Believes that security for Israel “can only be achieved through the establishment of an economically and politically viable Palestinian state.”
Calls for the evacuation of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories and the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from the West Bank
Condemns the construction of an Israeli security barrier
Denounced the strategic killing of Palestinian terrorist leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
The Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace (JAJP), also referred to by its Hebrew name, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, is an organization of American Jews whose mission is “to educate and mobilize American Jews in support of a negotiated two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” JAJP believes that security for Israel "can only be achieved through the establishment of an economically and politically viable Palestinian state, necessitating an end to Israel's occupation of land acquired during the 1967 war and an end to Palestinian terrorism."
At the heart of JAJP's efforts is its call for the evacuation of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories, and for the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from the West Bank. "These settlements," says JAJP, "are a major obstacle to peace, a tremendous financial burden to Israel, and do little, if anything, to enhance Israel's security. The settlements constantly expose to danger the settlers themselves and the Israeli soldiers sent to defend them, and they bring grave harm to the Palestinians living under Occupation."
JAJP has developed an online petition titled "A Call to Bring the Settlers Home to Israel," which asks the U.S. government "to provide generous foreign assistance" and financial incentives to those settlers willing to evacuate. The petition -- which was signed by such notables as Eric Alterman, Ed Asner, Gordon Fellman, Morton Halperin, Stanley Hoffman, Michael Lerner, Eli Pariser, and Gloria Steinem -- calls for $3 billion in cash incentives to be given to 16,000 settler families as a payoff for moving back inside Israel's pre-1967 border.
JAJP's President is Marcia Freedman, a former member of Israel's parliament and currently a member of the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace and Women in Black. According to Freedman, "The Palestinians have been living under Israel's illegal military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem for 34 years ... [and] this is an enormous injustice that the world has turned its back on."
JAJP has condemned Israel's construction of a 480-mile security fence in the West Bank aimed at keeping Palestinian terrorists out of the country. Says JAJP: "With every additional kilometer that the barrier extends into the West Bank, creating a new de facto border for Israel, the prospects for a peaceful negotiated settlement recede further. The barrier is not a security barrier, but rather a political barrier to progress towards peace."
Whereas some pro-Palestinian groups in the U.S. demand divestment from Israel and the withholding of monies from that country, JAJP instead advocates giving such funds directly to the Palestinian people: "Donating to organizations that invest in Palestinian businesses, loan money to development banks involved in micro-lending, help rebuild the infrastructure of the West Bank, invest in promot[ing] dialogue and understanding or provide humanitarian relief for victims of violence are a few examples of how individuals, corporations, organizations and the United States government can support the Palestinian people and activists for a just peace."
Although JAJP has denounced Palestinian terrorism, the organization has also condemned the strategic killing of terrorist overlords. Following the 2004 assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin by Israeli helicopter gun ships, JAJP released a press statement deploring the assassination, and stating that it "can only increase hatred of Israel and the U.S. throughout the Islamic world, and could constitute a danger not only for Israelis, but for Americans as well."
The Executive Director of JAJP is Diane Cantor, who formerly spent nine years as Executive Director of Coastal Empire Habitat for Humanity (the largest non-profit homebuilder in Savannah, Georgia) and four years as President of the Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education.
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