AfP's Call to Action: Israel-Palestine

July 3, 2024 Nick Zuroski

Publication last updated: July 3, 2024

The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), a nonpartisan global peacebuilding network of 220+ organizational members operating in 181 countries working to end violent conflict and build sustainable peace, stands for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza by all parties to the conflict, the release of all hostages, urgent humanitarian access to deliver much-needed assistance, adherence to international humanitarian law, and the end of increasing settler violence in the West Bank. We also call for preventing and reducing the threat of rising antisemitism and Islamophobia in the United States and globally, as well as nonviolent negotiation and protection of civic spaces in response to campus protests. Most importantly, AfP calls for the status quo no more—we must all demand that all parties to the conflict and the international community work toward an inclusive political solution that allows all people in the region to live in dignity and safety.

Since Israel began its militarized response to the horrific violence perpetrated by Hamas on October 7th, at least 37,900 Palestinians have died and around 1.7 million—amounting to 75 percent of the population in Gaza—have been internally displaced. Multiple independent reports have verified targeted attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, by Israeli forces. At least 274 aid workers delivering critical humanitarian aid have been killed. Compounding this violence, famine is imminent, with 96 percent of the population facing acute food insecurity through September 2024. Moreover, the recent expansion of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah around the Lebanese border threatens to plunge the region into greater conflict. These dire trends affirm the critical importance of humanitarian assistance and conflict and atrocity prevention efforts. We call on the U.S. to restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).[1] We further urge Israel to allow unimpeded media access to Gaza and protection of and support for aid workers in the region.

As peacebuilders, we must continue to amplify and support Israeli and Palestinian peacebuilders. Every day, countless Israelis and Palestinians work together to build sustainable peace, but too often their stories go untold. These peacebuilders include AfP partners, such as the members of the Alliance for Middle East Peace—a network of over 170 peacebuilding organizations working to prevent conflict and build peace in the region. But without resources, this work cannot be done. We call on the U.S. Congress to double peacebuilding funding in the region via the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (MEPPA) from $50 million per year to $100 million moving forward.

We call on the U.S. Government to take urgent action to support a ceasefire and protect civilians in Gaza and the West Bank in accordance with the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, the U.S. Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to Atrocities, the U.S. Strategy and National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, and other U.S. prevention-oriented laws and strategies. The U.S. has yet to assess and publicly express whether Israel has committed atrocities in Gaza. AfP urges the U.S. to perform a formal atrocities determination review process immediately, as has been the protocol for over 30 years in responding to various violent conflicts. AfP also calls on the U.S. Government to undertake a formal review to determine whether it must restrict the further sale of weapons to Israel in accordance with U.S. law and policy.[2]

AfP, which leads the Prevention and Protection Working Group, released an atrocity risk assessment on the increasing violence in the West Bank in early December 2023, with recommendations for the U.S. Government to prevent and reduce violence in line with the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act and the U.S. Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to Atrocities. AfP welcomes the Biden Administration’s February 2024 recent Executive Order on Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West Bank and follow-on sanctions in March and April. These actions are a critical first step to reduce and prevent escalating violence in the West Bank, Israel, and the region.

We call on the peacebuilding community to urgently address the global rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia and uptick in social tensions being driven by this conflict. France experienced a fourfold rise of antisemitic incidents in 2023, while Islamophobic incidents grew by 57 percent. In Germany, anti-Muslim incidents doubled in 2023, and antisemitic incidents increased by 80 percent. In the U.S., antisemitic incidents rose by an unprecedented 140 percent last year, while Islamophobic incidents increased by 56 percent. Furthermore, more than 3,000 pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested on American college campuses as of June 2024. In many cases, administrators brought in law enforcement, who used violent tactics against protesters, including tear gas, physical force, and riot gear.

The ongoing conflict in Israel-Palestine and its global reverberations are undermining peace and stability around the world. However, the peacebuilding field has the opportunity to mobilize and support a departure from the untenable status quo. We call on all sectors and stakeholders within the international community to elevate peacebuilders on the ground, advocate for robust assistance and civilian protection, promote accountability and adherence to international law, preserve civic space, and work toward an inclusive and long-term political solution in support of freedom, safety, and dignity.

FOOTNOTES:
[1] As of June 2024, numerous donors that initially suspended support for UNRWA, such as Australia, Austria, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, and the European Union, resumed at least partial funding after a UN review concluded Israel had not provided evidence of misuse of UNRWA resources. The U.S. has yet to restore funding.