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UN Peacekeepers to Israel-Palestine
Howie Hawkins Calls for United Nations to Enforce a Ceasefire and End Israel's Military Occupation of Palestinian Territories |
For more information:
Howie Hawkins, (315) 425-1019, howie@hawkinsforsenate.net
Sander Hicks, (347) 446-4461 sander@voxpopnet.net
Sally Kim, (518) 451-9469, green_sallyk@yahoo.com
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for US Senate for New York, said today that the US government should use its leadership to effect an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East before it escalates into an all out war involving multiple countries. He condemned the Bush administration’s unconditional support for Israel’s military attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.
Hawkins said that an international peacekeeping force should be deployed to end the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territories and its operations in Gaza and Lebanon and to stop attacks against Israel by Palestinian forces. The United States has been the principal country blocking implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), which require Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories.
"Ultimately, peace can only be achieved through negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships. It can't be imposed by others. But peace cannot come under the oppression of a military occupation. The occupied territories have become little more than a prison camp for Palestinian civilians and now Israel is depriving residents of access to their means of survival, including food, water, and electricity. The United States must unequivocally state that Israel cannot expect continued US military and economic aid so long as Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian territories continues. Palestinian people are being deprived of the most elementary human rights, and are subjected to a never-ending process whose intended outcome appears to be their complete dispossession and expulsion from their homeland," noted Hawkins.
Hawkins said the US should also immediately recognize the democratically elected Palestinian government and restore funding.
Hawkins also condemned Hillary Clinton’s unconditional support for Israel’s policies. In a November 2005 visit to a section of separation wall being built around Jerusalem, Clinton said, "This is not against the Palestinian people. This is against the terrorists." In a December 11, 2005 speech at Yeshiva University, Hillary Clinton called Israel, "not only our ally; it is a beacon of what democracy can and should mean...If the people of the Middle East are not sure what democracy means, let them look to Israel."
Hawkins said, “States that confer rights based on religion, whether Jewish or Islamic, are inherently discriminatory and undemocratic. US support for Israel’s policies of discrimination against native Muslim and Christian Palestinians, as well as its long-time covert support for Islamic fundamentalist movements as a counterweight to secular Arab nationalist movements, is one of the root causes of conflict and violence in the Middle East.”
"The current Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon come immediately after the Hamas and Fatah factions of the Palestinian leadership jointly put forth a peace proposal that implicitly recognized Israel, one of the alleged key demands of both the American and Israeli governments. This unfortunately repeats a familiar pattern of disruption of the peace process by the Israeli leadership at key moments," Hawkins added.
A former Marine who organized opposition to the Vietnam War, Hawkins is challenging incumbent Hillary Clinton’s hawkish policies toward Israel/Palestine, Iraq, and Iran. Hawkins is running with a "Peace Slate" of Green Party candidates in New York, including Malachy McCourt for Governor, Alison Duncan for Lt. Governor, Rachel Treichler for Attorney General, and Julia Willebrand for Comptroller.
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 *Website by David Doonan, Labor Donated to Hawkins for Senate Campaign* |
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