- Target:
- President Barack Obama
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.americansforpalestine.org
Israelis and Palestinians are again beginning "direct talks" about "Middle East Peace". The "direct talks" are yet another episode in nearly 20 years of talks, plans and negotiations, which include the Madrid Conference, the Oslo Accords, the Camp David Summit, the Taba Summit, the Mitchell Report, the Zinni Plan, the Red Sea Summit, the Roadmap and the Anapolis Conference, among other failed initiatives, frameworks and meetings.
But worse than having failed to achieve peace, as conducted, "negotiations" have often undermined the cause of peace between Israelis and Palestinians by providing a curtain behind which violations of Palestinian rights, including home demolitions, land confiscation and settlement construction, have occurred.
To avoid repeating this outcome, the United States should insist that Israel respect Palestinian rights and begin to free the Palestinian people by ending Israel's occupation, regardless of the existence of "direct talks". Such actions require no talks at all, will advance genuine Israeli-Palestinian peace, and will enhance the image and security of the United States in the Middle East and beyond.
For more information on the American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights, please visit http://www.americansforpalestine.org
Dear President Obama,
At the urging of your administration, Palestinians and Israelis are engaging in "direct talks" about the situation in the Middle East. For more than 20 years, Israelis and Palestinians have conducted such talks. As you convene this latest round of talks, I ask that you:
1. Insist that Israel respect Palestinian rights by ending home demolitions, ceasing land confiscation, and stopping settlement construction;
2. Urge Israel to immediately end its siege of Gaza; and
3. Call for a Free Palestine by pressing Israel to end its 40-year occupation of Palestinian land.
These steps require no talks at all, will advance genuine Israeli-Palestinian peace, and will enhance the image and security of the United States in the Middle East and beyond. I strongly urge you to take them.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Urge Obama to Press Israel to Free Palestine petition to President Barack Obama was written by Americans for Palestine and is in the category Human Rights at GoPetition.