Dear Mr. President,
I imagine that you feared at some point that taking a stand
on the Israel/Palestine conflict may have hurt your career as a politician,
but, now that you have been re-elected, you are not bound be these
constraints. It is time to act! The United States can no longer stand idly by
and watch as these two nations tear each other apart and separate the world
with them. I am calling on you to act now
in favor of human rights, in favor of ending conflict and in favor peace.
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| The house surrounded by the wall on three sides. |
I do not often take a political stand, perhaps that is one
of my faults, but in this case I have seen with my own eyes the atrocities and
human rights violations that are going on in the West Bank. I have seen how dry Bethlehem is compared to
Jerusalem because Israel restricts the amount of water allowed in the West
Bank. I have seen the wall that
surrounds a Palestinian home on three sides where Israel has built the wall on
Palestinian land. I know the families
who are not allowed to visit Jerusalem because they are Palestinian and cannot
get permits. I have had to take shorten
showers because I didn’t want to use up the water of my Palestinian hosts,
which is rationed. I have seen the spots
where Israel cuts down trees in the name of “security” only because they can’t
take over green spaces in Palestine. I
have seen as Palestinian friends lose their land as the wall is built through
their property. I have been through the
checkpoints and seen the Palestinians questioned and harassed as they try and
enter Israel. I’ve visited the
businesses, such as the Taybeh Brewing Company, that cannot export their products
to make money due to sanctions from the Israeli government. My sister lives in Bethlehem, and I have
watched as she deals with water shortages and having her electricity shut off
for no reason other than she lives in Palestine. I saw all of this in only a short 4-week
visit!
Why does America allow this to happen? Just because we are “friends” of Israel? We must be terrible friends then. I know that my best friends would immediately
tell me if I was doing what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people. They would tell me to stop, they would show
me the errors of my behavior, or they would stop being friends with me. If we were truly their friends, we would call
them out on their behavior, we would rebuke their violations and demand that
they stop so that the peace process can move forward, or we would stop
supporting them.
I question Israel’s reluctance to allow Palestine to become
a nation. Why does Israel insist on
keeping them annexed to Israel, but refuses to give Palestinians the same
rights that Israelis have? They won’t
let them go, force them to stay part of their country, but then discriminate,
abuse and oppress them? This does not
make sense. If Israel does not want to
treat the Palestinians as equal citizens, then they should let them go.
Other countries around the world (Sweden, Norway, Spain,
Greece, etc.) have acknowledged the human rights violations going on in this
conflict, but have not been able to act, due to the blockade around Gaza. Their ships with humanitarian aid for the
people in Gaza have been stopped every time they attempt to help. These countries also support a Palestinian
state and believe they should be free to govern themselves.
I do not absolve the Palestinians from their part in this
conflict, but it is much harder to be the oppressed than the oppressor. There have been rockets fired on both sides,
but it is time for it to stop, and we as Americans, and you as the President,
have the ability to call out to our international partners and stop these
injustices from happening. This war has
been fought for far to long, enough is enough.
The only way, in my opinion, to stop the oppression, is to
support Palestine in their quest for statehood.
Allowing Palestine to become a country gives them the protection they
need under international law, and gives them a voice in the UN and
international community. They deserve
their voice as much as anyone else does.
Furthermore, just because you support a Palestinian state does not mean
you do not support Israel, it means that you support both peoples being allowed
to govern themselves and that you do not
support the occupation of one country by another.
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| Writing on the wall: pleas from the Palestinian people for hope and peace. |
While I have never met you (although I did shake your hand once), you seem like a wise and good
man, so I ask you to set politics aside and think about what is best for the
people of that land. I believe in your message in hope, which is why I voted for you twice, now let's bring hope to the Palestinians too. This war, even
during more peaceful times, is affecting everyone, Israelis, Palestinians,
Americans, Christians, Muslims and Jews.
I am calling on you to lead. Lead
the way to peace and put pressure on both sides to end the violence and to finally
create a solution that will end the oppression and occupation.
Sincerely,
A. W.
Sign the petition to end the violence in Palestine/Israel: Petition to end the violence and enforce a ceasefire.
Read more about an American's perspective of the conflict at Olive what's happening!
