LA Jews for Peace member Jeff Warner is traveling to Iran with the Fellowship for Reconciliation for a 2-week peace mission. The trip will leave August 5.

Jeff describes one of his goals for the trip:

American Jews for a Just Peace (AJJP) is a new national group being formed in Boston. LA Jews for Peace is joining in the organizational effort fore AJJP. The following paragraph are the AJJP Common Grounds document as modified by LA Jews for Peace:

INTRODUCTORY NOTE: This is an in-progress draft of Common Ground principles for a new alliance of progressive Jewish activists working under the name “American Jews for Just Peace.” We are committed to a transparent and democratic process for forming this new network and are presenting this document as a thinking and planning document towards the end of adopting shared principles under which we can organize together. We encourage you to comment on this draft, make suggestions for changes and present new or different ideas that we have not included. Our goal is to hammer out a proposal for addressing some of the important issues prior to a founding convention at which a final document can be adopted by majority vote.

Preamble and Common Ground Principles

American Jews for a Just Peace (AJJP) is a confederation of progressive and predominantly Jewish activists in the United States working for an end to the Israeli occupation and colonization of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and equal rights for all the people of historic Palestine. AJJP operates as an alliance of autonomous chapters and individual members across the United States. AJJP is a grassroots, membership-driven network with the goal of coordinating our collective work under a shared name and agreed statement of Common Ground principles. The founding statement of AJJP’s Common Ground principles is as follows:

PRINCIPLES

AJJP is deeply committed to a peaceful and just resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, a resolution that will provide justice, safety, security and freedom for Jews, Palestinians, and all others living in the greater Middle East. We believe that before such a just peace can be realized, Israel must withdraw from its settlements in the Palestinian territories to the internationally recognized 1967 borders (the Green Line) and address the legitimate national and human rights of the Palestinian people in Occupied Palestine, within Israel, and in the Diaspora, as defined by international law and recognized principles of human rights. We recognize the powerful role of U.S. policy in the greater Middle East and will work to combat the myth of American Jewish consensus in support of Israeli government policy and to promote a U.S. policy that is consistent with international law (e.g, Geneva Conventions) and the legitimate aspirations of all the peoples of historic Palestine.

We therefore advocate for:

1. A negotiated end to the Israel government's military occupation and colonization of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem and a complete withdrawal from its settlements and occupation infrastructure;
2. The removal of the illegal wall the Israeli government and military is erecting inside the West Bank in violation of international law;
3. An end to the Israeli government’s collective punishments (banned under international law) and human rights violations, including assassinations, military strikes on civilian areas, demolition of homes and orcahrds, arbitrary arrests, torture, the closure and encirclement of villages and communities, and an end to travel restrictions ;
4. The rights of Israelis and Palestinians to self-determination and collective sovereignty within a political entity or entities of their own choosing, including full equality, civil rights, and economic justice for all;
5. A shared Jerusalem;
6. A just resolution to the plight of Palestinian refugees that recognizes the right of return as guaranteed by international law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states (Article 13-2) that "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country;"
7. We condemn all violence against civilians, including freedom from terror, invasions, and occupations for all people in the greater Middle East;
8. Equitable distribution of critical natural resources, including water, oil, gas, and electric power;
9. U.S. government aid to the Israeli government should be conditional upon the elimination of the Israel government’s occupation and colonization of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.

Toward those ends, AJJP should: