Take Action: How You Can Help the U.S. Stop Israeli Settlements

June 1st, 2009


Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas meeting with President Obama, May 28, 2009.

In meetings last week with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the Obama Administration again made its position on Israeli settlements crystal clear.


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated: “With respect to settlements, the President was very clear when Prime Netanyahu was here. He wants to see a stop to settlements – not some

settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions. We think it is in the best interests of the effort that we are engaged in that settlement expansion cease. That is our position. That is what we have communicated very clearly, not only to the Israelis but to the Palestinians and others. And we intend to press that point.”

And President Obama added that “in my conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu I was very clear about the need to stop the settlements; to make sure that we are stopping the building of outposts”.

While the Obama Administration’s tough words are certainly welcome, words by themselves are unlikely to produce a change in Israel’s behavior without corresponding action on the part of the United States.

If the United States wants to see Israel stop the expansion of settlements, then it should cut off or, at the very minimum, condition its military aid to Israel until this and other policy goals are met.

See the items below for action steps you and your organization can take to help make this possible.

TAKE ACTION


1. Send a personalized letter to the Members of Congress on the Appropriations Subcommittees with jurisdiction over military aid programs.

Later this month, the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs are likely to "mark-up" the President's FY2010 budget request, which includes $2.775 billion in military aid to Israel.

Join thousands of others who have already sent nearly 150,000 letters to these Members of Congress letting them know that you oppose the President's budget request and want to see military aid to Israel ended or, at the very minimum, conditioned on Israel achieving stated U.S. policy goals. 

To send your letter, please click here.

2. Get your organization to endorse our open letter to the Appropriations Subcommittees.

The US Campaign is organizing an open letter to the Appropriations Subcommittees opposing the President’s FY2010 budget request for $2.775 billion in military aid to Israel. To date, more than 150 organizations have endorsed this letter. To read and endorse the letter (organizational endorsements only please), click here.

Check out the list of national organizations that have endorsed this open letter:

1. After Downing Street
2. American Jews for a Just Peace
3. American Muslims for Palestine
4. Code Pink Women for Peace
5. Council for the National Interest
6. Council on American-Islamic Relations
7. Episcopal Peace Fellowship
8. Fellowship of Reconciliation
9. Friends of Sabeel—North America
10. Global Exchange
11. Gold Star Families for Peace
12. Grassroots International
13. Interfaith Peace-Builders
14. Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions—USA
15. Jewish Voice for Peace
16. Latino American Dawah Organization
17. Middle East Children's Alliance
18. Middle East Research and Information Project
19. Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
20. Muslim Student Association West
21. National Benedictines for Peace
22. National Immigrant Solidarity Network
23. National Lawyers Guild
24. New Internationalism Project, Institute for Policy Studies
25. Palestine Aid Society
26. Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
27. Progressive Democrats of America
28. Student/Farmworker Alliance
29. Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East
30. United for Peace and Justice
31. United Muslims of America
32. US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
33. Veterans For Peace
34. War Times/Tiempo de Guerras
35. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom—U.S. Section

To read the full text of the open letter and to have your organization endorse it, please click here.

3. Spread the word about our campaign.

Copy and paste the graphic to the left and link it here and then place it on your website, blog, social networking site, and email signature.

4. Sign up to organize to challenge military aid to Israel in your community.

Receive an organizing packet in the mail from us with postcards, petitions, flyers, fact sheets, stickers, and an educational DVD—everything you need to educate and organize people in your community to challenge military aid to Israel. Since February 2007, we’ve sent out more than 1,200 organizing packets to volunteers in more than 600 cities and 48 states (yep, still waiting on Nevada and North Dakota). Check out the amazing Google map of all of our organizers below and sign up to join them today by clicking here.


View Challenge Military Aid to Israel in a larger map

5. Offset your tax contribution to Israeli military occupation.

Although Tax Day has come and gone, it’s not too late for you to make a statement that you don’t want your tax dollars going to fund Israel’s human rights abuses of Palestinians. According to our research, Israel killed more than 3,000 innocent Palestinians, including more than 1,000 children, during the Bush Administration, often with U.S. weapons.

We’re estimating that in FY2010, each individual tax payer will on average be giving $17.75 in military aid to Israel. Offset your tax contribution to Israeli military occupation and human rights abuses by making a tax deductible contribution to us by clicking on the logo below.


 For each contribution of $17.75, we will send you some of these “Yes, We Can…End U.S. Military Aid to Israel!” stickers.

Offset the tax contribution of just five people or more ($88.75 or more) and we’ll send you the stickers and a copy of the award-winning documentary Occupation 101.

Offset your tax contribution of military aid to Israel today by clicking on the icon to the left.