INTERNATIONAL WEEKEND OF ACTION FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE—Started JUNE 5, 2003

On June 5, the 36th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank,
Gaza, and East Jerusalem, local, national, and international groups are
protesting the violence against the Palestinian community and international
human rights workers in the occupied territories.

What Can I Do?

We are responsible: we pay for Israel’s occupation. Israel gets the largest
amount of US foreign aid, $3 billion/year plus loan guarantees though it
violates international law on a daily basis. We supply Israel with the
weapons to maintain the occupation—F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters,
and other arms—which it uses in contravention of the US Arms Export Control
Act. Our aid should back a just settlement where Palestine and Israel can
live side-by-side in peace and security.

JPPI urges you to call your Congressional Representatives today and tell
them so. To find fax and phone numbers for your Representative, enter your
zip code at http://www.congress.org or call the Congressional Switchboard at
202-224-3121 or 800-839-5276.

Talking Points

What Is "Occupation"?

In June 1967, Israel occupied the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza, East
Jerusalem and other Arab lands. Under Israeli military occupation for 36
years, 2.5 million Palestinians live in disconnected enclaves surrounded by
Israeli tanks. Over 2,300 Palestinians and 600 Israelis have been killed
since the second uprising against the occupation began in September 2000.
Israel has established nearly 200 illegal settlements for 400,000 settlers
in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Orchards and centuries-old
olive trees are destroyed to build roads open only to Israeli settlers.
Over 5,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished in the past two years.
Half a million people are unemployed. Thousands are confined in 24-hour
curfews: the 200,000 people who live in the West Bank town of Nablus were
only able to leave their homes for 90 hours between June and October 2002.

Ending the Occupation: It’s The Law!

In 1967, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 242 calling
for Israel’s withdrawal based on the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of
territory by war." Israel, Arab states, the US and other world powers all
accepted this resolution. Yet Israel still occupies Palestinian land,
ignoring another 45 Security Council resolutions. The US Government has
now, together with the UN, the European Union, and Russia, published a "Road
Map" that provides for an end to occupation and a Palestinian state within
three years. This puts occupier and occupied on the same level, and—as
happened during the 1993-2000 Oslo "peace process"—Israel can block it at
every turn. Israel must unilaterally pull its military forces—and its
settlers—back to the Green Line. Palestine must take its rightful place at
the UN in line with General Assembly Resolution 181—the resolution that also
created the State of Israel. Then Israel, Palestine, and other Arab states
can negotiate a comprehensive settlement based on other UN resolutions,
including General Assembly Resolution 194, which provides for the right of
return or compensation for Palestinian refugees, a resolution accepted by
Israel when it joined the UN.

For more information, please see: http://www.endtheoccupation.org