Green Party of New York State
www.gpnys.org
Howie Hawkins for US Senate
www.hawkinsforsenate.org
August 18, 2006
Released August 16
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Howie Hawkins, (315) 425-1019
Meghan Keegan, (518) 225-0134
media@hawkinsforsenate.net
Switch US Aid from Israel to Lebanon and Palestinian Territories
SYRACUSE, NY -- Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for US Senate, said today the US should immediately cancel military and financial aid to Israel and instead divert the funds to the reconstruction of Lebanon and the Palestinian occupied territories.
"The blood of hundreds of innocent civilians in the Middle East is on the hands of our government. The weapons we supply to Israel for its defense are instead being used for offensive purposes to maintain Israel's illegal occupations. US supplied weapons are used for Israeli state terror against unarmed civilians and infrastructure in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories," said Hawkins.
Hawkins said the statements of unconditional support by President Bush and
Senator Hillary Clinton for Israel's recent military offensive in Lebanon show that the leadership of both major parties support Israel's policy of state terror and collective punishment of civilians in Lebanon and the occupied territories. Hawkins called for a new Middle East policy
"While Israelis have a right to security, the pain and destruction Israel rains down on Palestinians and Lebanese undermines Israeli security by breeding bitterness and resentment among the victims. There is no good reason for the US government to continue its one-sided support to Israel in this conflict. It is time for the US to become a neutral broker for peace in the region, rather than the principal enabler of Israel's defiance of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, which require Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories," added Hawkins.
Hawkins said international peacekeepers should be sent to the occupied Palestine territories to put an end to the occupation and enforce resolutions 242 and 338, just as they are now being sent to southern Lebanon to enforce UN Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1701. The peacekeepers would protect both Israelis and Palestinians.
"Unfortunately, the only thing that the governments of Israel and the US seem to be able to do is create more stateless terrorism through state terrorism. Both governments and their political leaders are clueless that the key to peace in the region is justice for the Palestinians," added Hawkins.
Hawkins is a former Marine who organized opposition to the Vietnam War. A co-founder of the national Green Party, Hawkins works as a Teamster freight handler. Hawkins is challenging incumbent Hillary Clinton for the US Senate.
