We, the undersigned constituents of the ninth Congressional district, call on the Honorable Jan Schakowsky to: • Implement US policy promoting the well-being, security, and economic prosperity of both Israelis and Palestinians. • Recognize that the aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis are inextricably interrelated, and that Israel’s security depends on political and human rights for the Palestinians. • Reframe US policy in recognition that unconditional US diplomatic and economic one-sided support for Israeli policies has been harmful to both Israeli and Palestinian interests. • Advance a peace process based on universally accepted principles of human rights and international law. • Promote a continuation of the US’s longstanding support for Israel, enhanced by a firm commitment to Palestinian self-determination, human rights, and territorial integrity. Specifically, we call for our government’s diligent engagement with all parties to the conflict to: • End the KILLING AND MAIMING OF INNOCENT CIVILIANS, both Palestinian and Israeli, through the actions of any state or non-state aggressor, whether justified by the initiator as preventive, punitive, or retaliatory. Such actions are proscribed under Articles 3 and 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. • Stop the EXPANSION OF ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS and the DESTRUCTION OF PALESTINIAN HOMES in the occupied territories. Such actions are specifically prohibited under Articles 49 and 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They also cause grievous damage to all efforts to achieve a just peace. • Respect the PROPERTY RIGHTS of Palestinians in the occupied territories, including the right to build on their own property; end and reverse the SEIZURE OF PALESTINIAN LAND by Israel for barrier construction, settlement and settlement-road network expansion, and control of water resources. These rights and prohibitions are upheld in Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 242. • Allow Palestinians FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT to get to places of work, education, and healthcare; to cultivate their own agricultural property. Israel’s imposition of checkpoints and closure within the occupied territories inflicts extreme hardship on all Palestinians and negates the fundamental right to move from place to place enshrined in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This statement is drafted and circulated by the Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy.

Sponsor

Links