My Letter to Congressman Pat Tiberi on Israel - Palestine

Letter Mailed to Congressman Pat Tiberi, R-OH-12  The Columbus Office Dec. 21st.


Dear Congressman Tiberi, December 21, 2010
First, congratulations on your recent reelection to the U.S. Congress. Bravo and Good job! You are obviously a trusted representative of the people in OH - 12.

I am writing to follow up on a number of recent exchanges I have had with your office regarding the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. You and I both have something in common which is a concern for the security, safety and well being of Israel. I hope you also have a concern for these same qualities in regard to the Palestinians, because the security of Israel is integrally related to the well being of the Palestinians, and the prospect for establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. It is the two-state solution that many of us aspire to realize. There are difficulties, however, and I will share a few items that demonstrate the degree of difficult of getting to a Two-State Solution as the resolution of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict.

Jeff Halper is an American Jew from Minnesota living in Israel, who has been working on the resolution of this conflict for many years. Here is a rather revealing quote from a recent e-mail from him.

From Jeff Halper--"Struggling as I have for the past decades to grasp the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and find ways to get out of this interminable and absolutely superfluous conflict, I have been two-thirds successful. After many years of activism and analysis, I think I have put my finger on the first third of the equation: What is the problem? My answer, which has withstood the test of time and today is so evident that it elicits the response…“duh”…is that all Israeli governments are unwaveringly determined to maintain complete control of Palestine/Israel from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, frustrating any just and workable solution based on Palestinian claims to self-determination. There will be no negotiated settlement, period."

Secondly, an anecdote from my own experience that reflects Halper's concern. Flying to Israel in the summer of 2007, my wife and I were separated on the flight and she sat with a doctor from Brooklyn who was going to Israel to spend time at his second home, located in the Israeli West Bank settlements. When my wife told him that we were going to spend time with the Palestinians in Bethlehem in the West Bank and learn more about the conflict, he responded by saying that the Palestinians would never get a state of their own. "We won't let them get a state,” he said. Further along in the conversation, he revealed that he was also a cousin to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Sunday, Nov. 21st. Ethan Bronner wrote an extensive article in the New York Times entitled "When Illusions are All: Why America Continues to Chase the Dream of an Israeli - Palestinian Peace." In it he noted the Israeli - Palestinian conflict has been largely drained of deadly violence in the past few years." Of course, Bronner fails to mention the 1300+ Gazan Palestinians killed in Operation Cast Lead, including approximately 300 Palestinian children. But, the positive side of Bronner's assertion is that Palestinians, including Hamas and Hezbollah, are not currently engaging in acts of terrorism toward Israel.

All of this is background for two other matters of great import. One is the recognition that the building of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian territory has resumed after the moratorium expired. I understand that settlement building and growth never really stopped because many Israelis rushed to get building permits before the expected moratorium was actually imposed. However, it is important to recognize that Israeli settlement building in the Occupied Palestinian territory is soaking up land designated for use as part of the eventual Palestinian state.
Additionally, having Israeli citizens live in the Palestinian territory necessitates extra security measures in the Palestinian territory to protect Israeli citizens. That protection translates into a massive Israeli military presence in the Palestinian territory, over 600 checkpoints and barriers to travel in the West Bank, and an elaborate system of separate roads, bridges and tunnels for Israelis and Palestinians are prohibited from traveling on them.

Congressman, all of these items cited above are clearly detrimental to Palestinian freedom of movement, economic development, eventual sovereign statehood, and any Palestinian sense of having a common cause with Israel. Equally important, all of these factors cited militate against Israel's best interest, which is the realization of the Two State Solution--two peoples organized into their respective sovereign states living side by side.

Congressman, with your reelection and the Republican take over of the US House of Representatives, you are uniquely positioned to give strong leadership toward realizing peace between Israel and the Palestinians by the realization of the much sought after Two-State Solution.

Israel and the Palestinians cannot arrive at the peace solution on their own. They need the support, encouragement and of the United States. It has been said repeatedly in many circles that the United States must broker and provide the framework and guidelines for the Two - State solution. That has been the role of the United State since the days of Secretary of State Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy in that region. Since that time, many peace conferences, negotiations and agreements have been brokered with the leadership of the United States.

Of course, I am further disappointed to discover that you are one of the people that signed on as a co-sponsor to the House Resolution condemning the Palestinians’ expression of a so-called unilateral action indicating that they will declare statehood. This may be somewhat symbolic, and expression of a frustrated people who seem blocked by Israeli intransigence. That intransigence is expressed in Israel’s unilateral action of continuing to build settlements in the Palestinian territory. Congressman, if you are going to condemn unhelpful unilateral action in this situation, why didn’t you condemn Israel’s persistence at building more settlements in the Palestinian territory.

“All in good time” is essentially what Netanyahu’s cousin was telling my wife on the flight to Israel. Israeli settlements are often referred to as ‘facts on the ground which are understood as irrefutable realities that cannot be turned back. All in good time Israel will have the West Bank!

Congressman, I urge you to take a stand against this continuing imposition of Israeli colonialism on the Palestinian land and people. If you want to stand for Israeli security and well being, you need to help them by condemning their continuing confiscation of Palestinian land.
Respectfully,
Rev. Ward Cornett III
Gahanna, OH