Dissident Veteran For Peace: Michigan Greens Affirm GPUS' Israel Boycott and Divestment Call

Dissident Veteran For Peace

"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America." —Alexis de Tocquevile. Democracy in America, Book I, Chapter XV.

With a nod to the Most Rev. Dom Helder Camara: When I support Palestinians some call me an 'anti-Semite', when I try to explain why I stand in solidarity with Palestinians they call me a Nazi.

"WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." —Major General Smedley Butler, USMC (ret.)

"... no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end." —character of O'Brien in 1984, part 3, ch. 3 by George Orwell.

"Every prophet has realized that nobody loves you for being the enemy of their illusions. Every prophet has realized that most of us want peace at any price as long as the peace is ours and somebody else pays the price. That is why the prophet Jeremiah said, ' "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace,' ..." —The Rev. William Sloane Coffin. "Not to Bring Peace, But a Sword."

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Michigan Greens Affirm GPUS' Israel Boycott and Divestment Call

On July 13, 2006, Chuck Jordan, the State Central Committee Whip of the Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) certified the adoption of a resolution affirming the GPMI's support for the Green Party of the United States National Committee's Resolution 190 and allocating funds to promote the Res. 190. The GPMI resolution also endorsed the July 9, 2005, call by 171 Palestinian political parties, unions, associations, coalitions and organizations for "broad" boycotts and divestment against Israel. Below is the text of the GPMI resolution.

RESOLUTION ON PEACE IN PALESTINE

WHEREAS Greens want to replace the worldwide system of poverty and injustice with a world free of all oppression; and,

WHEREAS Greens believe in direct participation by all people in the environmental, political, and economic decisions that affect their lives; and,

WHEREAS Greens promote nonviolent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and guide our actions toward lasting community and global peace; and,

WHEREAS Greens demonstrate a commitment to global sustainability and international justice through political solidarity.

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and endorses the July 9, 2005, call by 171 Palestinian political parties, unions, associations, coalitions and organizations for "broad" boycotts and divestment against Israel until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GPMI affirms Resolution 190, adopted by the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) on November 21, 2005, wherein the GPUS "publicly calls for divestment from and boycott of the State of Israel until such time as the full individual and collective rights of the Palestinian people are realized" and "calls on all civil society institutions and organizations around the world to implement a comprehensive divestment and boycott program"; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GPMI requests its delegates and alternates to the annual GPUS national meeting to uphold and support Resolution 190 in any formal debates or votes bearing on the subject matter of the resolution; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, consistent with Resolution 190, the GPMI authorizes the expenditure of up to five hundred dollars by its representatives to the Peace Action Committee (GPAX) of the GPUS for the production and distribution within Michigan of materials promoting GPMI and boycott and divestment against Israel; and,

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Secretary shall transmit copies of this resolution to the GPUS, GPAX, GPUS International Committee, and the Wisconsin Green Party.