To: The United States House of Representatives
Congress: Oppose Push to Legitimize Israeli Settlements
Just Foreign Policy
Oppose the Lowey-Roskam-Engel-Royce resolution legitimizing Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Why is this important?
A new House resolution [1] threatens to put Congress on record defending Israeli settlements in the West Bank. This resolution is opposed by J Street [2]. The resolution would erase the Green Line by blurring the distinction between Israel and the territory it occupies. The proposed language breaks from longstanding US policy of opposing the expansion and entrenchment of settlements, and of not recognizing the settlements as Israeli territory. The US government requires that settlement products not be identified as “made in Israel.”
This resolution claims to support a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, but in practice it does exactly the opposite. Erasing the Green Line between Israel and the territory it occupies undermines the starting point for negotiating a diplomatic resolution. By making it more difficult to distinguish between Israel and the land it occupies, this resolution empowers far-right settlers who oppose any diplomatic compromise. It sets a dangerous precedent that undermines diplomacy and expressly violates existing US policy.
Tell Congress to oppose this dangerous resolution by signing our petition.
References:
1. https://lowey.house.gov/sites/lowey.house.gov/files/documents/Resolution_EU_Israel_Labeling_12.16.15.pdf
2. http://act.jstreet.org/sign/moment_of_truth_on_settlements
This resolution claims to support a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, but in practice it does exactly the opposite. Erasing the Green Line between Israel and the territory it occupies undermines the starting point for negotiating a diplomatic resolution. By making it more difficult to distinguish between Israel and the land it occupies, this resolution empowers far-right settlers who oppose any diplomatic compromise. It sets a dangerous precedent that undermines diplomacy and expressly violates existing US policy.
Tell Congress to oppose this dangerous resolution by signing our petition.
References:
1. https://lowey.house.gov/sites/lowey.house.gov/files/documents/Resolution_EU_Israel_Labeling_12.16.15.pdf
2. http://act.jstreet.org/sign/moment_of_truth_on_settlements