Common Ground

AMERICAN JEWS FOR JUST PEACE: COMMON GROUND

American Jews for a Just Peace (AJJP) is an alliance of progressive and predominantly Jewish activists in the United States working to ensure equal rights, safety, and dignity for all the people of historic Palestine. AJJP operates as an alliance of autonomous chapters and individual members across the United States. AJJP is a grassroots, membership-driven network with the goal of coordinating our collective work under a shared name and agreed statement of Common Ground principles.

COMMON GROUND PRINCIPLES

AJJP is committed to a peaceful and just resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, a resolution that will provide justice, safety, security and freedom for Jews, Palestinians, and all others living in the region. We are not committed to a specific solution, but are strongly committed to the principles of international law and human rights, and to the conviction that every state must be a state of and for all its citizens.

We believe that the illegal occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem must end immediately, and that a just peace requires the international community to honor the national aspirations and human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian Territories, within Israel, and in the Diaspora, as defined by international law and recognized principles of human rights.

We recognize the powerful role of U.S. policy in the region and believe that America's unconditional support of Israeli government policy is profoundly harmful to the cause of peace with justice. We will work to combat the myth of American Jewish consensus in support of Israeli government policy. We will work to promote a U.S. policy that is consistent with international law and human rights.

We therefore advocate for:

  1. The rights of Israelis and Palestinians to collective sovereignty within a political entity or entities of their own choosing, including full equality, civil rights and economic justice for all;
  2. An immediate end to the Israeli government's military occupation of and land expropriation in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and an immediate end to preferential treatment of Jews over Palestinians;
  3. Removal of the wall Israel is erecting inside the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law;
  4. Removal of settlements, and of the occupation infrastructure in the West Bank and East Jerusalem which violate the Geneva Conventions;
  5. An immediate end to collective punishment (banned under international law) and human rights violations, including assassinations, military strikes on civilian areas, demolition of homes, arbitrary arrests, torture, the closure and encirclement of villages and communities; and an end to travel restrictions, the uprooting of trees, and denial of access to education and medical care in the region;
  6. Call for Israel to acknowledge its responsibility for the displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people and their descendants since 1948, including those internally displaced in Israel/Palestine, and to recognize the right of those refugees to return to their homelands or be compensated for their losses;
  7. An end to the siege and blockade of Gaza;
  8. A just and equitable solution to the question of Jerusalem, which includes universal and unhampered access to all holy sites and protects the political and economic rights of Israelis and Palestinians;
  9. A just and equitable resolution to the plight of Palestinian refugees that recognizes the right of return as guaranteed by international law and United Nations resolutions;
  10. Freedom from violence for all people of the Middle East; we condemn all acts of aggression, intimidation and violence against civilians, whether perpetrated by governments, private groups or individuals;
  11. Just and equitable distribution of critical natural resources, especially water;
  12. Cessation of U.S. aid to Israel until Israel ends its occupation and land expropriation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem and achieves a just peace.

CALL TO ACTION

Toward those ends, AJJP will:

  • Speak out to identify and challenge apartheid policies and practices in the Occupied Territories and within Israel ("hafradah": The Hebrew word "hafradah," which is translated as "separation" or "segregation," is the Israeli government's own term for its policy toward Palestinians, under which it builds the Separation Wall ("Geder Hafradah") and otherwise enforces apartheid-like restrictions in Occupied Palestine., including restrictions on mobility;
  • Demand that the U.S. government enforce the Arms Control Export and Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits aid to countries that abuse human rights or use weapons purchased from the U.S. for offensive purposes;
  • Educate the U.S. public about current events and history in Israel/Palestine with the goal of influencing U.S. policy and decision-making;
  • Expose the myth that there is consensus among U.S. Jews in support of Israeli government policy toward the Palestinian people;
  • Work in coalition with Christians, Muslims, Jews, people of other faiths and secular people in the U.S. and elsewhere who are seeking peace and justice in Israel/Palestine;
  • Support the struggles of the Palestinian people for economic survival, development, justice and sustainability;
  • Recognize the importance of boycott, divestment and sanctions work and support the right of our members to engage in that work;
  • Expose U.S. and Israeli manipulation to prevent Palestinian self-determination.