De-legitimisation attacks against Israel, and criminalisation threats against Israelis, abound.
Attackers insist that hundreds of thousands of Israelis live in "illegal settlements"; that even those who associate with them are "criminal".
There are 2 different questions:
* Are Israel's settlements desirable, important, even crucial? It depends who you ask!
* But are Israel's settlements illegal? Friends of Israel can all agree to protect Israel and Israelis against this dangerous, false accusation. Israel's legal position on settlements is sound -- see below. Yes, other legal positions on settlements exist, but a country is entitled to make reasonable decisions on legal issues without being de-legitimized, hounded or criminalized.
Mattot Arim has just been invited to join the following coalition: http://thelevyreport.org/advocates/, founded by veteran pro-Israel activists Jeff Daube and Arlene Kushner who discovered that "Many people have very mistaken ideas about Israel's legal rights".
Let us justify the invitation by turning the tide against the "settlements are illegal" accusation. Here's how:
Simply let us know, by return email to mattot.arim@gmail.com, of exact names, titles and email addresses of:
organizations * academic groups * religious leaders * media * prominent individuals
to which you recommend that we send the following:
Dear friends of Israel and interested parties,
Efforts are ongoing -- in Europe and the UN, in the Arab bloc, and even in the United States -- to criminalise Israelis and de-legitimise the State of Israel.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis stand accused of living in "illegal settlements".
It is our privilege to equip you with the following legal information, to help you refute "settlements are illegal" attacks, against Israel and Israelis, whenever necessary:
a. An Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister (2011) explains legality of Israeli settlements (6 minutes - 750,000 viewers)
b. Legality of Israeli settlements -- text for general public from website of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
c. Legality of Israeli settlements -- professional text with detailed legal arguments from the Levy Report, authored by retired Israel Supreme Court Justice Edmund Levy inter alia.
d. New! Facebook and website campaigns about the prestigious Levy Report:
Please can you review these informational sources and then distribute to concerned others.
Sincerely,
Mattot Arim
an Israeli grassroots organization working toward peace-for-peace since 1992