By Neveen Salem, IOL Washington correspondent

WASHINGTON, March 13 (IslamOnline) - American Muslims, Jews and Quakers (a Christian denomination) held a briefing on Capitol Hill Tuesday in an attempt to bring the Palestinian voice to Members of Congress.

The event, organized by the Washington D.C.- based American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ) brought together Joshua Ruebner, executive director of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel, and Jim Matlack, head of the Washington D.C. office of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a renowned Quaker organization dedicated to promoting peace and human rights, for a frank information session on the plight of the Palestinians, Israel's "end game" and the need for proactive U.S. pressure on Israel.

In what is perhaps one of the most tangible displays of political activism, the panel also included Khaled Turaani, executive director of AMJ and Margaret Zaknoen, the group's programs director. They both addressed roughly 100 congressional staffers, including one Member of Congress, Representative Bob Filner (D-CA).

A congressional briefing, a type of lobbying effort usually organized as a presentation by a panel, followed by a question and answer session, is designed to provide Congress with information regarding a specific issue and to extend the community's position on said issue.

Ruebner, the most outspoken and hard-hitting speaker on the panel, denounced the U.S. for allowing Israel to continue unchecked in what he termed "a brutal occupation" and an agenda of "ethnic cleansing."

He also stated that nowhere in the world is there an occupied people that has just "laid down and played dead and let the occupier have its will.

"As long as you have a military occupation, you are going to have violence. Military occupation is, by definition, violence."

Ruebner also slammed the U.S. for losing perspective of the "end-game", which is ultimately "a just peace." In addition, he also criticized the Administration for not actively condemning and "constraining" Israel from pursuing its aggressive policies of assassination of Palestinian political leaders, usurpation of Palestinian land and the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinian civilians.

Ruebner also warned that the Israeli government's intention is to see an end to the Palestinians, and that the U.S. is helping perpetuate this intention by not becoming more aggressive in containing Israeli aggression.

"The lack of U.S. condemnation and active constraint is seen as a 'green light' by [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon and the Israeli government to cross over the 'red lines.'"

Matlack spoke of what he believes to be the shape of a just peace between Palestinians and Israelis and what the role of the U.S. government is in trying to reach that peace. He framed his comments in terms of two "very simple premises."

The first is that "Israel can have land or peace. But not both." The second is that "Israel must obey the same rules and laws that every other government is expected to obey." The fulfillment of those two premises, according to Matlack, would put the parties on the path out of violence and toward a just peace.

Turaani addressed U.S. Vice President's Dick Cheney's tour of six Arab countries and Israel. While the Vice President will not visit Ramallah, he said, "wherever he goes, Ramallah is going to go with him." Turaani painted a picture for the audience of the ongoing brutality of the Israeli occupation and the toll it takes on Palestinian civilians.

Due to the nature of the congressional briefing, staffers are not allowed to offer opinions or statements - as they are held accountable to the offices they represent, but several of them did ask questions regarding the conflict and specifically regarding why "average American, who are worried about a failing economy, unemployment and how to support their families, should care about Palestinians or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

Zaknoen offered a concise answer to the question, saying, "It is Americans' tax dollars that go toward funding the aggressions against the Palestinians.

"Americans, being a people that value morality and human rights, would never stand for this if they knew the truth. They would be enraged."

The U.S. currently supplies Israel with $3 billion per year, the highest foreign aid given by any country to any one country, as well as supplying them with the weapons used against the Palestinians, specifically F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters.

Matlack also outlined what he sees as the shape of a just peace.

"The heart of the matter would be an Israeli withdrawal from the territories taken in 1967, including East Jerusalem. Within that, some territorial concessions or swaps may be possible, but would have to be negotiated between the two parties as equals and with mutual respect. Special arrangements would need to be made to ensure respect for the religious sites and practices of the different faiths represented in Jerusalem,” he said.

Recognition of the right of the return has to be part of the final agreement, Matlack asserted. The right of return "is an international right. It is not a special case for the Palestinians. It applies in East Timor, in Kosovo, in Rwanda," he stressed.

Matlack closed by urging the U.S. government to hold Israel accountable to international law and be specific and forceful in pressuring Israel to implement the end game that the United States has outlined as the way out of the violence and towards a just peace.