wfn.org | AFSC Statement on Middle East Violence

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

A Statement of the Board of the 
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Concerning the Escalating Violence in the Middle East

September 27, 1996

	The American Friends Service Committee is deeply concerned about the
unprecedented violence that erupted between Israelis and Palestinians on
September 24. By Friday evening approximately 80 Palestinians and Israelis
lay dead and hundreds are injured. Our prayers are with all the injured and
with the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones. We urge the
Israelis and Palestinians to refrain from further violence and for their
leaders to return to the negotiating table in good faith.  
	We understand the catalyst for the Palestinian protests that led to these
violent confrontations was the Israeli government's decision to open the
long disputed archeological tunnel below the edge of the sacred site Haram
al-Sharif/Temple Mount. The tunnel runs beneath the steps of the al-Umariyya
School, an Islamic Waqf property, and the Convent of the Sisters of Zion in
the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The decision is further
evidence of Israel's policy to alter the status quo in Jerusalem. The past
Israeli government continued to alter the status of Jerusalem, and the
present government has escalated that process during the past three months.
During these months Palestinian homes, businesses, and charitable
institutions have been destroyed; apartments in Palestinian neighborhoods
have been confiscated and occupied by Israelis; residency rights of many
Palestinian Jerusalemites have been revoked. While building permits continue
to be denied to Palestinians,  Israeli settlement activity in and around the
city continues and Palestinian land continues to be confiscated by the
Israeli authorities for the construction of roads and settlements. 
	The West Bank and Gaza Strip are separated from each other by a
cantonization policy which divides them into four separate population areas,
each area separated one 
from the other, and all from East Jerusalem.  This has strangled the
Palestinian economy.  The closure of Israel to Palestinian workers and the
lack of funds coming to the Palestinian National Authority from
international funders have weakened the economy and deepened the poverty of
the people. All of these factors have led to an increased sense of anger and
fueled the frustration of the Palestinians. The opening of the tunnel was
the match that ignited that frustration into violence.
	Thus, these underlying unresolved issues that need to be addressed for
there to be a just and lasting peace between the two peoples. We call on the
US government, a guarantor of the Middle East peace process and an ally of
Israel:
* to demand that Israel close the tunnel.
* to strictly enforce its own laws, which ban the use of US funds to Israel
for the building of settlements in the Occupied Territories, including East
Jerusalem.
* to immediately release funds for the PNA to build its infrastructure.
* to ensure that neither party engage in activities that would alter the
status quo of Jerusalem before final status negotiations have taken place.
* to affirm that the US embassy will remain in Tel Aviv until the final
status of Jerusalem has been negotiated by the two parties.
	We believe that only a negotiated settlement in Jerusalem that respects the
human, political, and national rights of Palestinians and Israelis as well
as the interests of the three Abrahamic faiths - Muslim, Christian, and
Jewish - can lead to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
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For more information, please contact Kathy Bergen, national director of
Middle East peace education programs for the American Friends Service Committee 
(215/241-7019).

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization which
includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace
and humanitarian service.  Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the
worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence
and injustice.

J.Ron Byler
Director of Media Relations
American Friends Service Committee
PH: 215/241-7060
FAX: 215/241-7275
E-MAIL: RByler@afsc.org
http://www.afsc.org