Peace

Over the last couple of days official Washington has been abuzz with what President Obama said, and didn't say, about the 1967 borders between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The president didn't say anything that hasn't been official U.S. policy under both Republican and Democratic administrations since at least President Carter's time. And, for good measure, nothing different than what the international community has been saying since even before then!

Below is an article from Grassroots International’s ally, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, outlining actions planned for the commemoration of the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba on May 15, 2011. Al-Nakba, which means “the catastrophe” in Arabic, commemorates the day in 1948 on which Palestinians either fled or were forced to leave their homes, villages and towns as war broke out between the newly declared State of Israel and neighboring Arab countries in the wake of Israel’s declaration of statehood on May 14, 1948.

At the rate the Separation Wall is being built, soon Palestinian Land Day (March 30) will need only a few hours. The Wall and the Israeli mandated buffer zones jut into the Palestinian territories by as much as 300 feet, gobbling up fertile agricultural land and precious water reserves, and make cool profits for companies like Elbit Systems Ltd. contracted to build the massive structure.

By Alisa Pimentel

Among the almost 20,000 activists gathered in Detroit for the US Social Forum this week are several Grassroots International partners and allies. Grassroots International regularly provides funding to our partners and allies to participate in movement-building and leadership development gatherings.

Former Grassroots International Board member and current Board member of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Bill Fletcher Jr. recently blogged on CNN.com about the "frequent tendency to misrepresent the lessons of [the U.S. black freedom] movement and apply them to other social movements overseas in a way that misses the mark.

Ahmed Sourani is the Director of Projects & Cooperation for the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC). PARC is a longtime partner of Grassroots International and perhaps the most important player in the Palestinian agricultural sector. PARC focuses its work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on rural development including food security, income generation, water rights and protecting against land confiscation by Israel; environmental protection; and strengthening women's position in society.

Grassroots International board and staff members Marie Kennedy and Salena Tramel saw first-hand the devastation in Gaza after the Israeli assault on the territory in Dec08-Jan09.

Grassroots International supporter and friend, Felice Gelman is currently in Gaza on an international solidarity delegation. She is also a member of the WESPAC Committee for Justice & Peace in the Middle East. In March this year, Felice was part of a delegation organized by CODEPINK and Grassroots International, among others, invited to Gaza by the UN Relief and Works Agency. To read her blog, click here.

President Obama's 2010 budget calls for $2.775 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Israel, an increase of $225 million compared to the 2009 budget.  Send a resounding message to Congress that this appropriation for military aid to Israel is unacceptable.

Israel has consistently misused U.S. weapons to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians and systematic violations of international law.  Some of those violations are documented every year in the State Department's own human rights reports. Even more are documented by the United Nations and respected human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.