500 signatures reached
To: Prince William
Prince William please do not let your visit to Israel be used as an endorsement for Israeli policies
Prince William, if your trip to Israel includes a visit to Yad Veshem, please ask about Deir Yassin, one of many Palestinian villages destroyed in 1948.
Speak to members of Breaking the Silence, B'tselem and Ta'aush - all Israeli human rights organisations.
In Bethlehem please go to the Gilo checkpoint, the Aida refugee camp, the Wall and Wi'am (the Christian Conflict Resolution Centre).
Visit Hebron and go to Shuhada Street in the Old city and ask about the Palestinians still trying to survive there, and the Bedouin communities attempting to hold on to their land in the South Hebron Hills.
And please don't forget Gaza. Remember that Hamas was a product of Israeli policies, not the cause of them.
Listen to the voices of the many children trapped in that huge, overcrowded and wretched giant prison and the hopelessness imposed on them by Israel.
Finally remember that the Balfour Declaration promised to protect the non-Jewish population of Palestine and that Britain has a responsibility towards them.
Why is this important?
Although the Royal Family has a tradition of not expressing partisan political views, a visit to Israel could be used by those who support Israel as an endorsement of its policies towards the Palestinians.
We are told that Prince William also intends to visit Palestine and it is important that he is able to meet with those who can give him a real understanding of what it is like to live under occupation and oppression and to have land and resources eaten away by Israel's illegal settlement building with all that follows from that.
