PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER STATEMENT:
July 2004--Israel-Palestine Conflict

The Board of the Peace & Justice Center of Burlington, Vermont urges our government to join the rest of the civilized world in condemning the Israeli government’s militaristic assault on the Palestinian people. U.S. tax dollars directly support this violence, as the U.S. government gives more military aid to Israel than to any other country in the world. The brutal tactics of the Israeli army against the innocent residents of Gaza and the continuing construction of a wall, cutting into Palestine territory, further increases the hardships on Palestinians, reduces the possibility of a peaceful settlement, and incites radical Arab groups to further violence. We call upon the state of Israel to abandon settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and renew efforts towards a two state solution. Furthermore, we call upon Arab nations to formally recognize Israel's right to exist.  In addition: 

• We believe that the oppression of the Palestinian people could not continue if not for the massive economic, military and diplomatic support of the United States.
   
• We recognize that the United States has stood virtually alone in undermining the international consensus that advocates a political solution recognizing the right of Palestinians to national self determination, the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and the creation of a state roughly along the 1967 borders with minor bilateral adjustments and security guarantees. 
   
• We mourn the loss of life on all sides of the Arab/Israeli conflict whether by suicide bomber or helicopter gunship and state unequivocally that the root cause of this violence is occupation.
   
• We acknowledge and support the efforts of the Israeli peace movement, most notably the Israeli Refusniks, a group whose courageous refusal to participate in the ongoing injustice of occupation inspires people of conscience everywhere. We support the efforts of individuals and groups on all sides who work for a just peace in Palestine.
   
• We believe that the US/Israeli program of expanded settlements, security highways, housing demolitions and the construction of an apartheid wall undermine the viability of a Palestinian state.

 Therefore, we call on the United States government to:
 

1. Initiate a cut-off of military aid to Israel and a freeze on all pending arms sales or transfers until Israel lifts the current siege of Palestinian territory.
2. Urge Israel to withdraw to its pre-1967 borders.
3. End U.S. arms sales to the entire Middle East region.
4. Support full and immediate implementation of all relevant United Nations resolutions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.