Statement regarding decision to move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem
Photo by Larry Koester, Fickr Creative Commons
December 12, 2017
STATEMENT OF WILPF US IN OPPOSITION TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT’S ACTIONS REGARDING ISRAEL & PALESTINE: THE DECISION TO MOVE THE U.S. EMBASSY IN ISRAEL TO JERUSALEM AND THE DECLARATION THAT JERUSALEM IS THE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL
The announced official actions on December 7, 2017, by the President of the United States of America, a declaration that Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel and a decision that the U.S. will move its Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, are disastrous. These actions are in violation of international law and the many United Nations and Security Council Resolutions concerning Jerusalem and Palestine. They will undermine all peace efforts and exacerbate the brutal occupation of the Palestinian land that continues the persecution of the Palestinian people.
We, the members of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, United States Section, disavow these actions undertaken in our name, and:
- We call on President Trump to reverse these abominable and provocative actions;
- We call for the establishment of a formal peace process between Israel and Palestine;
- We again call for there to be genuine peace talks within a framework that furthers the creation of the generally agreed upon two-state solution of the conflict, resulting in Israel and Palestine equally enjoying sovereignty, security and independence;
- We reiterate our call for the removal of Hamas from all U.S. Department of State terrorist watchlists so that Hamas, an elected political party in Palestine since fair and open national elections in 2006, can participate as one of the necessary and indispensable Palestinian parties to self-determination in formal peace talks between the nations of Israel and Palestine. (1)
Since our 1915 founding meeting in The Hague during World War I, the members of WILPF have worked tirelessly for peace, social justice and equality for all. We have been working for a peaceful solution to the tensions and warfare in the Middle East for decades. We reaffirm our support of such work through the aegis of the United Nations and its Security Council, and for movement to the peace table by all necessary and essential parties in the disputes involving the citizens of Israel and Palestine over lands and sovereignty.
Join WILPF in our work. Direct comments and questions to the US Section to info@wilpfus.org, Attn: Middle East Committee.
(1) See our booklet, Hamas at the Middle East Peace Table: Why?
