ADC Calls on Obama Administration to Assert International Law with Netanyahu

posted on: Jun 16, 2009

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) reiterates its call upon the Obama Administration to pressure Israel to comply with International Law and previously made commitments in light of the recent policy address given by the Israeli Prime Minister.

In his address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Palestinians should govern themselves but insisted on a number of conditions which would make viable and autonomous self-governance impossible. Furthermore, Netanyahu continues to ignore pleas from the United States, including President Obama’s Cairo remarks, and the International Community to halt settlement expansion. Instead, Netanyahu continues to take advantage of the excuse of natural growth, an excuse which has been evoked by numerous previous Israeli Administrations as a method of settlement expansion. As President Obama asserted, natural growth should not be used as an excuse to usurp more Palestinian land through the expansion of settlements whose presence on Palestinian territory is already illegal under international law.

ADC calls upon the White House to take immediate steps to pressure the State of Israel to freeze all settlement expansion and move toward negotiations that result in a settlement rooted in international law. Further, ADC calls upon Congress to support President Obama’s statement that “the United States does not recognize the legitimacy of further settlements” and support a solution to the conflict based on UN Security Council Resolution 242 and General Assembly Resolution 194, the foundation of the Arab Peace Initiative.