House to Hold Hearing Wed. on Military Aid to Israel
Thanks for signing up to help us organize to cut off military aid to Israel and/or endorsing our letter to the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs calling on it to cut off military aid to Israel.
We've just learned that next Wednesday morning, March 12, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs will hold a hearing on the FY2009 budget for international affairs, including the President's request for $2.55 billion in military aid to Israel, a 9% increase in actual spending from 2007.
This hearing comes just days after Israel's week-long attack on the Gaza Strip which left at least 117 Palestinians dead, over half of whom were civilians and at least 22 of whom were children. Israel's ongoing use of U.S. weapons to kill civilians is a violation of U.S. law which requires military aid to be cut off, not increased.
We need you to help us prepare for this hearing and put as much pressure as we can on the subcommittee to cut off military aid to Israel.
1. Ask everyone in your email address book or your list-serve to send a personal letter to the members of this subcommittee before Wednesday morning's hearing. Individuals can send their letters through our website by clicking here: http://salsa.democracyinaction
2. Please look over the current list of organizations below that have endorsed our sign-on letter to the Appropriations Subcommittee. We are still taking endorsements on it until Noon Eastern on Tuesday, March 11. If you belong to an organization that can endorse this letter, then please ask it to endorse by clicking here: http://endtheoccupation.org
Thank you for organizing to cut off U.S. military aid to Israel!
In solidarity,
Josh Ruebner
National Advocacy Director
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
congress@endtheoccupation.org
202-332-0994
SIGN-ON LETTER TO APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE WITH LIST OF ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS
Organizations can endorse this letter by clicking here.
TO: Senate and House Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Program, Appropriations Committees
We are writing to let you know that our organizations oppose the President's FY2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Israel, which would be a 9% increase over actual spending in FY2007. This proposed increase is the first installment of a ten-year agreement between the United States and Israel, signed in August 2007, to increase military aid to Israel by 25%, totaling $30 billion by FY2018.
Israel uses weapons purchased through FMF to enforce its illegal 40-year military occupation and siege of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip and to commit human rights violations against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and against civilians in Lebanon. Israel's ongoing use of U.S. weapons to enforce an illegal military occupation and to commit human rights abuses places it in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act.
The Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs must examine the President's FY2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in FMF for Israel in light of Israel's violations of these U.S. laws. We urge the Subcommittee to hold Israel accountable for its violations of U.S. laws and apply the appropriate sanctions for countries that violate its terms. As long as Israel continues to violate U.S. law, the United States must cut off military aid, not increase it.
Organizations can endorse this letter by clicking here.
Signed by,
National Organizations
1. African American Islamic Institute
2. American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
3. American Friends Service Committee
4. Benedictines for Peace
5. Code Pink-Women for Peace
6. Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
7. Council for the National Interest
8. Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Israel/Palestine Action Group
9. Friends of Sabeel-North America
10. Israel/Palestine Network of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.
11. Global Exchange
12. Green Party of the United States, International Committee
13. Jewish Voice for Peace
14. Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
15. Muslim Student Association West
16. National Lawyers Guild
17. Peace Action
18. Scientists without Borders
19. United for Peace and Justice
20. US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Local Organizations
Alaska
1. Alaskans for Peace and Justice, Anchorage
2. Palestine Solidarity Committee, Anchorage
Arizona
1. Foundation for Ending Apartheid in Israel, Queen Creek
2. Local to Global Justice, Phoenix
3. Progressives of the Verde Valley, Sedona
4. Tucson Women in Black, Tucson
California
1. 14 Friends of Palestine, San Rafael
2. Academic Mentorship Program-University of California, Los Angeles
3. Alpine Voices for Peace, Markleeville
4. Americans for a Just Peace in the Middle East, Santa Barbara
5. Americans for a Palestinian State, Oakland
6. Americans for Peace, Santa Barbara
7. Arts and Crafts Can Do, Santa Rosa
8. Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice, Oakland
9. Borno Realty, San Diego
10. Central Coast Workers against the War, Santa Cruz
11. Committee for Justice in Palestine-University of California, Santa Cruz
12. Dream Out Loud Films, Los Angeles
13. Free Gaza Movement, El Cerrito
14. Friends of Sabeel-Southern California, Tustin
15. Fresh Clean Day Publishing, Woodside
16. Hajar Enterprises, Inc., Hawthorne
17. International Solidarity Movement-Northern California, El Cerrito
18. Islamic Center of Inland Empire, Rancho Cucamonga
19. LA Jews for Peace, La Habra Heights
20. Mann and Elias, Beverly Hills
21. Middle East Study Group, Martinez
22. Muslim Student Association-University of California, Los Angeles
23. Muslim Student Association-University of California, San Diego
24. Network of Spiritual Progressives-Sacramento Chapter, Sacramento
25. Peace and Freedom Party-California, Oakland
26. Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Palo Alto
27. People's Coalition for Economic and Social Justice, Santa Barbara
28. Robert Levarant, MFT, Sebastopol
29. San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper, San Francisco
30. San Jose Peace and Justice Center, San Jose
31. Spectronix Research, Vineburg
32. South Bay Mobilization, San Jose
33. University of California Santa Barbara Students for Justice in Palestine, Santa Barbara
34. University of Southern California Students for Justice in Palestine, Los Angeles
35. Women in Black, Berkeley
36. Women in Black, Idyllwild
37. Womyn for the Independence of Puerto Rico, San Francisco
Organizations can endorse this letter by clicking here