This communication was sent out by email from Citizens for Fair Legislation this morning appealing for support of its petition for our government NOT TO BOYCOTT the unity government recently negotiated by Fatah and Hamas.
SUPPORT PEACE FOR PALESTINE BY NOT BOYCOTTING THE UNITY GOVERNMENT, it said.
While the rest of the world applauds the Palestinians for the ceasefire agreement reached in Mecca last week, the US has issued warnings to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas regarding a potential US boycott of the new unity government. Please let your representatives know that you are outraged that the US will not support measures towards peace in the Palestine and that it is Israel and not the Palestinians who refuse to recognize the rights of Palestinians to exist under international law. Tell your representatives that Palestinians from all political parties have agreed to respect UN resolutions and all decisions that have been made in previous Arab summits.
Tell your representatives that you find it outrageous that the US is threatening to boycott the Palestinians on the basis of their truce and that you question whether the US was hoping for a civil war in the territories. Ask your representatives whether they support peace between Palestinians and Israelis or not, tell your representatives that a unity government is the first realistic step towards peace and that if they prefer to support chaos in the territories such a position will never lead to peace in the region. The current sanctions in occupied Palestine will not move the region towards peace, they will only continue to strangle the population and embolden groups who see no point in peace or non violence if their positions are not respected and the US continues to take support measures that would lead to a civil war in the Palestinian territories.
Ask your representatives when they will begin applying pressure on Israel to end its occupation, remove settlements from the West Bank and Jerusalem and stop threatening Muslim holy sites. Remind your representatives that the Israelis have reneged on every single agreement that they have ever signed on to without a single rebuke from the US. Tell your elected officials that if they are serious about peace they would stop refusing to deal with a government that has the popular support of the Palestinian people and the Arab world.
EMAIL AND OR CALL THE WHITE HOUSE
WHITE HOUSE COMMENTS LINE: 202-456-1111
WHITE HOUSE SWITCHBOARD: 202-456-1414
WHITE HOUSE FAX: 202-456-2461
OR CLICK HERE to sign a petition.
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/org anizationsORG/CFLWeb/campaign.jsp?campai gn_KEY=6781
Following the announcement that Hamas and Fatah had reached an agreement to form a unity government, Bush and Olmert immediately countered that they would not recognize it.
From Reuters,
Olmert, Bush agree to shun Palestinian govt -Israel
Sat 17 Feb 2007JERUSALEM, Feb 17 (Reuters) – U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have agreed to jointly shun a Palestinian unity government unless it meets international conditions, Olmert’s office said on Saturday.
An official in Olmert’s office told Reuters that the agreement was reached in a telephone conversation on Friday between the two leaders.
“We won’t recognise a unity government that doesn’t explicitly accept the conditions. This is the joint U.S.-Israeli position,” the official said, confirming Israeli television reports.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesAr ticle.aspx?storyId=L171813223
The Palestinian leader Abbas made an announcement on the matter, which was reported by the Associated Press.
Palestinian leader Abbas says world must learn to live with Fatah-Hamas coalition
The Associated Press
February 17, 2007RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told a senior U.S. envoy on Saturday that Washington and the international community would have to accept the new coalition between his Fatah movement and the Islamic militant Hamas, sounding a note of defiance ahead of a three-way meeting Monday between Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/1 7/africa/ME-GEN-Palestinians-U.S..php
Some observers on the ground in Israel, like Uri Avnery of Gush Shalom, believe all along that this action not to recognize Hamas’ involvement in the government, based on the “right to exist” notion, is just another “red herring” intended to help the Israel government avoid yet another peace initiative.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/chan nels/avnery/1171710253/
It is for this reason that Citizens for Fair Legislation, a grassroots organization primarily concerned with the unbalanced foreign policy demonstrated by our government toward the Arab world, is appealing to Americans to support a petition to our legislators not to boycott the unity government.
Citizens for Fair Legislation may be linked here: www.cflweb.org
Crossposted from MyDD by shyboy (aka shergald).