Israeli-Palestinian Understanding
The Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC) welcomes the latest agreement between Israel and the Palestinians with
cautious optimism, and hopes that it is the prelude to a serious and long-lasting effort to bring a just peace to the
region.
The PHRC notes with sadness that, while the world’s news media were reporting the smiles and handshakes, they failed to
notice Tuesday’s shelling of Palestinian homes by Israeli tanks.
Following this agreement, the United States will be expected to stop any attempt by Israel to continue with the
annexation of Palestinian land, the expansion of illegal settlements and the building of new ones. While the
Palestinians are called upon to end all violence, it should be remembered that every expropriation of Palestinian land
by Israel is an act of violence and Israel’s occupation of Palestine is also achieved through violence. The extent of
the willingness of the United States to fully commit itself to a just peace will be judged by the influence it is
prepared to exert on Israel to respect its international obligations.
The Palestine Human Rights Campaign was formed in 1982 with the aim of informing all New Zealanders about the cruel and
unusual injustices inflicted daily on the Palestinian People by successive Israeli Governments.
Our policy is to use peaceful demonstration, education and an intensive media protest campaign to bring about changes in
the attitude of the NZ Government and people toward the Palestinian crisis.