FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 4, 2002
Global Exchange
Contact: Jason Mark, 415-255-7296 x 230 or
Ted Lewis in Washington, 510-551-9685 (cell)

On Friday, April 5, human rights and peace activists will stage a civil disobedience protest outside the US State Department to call on US policy makers to insist that Israel end its occupation of Palestinian lands in the West Bank and Gaza.

The protest, which will include people engaging in non-violent civil disobedience, will occur at 1:00 p.m. on Friday in front of the US State Department, located at 23rd and C Streets in Washington, DC. The demonstration has been organized by Global Exchange, an international human rights group.

"As people who can no longer stand by while innocent Palestinians and Israelis are killed every day, we call on the US government to insist that its ally Israel agree to the Arab League's peace plan recently offered in Beirut," says Ted Lewis, Human Rights program director of Global Exchange and an organizer of the civil disobedience action. "The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is at the root of the gruesome violence that blights Israeli and Palestinian lives. The occupation must end, and the US government should be doing everything it can to make this happen immediately."

The protesters are calling on the US government to:

• Pressure Israel to accept the Arab League's Beirut proposal as the basis for a peace agreement. The Arab states have committed to normal relations with Israel if the Israelis withdraw from the territories occupied since 1967, allow refugees to return to their homes, and permit the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is a serious proposal that can form the basis for negotiations toward a sustainable peace.
• Work with the United Nations Security Council to introduce a UN peacekeeping into Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in support of an immediate settlement. Such a force will help guarantee the security of both Israelis and Palestinians.

In the last 18 months, more than 1,269 Palestinians and 416 Israelis have died. Global Exchange believes that the US can--and must--do more to end this terrible violence. As a nation that carries great influence among Israeli policy makers, the US has a responsibility to pressure Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands.

For more information about the planned State Department civil disobedience, contact Jason Mark at 415-255-7296 x 230 or jason@globalexchange.org or Ted Lewis in Washington at 510-551-9685 (cell)

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