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BY “End the occupation” (USA)

Hundreds have just faced up to AIPAC...

Mardi, 24 mai 2011 - 20h03

Tuesday 24 May 2011

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together we can do more.

On Saturday we both spoke at the fantastic events of Move Over AIPAC, the spectacular outpouring of creativity and commitment organized by CODEPINK and 100 endorsing organizations, including the US Campaign and many members of our coalition.

Hundreds of activists from across the United States challenged the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) by protesting outside its annual conference in Washington.

AIPAC’s influence, along with that of U.S. arms manufacturers and the Pentagon, creates a stranglehold of pro-Israel policies that undermine democracy here at home and across the Middle East.

Throughout the weekend activsts spoke about the kind of new U.S. policy needed toward Palestine/Israel — a policy that upholds freedom, justice and equality — not AIPAC’s policy of securing U.S. support for Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and violations of Palestinian rights.

With just 0.4% of AIPAC’s budget, the US Campaign works tirelessly to challenge U.S. military aid to Israel, providing an umbrella and a channel for more than 350 member organizations.

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Here’s just a taste of the work of the US Campaign

We provide a strategic framework for local groups to run effective campaigns, and move their work from the local to the national level. Member groups throughout the country use the US Campaign as a platform to communicate and cooperate.

We create valuable resources for our member groups and 50,000+ supporters — check out the Aid to Israel map that lets you organize with others to tell your elected representatives exactly how many of your community’s tax dollars are going to military aid to Israel, and how you would rather spend them at home.

We organize grassroots training and advocacy days so that members and supporters can lobby their elected representatives for a different policy — the US Campaign’s National Advocacy Director Josh Ruebner led yesterday’s “Move Over AIPAC” workshop on ending military aid to Israel (see photo at right). And watch this space for the launch of our new city council campaign — Fund Community Needs — in June!

We challenge the discourse through well-placed op-eds, including by our staff, Steering Committee and Advisory Board members. Check out these three pieces in The Hill last week: by Josh Ruebner, Phyllis Bennis and Nadia Hijab.

Israel’s intransigent prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will again be standing against history and in the face of peace and justice when he addresses Congress today. We know what he’s going to say. As Israel expands its racist laws against its Palestinian citizens, escalates its apartheid treatment of Palestinians under occupation, ramps up its colonization of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, prevents Palestinian refugees from going home, and keeps Gaza under siege, we can — and must — do so much more.

Last weekend shows how far our movement has come and how much stronger we are. We already do so much with so little.