We are witnessing a rare moment in the history of U.S.-Israeli
relations. It is a moment that requires all of us to take immediate
action.
Last Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden was blind-sided with Israel's
announcement of plans to build 1,600 new housing units in occupied
East Jerusalem.
Biden immediately and strongly condemned Israel's settlement
expansion, an unprecedented move in the last two decades of
U.S.-Israeli relations. Biden reportedly told Netanyahu, "This is
starting to get dangerous for us. What you're doing here undermines
the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and
Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace."
On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rebuked Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly and in international media,
calling the settlement expansion an "insult" and a "deeply negative
signal" for Mideast peacemaking and ties with the U.S.
U.S.-Israel relations have hit an all-time low, which Israel's very
own Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren told Israeli Consuls General
during an emergency conference call over the weekend.
What does Israel do when it faces strong international pressure and
bad PR? It diverts attention away from the real issues by immediately
cracking down on Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories.
On Friday, Israel announced it was sealing off the West Bank for 48
hours citing "security concerns," and it banned Palestinian men under
50 years old from entering the Al-Aqsa mosque through Saturday.
According to media reports today, both restrictions have been extended
apparently indefinitely.
When legitimate critiques from the international community and
political pressure are applied on Israel, Israel tightens its
stranglehold on Palestinians living under occupation by restricting
their movement within the Occupied Territories as well as their access
to their major holy sites.
Such restrictions have been followed up by Netanyahu's public
announcement today that Israel will continue its settlement expansion
plans, in open defiance of one of Clinton's stated conditions for a
resumption of the "proximity talks."
Now is the time to speak up for justice and religious freedom.
Please contact your members of Congress TODAY to call for an
investigation of Palestinians' restricted access to their holy sites
by the U.S. Commission on International Freedom.
Visit http://www.facebook.com/l/3a66a;www.congress.org and enter your
zip code to get all the necessary contact information for your elected
representatives -- in just five minutes, you can make a phone call and
send an email.
Here are a few suggested talking points you can use to help focus your message:
- I support and applaud the Obama administration's strong and
repeated condemnations of Israel's settlement expansions in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories.
- Israeli actions -- in expanding settlement activities despite U.S.
condemnations -- are directly harming America's image and interests
internationally and jeopardizing American lives.
- Restricting Palestinian access to their religious sites is a
violation of their religious freedom, and should be investigated by
the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
(http://www.facebook.com/l/3a66a;www.uscirf.gov).
The future depends on what each of us do today. I hope that you will
act today to tell your elected officials you believe both Palestinians
and Israelis deserve religious freedom and a just peace, and that you
will share this message with your family and friends asking them to do
the same.
Sincerely,
Edina Lekovic
Communications Director
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