Americans are shocked and angered by the horror and violence in Israel, Gaza, and the West bank, and question whether our government can, or should, keep its 'at any cost' commitment to defend Israel's government. It's time to change course before Israel can buy more time to do more harm under American support, before it is too late.

Focusing on taking sides or comparing body counts makes us miss the serious impacts on American democracy, on American freedom of speech, on our citizen's voices and institutions, contravenes our values, and makes America complicit in the Israeli government's extreme political and ethnic cleansing goals against innocent Palestinian children and families. Americans will continue to face danger from extremist violence and should question Israel's government as an ally. We demand the US Government: 

1. Demand from Israel an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to protect innocent women, men, and children, and establish space for freeing hostages, and perform political, legal, and humanitarian actions;

2. Demand Israel to remove illegal Israeli settlements from the West Bank;

3. Pursue and protect American interests and values ​​through the rule of law, freedom, and human rights;

4. Prioritize renewed support for political solutions to Palestinian grievances, rights, and future.

5. Stop shielding Israel from accountability and compliance with international law and UN resolutions in the United Nations Security Council.

It's clear Palestinians are under threat of ethnic cleansing, similar to other examples of ethnic cleansing (see #1) around the world. For example, the recent expulsion of 80% of ethnic Armenians in 2023 (see #2) from the Nagorno-Karabakh region inside Azerbaijan where the Azerbaijan government used its military to encircle the region, cut off food and life sustaining aid, causing starvation and death, making the enclave unlivable, and most importantly forced acceptance of the expelled citizenry to the country of Armenia. Likewise, Israel is following this playbook to cause extreme suffering and displacement of Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza to raise international outcry to pressure acceptance of its call for Egypt, Jordan, other countries, and the United States to accept Palestinian refugees within their borders and no return. Israel is trying to leverage Palestinian suffering for its most important nationalist goal – clearing Gaza and the West Bank of Palestinians (the government renamed the West Bank to biblical Judea and Samaria Area, hint, hint) and illegally annexing recognized official Palestinian territory (See # 3). It's time to change course on American open-ended commitments to the Israeli government, or we will pay the price tenfold.  

What common cause do we have in expelling Palestinians from their legally recognized territory under Israel's control while Israel violates international law and murders people it is obligated to protect? The Israeli government, now fully under control of religious nationalist, racist, anti-Palestinian, and militant right-wing leadership has abused American commitment, produced no reliable security, and has never provided a fair and just settlement of Palestinian grievances and rights as spelled out under international law. It's time to renew demands for human rights-centered actions that protect Palestinians and Israelis of all faiths and backgrounds and provides a peaceful and secure future for all.

Footnotes:

#1 United Nations Commission of Experts (1994) described ethnic cleansing as “… a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violence and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.” https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/ethnic-cleansing.shtml

#2 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/17/azerbaijan-must-let-ethnic-armenians-return-to-nagorno-karabakh-un-court

#3 https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/israel-and-the-occupied-palestinian-territory/

Petition cover photo credit: “A Palestinian woman, Inas Abu Maamar, embraces the body of her 5-year-old niece, Saly, killed in Israeli strikes, at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.” Reuters photographer in Gaza, Mohammed Salem.