STATEMENT OF COLORADO CAMPAIGN FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE REGARDING ISRAEL AND PALESTINE (March, 2001; amended December 2002)
The Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace (CCMEP) shares the grief resulting from the violence in Palestine/Israel. However, we recognize that the vast majority of victims are Palestinians. The Israeli army, police and illegal settlers are using disproportionate force against civilians, most of them whom are unarmed and many of whom are children. While we call upon Israel, the Palestinian National Authority and international community to end the violence, the halt can only be temporary unless the underlying issues are addressed and resolved.
A lasting peace must be based on justice, which demands recognition of the right of self-determination for all peoples. We reject the current "peace process" insofar as it does not address the main obstacles to peace; the illegal military occupation with its chronic human rights violations, and control, confiscation, and destruction of Palestinian resources, and massive, illegal Israeli settlements within those occupied territories.
CCMEP calls for a peace settlement based on implementation of all United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions regarding the conflict. We recognize that no just and lasting peace could be achieved without the recognition of the right of return of the Palestinian refugees and implementation of UN Resolutions 194 and 237. We also call for the dismantlement of Israel's illegal settlements, a verifiable withdrawal of Israel from all occupied Arab territories, and a just resolution to the sovereignty of Jerusalem/Al Quds. We also recognize that the racist nature of the Israeli state and the Israeli apartheid system present threats to peace in the region.
We call on the international community to take an active role in achieving such a settlement. In particular, we condemn the one-sided support of Israeli occupation by the United States government and strongly reject current efforts by many elected officials and much of the media to cast the blame for the current violence on the Palestinians.
We call on the media to present a more accurate picture of the oppression and injustice to which the Palestinian people have been and continue to be subjected.
We call on the US government to respect international law and human rights, by supporting peace with justice.
We deplore the US diplomatic protection, military and economic support, and weapons sales to Israel which only contribute to escalation of violence and human rights abuses.
We believe this US foreign policy, combined with the embargo and bombing of Iraq, communicate to the Arab peoples a disdain for their lives and human
rights. We will use the press, public vigil, and other public activities and forums to change these policies which have been driven by motives of oil, security and interest groups politics.
We express our solidarity with Israelis and Palestinian activists who have, with little attention from the media, courageously worked to press for a change in US policy toward the Middle East to bring an end to violence in Palestine/Israel based on peace with justice.