Draft GPUS Platform Amendment Middle East
SECTION TITLE: MIDDLE EAST
OUR POSITION: We support a change in U.S. foreign policy to reflect non-violence and grassroots democracy in the Middle East.
U.S. military aid to countries in the Middle East must be based on rigorous enforcement of the Arms Export Control and Foreign Assistance Acts, which mandate that military aid may be used for only defensive purposes within the recipient country's borders, and that aid may not be delivered to countries that abuse human rights.
We support an end to U.S. military aid to other human rights abusers and occupiers in the Middle East. This aid helps prop up autocratic and repressive regimes, promotes violations of human rights and international law, obstructs democratic movements, prolongs conflict, and fosters militarism and violence at home and abroad.
All people of the Middle East deserve the right to democratic participation and equality within their societies, regardless of religion, ethnicity, culture, national origin, language, race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or other status. Racism and bigotry cannot be tolerated, whether in the U.S. or abroad, whether against Arabs, Jews, Christians, natives, migrants, refugees, or anyone.
GREEN SOLUTIONS
(1) IRAQ
The GPUS reaffirms its view that the invasion of Iraq by primarily United States military forces in 2003 was illegal under both U.S. and international law and that the following occupation included acts of torture and crimes against humanity perpetrated by members of the U.S. armed forces and mercenary forces contracted by the U.S. government. The GPUS supports continuing investigation of these events, and calls for reparations on the part of the U.S. government to the extent survivors and their families can be identified. The GPUS calls for the full withdrawal of all U.S. military presence in Iraq, with disposition of all military facilities built during the occupation to be decided by the government of Iraq. The GPUS calls for investigation by the International Court to determine whether war crimes proceedings should be instituted by that body because there is no effective remedy for such review within the current legal structure existing in the United States of America.
(2) IRAN
We call for the Iranian regime to stop repression of peaceful protests, and to investigate and punish those responsible for the deaths of protesters.
(3) PALESTINE AND ISRAEL
We support the rights of Israelis and Palestinians to security, sovereignty, and self-determination within political entities of their own choosing. Jerusalem should be shared in a manner that reflects its spiritual, economic, and political importance to both Israelis and Palestinians, and be welcoming to the many faith communities of the region and world as a center of peaceful coexistence.
Diplomatic negotiations between the two parties must be held unconditionally. The parties must equitably distribute water and other natural resources. Countries other than the U.S. should be involved in peace negotiations. An international peacekeeping force should be established to protect all civilians.
The plight of Palestinian refugees needs to be resolved equitably and in a manner that promotes peace and is consistent with international law. Within the framework of an equitable agreement, the refugees should have a role in determining their future, whether pursuing return, resettlement, or financial compensation.
(4) TURKEY
We recognize the genocide of 1,500,000 Armenians who were killed in the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, and call upon the United States of America and the Republic of Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
2004 PLATFORM ON THE MIDDLE EAST
a. We reaffirm the right of self-determination for both Palestinians and Israelis, which precludes the self-determination of one at the expense of the other. We recognize the historical and contemporary cultural diversity of Israeli-Palestinian society, including the religious heritage of Jews, Christians, Muslims and others. This is a significant part of the rich cultural legacy of all these peoples and it must be respected. To ensure this, we support equality before international law rather than appeals to religious faith as the fair basis on which claims to the land of Palestine-Israel are resolved.
b. We recognize that Jewish insecurity and fear of non-Jews is understandable in light of Jewish history of horrific oppression in Europe. However, we oppose as both discriminatory and ultimately self-defeating the position that Jews would be fundamentally threatened by the implementation of full rights to Palestinian-Israelis and Palestinian refugees who wish to return to their homes. As U.S. Greens, we refuse to impose our views on the people of the region; rather, we would turn the U.S. government towards a new policy, which itself recognizes the equality, humanity, and civil rights of Jews, Muslims, Christians, and all others who live in the region, and which seeks to build confidence in prospects for secular democracy.
c. We reaffirm the right and feasibility of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Israel. We acknowledge the significant challenges of equity and restitution this policy would encounter and call on the U.S. government to make resolution of these challenges a central goal of our diplomacy in the region.
d. We reject the U.S.’ unbalanced financial and military support of Israel while Israel occupies Palestinian lands. We call on the U.S. President and Congress to end all military aid to Israel, shifting much of that aid to ecologically appropriate local projects for economic and social development for Palestinians as well as Israelis. Until Israel withdraws from the Occupied Territories and dismantles the separation wall, we call on our government to suspend all other foreign aid to Israel as well.
e. We demand that the U.S. government end its veto of Security Council resolutions pertaining to Israel. We urge our government to join with the U.N. to secure the withdrawal of Israel to the 1967 boundaries and to withhold its grants and loans to Israel until this withdrawal is undertaken.
f. We recognize the limited natural resources in Palestine-Israel and the necessity of creating an Arab/Israeli commission to negotiate the sharing of water by both nationalities.
g. We support a much stronger and supportive U.S. position with respect to all United Nations, European Union, and Arab League initiatives that seek a negotiated peace, and we support significantly greater U.S. financial support for such non-military solutions. We call for an immediate U.N.-sponsored, multinational peacekeeping and protection force in the Palestinian territories with the mandate to initiate a conflict-resolution commission.
h. We call on the foreign and military affairs committees of the U.S. House and Senate to conduct full hearings on the status of human rights and war crimes in Palestine/Israel.
i. We call on congressional intelligence committees to conduct full and public hearings on the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction, whether by the Israeli military, irregular militias, or Arab states. It should be U.S. policy to seek the removal and/or destruction of all such weapons of mass death wherever they are found.
j. We call for the complete dismantling of the Israeli separation wall in the occupied West Bank. A Green policy toward Israel and Palestine would offer such incentives for peace and mutual security that the wall would be unnecessary, and seen for what it is… an obstacle to peace and a unilateral escalation of conflict.
m. As an integral part of peace negotiations and the transition to peaceful democracy, we call for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission whose inaugurating action would be mutual acknowledgement by Israelis and Palestinians that they have the same basic rights, including the right to exist in the same, secure place.
