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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.
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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 60th
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. |