FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 28, 2016
Matthew Duss
mduss@fmep.org
202-835-3650
Washington, DC: The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) applauds the speech delivered today by Secretary of State John Kerry outlining his vision for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. FMEP also commends President Barack Obama and his administration for the decision last week to allow passage of a resolution at the United Nations Security Council declaring Israeli settlements inconsistent with international law and calling for freezing all settlement construction as well as an end to incitement and attacks on civilians in the region. Both of these are consistent with longstanding U.S. policies, supported by Republican and Democratic administrations alike.
“Last week, the Security Council sent a powerful message from the international community warning that continued Israeli settlement activity is seriously jeopardizing the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said Matthew Duss, President of FMEP. “Today, Secretary Kerry followed up on that message by laying out a pragmatic vision of the components of a resolution to that conflict. Secretary Kerry made it clear that the Israeli occupation, which is about to hit its 50thyear, is leading toward the entrenchment of a system that is, in his words, ‘separate and unequal.’
The Foundation for Middle East Peace was founded in 1979 to promote a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Foundation advances this goal through education and advocacy, publications about the conflict, a speakers’ program to introduce Israeli, Palestinian, and other experts to U.S. audiences, public speaking by officers of the Foundation, and a small grant program to support groups that advance the cause of peace in Israel and Palestine.