Action Alert: Support UN SC resolution condemning settlements

This Action Alert just in from the ELCA Middle East Network and Peace Not Walls. Click the link for the complete alert, plus links to more resources:
http://capwiz.com/elca/callalert/index.tt?alertid=22390501

Tell the President: Support a UN Security Council resolution condemning settlements.

Click the link above, then click the "Call Now" box for helpful talking points. In case you don't get that far, here is the phone number:
Washington office of President Barack Obama, 202.456.1313.

Tell the President to join the international community in reaffirming that Israeli settlements are illegal, are a major obstacle to peace, and should be halted immediately and completely.

Call the President today in support of a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

The UN Security Council may soon be considering a resolution

• reaffirming the illegality of Israeli settlements in Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967,


• naming settlements as a major obstacle to peace,


• demanding that Israel cease all settlement activity including in East Jerusalem,


• calling on both parties to act on the basis of international law and previous agreements,


• calling on all parties to continue negotiations on final status issues, and


• urging intensified efforts to invigorate the peace process.

U.S. leaders have said each of these things before. Our support for this resolution encourages the Obama administration to reaffirm these positions.

Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox, Jr., president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, wrote in Foreign Policy online magazine on January 5 that "the U.S. should rejoin the virtual international consensus on these issues, stand up for its own declared interests, and vote for the proposed Security Council resolution."
[http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/05/the_us_should_vote_for_a_un_security_council_resolution_condemning_israeli_settleme]

This resolution comes at a critical juncture when negotiations have lapsed specifically over the settlement issue. The U.S. administration has repeatedly called for a settlement freeze and has criticized settlement activity including in East Jerusalem. A UN resolution now, reaffirming previous UN resolutions and stating clearly the international consensus on settlements, could serve as a catalyst to get negotiations back on track to finally achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.

Contact the president today.

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