Opposition in the United States to the Israeli Occupation
Encyclopedia
Opposition in the United States to the Israeli Occupation is organized by hundreds of organizations, many of them members of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
. These organizations include peace and anti-war, human rights and Arab- and Muslim-Americans groups. Their tactics include education, protest, civil disobedience and lobbying.
when Israel occupied the West Bank
, Gaza
and the Golan Heights. Over the years the organizations also have campaigned against US government loan guarantees to Israel and against the purchase of Israel bonds by states, and also protested US support (or lack of condemnation) of many Israeli policies and actions of the Israeli military that they considered human rights violations.
criticizes a number of anti-occupation groups, contending that their goals are "to drive a wedge between the U.S. government and Israel; to undermine public and government support for Israel in the United States, and (especially since the 1973 war) to bring about a halt in American governmental aid to Israel."
In his book In the Trenches: Selected Speeches and Writings of an American Jewish Activist, David A. Harris
, executive director of the American Jewish Committee
says Israel must explain "how the occupation came about" and dismisses as "buzzwords" Palestinians attempts to gain sympathy as an occupied people.
US campaign to end the Israeli occupation
The US campaign to end the Israeli occupation is a pro-Palestinian advocacy organization based in the U.S. It is a coalition of more than 250 member organizations working to influence United States policy as it relates to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...
. These organizations include peace and anti-war, human rights and Arab- and Muslim-Americans groups. Their tactics include education, protest, civil disobedience and lobbying.
History
Political activism against occupation first emerged in the wake of the 1967 Middle East warSix-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
when Israel occupied the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
and the Golan Heights. Over the years the organizations also have campaigned against US government loan guarantees to Israel and against the purchase of Israel bonds by states, and also protested US support (or lack of condemnation) of many Israeli policies and actions of the Israeli military that they considered human rights violations.
Arab-American organizations
- The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination CommitteeAmerican-Arab Anti-Discrimination CommitteeThe American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee states that it is the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States. According to its web page it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities and has over 40 chapters in 24 states and members in all...
(ADC), founded in by U.S. Senator James AbourezkJames AbourezkJames George Abourezk is a former Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator, and was the first Arab-American to serve in the United States Senate. He represented South Dakota in the U.S...
in 1980, calls the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land the "foremost obstacle to peace."
- The American Task Force on PalestineAmerican Task Force on PalestineThe American Task Force on Palestine is an organization founded in 2003 to advocate that it is in the American national interest to promote an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the creation of a Palestinian state that will live alongside Israel in peace and security...
(ATFP) seeks an end to the occupation through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, anchored in international law. It believes this to be in the national interest of Americans, Palestinians and Israelis. Its work is focused on "the effort to create this critical mass for ending the occupation."
- The Arab American InstituteArab American InstituteFounded in 1985, the Arab American Institute is a non-profit membership organization based in Washington D.C. that focuses on the issues and interests of Arab-Americans nationwide. James Zogby, brother of pollster John Zogby, is founder and president of the AAI....
(AAI), founded in 1985 by James ZogbyJames ZogbyJames J. Zogby is the author of Arab Voices and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute , a Washington, D.C.–based organization which serves as a political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. He is a senior analyst with his brother's polling firm, Zogby...
, lobbies for an end to Israeli settlements, protests what it sees as human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza, and supports the two-state solution..
- The Palestine CenterPalestine CenterThe Palestine Center is an independent think tank based in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C.. Their focus is on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other Middle East issues....
's purpose is to bring together the American and Palestinian communities to learn about the Palestinian people's quest for sovereignty, civil and political rights and an end to Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the surrounding refugee camps.
- The Muslim Public Affairs CouncilMuslim Public Affairs CouncilThe Muslim Public Affairs Council is a national American Muslim advocacy and public policy organization headquartered in Los Angeles and with offices in Washington D.C...
(MPAC) notes that despite scores of U.N. resolutions supported by the international community Israel continues to expand its settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It calls for dialogue and diplomacy to end the conflict.
- The Palestinian American CongressPalestinian American CongressThe Palestinian American Congress is a Palestinian-American non-profit grassroots organization established in 1995 to assist the Palestinian-American community in coordinating and organizing its political, educational, cultural and social affairs. As of July 2008, it has 21 chapters in various US...
(PAC), founded in 1995, "adheres to the principles that the Palestinian people constitute an indivisible National Unit and that Palestine is its national homeland." It asserts that according to international law Palestinian land cannot be annexed as long as "the occupied people are still resisting the occupation."
Non-ethnic organizations
- The Washington Report on Middle East AffairsWashington Report on Middle East AffairsThe Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine, published nine times per year in Washington, D.C., focuses on "news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S...
publishes numerous articles about the occupation and keeps a running log of U.S. aid to Israel which supports that occupation.
- The Council for the National InterestCouncil for the National InterestThe Council for the National Interest is a 501 organization in the United States advocating a "new direction for U.S. Middle East policy." With its sister organization the Council for the National Interest Foundation it works to educate about and promote what it describes as "even handed...
(CNI) states its objective is "to restore a political environment in America in which voters and their elected officials are free from the undue influence and pressure of foreign countries, namely Israel." It opposes Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands since the Six Day war.
- The Mennonite Central CommitteeMennonite Central CommitteeThe Mennonite Central Committee is a relief, service, and peace agency representing 15 Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish bodies in North America. The U.S. headquarters are in Akron, Pennsylvania, the Canadian in Winnipeg, Manitoba.-History:...
(MCC) looks for economic means to end the occupation of what it calls "Palestine/Israel."It suggests an economic boycott by all Christians of Israel, including divestment of stocks of companies that do business with Israel.. MCC activist Alain Weaver has advocated a One-state solution, writing "Might not a bi-national future in one state be one in which Palestinians and Israelis alike both sit securely under vine and fig tree?"
- The American Friends Service CommitteeAmerican Friends Service CommitteeThe American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
(AFSC) opposes settlements in the occupied territories. In December, 2008, AFSC wrote an open letter to President Obama, urging American pressure to stop the war in Gaza and to open negotiations with HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. As a quaker organization that opposes all war, AFSC has been active in Israel and Palestine, supporting pacifism, conscientious objectors, and nonviolence..
- In 2004 the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
, which had long opposed the occupation of Palestine, called for a "phased selective divestment in accordance with General Assembly policy on social investing."
Critics
Michael Lewis, director of Policy Analysis for the American Israel Public Affairs CommitteeAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States...
criticizes a number of anti-occupation groups, contending that their goals are "to drive a wedge between the U.S. government and Israel; to undermine public and government support for Israel in the United States, and (especially since the 1973 war) to bring about a halt in American governmental aid to Israel."
In his book In the Trenches: Selected Speeches and Writings of an American Jewish Activist, David A. Harris
David A. Harris
- References :...
, executive director of the American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
says Israel must explain "how the occupation came about" and dismisses as "buzzwords" Palestinians attempts to gain sympathy as an occupied people.
See also
- Projects working for peace among Arabs and Israelis
- Anti-ZionismAnti-ZionismAnti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
- One-state solution
- Two-state solutionTwo-state solutionThe two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict, most recently at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007...
- Palestinian Right of ReturnPalestinian right of returnThe Palestinian right of return is a political position or principle asserting that Palestinian refugees, both first-generation refugees and their descendants, have a right to return, and a right to the property they or their forebears left or which they were forced to leave in what is now Israel...