Call for Nationwide Week of District Visits to Congressional Representatives

With this message, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation begins preparations for a nationwide week of calls or visits to Congressional Representatives while they are in their districts.

DATES: August 26-30, 2002

PURPOSE: Express alarm about conditions in Palestine, with specific reference to the US AID report documenting malnutrition among Palestinian children and the important role played by UNRWA, and call for an end to the Israeli occupation. Talking Points and Action Points follow this.

The experience of Campaign members--some of which were shared at the Chicago organizers' conference in June--shows that despite the appearance of monolithic support for Israel in Congress, there are breaks in the consensus. Many Representatives listen to and are influenced by their constituents, and a direct connection to voters on the issues can make a difference. (See the Chicago conference report at http://www.endtheoccupation.org/conference_report/conference_report.html.)

On our website, we have posted 10 tips on how to organize a successful visit to your Congressional Representative. You can view the 10 tips at http://www.endtheoccupation.org/resources/10tips.html. We encourage you to share your experiences with us so that others can learn from them.

TALKING POINTS

1. According to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), nearly a third of all Palestinian children now suffer from chronic malnutrition. One-fifth of all Palestinian children experience acute malnutrition. Anemia has spread to nearly half of the children as well as to half of the women of childbearing age.
2. International observers from the US, the UK, France, Italy, Australia, and Japan report that water storage tanks and sewage systems in many towns were destroyed during the Israeli invasion that began in March 2002. Water supplies are contaminated with fecal bacterium and the incidence of diarrhea is increasing. Palestinian medical relief workers reported an outbreak of Hepatitis A in mid-August, 104 cases, all children, confirmed in two villages, with unconfirmed reports from nearby villages.
3. The Palestinian population is facing a public health catastrophe and the total collapse of the economy. For months, curfews have kept 800,000 people confined to their houses with only brief breaks. Food, water, and medical supplies are routinely prevented from reaching the cities and towns most in need. Those in urgent need of medical assistance are frequently unable to reach hospitals that required for medical care.
4. The humanitarian crisis can only be alleviated if there is free movement of health-related supplies and services, an end to the curfews, and a dismantling of the checkpoints and closures that have paralyzed the Palestinian economy. This week's agreement by Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to ease Israeli restrictions in the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem begins this process‹ but it is only a beginning and can be set back at any time.
5. The Fourth Geneva Convention governing the behavior of occupying forces forbids collective punishment. The vast majority of Palestinians are non-combatants and half are under the age of 15.
6. The US Congress has a unique responsibility for this situation since it has given Israel about one-fifth of all US foreign aid since 1967 and continues to provide about one-quarter of all foreign aid to Israel. These funds have helped Israel sustain its occupation of Palestinian land for 35 years. The US has also provided Israel with the weapons it has used to destroy the physical infrastructure necessary to sustain life.

ACTION POINTS

1. Congress should call on Israel to stop blocking humanitarian efforts to provide aid to the Palestinians throughout the occupied territories, enabling food, medical supplies, clean water, and equipment to reach their intended destinations without delay.
2. Congress should call on Israel to immediately withdraw its armed forces from Palestinian areas occupied since March 2002, lift the curfews, dismantle the checkpoints, and end the closures that have proved so destructive to economic life.
3. This must be followed up by an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, in full implementation by Israel of UN Resolution 242, which has the support of the entire international community including the US and Israel. Congress should consider suspending military aid to Israel until it withdraws from occupied territory: acquisition of territory by war is forbidden under international law.
4. Congress should call on the US administration to support a United Nations-sponsored international protection force to be sent to the occupied territories to provide a measure of security for both Israelis and Palestinians until a just and lasting settlement is reached.
5. Urge your representative to call on the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate whether Israel's use of US-provided F-16s in its attack on Gaza City on July 22, 2002 including 9 children Act [US Public Law 90-829]. The request should focus specifically on the use of US-provided F-16s as well as other US-provided military equipment in this attack, and not Israeli attacks on civilians in general.
6. Urge your representative to support the work of UNRWA, the main provider of basic education, health, relief, and social services to over 3.9 million registered Palestinian refugees in the Middle East. In the occupied territories, Israel does not, and the Palestinian Authority cannot, provide these vital services. Palestinians control security in only one area where UNRWA operates. Other UNRWA areas in the West Bank and Gaza remain under Israeli security control.