Resolutions and Statements

THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
U.S. Congressional Leadership Stand Before the World with Blood on Their Hands.

The Peace and Freedom Party condemns Israel's bombing and invasion of the Gaza strip. We place primary responsibility for the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the United States government and the militaristic policies of the corporate-controlled Democratic and Republican parties. Since World War II, the U.S. has fostered both Israeli and Arab militarism. It has opposed openly and covertly every move toward peace, secular democracy or social justice in the region. Congressional leader, Nancy Pelosi has already issued her standard unapologetic recognition of the "Special Relationship" between Israel and the United States and perpetuates the lie that Israel's actions are defensive when even a superficial examination of the facts would prove that to be a lie. We demand that the U.S. permanently end all military aid to all governments everywhere as the first step toward world peace. We further call on the U.S. government to stop financial, economic and diplomatic support for Israel until

• There is an immediate end to the indiscriminate shelling of the Gaza Strip;
• Israel withdraws all military and paramilitary forces from the territories occupied in the 1967 war;
• Israel releases all prisoners seized in its current invasions;
• Israel stops building new settlements and begins the immediate and rapid relocation to the pre-1967 borders of Israel of the over 400,000 illegal settlers now in the occupied lands;
• Israel publicly renounces its policy of assassination and attacks on civilian populations; and Israel stops land and water seizures and other violations of the rights of the Palestinian, Bedouin and Druze minorities within Israel.

We support equal rights and security for all peoples. We believe that in the long run such rights can only be guaranteed by a democratic, secular federation of peoples within the Middle East. We recognize that this is unlikely in the near future and probably impossible within the capitalist world order, but we support all steps toward it and oppose all policies which fight against it.

We support the movement in Israel to refuse military service in the occupied territories. We oppose acts of violence against individuals or groups based on their religion, ethnicity or politics such as Israel's calculated policies of assassination and terror and Palestinian bombings directed at civilian targets. We recognize the legitimate rights of self-defense of both Palestinians and Israelis, but these do not include attacks on civilians.

Boycott, divestment and sanctions worked to end apartheid in South Africa. The Peace and Freedom Party asks the working people of this country to join us in calling for employing the same tactics to put an end to apartheid in the Middle East.

A statement by the Peace and Freedom Party (issued by Kevin Akin, State Chairperson) 5-January-2009