Middle East Peace and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom

I am a member of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace. The approximately 30,000 Brit Tzedek members and supporters are focused on organizing Jewish-American opinion to urge our government to bring all of its resources to bear on getting the Israelis and the Palestinians to negotiate the terms of a two-state peace.

We are principally motivated by the terrible cost of continued hostilities to the Israelis and Palestinians. Civilian adults and children on both sides are being killed and disabled. One third of all Israeli children and more than 20% of all Israeli adults are living under the poverty line. Israeli corporations are fleeing to the US to avoid the Israeli war taxes. It is estimated that 18% of the Israeli work force is unemployed or underemployed. Israeli social service and education budgets are cut frequently to pay for the hostilities. The Israeli educational system once rated first among those of 25 industrialized nations is now rated 25th. Service in the IDF is brutalizing Israel’s youth, resulting in increasing crime, particularly physical assaults upon women. As bad as conditions are in Israel, they are much worse for the Palestinians in the occupied territories. And, the Israeli government has deliberately sought to make them still worse.

My goals as a Brit Tzedek member are similar to those of most other members. They are:

1. Israel's survival;

2. Security for Israeli civilians from death or serious injury due to Palestinian terrorism;

3. Cessation of Israeli atrocities (e.g., targeted assassinations without regard to the peril of civilian Palestinians, home demolition, property seizure and the callous hassling of Palestinians at check points);

4. Opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians to continue the development of their national cultures;

5. Successful development of the Israeli and Palestinian economies;

6. Preservation of the Israeli/Palestinian environment for future generations;

7. Israeli/Palestinian political, cultural and economic cooperation, and

8. An improved Arab image of America.

We believe that these goals can only be achieved through earnest Israeli/Palestinian negotiation and collaboration.

If you want to learn more about Brit Tzedek, go to btvshalom.org .