Recognize Palestine! Recognize Israel!

The Palestinian people are seeking recognition at the U.N. now that Israel's ultra-right-wing government has refused to freeze settlements and refuses to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority if Hamas is part of the Palestinian government.

The Network of Spiritual Progressives is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. We are hopeful that UN recognition of Palestine will convince Israel to freeze its expansion of settlements in the areas that were part of Palestine pre-1967, and negotiate in good faith to create a Palestinian state and a settlement of all remaining issues that is just and also provides security for Israel and Palestine.

Mindful of the ways that the U.N. has in the past been perceived as one sidedly anti-Israel, we believe that the recognition of Palestine should be accompanied by a statement re-affirming Israel's right to security. Even though there is a major difference in power between the two sides, the inner experience of Israel and of its supporters around the world is one of insecurity and fear, so it's important to acknowledge that fear by offering Israel, one of the greatest military powers in the world, real reassurance while supporting Palestinian recognition and membership in the U.N.

Yet we also want to acknowledge the suffering of the Palesitnian people under Israeli Occupation, and for that reason we are no longer willing to watch passively as Israel continues into its 44th year of the Occupation of the West Bank as well as its four year old blockade of Gaza. So in the hopes that U.N. recognition will be a stepping stone toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict, we encourage you to sign the petition below which we will deliver to the U.S. government and to the United Nations.

If you are interested in learning more about the two-sidedness of the struggle, and the long-term strategy which we believe is necessary to bring a lasting peace, please read Rabbi Michael Lerner's newest book Embracing Israel/Palestine. It will be in book stores in late November, and can be ordered in advance from Barnes and Noble or Amazon on line. Meanwhile, please sign the petition below!

Recognize Palestine! Recognize Israel!

We call upon the government of the United States, Israel, and all other countries to recognize Palestine and to support its admission as a full and equal member of the world community into the United Nations. At the same time we call upon the Palestinian people, as well as all others, to reaffirm Israel's right to exist within secure borders and free from terrorism as a Jewish state that respects the rights of all its citizens and offers them equal protection under the law and does not impose any religious practices on any of its citizens.

We call upon both Israel and Palestine to give equal rights in protection, employment, voting, housing, education, health, and all other government-supported activities and programs to all their minority citizens.

We call upon Israel and Palestine to negotiate (in a spirit of open-heartedness, generosity, and understanding that both sides' well-being is intrinsically tied to the well-being of the other side and the other side's perception that it is being dealt with respectfully and justly) a lasting peace, to affirm each other's right to exist, and, to make territorial swaps of equivalent territory and strategic and economic value -- based on the pre-1967 border of Israel, as part of creating borders agreed upon by both sides.
And once an agreement has been reached between Israel and Palestine, we call upon all other states in the region to recognize and create warm relationships with Israel and Palestine and to take necessary steps toward the creation of a Middle East common market.

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1-25 of 2430 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Location
2430	Wed May 23 09:53:36 EDT 2012	stavros vrahnos
2429	Sat May 19 19:05:31 EDT 2012	craig clark	Cliffside Park, NJ
2428	Fri May 18 00:58:18 EDT 2012	stephanie villasenor	Aptos, CA
2427	Wed May 16 08:41:00 EDT 2012	mike fisher	london, ot
2426	Mon May 14 17:01:59 EDT 2012	David Doody	Nottingham, ot
2425	Mon May 14 15:40:12 EDT 2012	Cindy Moeckel	Ashford, CT
2424	Sun May 06 23:23:36 EDT 2012	Nettinga	San Leandro, CA
2423	Wed May 02 00:37:58 EDT 2012	Poter Geidel	Paterson, NJ
2422	Mon Apr 30 23:42:26 EDT 2012	robin sierra	Santa Fe, NM
2421	Mon Apr 23 00:13:44 EDT 2012	Tim Nolan	Saint Paul, MN	Editor GLOBAL PEACE
2420	Fri Apr 20 15:51:11 EDT 2012	Jillian Froebe	Deming, WA
2419	Tue Apr 17 08:22:54 EDT 2012	julie gosling	Nottingham UK,	an English petitioner
2418	Thu Apr 12 12:18:51 EDT 2012	Alexander Vail	South Miami, FL
2417	Tue Apr 10 12:44:08 EDT 2012	Katharine Ruthroff	Eldridge, CA
2416	Tue Apr 10 09:47:33 EDT 2012	R. Matthew STEVENS	London,, ON
2415	Mon Apr 09 11:37:52 EDT 2012	Kurt J. Himpel	Port Chester, NY
2414	Sun Apr 08 16:44:33 EDT 2012	Anonymous	Nashville, TN
2413	Sat Apr 07 12:47:06 EDT 2012	Andy Kish
2412	Sat Apr 07 12:46:11 EDT 2012	Andy Kish
2411	Sat Apr 07 12:39:18 EDT 2012	Cheryl Dunn	Pittsburgh, PA
2410	Sat Apr 07 09:51:34 EDT 2012	Sam Shropshire	Annapolis, MD
2409	Sat Apr 07 08:05:41 EDT 2012	Dagmar Brandt	Garbsen, ot
2408	Sat Apr 07 07:02:15 EDT 2012	Larry Carriere	Toronto, ON	May Justice & Peace prevail on earth.
2407	Fri Apr 06 21:13:36 EDT 2012	Leonard Eiger	North Bend, WA
2406	Wed Apr 04 23:46:21 EDT 2012	Jerise Fogel	New York, NY

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