Talking Points

Israel-Palestine Talking Points:

1) The root of Israel-Palestine conflict lies in Israeli occupation and colonialism of Palestine. Israeli occupation has been denounced by numerous UN resolutions.

2) Most Palestinians want to live peacefully with Jews in one-state or two-state solution. This has been indicated by numerous surveys including by the U.S. government surveys (see links below). Both Palestinian Authority and Hamas have accepted the right for Israeli state once Israel withdraws within 1967 border (green line).

3) Israel has obliterated any chances of a Palestinian state by its ongoing occupation of West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel also retains air, water and ground control of Gaza. Israel has built an apartheid wall (outside 1967 border and four times longer than Berlin wall), which occupies Palestinian fertile lands and aquifers. Israel has also built Jews only highways in West Bank. Israel continues to raze Palestinian homes and build permanent Israeli settlements. Israeli wall, highways, military installments and check-posts have reduced Palestinian land in West Bank in apartheid era “Bantustans”.

4) Israel discriminates against Palestinians within 1967 border in areas of education, employment, purchase of lands and building houses. Palestinians are denied equal rights even if they marry Jews. Many of these policies are same as enforced against Black South Africans in apartheid South Africa, against native populations under Western colonial regimes, or African Americans living in Jim Crow USA.

5) Palestinian civil society has called peace activists around the world to boycott, divest and support sanctions (BDS) against Israel. South African anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu has called Israel an apartheid state and supported divestment movement against Israel in the same way South African apartheid regime was divested world over. Churches, labor unions, grocery stores, corporations, artists, teachers and common citizens around the world are joining BDS movement against Israel.

Links:

Palestinians desire for peaceful coexistence with Jews:

http://www.america.gov/st/mena-english/2009/July/200907021105032SAdemahoM0.6612164.html

http://www.haaretz.com/news/abbas-accuses-israel-of-disfiguring-two-state-solution-1.266874

http://www.haaretz.com/news/haniyeh-hamas-willing-to-accept-palestinian-state-with-1967-borders-1.256915

Is Israel an apartheid state:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_and_the_apartheid_analogy

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Cordoba Center (“Ground Zero Mosque”) controversy talking points:

1) Islam did not attack USA on 9/11. Many Muslims died while working in WTC and even as emergency responders.

2) We should not demonize entire Islam because of actions of few, just as we should not demonize entire Christianity for KKK or entire Hinduism for some extremist Hindutva extremists.

3) This is not a mosque but a cultural and inter-faith center and a space for moderate Muslims. The imam (Feisal Rauf) of this center was even favorite of Republicans. Bush administration had included Imam Feisal in foreign tours. Religious freedom is fundamental part of American constitution. Denying that to one section of society will produce an ugly era in USA.

4) Our real issues are jobs, health care, and clean environment. Scapegoating Muslims, as well as Latino immigrants, LGBTQ members or any other marginalized community is basically an attempt to distract attention from our real issues.

Jon Stewart exposes hypocrisy in Cordoba center attacks (share on Facebook, Twitter):

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-august-16-2010/mosque-erade


Ron Paul on Cordoba Center (Ron Paul speaks out against the warmongers' attempts to link Islam with Al Qaeda and perpetuate their aggressive foreign policy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8L2mH-kAlw&feature=player_embedded#!


Five myths about mosque in America (The Washington Post, 8/29/10)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605510.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Anti-Defamation League condemns the very ‘anti-Muslim sentiment’ it contributes to (MondoWeiss, 8/27/10)

"It is the height of hypocrisy for the ADL to condemn the stabbing of Sharif and the general hate of Muslims engulfing the United States without looking at their statement against Park51 again and realizing that they have played a central role in legitimizing that anti-Muslim sentiment."

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/08/anti-defamation-league-condemns-the-very-‘anti-muslim-sentiment’-it-contributes-to.html