This letter to presidential candidates was approved by Lake Erie
Yearly Meeting & sent to both Presidential candidates. Local Meetings are asked to distribute
it to state legislators & the media.
June 17,
2008
The
Honorable Barack Obama
Obama for America
P.O. Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680
RE:
Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
As part of
your campaign for President, you have recently pledged support for Israel, and
for an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Lake Erie Yearly Meeting of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) shares your desire for a resolution to
the conflict so that both Israelis and Palestinians can live together in peace.
Friends and
Friends organizations have a long history of involvement in this region of the
world and have worked with both Palestinians and Jews. We encourage you to
carefully consider the actual situation on the ground and the necessary
preconditions to achieve such a just and lasting peace.
At the heart
of much of the discussion of conditions for a peaceful resolution of the
conflict is the idea of a “two-state” solution an Israeli state and a
Palestinian state side by side on the territory of historic Palestine. There
are a number of obstacles, however, that together make such a solution
well-nigh impossible. The central impediment is the massive settlement process,
whereby in contravention of international law Israel has built settlements
exclusively for Israeli Jewish citizens throughout the territories occupied in
the 1967 war, on land expropriated from Palestinian inhabitants. These
settlements together with the network of “bypass roads” which connect the
settlements with each other and with Israel proper and are off-limits to most
Palestinian traffic make up what one Israeli analyst refers to as “the matrix
of control.” As long as this matrix of control is in place, cemented by a
military occupation with its checkpoints and a myriad of other regulations that
govern every aspect of the Palestinians’ lives, there can be no viable
Palestinian state. What is more, Israel has declared that East Jerusalem and
the rings of settlements surrounding Jerusalem constitute part of a Greater
Jerusalem, and are thus part of Israel, and not part of the West Bank.
Another
impediment to any lasting solution to the conflict is the Wall/ Separation
Barrier currently being built — both along the 1967 de-facto borders
[Green Line] and deep inside the occupied territories. This wall/barrier
effectively makes the territories encompassed by it — primarily the large
settlement blocs a part of Israel by creating “facts on the ground” prior to any negotiations as part of a
comprehensive peace agreement. In addition, in large part the effect of this
barrier is to cut off Palestinian farmers from their land either by denying
them access altogether, or by making it extremely difficult for them to get to
a crossing point that is anywhere near and where any permit they might have
will be honored (even if the gate is open when they need to get to and from
their land). The net effect of the barrier along with the numerous Israeli
roadblocks and checkpoints throughout the occupied territories is that the
Palestinian economic infrastructure is undermined, further increasing the
Palestinians’ economic dependence on Israel and reducing any prospect of a viable
Palestinian state.
Tied in with
this issue is another central dilemma. If a two-state solution is no longer
possible, in what way can Israel preserve its character as a Jewish
nation-state? Israel already has a sizable Palestinian Arab minority living as
Israeli citizens inside the boundaries of pre-1967 Israel, and many more
Palestinians live in the occupied territories.
If all of
these inhabitants of the land become part of a bi-national state, then Israel’s
definition as Jewish national state is called into question. Alternatively, if
Israel is defined as a Jewish national state encompassing formally or
de-facto all of the
land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River then Palestinians there
(inside pre-1967 Israel and outside) have an ambiguous future. Already there
have been calls for Israeli Arab citizens to be deported to a Palestinian state
(possibly even to Jordan) and if as a result of the “matrix of control” there
is no such state in any meaningful sense of the word, then Israel would
continue to rule over a mass of Palestinians, among whom would be those
stripped of what status they now have as Israeli citizens.
There is one
other issue that impacts on the possibility of a just and lasting peace. All
groups representative of the Palestinian interests must be included in the
negotiating process, not just the Palestinian Authority. In addition, ALL sides
to the conflict must renounce the use of violence, thereby cutting through the
recurring cycle of violence and justifications for the use of force.
It is our
belief that unless the above issues are comprehensively addressed there can be
no peace in this conflict, nor in the region as a whole. Also, unless the
United States facilitates this process it will lose any semblance of its claim
to be an honest broker in ending the conflict. We hope that you will keep these
considerations in mind, both as a candidate and as the one who ultimately is
elected President.
Sincerely,
Shirley
Bechill
Presiding
Clerk
Lake Erie
Yearly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends (Quaker)
(LEYM includes Monthly Meetings and Worship Groups in Michigan,
Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia)