Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace
Action Alert
Action Alert -- Completed 4/2/2003
[POSTED: March 31st, 2003]
NO CHANGES TO THE ROAD MAP
ACTION REQUESTED: Call, fax, or email your Congressional Representative and Senators urging release of the Road Map as soon as possible IN ITS CURRENT FORM WITH NO CHANGES.
Dear Brit Tzedek members and supporters,
With the President's re-affirming of his intent to release the Road Map for peace in the Middle East, supporters of the Israeli government are pushing both for a delay in its implementation and for significant changes to be introduced to it that would require the Palestinian Authority to take action before any action would be required of Israel.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is undertaking a major campaign on Capitol Hill this coming Tuesday, April 1. In order to counter the effects of this campaign, it is crucial that our Representatives and Senators hear a strong alternative voice coming from the American Jewish community.
For an eloquent editorial on the need for a counterpoint to the voice of AIPAC, see David Landau's "The Battle for Washington" on the Ha'aretz website: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/
We are issuing this Action Alert in coordination with other American Jewish peace organizations. We urge you to contact your Representative and Senators to ask them to push for release of the Road Map, in its current form with no changes, as soon as the new Palestinian Authority Cabinet is sworn in, as laid out in the President's plan.
On Tuesday, April 1, please CALL your Congressional Representative's and Senators' offices in Washington. If you cannot call, FAX or EMAIL them. If you cannot do this on Tuesday, please do it on Monday or Wednesday. Every message is important. If you cannot get through to the office in Washington, try the local office in your state.
Information on how to find contact information for your Representative and Senators is provided later in this Action Alert.
Hundreds of us wrote to the White House and to Secretary of State Colin Powell in previous action alerts asking them to move forward with the Road Map. Now we ask you to take action again. Let's build on our earlier action by writing our Representatives and Senators to express our support for immediate implementation of this Road Map, in its current form with no changes.
At the end of this email are suggested talking points for calling your Representative's and Senators' offices and a sample letter for faxing or emailing.
The text of President Bush's statement promising action on the Road Map can be found on the State Department website at: http://www.state.gov/
The text of the September 17, 2002 statement outlining the original plan developed by the Madrid Quartet -- the United States, the U.N., the European Union and Russia -- upon which the President's current plan is based, can be found on the United Nation's website at: http://www.un.org/
Once again, we ask you to CALL, FAX, or EMAIL your Representative and Senators -- preferably on Tuesday, April 1, or if not on Monday, March 31 or Wednesday, April 2, supporting the release of the Road Map and urging them to make sure that both the Israelis and the Palestinians are called upon to implement the initial steps required by the Road Map. Without that, the Quartet Road Map will end up in the historical dustbin of the Mitchell and Tenet agreements.
We also ask you to circulate this Action Alert as widely as possible. These initiatives only work when we all pull together to spread them as widely as we can.
Please let us know that you have responded to this action alert by cc'ing your email message to advocacy@btvshalom.org or by sending us an email to let us know that you have called or faxed your Representative and Senators.
L'Shalom,
Diane Balser and Steve Masters
Chair and Co-Chair of the Advocacy/Public Policy Committee
Contacting Your Representative/Senators
The Contacting the Congress Website allows you to look up your Representative and Senators phone and fax numbers, emails, and websites:
click here for Online Directory for the 108th Congress
or call the Capitol Switchboard at: 202-224-3121 (House and Senate)
Sample Talking Points for Phone Call
- Identify yourself as a constituent, who is Jewish, who believes that
implementation of the Road Map is the best hope for peace for Israel.
- Ask that the Road Map be acted on as soon as the new Palestinian
Authority's cabinet is sworn in, as promised by the President.
- Emphasize that the Road Map should be implemented in its current form WITH NO CHANGES.
Sample Message
Below is a brief sample message you can send; feel free and encouraged to personalize it.
| Subject [for e-mails]: Release the Road Map without Delay and without Changes |
|
| The Honorable [Name] | The Honorable [Name] |
| U.S. House of Representatives | U.S. Senate |
| Washington, DC 20515 | Washington, DC 20510 |
|
Dear [Representative/Senator]: As a Jewish American, I am strongly convinced that the U.S. Administration's Road Map is the best hope for peace in the Middle East. Currently efforts are going on to delay the implementation of the Road Map and to make the steps required of Israel wholly contingent on action by the Palestinian Authority. It is crucial that simultaneous steps be taken by the Palestinian Authority (the total renunciation of terror) and by Israel (the freezing of all settlement activity). As your constituent, I therefore urge you to see that the Road Map is implemented in its current form without changes, as soon as a new Palestinian Authority Cabinet is sworn in, as promised by the President in his March 14 address. A peaceful solution to the crisis in the Middle East is crucial not only to the well-being of the Israelis and the Palestinians, but also ultimately to the United States and the whole world, now more than ever. Your leadership in calling for immediate implementation of the road map in its current form with no changes at this time is a vital, concrete step in making this a reality. Sincerely, [SIGN YOUR NAME] |
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