Partners’ Statement on US Weapons Sales to Israel, Investment in Peacebuilding
October 30, 2024 –
Dear President Biden,
Partners for Progressive Israel is an American 501(c)(3) and Zionist organization that has supported Israeli organizations in their quest for equality and peace for over 30 years. We write to express our grave concern over the humanitarian crises that mark the ever-worsening conflict in Gaza, and to reiterate our call for a bilateral ceasefire and immediate hostage release arrangement between Israel and Hamas.
We deeply appreciate the Biden Administration’s work and continued effort to advance a plan to achieve these outcomes. At the same time we maintain deep concerns about continued violations of international humanitarian laws perpetrated by both Hamas and the Israeli government in this war, including the documented deaths of thousands of civilians in Gaza through the use of American-provided offensive weapons.
For the wellbeing of all civilians in the region, and to swiftly and efficaciously ensure an end to this war, as well as to take the next steps towards stability and self-determination for Israelis and Palestians – including an end to the Occupation – we ask this administration to suspend the sale to Israel of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMS) and 120mm tank rounds for use in Gaza.
Alongside such a suspension, we assert the need for the United States to invest in the long term stability of the region and in the flourishing of the state of Israel and a future democratic Palestinian state. Instead of supplying the weapons identified above, the US should direct the focus of its aid in this moment toward building a just, secure, and durable peace. In this time of great pain, moving aid towards an investment in peace-making and diplomatic support alongside defensive military aid would be a powerful step towards the future that everyone in the region deserves.
We recognize the State of Israel’s right and need to defend itself. At the same time, we fully recognize the massive humanitarian disaster of death, destruction, and infrastructure collapse wreaked on the people of Gaza. This situation constitutes not only a humanitarian crisis but also is fuel for future instability which, in the absence of a political strategy and agenda to end the fighting, return all the hostages, and create viable enduring security arrangements with international partners, inevitably will combust in future recurring cycles of violence. Thus, we advocate that the United States suspend the supply of the above-detailed weapons, along with making significant investments in long term peace-building initiatives, as a means to strengthen its diplomatic efforts to curb the current conflict and reorient conditions in support of a more stable and constructive future for both Palestinians and Israelis.
This call is made out of our deep love for and connection to Israelis and Palestinians, and in making it we stand in solidarity with Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers who view this call as a responsibility of the United States as this catastrophic war continues, and who are joining with us in this appeal:
Peace activist Yonatan Zeigen, son of the late activist Vivian Silver, of blessed memory, who was murdered on October 7, 2023, shared, “The American role in the Israeli Palestinian conflict and in the continuing occupation is not one of a worried passive bystander, but a matter of accountability. The status quo leading up to October 7th was actively enabled by the United States and it has been sponsoring the war ever since. This is done by minimal resources being invested in civil society/peace politics outlets and by investing vast resources in unconditional military aid and diplomatic support. If Israel wants to continue to exist, if Palestine wants to progress from a refugee nation to a nation state and if America wants to assert its global influence successfully, then this paradigm has to change. We must end the occupation and the conflict, and in order to do that we need the international community to stop accepting and supporting reality as it is and to start investing in the shaping of a new sustainable and shared future for Israelis and Palestinians.”
Israeli peacemaker and entrepreneur Maoz Inon stated, “I lost both of my parents on October 7th. Peace is possible.The U.S. was able to make peace with Germany, Japan, and Italy in the wake of World War II to form the G7 only eight years later, leading the world in values of equality, of dignity, and security and safety and reconciliation. It’s time to bring these values to our region. We need the United States to send these values here, and to stop sending weapons. The extremist government of Israel has betrayed and forgotten the hostages taken on October 7th, and seems not to care for the lives of the people it represents. It’s time to stop the war, to force a peaceful reconciliation and peace talks in place of weapons. It’s time to bring the hostages back. The only way to do this is to push the Israeli government to negotiate, and in order to negotiate we must force an end to the war in Gaza. The U.S. has played this role before, bringing Israeli and Palestinian leadership to the table at the Madrid peace summit in 1991. It’s time to start supporting the Israeli people, who want security, safety, and to bring the hostages back.”
Palestinian Co-Director of Combatants for Peace Rana Salman echoed, “There are Palestinians and Israelis dedicated to achieving peace and justice, striving to find a shared path forward. However, we are being overshadowed and underfunded by those who prioritize the flow of weapons and support of continuous war. Silence in the face of new settlements, ignoring extremist rhetoric, and overlooking arms sales all empower those who seek to escalate conflict and oppression, hindering our efforts. We call for investment in our initiatives for peace, not in the machinery of war.”
Her Combatants for Peace Israeli co-Director Eszther Koranyi added, “In a recent demonstration, the aunt of two hostages who are kept by Hamas for nearly a year, said: ‘military pressure will not free hostages, will not bring peace, will bring only more death and sorrow.’ I am adding to her desperate call, the care we, Israeli peace activists, hold for all innocent people in Gaza who are killed by the Israeli army. Only a political solution will bring real security and peace for everyone on the Land. Israel has the right to self-defend, but killing and violently displacing innocent people has nothing to do with that.”
PPI Executive Director Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson shared, “We are committed to the wellbeing and flourishing of a state of Israel alongside a future Palestinian state. It is clear that Hamas’s horrific attack on October 7th, mass kidnapping, and their recent execution of six hostages, are gross violations not only of international law but of human dignity, and the leadership must be held accountable for these war crimes.
“This current war, which has led to the deaths of so many civilians and has created a crisis of infrastructure and care that limits even the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical care, has also failed to safely return the hostages kidnapped on October 7th, nor succeeded in providing meaningful long term security for Israelis or Palestinians. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government have alienated both the Israeli public and the wider international community, and we stand in support of the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who continue to demonstrate for an end to this war, and a return of both the living hostages in Gaza and the bodies of those who have been killed.
“We stand for a safe, equitable, and just future for all people in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Gaza and the West Bank. We ask that the Biden administration take this step of suspending the sale and transfer of offensive weapons and investing instead in peacebuilding efforts to make this vision a reality, before it’s too late.”
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