U.S. Greens Call for Divestment from/Boycott of Israel

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

Monday, November 28, 2005

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org  
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org  
Mohammed K. Abed, Wisconsin Green Party, 608-332-9900, mkabed@wisc.edu  
Justine McCabe, International Committee, 860-354-1822, justinemccabe@earthlink.net  

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green Party of the United States has endorsed a statement calling for a comprehensive strategy of boycott and divestment that would pressure the government of Israel to guarantee human rights for Palestinians.

The resolution, introduced by the Wisconsin Green Party and passed in the Green Party's National Committee, seeks reversal of Israel's current policies. The text is appended below.

"Israel's treatment of Palestinians -- those who are Israeli citizens as well as those in the territories -- is comparable in many ways to South African apartheid, and has resulted in a cycle of violence and lack of security for both Israelis and Palestinians," said Mohammed Abed, a member of the Green Party of Wisconsin. "A stable and just resolution of the conflict requires the full realization of the human rights of Palestinians and Israelis."

Greens allege that the 'peace process' will ensure neither peace nor human rights, and have called the Gaza Disengagement Plan a smokescreen to buy time and accumulate political capital for the Sharon government while it pursues a plan to force Palestinians into disconnected reservations on less than half the West Bank.

The Green Party is already on record as supporting the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and to receive compensation for their losses; immediate Israeli withdrawal from all lands acquired since 1967, including the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem; maintenance of
Jerusalem as a shared city open to people of all faiths; suspension of U.S. military and foreign aid to Israel; complete dismantling of the Israeli separation wall; and serious consideration of a single secular, democratic state as the national home of both Israelis and Palestinians. Greens have affirmed the right ofself-determination for both Palestinians and Israelis.

"The Green Party is on the side of the many Israeli and Palestinian organizations working together to achieve a just resolution through nonviolent means," said Ruth Weill, co-chair of the Wisconsin Green Party. "As proven in South Africa in the 1980s, divestment and boycott are an
effective means to achieve justice for the oppressed."

Greens note that direct U.S. aid to Israel has been conservatively estimated at nearly $105 billion since 1949, which does not include recently proposed assistance such as the $1.2 billion package for developing the Negev and Galilee.

"American taxpayers' money is subsidizing Israel's treatment of its Palestinian citizens and of Palestinians in the occupied territories," said Peter LaVenia, chair of the Albany, NewYork Greens.

Reference:
news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article329199.ece

RESOLUTION

Adopted by the Green Party of the United States, November 21, 2005

1. The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) publicly calls for divestment from and boycott of the State of Israel until such time as the full individual and collective rights of the Palestinian people are realized.

To maximize the effect of the Green Party's support for divestment and boycott of Israel:

2. The party calls on all civil society institutions and organizations around the world to implement a comprehensive divestment and boycott program. Further, the party calls on all governments to support this program and to implement state level boycotts.

3. The party urges the Campus Greens network to work in cooperation with other campus organizations to achieve institutional participation in this effort.

4. The GPUS National Committee directs the Green Peace Action Committee (GPAX) to encourage the larger anti-war movement to promote the divestment/boycott effort.

5. The GPUS National Committee directs the International Committee to work with our sister Green parties around the world in implementing an international boycott.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Green Party International Committee
http://www.gp.org/committees/intl/

Green Party Peace Action Committee
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/

University of Wisconsin Divest from Israel Campaign
http://alawda.rso.wisc.edu/links.htm