“I’m here to tell you we do exist.”

Hassan is a self-described Palestinian American Republican from  Jacksonville, Florida.  During the debate, he asked the following question:

“How would a Republican Administration help bring peace to Palestine and Israel, when most candidates barely recognize Palestine or its people?”

Former Governor Mitt Romney and Speaker Newt Gingrich both responded with one-sided answers that laid all the blame at the feet of Palestinian leaders.

But the first step is to ask the right question — and we applaud Mr. Hassan for doing so.

Freedom Forward Analyst Patrick J. Finn, PhD, has written an insightful review of Shapiro’s speech — as well as what Shapiro failed to mention.  While Shapiro spent an awful lot of time talking about the “unwavering commitment to Israel’s security,” he didn’t once mention the word occupation.

In his speech, Shapiro also didn’t mention that the gift of US weapons is what helps Israel maintain that brutal occupation of Palestinian communities.

Shapiro is the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs — the man whose team is the US State Department’s “principal link to the Department of Defense.”

Click here to read Patrick Finn’s insightful analysis.

The YouTube speech was published online the day before International Human Rights Day — Saturday, December 10th.

In that speech, Netanyahu made no mention that the Israeli military uses US taxdollars to force millions of Palestinians to live under a brutal occupation.

Don’t let this blatant misrepresentation of Palestinian suffering go unchallenged.

1.  Click “thumbs down” on YouTube.

2.  Tell Congress that you reject Netanyahu’s latest falsehoods. US taxdollars should not fund Israeli occupation.

If elected US officials or their staff watch this speech, they need to know that voting constituents find it reprehensible.

The Palestinian people deserve freedom.  So long as US tax dollars bankroll the Israeli military, their cause is our moral responsibility.

Your action is especially important because opponents of Palestinian freedom in the US are emailing UNESCO with messages of opposition.

One month back, Palestine was accepted as a full member to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in a landslide vote. Out of 173 total votes, 107 votes supported the move, 52 abstained, and only 14 voted no.

In response, laws written by Congress were immediately triggered that cut off US funding to the UN organization.  US law currently requires a cutoff in aid to any UN organization that recognizes a Palestinian state.  Until the aid cut, US funding for UNESCO accounted for 22% of the agency’s total annual budget — $80 million a year.

Why is UNESCO being punished for recognizing the right to freedom for the Palestinian people?

Please thank UNESCO for its vote.   Palestinians deserve freedom and international recognition.  Congress should stop standing in the way.

Over the past six decades, successive US presidents have repeatedly blocked UN resolutions  that aim to advance Palestinian freedom and justice.  The US is usually one of only a handful of objectors to such resolutions.

To justify its vetoes, the Obama Administration continues to argue that peace for Palestinians can only be achieved through direct negotiations with Israeli leaders.  But such negotiations have failed to deliver a viable solution, and the Israeli government has continued to build settlements on what is left of Palestinian land.

Now, in response to UNESCO’s democratic process, both the United States and Israel have responded with intentions to punish both UNESCO and Palestinians.

In concert with the US’s punitive response, Israeli leaders announced that they will accelerate settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Please email UNESCO today.  UNESCO needs to hear that people in the US support their decision.

Sincerely,

Dalia Marina

Freedom Forward Campaigner

Why are elected US officials trying to block Palestinian freedom?

Please tell your Member of Congress that you oppose their vote.  And if your Member of Congress was among the brave minority who did not oppose Palestinian efforts, please thank them.

Click here to take action.

The pro-Israel lobby has been pushing the US Congress to oppose Palestinian efforts.   Led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — or AIPAC — the pro-Israel lobby is campaigning in Congress against the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN.

In response, the US House of Representatives and US Senate recently passed official resolutions opposing the Palestinian campaign at the UN.  These resolutions (H. Res. 268 and S. Res. 185) call on the Obama Administration oppose the Palestinian campaign.

In the US House of Representatives, 407 out of 435 elected representatives voted for the anti-Palestinian resolution.  In the US Senate, the resolution was passed by unanimous consent, with 90 out of 100 senators even cosponsoring the resolution.

Please tell Congress to stop blocking Palestinian freedom.  Click here to take action.

Right now, elected officials are used to hearing primarily from the pro-Israel lobby.  We need to turn the tide so that elected officials who stand against freedom feel the heat — and officeholders who do the right thing earn our praise.

Members of Congress are calling on Palestinian leaders to drop their UN efforts and return to direct negotiations with Israel.  But Israel has already stalled peace talks and rejected compromises for a “two-state” solution.  Meanwhile, the Israeli government continues to build Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank that are illegal under international law.  These settlements are making a “two-state solution” less and less possible.

UN recognition of a Palestinian state does not prevent future negotiations.  It just makes the Palestinian call for freedom even louder.  As Palestinians push for their freedom, the United States Congress needs to get on the right side.

