Brit Tzedek v'Shalom

Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace

FOR RELEASE ON MAY 6, 2002

CONTACT:
Marcia Freedman, info@btvshalom.org
Clare Kinberg, info@btvshalom.org

AMERICAN JEWS WELCOME, CRITICIZE SHARON

The Jewish Alliance for Peace and Justice has issued the following statement on occasion of Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's visit to Washington this week.

We welcome Prime Minister Sharon to our country as the Prime Minister of Israel, but we are bitterly disappointed with his recent performance in dealing with Palestinian suicide bombings.

Humiliating Israel's only negotiating partner Yassir Arafat, ransacking and gutting Palestinian ministerial offices, preventing ambulances from reaching their victims, and wanton destruction of civilian homes did little or nothing to destroy the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure. Instead, it toppled Israel off the high moral ground which Israel held in the eyes of the western world since its founding.

We are encouraged by the news that Mr. Sharon is bringing a peace plan. We hope that it is based on justice for the Palestinian people and that he will have the strength and vision of his ideological predecessor Menachem Begin to carry it through to a just and peaceful resolution of this terrible conflict.

The Jewish Alliance for Peace and Justice represents a large sector of American Jews who are committed to the long-term security of Israel and who believe that Israel's recent invasion of the West Bank and the tactics employed undermine that lofty goal. The Alliance believes that Israel will not enjoy a lasting peace without justice for the Palestinian people.