RESOLUTION CALLING FOR A PROACTIVE POLICY ON THE PART OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR THE RENEWAL OF THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE PROCESS

This resolution was jointly proposed by Joanne Yaron, Chair, DA-Israel, and by Susan Vaillant, holding Connie Borde, DA-France chair's proxy to the DPCA International Conference, Heidelberg, Germany, 16-18 March 2007. The resolution began its journey as a DA-Israel proposal presented in September 2006 and went through numerous versions, arriving at this compromise, which was overwhelmingly accepted by the conference participants and presented to the DNC along with other DPCA resolutions  ...........

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WHEREAS the Israeli-Palestinian long-term violent conflict has become one of the central problems in the Middle East, a dangerous situation that needs to be resolved for the sake of world peace and stability, and the peoples of the region;

WHEREAS we are encouraged by the numerous peace attempts and actions by the relevant parties and several of the leading Arab countries, and from such important achievements as the long standing 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty and 1994 Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty, both concluded with the active facilitation of the United States of America;

WHEREAS the United States has already been proactively involved in such official and unofficial agreements, working papers and conference protocols as the 1991 Madrid Principles, 1993 Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles, the 1998 Wye River Memorandum, 2000 Camp David Summit, 2001 Clinton Parameters and the 2002 Road Map for Peace;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Democrats Abroad supports a plank in the Democratic Party platform to implement and renew with all judicious speed a proactive policy to be actively facilitated by the United States of America in close cooperation with other interested nations, the United Nations, the European Union as well as official representatives of Israelis and Palestinians who have been instrumental in working for peace in the region;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Democratic Party platform should promote the establishment of a Permanent Ambassador assisted by a team of researchers and negotiators as a resource, stationed in the Middle East, preferably in both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and active in the development of an Israeli-Palestinian peace process;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States of America will develop in cooperation with other nations, a package of economic, social and political incentives as an integral part of its proactive policy, for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel, with incentives to begin at a time certain to continue or be suspended based on benchmarks for progress;

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that agreement by the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel to cease and desist all acts and rhetoric of violence and the development or expansion of settlements, and to publicly and mutually respect each other's rights to exist and recognize relevant prior agreements, will contribute to the execution of a treaty that respects international law, attested by neighboring states, thereby bringing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to its long overdue peaceful conclusion.

Note: The names Democrats Abroad (DA) and Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA) are used interchangeably to refer to the same organization.