TAKE ACTION

During an otherwise hum-ho Congressional “debate” featuring dozens of Representatives giving speeches and statements full of unadulterated praise for Israel and its achievements, one Member of Congress responded to our call to remember that Israel’s 60th anniversary is also the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, the forced exile of Palestinians from their homeland and the dispossession of Palestinians from their properties.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich delivered an impassioned and perhaps unprecedented statement in Congress in support of Palestinian human rights, which we reprint in full below.

Our letter of thanks to Rep. Kucinich reads in part, “Thank you for your profound commitment to human rights, for your recognition of the historical injustices that Israel has inflicted and continues to inflict on the Palestinian people, for your awareness that U.S. policy toward Israelis and Palestinians must promote “peace with justice”, and for your willingness to speak the truth when many of your colleagues in Congress would prefer to sweep it under the rug.” To read the entire letter, please click here.

Please take a moment to thank Rep. Kucinich for supporting Palestinian human rights by calling him at 202-225-5871, faxing him at 202-225-5745, or sending him an email by clicking here.

And don’t forget that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is reserving time each legislative day through June for Members of Congress to deliver speeches praising Israel on its 60^th anniversary. This week alone, Representatives have received about 2,500 messages from constituents asking them to speak about the historic injustices that Israel has inflicted and continues to inflict on the Palestinian people during these statements. To send a letter to your Representative today, please click here.

Here’s Rep. Kucinich’s statement from the Congressional Record.Don’t forget to thank him by clicking here.

Congressional Record, April 22, 2008, Page: H2522

Mr. KUCINICH. 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.