{news} GP RELEASE Greens urge steps for security in response to Bush policies on Iran, Israel-Palestine

[Justine McCabe]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805,
starlene at greens.org


Greens urge steps for security in response to Bush
policies on Iran and the Middle East


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders and candidates
for Congress spoke out today on U.S. policies
regarding national security, Iran, and the crisis in
Israel and Palestine.

. IRAN  Greens warned that the Bush Administration may
repeat its pattern of fraud and military aggression
that led to the Iraq disaster in its current posture
on Iran's bid for nuclear energy and, allegedly,
nuclear arms.

Americans should be wary of Bush Administration claims
that Iran's nuclear ambitions justify military action,
in light of White House deceptions before the invasion
of Iraq that Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs and sought
nuclear weapons materials, said Greens.

"The best approach is one that maintains the good will
of the Iranian people, rather than threatening them
with attacks by the U.S. or by Israel as a U.S.
surrogate," said Carl Romanelli, Pennsylvania Green
candidate for the U.S. Senate.  "Any effort to
dissuade Iran from pursuing nuclear power will seem
utterly hypocritical if the Bush Administration
continues to violate the Non-Proliferation Treaty,
ignore Israel's nuclear capability, and aid the
nuclear ambitions of India in violation of the treaty.
 Our Iran policy must be part of a greater policy that
seeks global nuclear disarmament and an end to
dependence on fossil and nuclear energy."

"We have no illusions about the current government in
Iran, which under President Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah
Khameini have suppressed the rights of women, tortured
and murdered gay people, crushed political dissent,
and denied the Jewish holocaust," added Nan Garrett,
co-chair of the Georgia Green Party and spokesperson
for the National Women's Caucus.  "But our immediate
goal must be to maintain the friendship of the many
Iranians who wish to see the ruling theocracy replaced
by secular democratic government dedicated to human
rights and freedoms.  U.S. threats have enabled the
regime to silence reformists in the same way that the
'War on Terror' has enabled President Bush to
intimidate and silence opposition here.  If the U.S.
attacks Iran, we'll face the wrath of the world and a
conflict far worse than the Iraq disaster."

. MIDDLE EAST  Green leaders urge the Bush
Administration to place pressure on the government of
Israel to rescind its threat to assassinate Hamas
leaders if Palestinian militants strike in Israel.

"Israel's threat betrays contempt for the democratic
process that elected Hamas to positions of Palestinian
leadership," said Ruth Weill, co-chair of the
Wisconsin Green Party.  "The only way to achieve
security for Israelis and Palestinians is for Israel
to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian
territories, stop clearing Palestinian farms and other
land for Jewish Israeli settlements, end the economic
strangulation of the Palestinian people, and guarantee
democracy for all citizens of Israel and the occupied
Palestinian territories.

"Hamas has observed a ceasefire for the past year, so
the ball is in Israel's court to begin serious peace
talks.  The Bush White House has the power to persuade
Israel to do the right thing, just as President
Eisenhower ended the 1956 Suez crisis when he
pressured Israel to withdraw from the Sinai
Peninsula," Ms. Weill added.

The Green Party has condemned all violence against
civilians in the Israel-Palestine conflict, whether by
the state of Israel or by Palestinian militias or
Israeli vigilantes.

In November, 2005, the party passed a resolution
urging divestment from Israel, which currently
receives billions of dollars each year in U.S. aid,
until Israel observes full human rights and equality
for Palestinians
<http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_11_28.shtml>.  Greens
have called for consideration of a one-state solution,
noting that Israel's illegal annexation of settlement
blocs and refusal to honor the Palestinian right of
return to Israel belie any possibility for a two-state
solution.

Mindful of the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians
because of Israeli and U.S. opposition to the
Hamas-led Legislative Council, Green Party members are
encouraged by news that Hamas may conduct a popular
referendum allowing Palestinians to decide their
stance regarding the recognition of Israel
<http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6BC01677-F403-4215-9695-7DC6539ABF67.htm>.

Greens noted that Israel's $2.2 billion request for
U.S. taxpayer-funded compensation for Israeli settlers
evicted from the Palestinian territories, about
$227,000 per Gaza settler, far surpasses federal aid
to survivors of hurricane Katrina.  (FEMA awarded as
little as $2,000 to many needy Katrina survivors;
Israel put its request for $2.2 billion for Gaza
settlers on hold after Katrina, then renewed it in
January.)


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX)
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/

Green Party International Committee
http://www.gp.org/committees/intl/

Green Party rebuttal to President Bush's 2006 State of
the Union Address (Video News Release)
http://www.gp.org/video/2006stateofunion


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