I've just received this Cecilie Surasky of the US organisation Jewish Voice for Peace. It's worth reading.
"Forty-one.
That’s the number of times the United States has used its veto in the United Nations Security Council to block efforts to secure Palestinian rights over the last 40 years.
Now the United States and Israel want the Palestinian Authority (PA) to drop its bid for recognition at the United Nations —and if the vote goes to the United Nations Security Council as soon as next week, we think the U.S. might make that veto forty-two.
That’s just plain wrong.
Please tell your friends to join 20,000 others in telling U.S. Hillary Clinton and UN Ambassador Susan Rice that the U.S. must NOT veto yet another push for Palestinian rights.
To be sure, the Palestinian Authority bid for UN recognition is complicated. Israel and the United States- and their Jewish institutional backers—say they are opposed because such a move would be "unilateral". But what is more unilateral than a 44-year-long military occupation of another people? And what forum more multilateral than the United Nations?
Israel and the United States also say the Palestinians should return, instead, to the peace process. But the so-called “peace process” has meant several decades of expanding settlements and illegally confiscated land.
That said, and despite the emptiness of Israeli and U.S. rhetoric, there are real criticisms of the PA’s effort. Palestinian leaders and civil society organizations have raised a number of concerns ranging from questions about the Palestinian Authority itself to the possible negative significance of the UN vote for refugee rights.
As a Jewish-American organization, we know that Palestinians will be the ones who have to figure out their most effective strategies.
But we also know we need to continue to speak out for one thing everyone agrees upon:
stopping the United States from continuing to play an obstructive role in securing a lasting and just peace.
No matter what happens, the significance of the vote will be dwarfed by what happens the next day. There will still be an occupation. There will still be refugees. There will still be no Palestinian state.
But there will be an extraordinary nonviolent people’s movement in Palestine, in Israel, in the United States, everywhere in the world—and we should use the moment to escalate our demands for justice, fairness, and a future for ALL people in the region.
Our Palestinian and peace-loving Israeli allies on the ground will need our support more than ever—and we’ll be ready to provide it.
But for today, let's send the United States a message. The world is watching. USA? What side are you on?
****(There's a 'click here' line in the email for signing a petition if you want to but I'm not computer-clever enough to reproduce it here! I can forward the full email to you if you want - email me on stan.walinets246@btinternet.com)
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