violence in seven years between Israel and Palestine. Potential increased military action will only exacerbate the current situation, already with daily air strikes by the Israeli military in Gaza, Hamas launching over a thousand rockets to Southern and Central Israel, and growing violence on the streets plaguing communities across the region.
Morally courageous American leaders, including a slew of members of Congress, have already come out in support of the Palestinian people and called for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli policies of occupation and displacement of Palestinian families.
The Biden administration must immediately do the same by leveraging its longstanding relationship with the Israeli government to call for an immediate ceasefire. Instead, Biden and top cabinet officials seemingly offered support to the Israeli government to continue its policies precipitating the current crisis.
In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden offered “unwavering support” for Israel’s “right to defend itself,” and made no mention of Netanyahu’s responsibility in inflaming and perpetuating violence as a political ploy to distract from his own diminishing power to govern. The United States even blocked the UN Security Council’s attempts to reduce tensions between Israel and Palestinians.
With nearly $4 billion a year in US military aid to Israel, the Biden administration has a responsibility to hold the Israeli government accountable. Before more violence ensues, the US government must denounce the recent violence and call on the Israeli government to stop forced evictions, mass arrests, and other policies meant to harm and escalate tensions. We urge the Biden administration to forcefully advocate for an immediate ceasefire before many more civilians — who will disproportionately be Palestinian — lose their lives.
THE PETITION
Military action will never bring about a just and peaceful resolution between Israelis and Palestinians. President Biden must take action to immediately de-escalate the situation, broker a ceasefire, and call on the Israeli government to put an immediate stop to the forced evictions and displacement of Palestinian families. Many more are likely to die if the situation does not de-escalate immediately.
