Esther Levens, CEO and Founder of the Unity Coalition for Israel, an organization of Christians and Jews dedicated to a safe and secure Israel. (913) 648-0022 - elevens@israelunitycoalition.org
Today's meeting at the UN with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was hosted by US President Barack Obama. It represents a foray by Obama into the mired Israel/Palestinian peace process which officially started with the Oslo Accords August 20, 1993. It was later signed by Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, September 13, 1993 Since that time successive American presidents have dived into the process, with little to no success. Now, Obama has begun his presidency by making conciliatory moves toward the Arab world. He has distanced himself from the traditional US pro-Israel position rooted in the religious and historic Judeo-Christian basis of our country.
It is now when 'the rubber meets the road,' so to speak. Americans by and large do not want to see Israel dismantled and reduced to an area along its coastline that is only 9 miles wide in places. That narrow strip of land is home to 70% of Israel's population. Carving a Palestinian state out of Israel's heartland would make these Israelis totally vulnerable to attack from above, if the bordering highlands of Judea and Samaria are relinquished to the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Refugees have been held captive for 61 years, while world financing of the United Nations UNRWA project has kept them impoverished and used as a propaganda tool to generate support for a Palestinian state. The monies contributed have been misused for weapons and military training rather than directed to infrastructure and development of viable businesses to help the people. The camps themselves have been used to foment hatred of Israel, indoctrination leading to incitement, suicide bombings, and rockets and missiles targeting Israeli civilians.
There are other much more desirable options if the Arabs would only begin by stopping the on-going Jihad against Israel and recognizing Israel as a nation - which they have yet to do.
A full page ad in the Washington Jewish Week expresses the case for millions of Americans. It has been signed by Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Christians' Israel Public Action Campaign (CIPAC), Americans for a Safe Israel and Unity Coalition for Israel (UCI).
Below are some excerpts, followed by the ad in its entirety:
" Dear President Obama, Our organizations, representing the views of millions of Americans, are deeply troubled that current Mideast policy initiatives by your administration will compromise Israel's security and undermine the longstanding U.S.- Israel alliance." . . .
" Israel is entitled to be recognized by all nations as a Jewish state that protects the rights of all of its citizens and freedom of worship for all faiths. The Jewish people became a nation over 3,000 years ago in the Land of Israel, which encompasses Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") as well as the city of Jerusalem." . . .
" A just and lasting peace can be achieved in the Middle East only when the Palestinians and all the nations in the region first recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. They must clearly demonstrate their recognition of Israel by permanently ending all acts of belligerency and incitement directed against Israel and the Jewish people."
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(The following letter was published as a full page ad in the September 4, 2009 edition on page 3 of the Washington Jewish Week newspaper.):
Dear President Obama,
Our organizations, representing the views of millions of Americans, are deeply troubled that current Mideast policy initiatives by your administration will compromise Israel's security and undermine the longstanding U.S.- Israel alliance. You have expressed a willingness to consider a broad range of views. In this spirit, we urge you to address the concerns of the important segment of both the Jewish and Christian communities which our organizations represent.
Your calls for a freeze on construction in the so-called "settlements" only serve to promote the anti-Jewish bias of Israel’s enemies. Stifling the growth of thriving Jewish communities will not bring peace. Therefore, we urge you to take the following fundamental factors into account when formulating U.S. policy regarding the Middle East:
1. Israel is entitled to be recognized by all nations as a Jewish state that protects the rights of all of its citizens and freedom of worship for all faiths. The Jewish people became a nation over 3,000 years ago in the Land of Israel, which encompasses Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") as well as the city of Jerusalem. Based on the Jewish people’s deep historic and religious connection with the land, their fundamental right to settle throughout this land was explicitly recognized under international law by the League of Nations (Mandate for Palestine, unanimously adopted 1922). This internationally guaranteed right has never been abrogated or revoked by any international successor organization. Therefore, U.S. policy must support the right of Jews to live anywhere within the Land of Israel.
2. It should be understood that the United Nations recognized the State of Israel in 1948 based on the historic and biblical right of Jews to live in their ancestral homeland, not only because of the Holocaust. The Arab nations' refusal to accept this fact has been demonstrated countless times over the last 60 years by their hostile behavior towards Israel.
3. The "two-state solution" currently promoted by your administration is incompatible with the goals of peace. Establishing a terror-sponsoring Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and in the heart of Jerusalem, where no Jews would be allowed to live, would seriously undermine Israel's security as well as violate the internationally guaranteed right of Jewish settlement.
4. Israel, as a sovereign nation, has the unconditional right to designate an undivided Jerusalem as its capital. Jerusalem was established as the capital of the Jewish nation in biblical times. The city was divided by illegal Jordanian occupation of its eastern neighborhoods in 1948, and then reunified under Israeli sovereignty in 1967. Jerusalem stands today as a free and unified city. Therefore, U.S. policy must clearly reflect recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and firmly reject any proposal which would redivide the city.
A just and lasting peace can be achieved in the Middle East only when the Palestinians and all the nations in the region first recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. They must clearly demonstrate their recognition of Israel by permanently ending all acts of belligerency and incitement directed against Israel and the Jewish people.
Mr. President, we urge you to give these issues your serious attention.
Respectfully,
Hon. Marc Caroff
(President, Louis D. Brandeis District chapter of the Zionist Organization of America).
ZOA (local Brandeis District chapter): 301-384-7637; hsaaba@aol.com
Richard A.Hellman
(Founder and President, Christians' Israel Public Action Campaign).
CIPAC: 202-234-3600; RAHellman@cipaconline.org
Herbert Zweibon
(Chairman, Americans For a Safe Israel).
AFSI: 212-828-2424; afsi@rcn.com
Esther Levens
(Founder and CEO,Unity Coalition for Israel).
UCI: 913-648-0022; www.israelunitycoalition.org
Warren Manison
(Washington,D.C.representative, Unity Coalition for Israel)
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