Ensure a peaceful village's right to exist: How to ask your Senators and Representatives for help! It works… approached respectfully, staffers will make calls on our behalf, to get information and/or register our concerns. This simple quide shows how to approach them, provide information, make requests, ensure follow-up.

1. Ensure a peaceful village’s
right to exist.
How to ask your Senators and
Representatives for help!

2. Your Goal:
• To speak directly to their
“Senior Staffer for Foreign Policy”
• Ask him or her to call the
State Department and
the Israeli Embassy on your behalf,
• and call you back!

3. What you will need:
• Phone number to your Representative’s
or Senator’s office in Washington, D.C.
• A phone and about 10-15 minutes for
your call.
• A follow-up email to send right after.

4. First, Find the Number of
Your Representative or
Senator
Go to http://www.govtrack.us
/congress/members

5. Place your call
• When the receptionist answers,
ask to speak to the senior staffer
responsible for foreign policy.
• Before your are transferred, ask for the
senior staffer’s name and write it down.

6. If you reach their
voicemail
Leave a message:
• My name is ______ and I am a
constituent. Please call me back at
<your phone number>.
• My message is urgent. I need your
assistance to stop the demolition of five
homes, and ensure a Palestinian
village’s right to exist.

7. When they answer, or call
you back
• Start by introducing yourself:
– My name is ______ and I am a
constituent from <your city> .

8. Explain Why
you are calling
• My call is urgent.
• I need your help to save five homes
and the whole village of Al Aqaba in the
West Bank, Jordan Valley.

9. Tell them more
• Have you heard about this case?
• Al Aqaba is a peaceful village in the Jordan
River Valley, far from any borders. There
has never been a security violation – and the
Israeli High Court even ruled in favor of the
village in 2002.

10. Americans Built This Place!
• Hundreds of Americans helped a U.S.
nonprofit called Rebuilding Alliance build a
kindergarten there, and three new homes.
• Twenty foreign embassies helped them build
a medical center, sewing cooperative, and a
herbal tea factory.
• U.S. Rotary Clubs will soon install a birthing
center!

11. Al Aqaba
is in the middle of
the West Bank
far from borders,
NOT A SECURITY
RISK.

12. The West Bank since 1993
• 62% of the West Bank is designated “Area
C”, and is controlled by the Israeli Civil
Administration, part of the Israeli Army.
• According to the Israeli human rights
organization BIMKOM, the Israeli Civil
Administration has issued over
12,500 demolition orders for Palestinian
homes, schools, and shops.

13. The Whole Town is
threatened
• In 2004, the Israeli Civil Administration
issued demolition orders against the
whole town of Al Aqaba – the mosque,
the medical center, all but two homes,
and the kindergarten FOR LACK OF
UNATTAINABLE BUILDING PERMITS.

14. Building permits are
rarely, if ever, issued in
Area C
• A recent report by The Guardian states
that the Israeli Civil Administration
granted Palestinians only 91 of 1517
building applications, while during the
same period 18,472 housing units were
sanctioned and built in Jewish-only
settlements.

15. Catch-22
• On June 24, 2012, the Israeli Army issued
orders to demolish five homes in Al Aqaba.
• The families were given three days’ notice to
petition for building permits.
• However, on June 23, the army denied Al
Aqaba’s 3rd master plan – and even denied
their right to submit ANY master plan – a
requirement for building permits.

16. The Israeli High Court of
Justice
• Al Aqaba’s villagers and lawyers are
petitioning the Israeli High Court to freeze
the new demolition orders.
• Will the High Court rule in favor of Al Aqaba
and give its villagers a secure future on the
land that they own?

17. “As your constituent”
• Please call the State Department, and the
Embassy of Israel in Washington D.C. to express
concern.
• Please ask them why a village with so much
support from the U.S. and Israel’s allies is slated
for demolition.
• Please ask them to stop bulldozers from
destroying five families’ homes and livelihoods.

18. Urge them to Acknowledge
the Villagers’ Human Rights
• Press the Israeli Civil Administration to
accept Al Aqaba’s “Comprehensive Land
Use Plan”.
• Recognize Al Aqaba’s right to issue its
own building permits, like any other town.

19. Yes, I will email you a
letter of request
• TAKE DOWN INFORMATION!
• “What is your email address? What is
your title? Please spell your name for
me once again.”

20. When will you
get back to me?
• Write down the date, and expect your
return call then.

21. Thank you very much for
your assistance
• “I look forward to your call
on <date promised> or I’ll give you a
call to touch base.”

22. Add Contact Info to the
Template Letter
• And email your letter to the Senior
Staffer right away!

23. Mark your calendar
• To follow up on the date promised –
and if possible,
• Email us to let us know if you got
through:
Contact@RebuildingAlliance.org

24. That’s it!
• Chances are, they’ll make the calls.
• Call us at the Rebuilding Alliance if you
need help:
(650) 325-4663

25. Give Al Aqaba’s Families a
Future