From our colleagues in the Office of Public Witness:
An Israeli Commission wants to make all settlements and outposts legal under Israeli Law.
Your action is needed to make sure U.S. opposition is strong and bold.
On Monday the U.S. State Department came out against the Levy Committee Report which, among other things, states there is no “occupation” by Israel of Palestinian Territories and recommends legalizing all existing settlements and outposts under Israeli law.
Acceptance of the report as policy by the Government of Israel would undermine years of international effort, including your’s and the PC(USA)’s efforts to promote and secure a just, lasting, and comprehensive resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As people of hope we cannot stand by while some people within the Israeli government attempt to legitimize activities that stand in the way of peace.
Next week Secretary Clinton has the opportunity to personally and in clear terms state U.S. opposition to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s acceptance of this report.
American policy for eight administrations – under Democrats and Republicans – has been clear: Israeli settlement beyond the Green Line is illegal or illegitimate. The State Department’s spokesperson reiterated that position yesterday.
The Levy Commission’s report runs counter to Israel’s own self-interest. Its adoption could put Israel on a path to being a single state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, leading to the end of aspirations for a viable Palestinian state and the end of Israel as a democratic state.
Leading moderate voices in Israel have been warning urgently that a two-state solution is essential to Israel’s survival as a democracy.
Adoption of this report would run counter to long-established international law and America’s own national interest. The United States must make its absolute opposition crystal clear.
General Assembly Guidance
Given the daunting and mounting obstacles to the viability of a “two-state solution,” … the 219th General Assembly (2010) affirms with greater urgency our historic Presbyterian stances with specific regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling for
- an immediate cessation of all violence, whether perpetrated by Israelis or Palestinians;
- the affirmation of Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign nation within secure and internationally recognized borders in accordance with United Nations resolutions.
- the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and diversion of water resources;
- an immediate freeze both on the establishment or expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and on the Israeli acquisition of Palestinian land and buildings in East Jerusalem;
- the relocation by Israel of the Separation Barrier to the 1967 border;
- the withholding of U.S. government aid to the state of Israel as long as Israel persists in creating new West Bank settlements;