28 U.S. Representatives and 28 Senators Support ALLMEP Initiative
April 7, 2008 (Washington, DC) - The Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) announced significant bi-partisan support for Israeli-Palestinian / Arab-Israeli people-to-people peace and coexistence efforts today, with the circulation of the second congressional letter in as many weeks urging continuing U.S. funds for such grassroots peace initiatives. Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and John Sununu (R-NH) led the most recent letter, which they and 26 of their fellow U.S. Senators sent to Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking Member Judd Gregg (R-NH) of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. The letter urged Senate appropriators to continue U.S. funding of people-to-people coexistence, cooperation, and reconciliation initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians, Arabs and Jews in the Middle East in FY 2009 with $11 million in competitive U.S. grants. (see the Biden-Sununu letter here)
Two weeks earlier, Representatives Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and Jim Moran (D-VA) circulated an equally successful letter in the U.S. House to House appropriators (see Crowley-Moran letter here), ultimately signing on 26 of their colleagues from both parties and also urging $11 million in such funding next fiscal year. The House letter was addressed to Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Ranking Member Frank Wolf (R-VA) of the House Foreign Operations appropriations subcommittee. As the Crowley-Moran letter in the House explained, "This 'track two diplomacy' is a critical U.S. foreign policy tool in improving America's image in the region and laying the groundwork for successful diplomatic efforts. Political agreements may never arrive or endure without the kind of popular support that these grassroots activities cultivate."
Similar efforts by ALLMEP and these congressional leaders in FY 2008 resulted in the creation of a new $9 million competitive grant program for Middle East people-to-people coexistence efforts. The program is managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office fo Conflict Management and Mitigation. USAID is still accepting grant proposals for the FY 2008 competition and has not yet announced any grant recipients.
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The Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) is a coalition of 55 leading nongovernmental organizations working to foster coexistence in the Middle East. Through ALLMEP, these organizations work together to raise awareness about their work, recruit new participants and supporters, spread their message of real hope, and develop new and expanded resources to support grassroots peace efforts.
The Alliance not only offers opportunities for furthering coexistence activities in the region; it also provides Americans and others around the world, from diverse political and religious backgrounds, a rare chance to meet together in support of a cause in the Middle East. On an issue that all too often is divisive, ALLMEP is proud to create a safe zone of communication and shared mission among all who care deeply about the future of peace in the Middle East.
ALLMEP has successfully convened events from Washington, D.C. to New York City to Jerusalem, bringing together hundreds of NGO leaders, policymakers, pro-Israel and pro- Palestinian activists, diplomats, private foundations, and the media all to learn about and support grassroots peace efforts. Between 2004 and 2007, as ALLMEP has worked to educate policy makers on the impact and importance of supporting grassroots peace efforts, U.S. funding for reconciliation programs worldwide has tripled, including the creation of a new $9 million fund for Israeli-Palestinian / Arab-Israeli people-to-people projects in particular.