GREEN PARTY U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE CALLS FOR ENDING ALL U.S. MILITARY AND ECONOMIC AID TO ISRAEL

For Immediate Release

October 19, 2010

Contact: info@voteforduane.org

ANAHEIM, Calif -- Duane Roberts, Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, calls for "ending all U.S. military and economic aid to Israel" arguing that it is "morally wrong for taxpayers to continue financing this nation's acts of state-sponsored terrorism against the Palestinian people". Roberts points out "most Israeli leaders" would be "tried as war criminals" in a "just world":

"I call for ending all U.S. military and economic aid to Israel because I believe it to be morally wrong for taxpayers to continue financing this nation's acts of state-sponsored terrorism against the Palestinian people. The $3 billion we give to this country each year would be better spent dealing with serious problems we face here at home, such as growing unemployment.

"For decades, human rights organizations have accumulated thousands of pages of evidence documenting that Israel has committed numerous crimes against Palestinians living in the territories it occupies, engaging in countless home demolitions, land confiscations, arbitrary arrests, torture--even resorting to deadly force to subdue peaceful and non-violent demonstrations.

"In addition, Israel has treated Palestinians as virtual 'second-class citizens' in their own homelands, not only forcing them to go through humiliating checkpoints and roadblocks to move about from one location to another, but routinely denying them access to the basic necessities of life, such as clean running water, electricity, and adequate sewage disposal facilities.

"In a just world, most Israeli leaders would be hauled before an international court of law to be tried as war criminals for their brutal and inhumane treatment of Palestinians who inhabit the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and other occupied territories. The problem is the United States shields them from prosecution because it uses Israel as a proxy to do its dirty work around the globe.

"Cutting off U.S. aid to Israel would be a step in bringing about peace in the Middle East. If that were done, Israeli leaders no longer could act with impunity in their dealings with the Palestinians. The latter would be able to negotiate a settlement on equal footing knowing that 'Uncle Sam' was no longer supplying Israel with weapons to kill them, their families, and their children.

"Free Palestine!"

www.voteforduane.org

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