[WCUSP] Israel/Palestine

[Odile Hugonot Haber]

This is NOT A  WILPF policy only presented for information and
discussion. I say this because I had send the  Ackerman-Boustany letter
forward with "Call your Congress person" and Libby had objected to me
doing this as
she explained it did not represent WILPF Policy. Our position may be
more critical
towards the conference and advance much more pointed arguments I also
thought that it may be good to enter in a broader coalition on this
topic or at lteast to be aware it exist.These are main stream
organizations. Brit Tzedek is at time pretty close to us
at least in advocay and lobbying. So I present this to invite more discussion.

Odile Hugonot Haber
******************************************************************

Israel/Palestine

Capitol Hill's Breaking Iceberg
MJ Rosenberg, Israel Policy Forum, November 16, 2007
http://www.ipforum.org/Printer.cfm?Rid=2537

The good news from Capitol Hill is that the Ackerman-Boustany letter
to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has 112 signers so far. This is
a big deal. The letter supports the upcoming Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations, urging more vigorous U.S. diplomacy to promote its
success and calling for more U.S. aid to the Palestinians. In the
past, far too many letters and resolutions circulated on Capitol Hill
originated with conservative pro-Israel lobbying organizations and
were essentially exercises in Palestinian-bashing.

Significantly, Ackerman-Boustany is supported by a very different
array of organizations: Israel Policy Forum, the American Task Force
on Palestine, Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Arab
American Institute, the Union of Reform Judaism (which represents 1.5
million Reform Jews, the largest Jewish denomination), the Jewish
Reconstructionist Federation and Churches for Middle East Peace
(representing 21 Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox denominations and
tens of millions of congregants).

Perhaps most remarkable about this letter is its wide range of
signatories. Several of the most senior Jewish House Members have
signed on, as have all the Arab Americans and the one Muslim
Congressman. It is signed by liberal Democrats, conservative
Republicans, and top leaders from both parties. In other words the
message that movement on the Israeli-Palestinian issue is central to
America's security may be sinking in.

This effort builds on last year's success when a House-passed bill
that would have stopped virtually all humanitarian aid to the
Palestinians was stopped dead in its tracks. The House bill, the #1
legislative priority of the lobby, was killed in the Senate, which
passed, in its place, a far more moderate bill.

This is not to say that morning has broken on Capitol Hill. Not at
all. In fact, with elections looming-and the Bush administration
dipping its toe into the negotiating waters-we can expect a host of
initiatives designed to both score partisan points and shoot down any
possibility of an Israeli-Palestinian breakthrough.

For instance, in Thursday's Jerusalem Post, Congresswomen Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Shelley Berkley (D-NV) join in a bit of
bipartisan Palestinian bashing. The two House members want the United
States to end all dealings with and aid to the Palestinians-both Fatah
and Hamas-because "continuing to assume the existence of a viable
Palestinian partner for peace" endangers both Israel and the United
States.
…
In other words, the Palestinian Authority has called the bluff of the
hard-liners, by recognizing Israel, rejecting terrorism, and divesting
itself of Hamas. By ignoring these moves and implying that Hamas and
Fatah are interchangeable, the Congressional hawks reveal yet again
that they just oppose negotiations with any imaginable Palestinians.
By their reckoning, Israel can hold on to the settlements and the
territories forever.

They deny that this is their intent. Ros-Lehtinen and Berkley argue
that they just want the Palestinians to work with Israel to meet
"their commitments to combat terror, incitement and corruption." I
won't repeat the extensive laundry list of commitments the
Palestinians would have had to implement before meeting the standards
laid down by last year's House Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act. Suffice
it to say that Israel and the United States would have a hard time
meeting some of them.

And that is the point. The American hard-liners want the status quo to
continue. Times like these-when there is a glimmer of hope for
peace-are, for them, the most threatening. From their vantage point,
the status quo looks hunky dory.