(Returned to Maker) Resolution 973 – in Support of Washington Democrats’ Commitment to Israeli-Palestinian Peace, and in Opposition to any Further Occupation, Settlement Expansion, or Other Unilateral Annexation of West Bank Territory
Returned to Maker; posting for the record:
Resolution in Support of Washington Democrats’ Commitment to Israeli-Palestinian Peace, and in Opposition to any Further Occupation, Settlement Expansion, or Other Unilateral Annexation of West Bank Territory
WHEREAS the Washington Democratic Party’s 2018 platform rightly states support for serious negotiations between Israel and Palestine in order to evolve a solution that would include a sovereign state of Palestine and a sovereign state of Israel; and
WHEREAS the Trump administration has upended decades of bipartisan support for such a two-state solution, and the Israeli government has accelerated settlement expansion and implemented several steps toward annexation of much of the West Bank, seriously threatening a peaceful two-state solution; and
WHEREAS the U.S. State Department issued an opinion in 1978, defining Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention – an official position in effect for over 40 years, until reversed by the Trump administration on November 18, 2019; and
WHEREAS, in response to the above reversal by the Trump administration, 106 members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on November 21, 2019, expressing their vehement opposition to the State Department’s decision to consider Israeli settlements legal – a decision that greenlights further annexations and threatens any genuine two-state solution; and
WHEREAS the U.S. House of Representatives, on December 6, 2019 – with 192 cosponsors, including all seven Washington Democrats – adopted H. Res. 326, expressly supporting a two-state solution and opposing settlement expansion, drawing a red line against unilateral annexation of West Bank territory, and declaring that such roadblocks to a peace agreement “pose a threat to the ability to maintain a Jewish and democratic state of Israel and [to] the establishment of a viable, democratic Palestinian state”; and
WHEREAS Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) has endorsed J Street U’s #ChangeThePlatform campaign, to add to the Democratic Party’s national platform a statement of opposition to the Israeli occupation, illegal settlements, and annexation, calling the campaign “essential”;
WHEREAS over 230 Jewish clergy and other communal leaders, including three past presidents of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, have signed on to a letter urging political parties to make such changes to their platforms;
WHEREAS that we support the right of both Israelis and Palestinians to govern themselves, each in their own viable state, and we oppose the further occupation of territory in the West Bank or Gaza, whether by settlement expansion or unilateral annexation; and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Washington State Democratic Central Committee support adding language to the DNC platform opposing said occupation, settlement construction, and demolitions of Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be sent to the Chair and Co-Chair of the Democratic National Committee, our state’s members of the DNC,our U.S. Senators, all Washington State members of the U.S. House of Representatives and State of Washington Democratic Legislative Caucuses.
Adopted by Washington State Democratic Progressive Caucus 08.10.20
Submitted by the Washington State Democratic Progressive Caucus by Chair Keoki Kauanoe.
Previously endorsed by King County Democrats; LD 32, LD 36, LD 37, LD 40 and LD 43; Students for Bernie at UW; Students for Warren at UW; Rabbi Danny Weiner of Temple De Hirsch Sinai; Rabbi Avi Fine of Temple De Hirsch Sinai; Professor Joel Migdal of the Department of International Studies in the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies;
Originated by Jeremy Voss, Co-Chair, J Street U at UW; co-sponsored by the Young Democrats of UW.
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References:
1. UN Security Council, “Special Coordinator Reports Largest Expansion of West Bank Settlements in 2 Years” (June 20, 2019), https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sc13853.doc.htm
2. David M. Halbfinger, “Netanyahu, Facing Tough Israel Election, Pledges to Annex a Third of West Bank,” New York Times, (September 23, 2019) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-west-bank.html
3. Letter of the State Department Legal Advisor, Mr. Herbert J. Hansell, Concerning the Legality of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories of 21 April 1978, https://www.hlrn.org/img/documents/USSDLegalAdvisorHansell_ltr.pdf
4. The United States Congress, “H. Res. 326: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding United States efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a negotiated two-state solution,” (April 25, 2019) https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres326/BILLS-116hres326rh.pdf