July 30, 2006
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write to you regarding the urgent humanitarian crisis
facing the Palestinian people and its impact on progress to the goal of
security and a just peace for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples,
understanding that your focus at the moment has turned to the crisis in
Lebanon.
As Quakers, we oppose all forms of violence—whether it
is suicide bombings, targeted assassinations, or the harassment of an
occupation. We further seek to
remedy the causes of violence.
Palestinians
are suffering severe economic deprivation every day as a result of the cut-off
of U.S. and EU assistance, and Israel’s withholding of taxes owed to the
Palestinian Authority. Assistance from Arab states has been stymied by U.S.
pressure on Arab financial institutions. Funds are desperately needed to pay
the salaries of some 150,000 government employees, teachers, policemen, and
health care providers. With families averaging seven people in number, the
sanctions directly affect approximately one million men, women and children,
and indirectly those businesses that depend on their trade. The Palestinian Authority
administers the public school system, many hospitals and health clinics, and
provides grants to humanitarian non-governmental organizations. The World Bank report of May 7 states that if
the current sanctions continue the “Palestine Authority is unlikely to provide
basic services or maintain law and order.” It cites prospects of an “impending
famine” and prospects of the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority.
We question the morality and the effectiveness of punishing
all of the Palestinian people in an attempt to alter the political position of
Hamas. In addition to the tragic
suffering already experienced and the impending worsening of the situation, the
indiscriminate financial and commercial sanctions undermine progress towards a
just settlement. The crumbling
civic infrastructure penalizes all Palestinians. Israel’s destruction of Gaza's
only power plant deprives electricity to 800,000 people. Gazans
are dependent upon electricity to work the water pumps and at
least 130,000 Gazans are without a regular supply of water.
Hospitals are without power to operate essential life saving equipment,
sanitation systems are crippled, and restrictions on access to Gaza have
caused shortages of fuel and food.
Nothing will destroy a people’s motivation for a peaceful
settlement more effectively than a growing realization that there is nothing
more to lose. We believe that
reopening of commercial channels and continuing aid to the Palestinian
Authority are essential for the well-being of the Palestinian people. This is critical for maintaining civil
order and essential services and a political entity capable and willing to
negotiate a settlement.
In the immediate crisis we maintain our perspective on the
goals and processes of a viable settlement. We commend and strongly support your call for a negotiated
two-state solution to the conflict, and we share your vision of a viable,
contiguous Palestinian state living in peace with its neighbor Israel. To that end, we call for 1) Active,
sustained, and constructive engagement by the United States government; 2) A
negotiated resolution of the conflict in conformity with international law; and
3) The sharing of the city of Jerusalem by the two peoples that call it
home—Israelis and Palestinians—and by the three religious
communities that call it sacred.
To amplify the first of the above, we ask you to advance
more forcefully and more consistently this country’s announced objectives: 1)
Make Israeli-Palestinian peace-making a high priority of your administration;
2) Press the Israeli government to relieve the abuses within the occupation of
the Palestinian territories and comply with past agreements; 3) Work toward a
fair resolution of the status of Jerusalem; 4) Continue to engage moderate
Palestinian leadership while pressing the new Palestinian government to commit
to nonviolence, recognize Israel, and reaffirm previous agreements; and 5)
Promote religious freedom in the Holy Land and encourage the local presence of
Christians who play an important role in a democratic and pluralistic
Palestinian society.
Not only the headline-catching suicide bombings underscore
the urgency for obtaining a just peace accord. Palestinians suffer from assassinations with victims beyond
the targets, from demolition of homes, fruit and olive trees, and other
property, from delays and denials of passage at checkpoints, and from blockage
of trade at territorial borders.
Indignities, loss of innocent life, and financial loss, feed tolerance
of and active involvement in overt violence.
Reinforcing our earlier statement, we Quakers oppose actions
and conditions that produce violence as well as open violence itself. We respectfully request that you give
these thoughts serious consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Marion S. Ballard, Clerk, Bethesda Friends Meeting
cc: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Senator Paul Sarbanes
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Representative Chris Van Hollen,
Jr.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton