Letter to Biden (and Trump) Campaigns Regarding Israel and Palestinian Rights

Dear Vice President Biden, 

We write to you as organizations and individuals deeply concerned about the continuing escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people and the urgent need for a different U.S. policy — one based on the principles of equality and justice for all. 

Current U.S. positions supporting, indeed enabling, Israeli government violations are out of touch with voters. A February 2020 Gallup poll found increased support for Palestinians, especially among young people. The same is true for American Jews, who are becoming more and more critical of Israeli government policies and more and more supportive of Palestinian rights. 

 U.S. foreign policy on Israel/Palestine should be rooted in the same values and principles that are supposed to guide U.S. policy throughout the rest of the world — respecting human rights and international law, promoting the peaceful resolution of conflicts, supporting diplomacy over military intervention, and utilizing multilateralism and multilateral institutions for dispute resolution. The United States should affirm the right of every human being to live with dignity, equality, freedom, and respect for human rights — and that should include Palestinians and Israelis.

The United States has directly intervened in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for nearly 30 years (since the 1991 Madrid Conference). It has promoted versions of a two-state solution to that conflict for even longer. It is time to acknowledge that those efforts have failed — primarily because of U.S. failures to act as an honest broker. Longtime U.S. diplomat, Aaron David Miller, central to the process over several administrations of both parties, said the U.S. role was that of “Israel’s lawyer.” Providing Israel’s government with unlimited diplomatic protection and massive military financing has enabled the country to entrench its occupation, expand its illegal settlements, impose a 13-year-long siege and wage three wars against Gaza, pass laws that officially deny equal rights to Israeli citizens who are not Jewish, all under the veneer of peacemaking. 

A new policy with any chance of success requires the United States to abandon its insistence on being the sole mediator of the conflict. The United Nations, as well as regional actors such as the European Union and the Arab League, should be involved as full and equal partners in a process aimed at ensuring full equality and rights for all people now living in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 

What many American voters, including many Jewish voters, young voters, and voters of color are looking for in presidential candidates includes:

* explicit opposition to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and its unlawful blockade (abetted by Egypt) of the Gaza Strip;

* recognition of Israel’s obligations toward the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, a protected population, according to international law;

* support for conditioning U.S. military funding to Israel on an end to Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights and adherence to all relevant U.S. laws, including the Arms Export Control Act and the Leahy Law; 

* support for H.R. 2407, the “Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act,” sponsored by Representative Betty McCollum, to ensure that no U.S. dollars contribute to Israel’s a military detention, interrogation, abuse and/or other ill-treatment of Palestinian children;

* calling on Israel’s government to repeal the Jewish Nation-State Basic Law and to ensure that Palestinian citizens of Israel and other non-Jewish citizens in the country enjoy equal rights with Jewish citizens by passing a basic law guaranteeing those rights;

* opposition to the use of U.S. security assistance against protected populations, including in Gaza, and calling on Israel’s government  to protect civilians from settler violence;

* support for Palestinian refugee rights consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions;

* promise to relocate the U.S. Embassy back to Tel Aviv until such time as the international status of East Jerusalem has changed from its current status as occupied territory;

* a promise to provide full U.S. cooperation with the International Criminal Court’s investigation into alleged war crimes committed by all sides in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip;

* rejection of U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over any territories now occupied, absent an internationally recognized final agreement with the Palestinians.

* a promise to reduce regional tensions and enhance regional stability by restoring U.S. support for and participation in the Iranian nuclear agreement (The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). 

We ask that you take these issues to heart and revise your policy positions accordingly. We look forward to communicating with you and your campaigns. 

