Palestine Think Tank

During the next two months there will be numerous events and speeches commemorating the 60th anniversary of Israel. On such memorial occurred yesterday in Congress, when representatives debated House Resolution 322 before passing the piece of legislation by a vote of 417 - 0. The resolution recognizes the historic significance of the 60th anniversary of the reestablishment of the State of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people and reaffirms the bonds of friendship and cooperation, which have existed between the United States and Israel for the past 60 years.

In a “debate” that transformed into a competition to see who could be more loyal to the state of Israel, one Congressman separated himself from the others. For the first time a representative, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, spoke out about the 1948 Nakba connecting the tragedy of the enforced removal of 3/4 million Palestinians from their homes in the Galilee and other parts of Palestine to make way for the new state of Israel.

Representative Kucinich’s statements can be found below:

 

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Mr. Speaker, today I join my colleagues in Congress in celebrating Israel’s accomplishments over the past 60 years. I am happy to be co-sponsor of this congratulatory resolution. However, like many Israelis and Palestinians, I have concerns about Israel’s future, its stability, its security and the prospect for peaceful coexistence for both Palestinians and Israelis. One of those concerns relates to the ongoing lack of resolution on the dispossession of Palestinian property and the dislocation of Palestinians after Independence. It must be remembered that about 700,000 Palestinians became exiled. Much Arab property was appropriated. And about 500 Arab villages were destroyed. On December 11, 1948, the United Nations passed Resolution 194, affording Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes in Israel, or to compensation for their property should they choose not to return. To this day, the mandate of U.N. Resolution 194 has not been fulfilled. Unfortunately, this failure remains as one of the most significant barriers to the realization of a two-state negotiated solution.

I am also concerned for those Palestinians who did not flee and who became Israeli citizens after Independence. According to the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, today there exist 20 Israeli laws, which explicitly discriminate against the Palestinian minority in Israel, who constitute 20 percent of its population. In its 2005 Annual Report, the U.S. State Department said that “[There is] institutionalized legal and societal discrimination against Israel’s [Arab] Christian, Muslim and Druze citizens. The government does not provide Israeli Arabs with the same quality of education, housing, employment and social services as Jews.’

Finally, Israel has a right to security and a right to defend itself. Accordingly, I am concerned that the 40-year military occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem has been and continues to be brutal and unjust and undermines the security of Israel. It is a fact that the government of Israel continues to support the construction of settlements on Palestinian land, perpetuating the consequences of dispossession and exile. Additionally, I am concerned that the government of Israel has increased the number of checkpoints, which destroy a viable Palestinian economy and a vibrant civil society. I am concerned that the Israeli government has erected a wall, often on Palestinian land, that divides Palestinians from Palestinians, rather than divide Israel from the West Bank. As stated by Judge Elaraby of the International Court of Justice in his 2004 Advisory Opinion on the legality of Israel’s separation barrier, “The fact that occupation is met by armed resistance cannot be used as a pretext to disregard fundamental human rights in the occupied territory.” This conundrum of a dialectic of conflict further separates Israelis and Palestinians alike from hopes for peace.

H. Con. Res. 322 eloquently states the many reasons why I celebrate Israel’s accomplishments and I sincerely wish it a bright future. I only wish to add that, in my opinion, and in the opinion of many Israelis and Palestinians as well, Israel’s future will be bright only if it includes an open dialogue with Palestinians, a respect for human rights and international law, and a society built on coexistence and tolerance. Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace with justice and I encourage the United States government to help Israel achieve that so the joy of future anniversaries will be unalloyed.

I support the resolution in the spirit of reconciliation to which we must all inevitably turn, to achieve peace and justice with our brothers and sisters from whom we may be estranged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please join us in thanking Rep. Kucinich for his poignant and brave remarks by calling his offices in Washington at 202-225-5871 or find out other ways to contact him by visiting his website.

 

I suggest that you also add a personal message to the Congressman asking him to go back to the floor of the House and request that President Bush visit Ramallah during his May 13th - 15th visit to Israel. If he wants to “end the occupation” as he said in Jerusalem the last time he was there, he should also place a flower on the tomb of Arafat as a gesture recognizing the tremendous angst of the Palestinian people and a way to symbolize the balance of US policy in support of a two-state solution. There are definitely hundreds of different ways Bush could commemorate the Nakba, feel free to suggest your own potential scenarios when thanking Rep. Kucinich.

Eugene Bird
President, CNI