DPJC Position Statement

Assaults and Threats Against American Jewish Communities
February 22, 2017

The Dallas Peace and Justice Center (DPJC) denounces in the strongest terms possible, threats and attacks on Jewish Community Centers and attacks against the Jewish community across the country. According to several media reports <link> hundreds of centers have been threatened with arson.  In a venomous assault on the deceased there are also reports headstones in a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis have been desecrated.

"These are cowardly attempts to instill fear and despair in innocent members of a minority community. It's reprehensible and un-American and must stop," said Aftab Siddiqui, DPJC Board Member and Chair of the DPJC Human Rights and Justice Committee.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center <link>, these attacks are clearly tied to a spike in the formation of hate groups coinciding with the ascendancy of Donald Trump on the American political landscape.

"Nefarious elements that prey on innocent minorities such as American Jews and Muslims represent the worst of American society. Those who are responsible must be apprehended and prosecuted to the full extent of the law," said long time peace and justice activist and former Texas State Representative, Lon Burnam.

DPJC Position Statement

Bombing & Abuse of Yemeni Civilians by Gov. of Saudi Arabia

The Middle East Peace Committee of Dallas Peace & Justice Center calls upon the Obama Administration to use all moral influence with Saudi Arabia government to stop the bombings and other uses of force in Yemen, especially against civilians.

According to the UN Information Center: Sana the conflict "has already killed thousands of people, displaced 2.5 million and imperiled the food security of 7.6 million," overwhelming affecting Yemeni civilians. Though the UN has identified the situation in Yemen as one of the worst humanitarian crisis, aid to the region has been slow due to blockades put up by the Saudi led coalition. There is overwhelming evidence coming out of the region to support the claims that Saudi Arabia airstrikes have overwhelming targeted civilians. Media reports in The New York Times on December 2015 point to the Anti- Houthi rebels which are led by Saudi military coalitions as "responsible for the majority of deaths of civilians in the war." Over 70 health facilities have been attacked, including some supported by Doctor without Borders, sending the already fragile healthcare system into crisis. Doctors without Borders accuse the Saudi-led coalition of deliberately attacking a hospital in Taiz. Furthermore, Amnesty International calls for independent investigations of the Saudi-led coalitions for deliberately targeting schools in this war. The attacks of both hospitals and schools are both war crimes as they violate the international law.

The committee appreciates the recent efforts of the Obama Administration efforts within the last month to reach out to the Saudi government to ensure that International humanitarian laws are not crossed . However, it is not enough. The US is still committed to a $1.29 billion weapons deal with the Saudi government. US must be aware that these weapons will only assist the Saudi's in this war with Yemen. The US also continues to offer unwavering support to the Saudi government in this war. By not condemning the atrocities of war committed by the Saudi government against the Yemeni citizens, the US is complicit in the crimes. We urge the Obama Administration to continue to work with Saudi government and urge them to consider a ceasefire in Yemen immediately.

Yemeni peace talk ends with no end to conflict-New York Times

Saudi led war in Yemen Frays Ties with the US- New York Times

Bombing of Schools by Saudi led coalition- Amnesty International

John Kerry Stands by Saudi Arabia while it commits War Crimes in Yemen- Alternet

Yemen ban urges all sides to commit to ceasefire and resume un brokered talks to end fighting- UN Information Center: Sanaa

DPJC Position Statement

Dakota Access Pipeline & TransPecos Pipeline
September 15, 2016

The Dallas Peace & Justice Center stands in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all others at the Camp of the Sacred Stones as they oppose the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline across sacred ancestral lands.

The DPJC deplores the disrespect and disregard the United States government and Energy Transfer Partners have shown toward indigenous people in the United States. We condemn the sense of entitlement demonstrated by these two entities as they conspired to ignore the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as Energy Transfer Partners builds a pipeline over legally recognized treaty territory without the free, prior and informed consent of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

We are also well aware of another E.T.P project that will cause irreversible harm to Texas’ landscape, history and the environment. The TransPecos Pipeline is designed to deliver natural gas from Texas to Mexico, the 143mile pipeline will move through the precious Big Bend area and come very close to Big Bend National Park, home of more than 1200 species of plants and 600 species of animals. We have grave concern for the future of our earth home as our country continues its dependence on nonrenewable fuels and the profits that come with its production. This case is an apt demonstration of how an addiction of this type can cause us to abandon our moral center and our long-range vision of our future.

The DPJC will continue to support the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline and all pipeline resisters, including our local activists resisting the TransPecos Pipeline.