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For Immediate Release
December, 07 2017, 07:30am EDT
Contact:
Paul Kawika Martin, pmartin@peace-action.org, Gabe Murphy, gmurphy@peaceaction.org
Peace Action: Trump Joins World in Calling on Saudi Arabia to End Its Yemen Blockade
WASHINGTON
In response to President Trump calling on Saudi Arabia to immediately lift its blockade of Yemen citing the dire humanitarian situation, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement:
"President Trump's instructions for his administration to call Saudi Arabia and request an end to its blockade of Yemen represents a laudable first step. Yet given Yemen's unimaginable suffering, brought on by three years of a Saudi and Emirati-led war on the poorest country in the Middle East, the situation deserves stronger actions immediately. Twenty million people in Yemen need humanitarian assistance, and seven million are on the brink of starvation, in part due to U.S. support for the war. Trump could call King Salman himself and stop the U.S. complicity in war crimes by halting the refueling of Saudi jets, ceasing the sharing of targeting information and cancelling arms sales. Ending the Yemen crisis requires significant action, not just a request by Presidential directive."
Peace Action is the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights.
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