Sincerely,

ORGANIZATIONS:

1. Action Corps
2. Alliance for Global Justice
3. Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
4. American Friends Service Committee
5. American Muslims for Palestine
6. Asian American Advocacy Fund
7. Baltimore Nonviolence Center 
8. Bay Area Women in Black
9. Cafe Palestina
10. Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
11. Center for International Policy
12. Central Pacific Conference Palestine Israel Network
13. Chicago Area Peace Action (CAPA)
14. Chicago Committee Against War and Racism
15. Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy
16. CODEPINK
17. Christian Peacemaker Teams- Palestine
18. College of Charleston Catholic Students Association
19. Community of Living Traditions at Stony Point Center
20. Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
21. Cultures of Resistance
22. Demand Progress 
23. Dorchester People for Peace (Boston)
24. Episcopal Bishop’s Committee for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land ( Diocese of Olympia)
25. Episcopal Peace Fellowship – Palestine Israel Network 
26. Fellowship of Reconciliation – USA
27. FEMENA
28. Feminist Foreign Policy Project
29. Florida Peace Alliance
30. Fox Valley Citizens for Peace & Justice
31. Freedom Forward
32. Friends of Palestine Wisconsin
33. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
34. Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition
35. Global Exchange
36. Green Mountain Solidarity With Palestine
37. Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
38. Historians for Peace and Democracy
39. Holy Land Ministry at Spirit of Grace
40. If Not Now
41. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
42. Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center, Inc.
43. Institute for Policy Studies, New Internationalism Project
44. Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
45. International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
46. Islamophobia Studies Center
47. Jerusalem Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
48. Jews Against Anti-Muslim Racism
49. Jewish Voice for Peace Action
50. Jewish Voice for Peace – Hudson Valley 
51. Jews Say No!
52. Joining Hands for Justice, Palestine/Israel
53. Justice For All
54. Just Foreign Policy
55. Just World Educational
56. Kairos Puget Sound Coalition
57. Kairos USA
58. KPSC
59. Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land
60. Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
61. MADRE
62. Mass Peace Action
63. MennoPIN
64. Methodist Federation for Social Action
65. Middle East Children’s Alliance
66. Middle East Justice and Peace Group of South Central PA 
67. Middle East Peace & Justice Coalition of Western Massachusetts
68. Middle East Ministry of All Saints in Pasadena CA
69. MidEast:JustPeace
70. Muslim Peace Fellowship 
71. Middle East Peace & Justice Coalition of Western Massachusetts
72. National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
73. National Lawyers Guild – Palestine Subcommittee
74. Nonviolence International
75. Northwest Coast Presbytery Israel Palestine Mission
76. Ollin Women International
77. Pace e Bene and Campaign Nonviolence
78. Palestine / Israel Network (PIN) of Edmonds / Lynnwood
79. Palestinian American Coalition San Francisco
80. Palestinian American Counsel – Chicago
81. Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace
82. Palestinian Media Center In Europe
83. PAX Christi USA
84. Peace Action
85. Peace Justice And sustainability NOW!
86. Peacehome Campaigns
87. PEACEWORKERS
88. Peregrine Forum of Wisconsin
89. Popular Education Project 
90. Presbyterian Church, USA, Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN)
91. Progressive Democrats of America PDA
92. Quaker Palestine Israel Network
93. Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
94. Rethinking Foreign Policy, Inc.
95. Roots Action
96. Sisters of St Francis
97. Students Against Hindutva Ideology (SAHI)
98. Students for Justice in Palestine, UMass Amherst
99. Texas Coalition for Human Rights
100. The Oakland Institute
101. The Resistance Center
102. Traprock Center for Peace and Justice
103. Tree of Life Educational Fund
104. Tzedek Chicago
105. Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East
106. United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network
107. United for Peace and Justice
108. United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)
109. United Methodists’ Holy Land Task Force
110. United Voices
111. University of the Poor
112. U.S. Boat to Gaza
113. Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land
114. Vermonters for Justice in Palestine
115. Veterans for Peace
116. Veterans For Peace Chapter 014
117. Voices for Creative Nonviolence
118. Voices For Peace in the Middle East – Whatcom County WA
119. We Are Not Numbers
120. WESPAC Foundation
121. Western Mass CODEPINK
122. Western New York Peace Center
123. Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
124. Win Without War
125. Women Against Military Madness
126. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) US
127. World Beyond War
128. World Beyond War – Central Florida
129. Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation

Letter to Trump here.