Take Action: Tell U.S. Not to Veto Palestine's Membership in UN Security Council
Last Friday an estimated
2,000 Palestinians and Israelis marched together through the streets of
Jerusalem in support of Palestinian efforts to gain UN membership and
additional statehood recognition when the UN meets this fall.
Envisioning a future free of Israeli military occupation, apartheid and
colonization, these protesters carried placards declaring "We March Together
for Liberation," and "Solidarity with Palestine."
Take action now to echo their message to the Obama Administration.
Who stands in their way? Our government does. The United States is trying furiously to restart the morally bankrupt "peace process," which perpetually fails because our government acts as "Israel's lawyer," in the words of former negotiator Aaron David Miller.
By dangling before
Palestinians the prospect of renewed, biased, and interminable negotiations in
exchange for dropping their UN membership bid, the United States is hoping to
avert the embarrassment of vetoing Palestine's application in the
Security Council and thereby once again exposing itself as the guarantor of
Israeli military occupation and apartheid. But, as Friday's demonstrators
reminded us: "Only Free People Can Negotiate." And Palestinians are not
free people while living under Israeli occupation, as second-class citizens of
Israel, or as refugees whom Israel exiled from their homes.
Palestinians are seeking membership in the United Nations as a way toward
Palestinian freedom and self-determination, but President Obama mistakenly
has equated this with "efforts to single Israel out" at the UN and has promised
to "stand up against" this initiative.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote in his Letter from
Birmingham Jail that the worst stumbling block to freedom's advance is the
person who "believes he can set the timetable for another" person's
freedom.
Join the US Campaign and other prominent national organizations--including: the
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Jews for a Just Peace,
American Muslims for Palestine, CODEPINK--Women for Peace, Fellowship of
Reconciliation, Friends of Sabeel--North America, Interfaith Peace-Builders,
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)--USA, Jewish Voice for
Peace, and Peace Action--to urge the Obama Administration not to set a
timetable on another's freedom by vetoing Palestine's UN membership
application. This could be debated in the Security Council as early as July
25, so
join us today in signing this important petition.
Color of Change – Killling the Safety Net
Republicans are trying to push forward a plan that would gut America's social safety net -- and unless we act now, they may get their way.
Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling before August 2nd so that the government doesn’t default on its debts, which would wreak havoc on the economy. But Republicans are refusing to vote to raise the debt ceiling unless they can also pass massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, student aid, and other important programs that create opportunity and protect the most vulnerable among us.
Democrats in Congress are holding the line, saying that they won't accept any cuts to these programs without asking huge corporations, millionaires and billionaires to contribute their fair share.
But as the deadline approaches, Congressional Democrats will be under immense pressure to compromise their principles, even if it means giveaways for the rich while most Americans suffer.
Please join us in calling on the White House and Congress to say NO to any deal that asks people who are already struggling in this economy to sacrifice even more, without asking corporations and the rich to pay their fair share. And please ask your friends and family to join us as well:
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/907?akid=2072.1282047.2OgOmT&t=3
The moral line is clear: the budget must not be balanced on the backs of poor and working folks while millionaires and billionaires pay lower taxes than ever. Americans oppose cuts to Medicare and Social Security by a 2-to-1 margin, and a large majority thinks that keeping benefit levels the same is a bigger priority than short-term deficit reduction.1 And an amazing 72% of Americans are united behind the idea of asking the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes.2
By speaking out, we can help give the President and Congressional Democrats the political space they need to stand strong against the GOP's dangerous demands. It's especially important that we deliver this message to the House of Representatives, because it's likely that any budget deal will have to happen with the blessing of Democrats there. If they stand strong, we can avoid the worst of the cuts.
Why do we need to raise the debt ceiling?
Congress sets the maximum amount the federal government can borrow to pay its bills on time. If our debt rises above the limit, the government will begin to default on its commitments. And when that happens, there will be far-reaching consequences for everyone, but especially poor and working folks.
If the government doesn't pay its bills, it's a lot like when you or I don't pay our bills -- it ruins our credit, and makes buying goods and services more expensive. Worse, it makes even having debt more expensive, which means that money the government will have to pay higher interest rates -- money that won't go to economic stimulus or preserving the social safety net.
Most reputable economists say that a government default would wreck the nation's economy, halting the already-weak recovery and possibly taking the world's economy down with it.3
That fact hardly matters to most Republicans in Washington, who are treating the prospect of default like a high-stakes game of chicken. Many see an opportunity to gut programs that they never could otherwise, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. It's a disgusting, cynical strategy.
If enough of us speak out, we can help save the social safety net and force corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share.
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/907?akid=2072.1282047.2OgOmT&t=5
-- Rashad, James,
Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 24th, 2011