Description

from Rebuilding Alliance, San Mateo, California:

On Thursday morning, April 7th, kindergartners looked on from their school bus as Israeli soldiers barricaded access to, and then destroyed, several sections of the Peace Road, the main road in and out of Al Aqaba village. Al Aqaba is a tranquil and conflict-free place where villagers have worked together to prevent total demolition repeatedly over the past 20 years.

The walls of earth and bulldozed road means the school bus must now take long detours to get 200 children to their kindergarten and school. Sign the petition to urge your Senators and Representative to press the Government of Israel to both open and to repair the road. In addition, there is a way to get through to senior staffers for foreign policy at your senators and congressional offices — to learn more, download the guide, “How to call Congress“

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Like all Palestinian villages in Area C of the West Bank, Al Aqaba village is under complete Israeli military and civil jurisdiction. According to the Israeli Human Rights Group, BIMKOM, instead of meeting its obligation to provide appropriate planning and infrastructure to meet the needs of the 150,000 Palestinians who live in Area C, the State of Israel has blanketed ALL the Palestinian villages in Area C with demolition orders. The scope is significant because Area C makes up 60% of the West Bank. Read more in the BIMKOM report, The Prohibited Zone.

In Al Aqaba, the Israeli Civil Administration has issued demolition orders for nearly all of the homes, the medical clinic, the kindergarten funded by hundreds of Americans, and the village mosque built in the shape of a peace sign.

This village deserves the right to exist, the right to plan its future, the right to issue building permits — like any other town in the world. The village’s children – like all children – need to hold onto their belief in peace, and they need to get to school.
What YOU can do:

Sign the Petition: Open the Road to Al Aqaba, Pave the Road to Peace.
When you sign, the petition will be immediately emailed directly to your Senators and Representative.
Take 15 minutes to call your Senators and Representative.
Ask to speak to their senior staffer for foreign policy. Ask them to call the Israeli Embassy and the U.S. State Department on your behalf to press Israel to restore Peace Road and rebuild the demolished homes — and ask them to call you back. Read our step-by-step guide to help you with this call.
This road is the lifeblood of this peaceful, Area C community. The families need everyone’s help to stay on their land. Join our Facebook Discussion to explore next steps or read Adam Keller’s blog, Crazy Country