Green Education and Legal Fund, Inc.
Media Release

For More Information: Mark Dunlea, 518 283-6512

Greens Call for Obama to Support End to Blockade of Palestine

The Green Education and Legal Fund today said that upon his inauguration, President Obama needed to utilize the expected ceasefire in Gaza to alter existing American policy to resolve the decades-old conflict.

“Irrespective of the legality of the situation, no country can impose a long-term military occupation of another population without engaging in systemic oppression of human rights. Requiring Israeli soldiers to routinely enforce ever harsher rules against a civilian population collectively stains their souls. Regardless of the initial intentions of the Israeli and American governments, the occupation of Palestine has not brought peace or security while subjecting Palestinians to brutal living conditions and depriving them of many basic human rights and needs,” said Mark Dunlea, Chair of GELF

GELF said that President Obama should immediately demonstrate to the world that he intends for America to rejoin the international community and support the rule of international law. He should insist that the ceasefire immediately result in the end of the economic blockade of Palestine and support the creation of an international peacekeeping group to replace Israel in the occupied territories to ensure that neither sides engages in military or economic attacks against the other. The tens of billions of dollars in military aid that the US presently provides to Israel, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries should instead being reallocated to peaceful uses, starting with rebuilding the infrastructure in the occupied territories. The US should also ensure that international authorities are able to investigate and prosecute any and all parties that have engaged in war crimes against civilians.

Many Americans have historically provided unconditional support to the people of Israeli, largely out of a sense of atonement for the horrors of the holocaust. But most Americans ignore that the residents of Palestine played no role in that genocide and instead have been made victims of actions that had far more to do with furthering international military and economic objectives, starting with control of oil, than with seeking justice for the victims of the holocaust. While the US should continue to support the right of Israeli residents to be free from the threat of violence, it must also extend that guarantee to the residents of Palestine. The principles of American democracy also require us to support basic human and political rights for all residents of the Middle East, something that is presently largely denied to Palestinians. This will prove challenging if not impossible to accomplish within the context of any state that seeks to provide full democratic rights to only one religion or ethnic group. The US most also recognize that a long term peaceful solution will require in an even handed manner resolving issues related to land ownership and access to water.

GELF is a New York based non-profit research and education organization dedication to the green principles of nonviolence, grassroots democracy, ecology and justice.