3rd Thursday for Middle East Peace: Halt separation barrier and home demolitions
Urge your elected officials to call upon the Israeli government to halt separation barrier construction and home demolitions!
In recent weeks the Israeli government has taken two related series of actions on Palestinian land and against Palestinian property that make prospects for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians more difficult.
The Israeli military has resumed construction of the separation wall in the Cremisan Valley in the West Bank after the Israeli High Court in July effectively reversed its decision in the spring to prevent the wall from being constructed between the Salesian Sisters Convent and the monastery of the Salesians of Don Bosco.
Both the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) General Assembly and the United Church of Christ General Synod adopted resolutions in 2005 calling for the separation barrier to be removed.
His Beatitude Fouad Twal, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, issued a press release last month, strongly condemning “this Israeli conducted operation, which is without regard to the rights of the families of the valley; the rights that these same families have bravely tried to defend before the law over the past decade. We join with the sorrow and frustration of these oppressed families, and we strongly condemn the injustice done to them.” He called on the Israeli authorities to halt work on the wall before a decision was made on a petition submitted by the families of the valley.
The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), a coordination forum of international nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations working in the occupied Palestinian territory, issued a statement recently that drew attention to a surge in home demolitions by the Israeli army in August. They determined that demolitions in one recent week “rendered 132 people homeless, including 82 children, accounting for a quarter of the displacement from demolitions in 2015 and marking the highest number of people rendered homeless from demolitions in nearly three years.”
The AIDA statement also noted, “These demolitions are being carried out against the backdrop of the government of Israel’s plan to ‘relocate’ 7,000 Palestinians living in 46 communities throughout Area C. The international community has repeatedly called on the government of Israel to cancel the ‘relocation’ plan. The plan affects Bedouin and herding communities in the central parts of the West Bank, including the E1 area around Jerusalem, where the government of Israel plans to expand settlements, which are illegal under international law.”
In view of this disturbing and destructive series of actions, write your representative and senators to urge them to call upon the Israeli government to halt these harmful actions immediately and avoid further hostile activities that dim the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Help build peace for Israelis and Palestinians. Contact your representative and senators today.
Please feel free to use this sample letter:
Dear Senator/Representative,
I write to you today as a person of faith who is deeply concerned about the continued construction of the separation wall/barrier in the West Bank and an increased frequency of home demolitions by the government of Israel.
In recent weeks the Israeli government has taken two related series of actions on Palestinian land and against Palestinian property that make prospects for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians more difficult.
The Israeli military has resumed construction of the separation wall in the Cremisan Valley in the West Bank after the Israeli High Court in July effectively reversed its decision in the spring to prevent the wall from being constructed between the Salesian Sisters Convent and the monastery of the Salesians of Don Bosco.
His Beatitude Fouad Twal, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, issued a press release last month strongly condemning “this Israeli conducted operation, which is without regard to the rights of the families of the valley; the rights that these same families have bravely tried to defend before the law over the past decade. We join with the sorrow and frustration of these oppressed families, and we strongly condemn the injustice done to them.” He called on the Israeli authorities to halt work on the wall before a decision was made on a petition submitted by the families of the valley.
The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), a coordination forum of international nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations working in the occupied Palestinian territory, issued a statement recently that drew attention to a surge in home demolitions by the Israeli Army in August. They determined that demolitions in one recent week “rendered 132 people homeless, including 82 children, accounting for a quarter of the displacement from demolitions in 2015 and marking the highest number of people rendered homeless from demolitions in nearly three years.”
The AIDA statement also noted, “These demolitions are being carried out against the backdrop of the government of Israel’s plan to ‘relocate’ 7,000 Palestinians living in 46 communities throughout Area C. The international community has repeatedly called on the government of Israel to cancel the ‘relocation’ plan. The plan affects Bedouin and herding communities in the central parts of the West Bank, including the E1 area around Jerusalem, where the government of Israel plans to expand settlements, which are illegal under international law.”
In view of this disturbing and destructive series of actions, I urge you to call upon the Israeli government to halt these harmful actions immediately and avoid further hostile activities that dim the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Thank you for your service and for your attention to my concerns.