For any of my American friends who happen to wander by

For any from the U.S. who might happen to wander by this blog:

Just Foreign Policy and Jewish Voice for Peace have launched a campaign to urge President Obama to reform U.S. policy toward the Palestinians so that George Mitchell's diplomacy can succeed. They are recommending the following:

lift the blockade on Gaza,
authorize U.S. diplomats to talk to Hamas officials,
get serious about ending Israeli settlements in the West Bank,
insist that US weapons supplied to Israel be only used for self-defense, as required by US law.

You can sign their letter here:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1814

The petition's deadline is February 23, 2009.

The background of the petition is provided in this article in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/a-window-for-israelpalest_b_160830.html by: John Lewis-Dickerson

This information was originally found in the comments at the Mondoweiss blog.