DPJC Position Statement
DPJC Statement on Israel's Atrocities in Gaza
May 15, 2018
The Dallas Peace and Justice Center (DPJC) joins international rights groups to strongly condemn Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) malicious killing of unarmed protesters in Gaza. According to media reports, more than 60 people, including women and children, have been willfully killed by IDF snipers using high-velocity weapons. Nearly 3000 have been injured. Early medical reports show many of the protesters were shot in the head or chest.
DPJC Position Statement
DPJC Statement on Nuclear Weapons Negotiations with Iran
May 8, 2018
63% of Americans (and nearly that many Texans, we believe), say the U.S should stay in the nuclear agreement with Iran. The Board of Dallas Peace & Justice Center asks our Texas Senators and Congressmen to make a statement or use social media today in anticipation of President Trump's expected announcement at 2:00 PM to ‘fail to waive sanctions’ passed in the FY 2012 NDAA as the United States agreed to do under the Iran accord.
The nuclear agreement with Iran is working. There is no evidence to support the accusations that Iran is cheating.
The collapse of the nuclear agreement with Iran seems likely put the U.S. on a path to war. This is especially true given president Trump’s appointment of many long-time advocates of war with Iran.
Withdrawal from the agreement without cause, a violation of the agreement, seems likely to further damage America’s credibility on the world stage. It may also undermine U.S diplomatic relations with North Korea and international trade agreements.
Our diplomats fear that ending the agreement may undermine political moderates in Iran and further strengthen the hand of the hardliners who want to further pursue nuclear weapons development.
DPJC Media Advisory
Subject: Media Advisory from Dallas Peace & Justice Center Regarding President Trump's Declaration on Jerusalem
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Dec 5 2017 (Dallas, TX)
The Dallas Peace and Justice Center/Friends Committee on National Legislation joint statement on President Trump's unilateral declaration designating Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel.
"President Trump’s irresponsible political theatre to grant recognition of unified Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a deliberate provocation that puts Palestinian, Israeli, and American lives at risk."
"Trump’s decision will have immediate and potentially catastrophic impacts for Palestinians living in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem. This announcement will encourage the further entrenchment of Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem and the daily humiliations of occupation that Palestinians there and throughout the occupied territories endure."
"Trump said that Jerusalem is a place where 'people of all faiths are free to live and worship according to their conscience and according to their beliefs.' The thousands of Palestinians in East Jerusalem that have staged historic protests of mass civil disobedience in order to freely access and worship at the Al Aqsa Mosque Compound in recent months belie this misleading narrative."
"The fall-out from this reckless decision will not be confined to Israel-Palestine but will foment violence around the world, as the U.S. State Department and political and religious leaders around the globe have warned."
"FCNL will be working with our nation-wide network to press members of Congress to denounce this decision and refuse to fund Trump’s plans to build a fortress-like embassy in Jerusalem. Like Trump’s promise to build a border wall with Mexico and dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Trump’s plan for a behemoth of an embassy in Jerusalem cannot be realized unless Congress acquiesces on funding. At this time of such turmoil, members of Congress have a particular responsibility to end the U.S.-backed Israeli military occupation and press for the beginning of a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) has worked for more than a century to promote a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. FCNL is a national Quaker organization committed to pressing the United States to play a more constructive role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Our work is rooted in historic Quaker testimonies on peace and equality and Quaker witness in the region.
The Friends Committee on National Legislation, the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, is a nonpartisan Quaker lobby in the public interest. FCNL works with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people of many different faiths from every state in the U.S. to advocate for social and economic justice, peace, and good government.
The mission of the Dallas Peace and Justice Center is to promote a just and peaceful world through constructive action in education, dialogue, reconciliation, advocacy, and action.
DPJC Position Statement
DPJC Statement on President Trump's Upcoming Speech About U.S. Involvement in Afghanistan
August 21, 2017
After months of delay and apparently difficult conversations at top levels to come up with a "winning" strategy for Afghanistan, what President Donald Trump will announce Monday evening will be nothing more than an extension of the failed strategy that has kept U.S. forces in the country for 16 years with no end in sight.
The announcement would represent a total abandonment of Trump's repeated calls before he was president that U.S. troops should come home and, based on reports of his plan, will represent a continuation of a failed strategy taken by his two predecessors that will likely worsen security for ordinary Afghans.
Don Dillard, president of the board of the Dallas Peace & Justice Center said, "Americans are way ahead of Congress and the Trump Administration on this issue. A strong majority believes we should bring our troops home and instead focus on rebuilding America's dilapidated infrastructure such as bridges, roads and schools. We should pay to attention to them."
According to DPJC activist Hadi Jawad, "Afghanistan has been a utter failure for America, and an unwillingness to admit failure is dangerous. Whether America 'cuts and runs' or 'stays and bleeds' it's a win win for America's enemies. The lesson to draw is not that America should never give up after having intervened, but that we should avoid staying the course no matter what the cost."
"Rather than building more military power, which results in the loss of even more human life, a plan to bring all parties in the region to the peace table could result in a cohesive, peaceful society," says Len Ellis of DPJC. "A long term strategy of replacing boots and guns with society-building strategies and projects would be a welcome turn of events. Imagine instead of 5,000 soldiers, a force of 5,000 Peace Corps workers! Yes, it is possible."
DPJC Position Statement
Statement on Domestic Terrorist Attack on Charlottesville, Virginia
August 16, 2017
The Dallas Peace and Justice Center grieves the loss of life and injury to those attacked in the recent spate of domestic terrorism in Charlottesville, Virginia. We offer our deepest prayers and condolence for the families of the victims.
We stand in solidarity with people of color and faith, currently under siege by the hate speech, bigotry and violence of white supremacy groups, such as witnessed on the University of Virginia Campus on August 12th.
We unequivocally denounce such acts of hatred and violence and stand against the spread of white supremacy groups, seeking a legitimate platform for racism and bigotry on college campuses and in our communities.
We support dismantling historical narratives which legitimize racism and demand the removal of confederate monuments.
We call on our elected leaders to be aware of how they may contribute to hate speech through public policy designed to threaten and target people by race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.
We further commit to non-violent peace work with community allies to confront hate and dismantle racism through research, education, dialogue and action.
Peace,
Don Dillard,
President, Dallas Peace and Justice Center
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