On December 23, the United States abstained on UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which reiterated that Israeli settlement activity “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law.” This abstention allowed the resolution to pass, 14-0. After the UN vote, Secretary Kerry explained: “If we had vetoed this resolution, the United States would have been giving license to further unfettered settlement construction that we fundamentally oppose.”
Members of Congress who support Israel's occupation are keen to express their indignation over the Obama administration's abstention, which allowed the resolution to pass, even though it doesn’t even threaten to sanction Israel if it refuses to comply.
Tomorrow, as one of its very first acts of business in the new 115th Congress, the House of Representatives will vote on H.Res.11 objecting to UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and the Obama administration’s abstention.
{{ recipient.first_name_or_friend }}, please call your Members of Congress right now and urge them to oppose these Congressional resolutions, which are designed to protect and promote Israel’s illegal colonization of Palestinian land.
H.Res.11 contains many inaccurate statements about the content of UN Security Council Resolution 2334. The UN resolution does not enforce binding parameters for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue on the parties and does not seek to supplant direct negotiations between them. Nor is the UN resolution one-sided: it also calls for “immediate steps to prevent all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation and destruction,” and calls on both parties “to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric.” The UN resolution does not break new ground by reaffirming that East Jerusalem is included in the West Bank for purposes of defining Occupied Palestinian Territory. Nor does the resolution include any language supporting the Palestinian civil society-led call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions.
Trump has nominated David Friedman, one of the biggest supporters of Israeli settlements, to be the next US Ambassador to Israel. Sign the petition to tell the incoming Congress not to confirm him. We need peacemakers, not settlement builders!
Thank you for taking action today to support Palestinian rights!
In peace,
Ariel, Jodie, Medea, and the entire CODEPINK Team
