Hundreds of U.S. Religious, Civic Leaders Voice Support for Israel in AJC Initiative

American Jewish Committee
Thursday, 26 October 2000

More than 300 Americans – clergy, ethnic and civic leaders, and elected officials – are proclaiming their support for Israel and its aspirations for peace, in full-page American Jewish Committee ads published in major daily newspapers across the United States, and in Israel.

The AJC ad – We stand with Israel. We stand for peace. – is part of AJC's advocacy and education campaign to ensure and strengthen public support for Israel in this time of crisis.

"The signatories, reflecting the diversity of America, prove that across the political and religious spectrum in the U.S. there is a great reservoir of support and friendship for Israel as the two countries share common values and are inextricably linked by historic bonds," said AJC Acting Executive Director Shulamith Bahat.

The ad was published in today's Washington Post, and will appear tomorrow in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Miami Herald, and the Israeli daily Ha'aretz.

The complete list of those who signed the ad can be found on AJC's web site, www.ajc.org

The full text of the ad follows:

We stand with Israel. We stand for peace.

We Americans, representing our nation's diversity, stand united in calling for an end to the violence that has erupted in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and elsewhere in the Middle East, shattering lives and the promise of peace.

We mourn the victims – American, Arab and Israeli – of this senseless and destructive unleashing of hate.

We reject the fanatics' summons to war and terrorism against Israel and the United States. We are outraged by the assault on the U.S.S. Cole. We deplore the attacks on Jewish religious sites in the Middle East, Europe and America.

We stand in solidarity with the people of Israel in their aspirations for peace – the "peace of the brave" sought by such statesmen as Yitzhak Rabin, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin and King Hussein, and pursued vigorously by the Israeli and American governments.

We stand with Israel, America's partner in democracy and peace.

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org