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The Palestine Israel Action
Group (PIAG) was formed in
2001 by a small group of committed individuals from
Ann Arbor Friends Meeting in
response to Israel's ongoing human rights violations: the illegal occupation
of Palestinian lands; the massive and disproportionate use of force against
defenseless civilian populations; the mass demolition of Palestinian homes;
the confiscation of Palestinian farmlands and water resources; the denial of
medical services to Palestinians stranded at checkpoints and wounded in
Israeli attacks; the sadistic humiliation of Palestinian adults and elderly
at checkpoints, often in front of their children; the senseless trashing of
schools and hospitals; the targeting by sharpshooters of children caught or
baited into throwing stones at Israeli tanks; the use of children as human
shields; the illegal mass arrests and institutionalized torture -- all in
the name of peace.
As Quakers, we deplore the use of
violence to solve human problems; we believe such actions harm both the
victims and the perpetrators. As Americans, we are complicit in Israel's
violence, because our government enables the Occupation with three million
dollars a day in foreign aid. As global citizens, we support international
law, yet Israel's actions violate
United Nations Resolution 242, which calls
for the withdrawal of Israel's armed forces from territory it occupied in
1967;
The Fourth Geneva Convention, which makes illegal the building of
Jewish-only settlements on occupied Palestinian lands;
United Nations
Resolution 194 which speaks to the rights of refugees; the
United Nations
Committee Against Torture Report of 2001; the principles of the
Nuremberg Charter
and Judgment; the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights; the
International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights; and the
United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child, among other international conventions and
agreements.
PIAG's aims are to educate the Quaker community and the
wider public about the human costs of the Israel Palestine conflict, to promote dialogue
about ways to achieve security with justice for all people in the region,
and to actively resist Israel's Occupation through economic engagement with
companies that profit from violations of Palestinian human rights.
PIAG is a subcommittee of the Peace and Social Concerns
Committee of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting. Our views do not represent Ann Arbor
Friends Meeting as a whole.
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