Click here to take action:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6756/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8182

Sincerely,

Alexandra Robinson
Freedom Forward Campaigner

As a US taxpayer, will you add your name to our Freedom Forward statement calling on the UN to officially recognize a Palestinian nation?  The world needs to hear from you.

While Palestinian representatives are pushing to end the Israeli occupation, Israeli officials are making matters worse.  Israel’s Netanyahu government has just announced that it will build even more Jewish-only settlements in Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, US officials continue to stand on the wrong side of freedom.  If US policy is truly in support of a peace agreement, why is the Obama Administration opposing a UN declaration of a Palestinian state?

Please join us in supporting freedom for the Palestinian people:  Click here.

A UN declaration of Palestinian statehood would play out in two arenas:  the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly.  At the level of the 15-member Security Council, it is likely that a US veto would block any action.  But in the 193-member General Assembly, there are no vetoes.  Passage is much more likely.

A UN General Assembly declaration will not change Palestinian conditions overnight.  But it will give Palestinian representatives, activists, and US advocates for peace new ways to build support. Imagine if the UN General Assembly recognized a Palestinian nation, and then campaigned to put a Palestinian representative on the UN Security Council.

Please join us at this critical moment.  In the days ahead, voices opposed to a peace agreement will attempt to stop the statehood campaign.  With your help, we will provide effective ways to respond.

Join our call for UN recognition of a Palestinian nation.

“The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river.”

This sentence comes from the official platform of Netanyahu’s political party, Likud.  (PDF version)  Scroll down to the section called “Self-Rule” to see for yourself.

The meaning is simple:  Likud and its political leaders are opposed to a Palestinian state.

Click here to urge the US media to report on Netanyahu’s political platform.

While in Washington, Netanyahu is likely to demand once again that all Palestinian factions recognize Israel.  But what will it take for his own political party to acknowledge the right of Palestinians to live free of Israeli military occupation?

For all the money that US taxpayers are required to give to Israel, isn’t it time that American voters learned about Netanyahu’ political platform?

Click here to urge US media to report on Netanyahu’s platform — not just his rhetoric.

Last week, the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York had voted to deny Mr. Kushner an honorary degree.  A trustee, Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld, had opposed Mr. Kushner’s nomination because Wiesenfeld didn’t like Kushner’s criticisms of Israeli policies towards Palestinians.

Thank you for sending your emails criticizing the Board’s actions.

After a lot of public criticism, the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York has now reversed itself.   As reported in The New York Times:

“In a hastily convened meeting of their executive committee, City University of New York trustees approved an honorary degree for Tony Kushner on Monday night to try to quell widespread criticism over the board’s decision last week to withhold it because of concerns about the playwright’s views on Israel.”

Critics of Israeli policies should not be silenced for their views.  So long as US taxpayers are forced to provide billions of dollars in funding to Israel, we have a special responsibility to advocate for Palestinian freedom.

Standing up for those who dare to ask tough questions is the first step.  If a prominent Jewish American like Tony Kushner can’t be critical of Israeli practices, who can?

Thanks for all your help on this important issue.

Why?  Because Kushner has been critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians, and a pro-Israel member of the Board didn’t like that. Kushner has served on the advisory board for Jewish Voice for Peace.

Kushner was nominated for the honorary degree by members of CUNY’s faculty.  But after pro-Israel trustee Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld criticized the nominee, the entire CUNY Board of Trustees dropped Kushner’s name from the list of honorary degree recipients.  Kushner wasn’t even invited to speak.

Please send a message in support of Tony Kushner.

So long as US taxpayers are forced to subsidize Israel, we have a moral responsibility to ask tough questions about Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians.  

Following a public outcry, the CUNY Board of Trustees is likely to soon reverse its decision.  While the Board deserves acknowledgment for recognizing its error, they should never have targeted Kushner to begin with.

Please send an email to the CUNY Board of Trustees and CUNY President Matthew Goldstein.  Let them know that you are deeply disappointed by their initial actions. 

Critics of Israeli policy should not be blacklisted for their views.

Click here to take action.

In comments widely reported in the international media, Huckabee said that Israeli Jews should be able to live anywhere throughout the biblical Land of Israel — an area that includes the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

But what about the Palestinians who already live there?

According to Governor Huckabee:

“There are vast amounts of territory that are in the hands of Muslims, in the hands of Arabs. Maybe the international community can come together and accommodate.”

Many of the Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza were already displaced during the founding of Israel.  Now Mr. Huckabee thinks they should be moved again.

This fits the definition of ethnic cleansing.  Tell Mr. Huckabee that you find his proposals reprehensible.

Click here to take action. We can’t let this kind of rhetoric go unchallenged.