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8-25-06, 9:13 am
August 2006
Open Letter Re US Policy in the Middle East
From People in the United States Who Believe that
Only Justice Will Bring Peace
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dear Sisters and Brothers Living With War,
We write to you in anguish, to express what cannot possibly be contained in words. We need a new language to speak about what humanity means and still can mean, what our humanity must create in this danger.
We send our solidarity, our commitment, our love. We write to let you know that many in this country are organizing, educating, protesting, and engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience to change US policy in the Middle East.
We are opposed to and greatly saddened by indiscriminate attacks on civilians, whether Lebanese, Palestinians, Iraqis, or Israelis, and the horrific death, destruction, and displacement that is taking place. We believe that Israel's attacks following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbullah on July 12 and an Israeli soldier by Hamas and other Palestinian groups on June 25 were vastly disproportionate and are in no way commensurate with a right to self-defense as defined under international law. Israel's attacks on Gaza have created a humanitarian catastrophe, as has its devastation of Lebanon's infrastructure and of whole Lebanese neighborhoods and villages.
We reaffirm that Israel's occupation and siege of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, its dispossession of the Palestinians in 1948 and continued denial of their human rights, occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights, occupation of Lebanon, and imprisonment of Palestinians and Lebanese, are among the root causes of this conflict. Without the implementation of international law applicable to this conflict there will never be peace.
We strongly oppose US military and political support to Israel's violations of international law, and we strongly oppose the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, also in violation of international law.
We are women and men of all ages, from all parts of our country, all professions, all faiths, all races, all national backgrounds. We are not reflected in the mainstream media because of the stronghold of fear and lack of information strangling the imagination and collective public voice of this country. But we are here and we want you to know you are not alone. We work in small community groups, in nationwide coalitions, in places of worship and as artists, writers, teachers. We want you to know that when we see and hear the news we are imagining your families, your homes, your hearts, your hopes, your terror. We want you to know.
We are working hard for peace with justice. The pro-war forces arrayed against us are far more powerful than us. The road to peace is far too long, and many will suffer. But we vow to do all we can to bring an end to the US role in this violence.
* We put pressure on our elected representatives to support an immediate ceasefire and then negotiate a just peace. Although the war on Iraq still produces its unbearable toll of daily death, many more voices in Congress oppose the war since we came together to try to prevent the war and then to oppose it. And although Congress still expresses its misguided and uncritical support for Israel's actions in Palestine and Lebanon, our efforts have contributed to unprecedented debates on the causes of this conflict. And we will not give up.
* We are educating US citizens on the consequences of our government's foreign policy. We organize teach-ins in places of worship, trade unions, schools and other public forums. We ground our teaching in universal human rights and international law. Many of us promote the call to support boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it upholds international law, as called for by Palestinian civil society in July 2005 and by Lebanese cultural figures in July 2006.
* We seek to amplify the voices of those suffering as we support the steadfastness of the people of Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon, and the stand taken by Israeli and US citizens who refuse to serve in armies of occupation and who work for justice and peace.
* We seek as well to expose and reverse the damage to our own country. We know that militarism destroys our economy, our communities and our humanity. We know that many who fight our government's wars are the young and poor who feel they have no other options. We know that our schools, our jobs, our democracy, and our civil rights are held hostage to the military economy that currently drives our government. Our struggle is thus one of solidarity, not of charity.
* We take our protests to the streets in demonstrations and vigils - outside Israeli Consulates, US Federal Buildings, and in all public spaces. We call for an end of US military and political support to Israel's violations of international law, and of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, also in violation of international law.
We cannot and will not remain silent. We will work until our country stands for peace and justice in all countries throughout the world.
Signed by the following organizations:
The Steering Committee and Staff of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a nationwide coalition of 200 groups and organizations
United for Peace and Justice, a nationwide coalition of 1,400 organizations
Arab American Institute
Bay Area Women in Black, Jewish feminists and allies working for peace and justice
Brooklyn Parents for Peace
Carolina Peace Resource Center
CODEPINK:Women for Peace, Women's movement working for global peace and human rights
Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition
Global Exchange, U.S. based International Human Rights Organization
Green Party, USA
Idaho Peace Coalition
Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California
Jewish Voice for Peace
Jews for a Free Palestine
Justice & Witness Ministries, NY Conf, United Church of Christ
LA Jews for Peace
Middle East Research and Information Project
National Association of Muslim American Women
Nonviolence International
Not In My Name, Predominantly Jewish, Chicago-based, anti-occupation group
Out Against War: LGBT & Friends Coalition for Peace & Justice
Pax Christi Will County
Peace Action, country's largest peace group with 100,000 members
Progressive Democrats of America
Student Peace Action Network
SUSTAIN-Philly: Stop US Tax Aid to Israel Now!
US Peace Council
Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation
Zeitouna: Arab & Jewish Women Working for Peace & Justice
To view the full list of signatories, please click here.
From United For Peace and Justice
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