Msg from Edina Lekovic - Communications Director of MPAC

Thought it needed to be shared. Both sides deserve peace, and I for one hope it happens yesterday...
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Dear Friends,> >

We are witnessing a rare moment in the history of U.S.-Israeli relations. It is a moment that requires all of us to take immediate action.> > Last Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden was blind-sided with Israel’s announcement of plans to build 1,600 new housing units in occupied East Jerusalem.> >

Biden immediately and strongly condemned Israel's settlement expansion, an unprecedented move in the last two decades of U.S.-Israeli relations. Biden reportedly told Netanyahu, "This is starting to get dangerous for us. What you're doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace."> >

On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly and in international media, calling the settlement expansion an "insult" and a "deeply negative signal" for Mideast peacemaking and ties with the U.S. > >

U.S.-Israel relations have hit an all-time low, which Israel’s very own Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren told Israeli Consuls General during an emergency conference call over the weekend.> >

What does Israel do when it faces strong international pressure and bad PR? It diverts attention away from the real issues by immediately cracking down on Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories.> > On Friday, Israel announced it was sealing off the West Bank for 48 hours citing "security concerns," and it banned Palestinian men under 50 years old from entering the Al-Aqsa mosque through Saturday. According to media reports today, both restrictions have been extended apparently indefinitely.> >

When legitimate critiques from the international community and political pressure are applied on Israel, Israel tightens its stranglehold on Palestinians living under occupation by restricting their movement within the Occupied Territories as well as their access to their major holy sites.> > Such restrictions have been followed up by Netanyahu’s public announcement today that Israel will continue its settlement expansion plans, in open defiance of one of Clinton’s stated conditions for a resumption of the “proximity talks.”> >

Now is the time to speak up for justice and religious freedom.> >

Please contact your members of Congress TODAY to call for an investigation of Palestinians’ restricted access to their holy sites by the U.S. Commission on International Freedom.> >

Visit http://www.facebook.com/l/9a48b;www.congress.org and enter your zip code to get all the necessary contact information for your elected representatives -- in just five minutes, you can make a phone call and send an email.> >

Here are a few suggested talking points you can use to help focus your message:> > -

I support and applaud the Obama administration’s strong and repeated condemnations of Israel’s settlement expansions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.> > -

Israeli actions -- in expanding settlement activities despite U.S. condemnations -- are directly harming America’s image and interests internationally and jeopardizing American lives.> > - Restricting Palestinian access to their religious sites is a violation of their religious freedom, and should be investigated by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (http://www.facebook.com/l/9a48b;www.uscirf.gov).> >

The future depends on what each of us do today. I hope that you will act today to tell your elected officials you believe both Palestinians and Israelis deserve religious freedom and a just peace, and that you will share this message with your family and friends asking them to do the same.