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Date Posted: 21:56:56 06/25/02 Tue
Author: Sudie
Subject: Bush Failure on Middle East: "Rank" Hypocrisy!

Bush Failure on Middle East--"Rank" Hypocrisy!!


Dear President Bush:

Unfortunately, the Bush administration failed to deliver a vision for peace in the Middle East. The Rose Garden speech was only a vision for continued violence. I regret to have to tell you this, Mr. President, but your new policy doesn't pass the "smell" test:

1) You demand a "constitution" from the Palestinians. But neither of our closest allies--Israel or Britain--have a constitution. In fact, Israel remains in violation of UN Resolution 181, which demands that Israel establish a "constitution." Israel is currently in violation of approximately 70 UN Resolutions, including the Geneva Conventions.

2) You demand that the Palestinians elect a government that is not tainted by "terrorism." Yet, even by the definition of the US State Department, Ariel Sharon is a terrorist. As commander of the notorious Unit 101, Sharon led the massacre in the West Bank village of Qibya, on October 14, 1953. His troops blew up 45 houses and massacred 69 Palestinian civilians -- half of them women and children. The U.S. Department of State issued a statement on 18 October 1953, expressing its "deepest sympathy for the families of those who lost their lives" in the Qibya attack as well as the conviction that those responsible "should be brought to account and that effective measures should be taken to prevent such incidents in the future." (Department of State Bulletin, Oct. 26, 1953, p. 552).

Sharon directed the 1982 massacre of more than 2, 750 civilians, 40% of them children, at the Sabra and Shatila Refugee Camps in Lebanon. No weapons were ever found in the camps. The Israeli government's own commission of inquiry found Sharon to be indirectly responsible for the massacre of innocent civilians by the Christian Phalangists. Sharon was forced to resign as Defense Minister.

3) Palestinian victims: 1600 Palestinians killed, 20,000 Palestinians injured from September 2000--June 2002--85% of Palestinian victims are innocent civilians. More than 285 Palestinian children killed from September 2000-June 2002--the majority shot in the head and chest. More than 500 Palestinian children permanently disabled.

Israeli victims: 563 Israelis killed and 3,545 Israelis injured from September 2000-June 2002.

4)By any measure of counting, it is clear that the Palestinians are being victimized by the violence at a rate of 3-1. Thus, they are suffering the brutality of an oppressive occupation, while being murdered with impunity by IDF soldiers,losing their land to settlements, home demolitions and collective punishment each and every day. This is a recipe for rage, not a policy for peace.


5) Americans send taxes in excess of $628,000,000 every hour of every day to Israel. Thus far, the US has sent Israel approximately $5 billion annually--and a total of $100 billion dollars--since 1948. We provide weapons systems to Israel; Israel then sells them to China and Iran. This puts our American military men and women in harm's way -- both through depleted funding from taxes, and in possible future conflicts between China and Taiwan or in the Middle East. In fact, the US government has never held Israel accountable for its 1967 attack on the USS Liberty, massacring 34 US naval seamen and injuring more than 171 in an attack using missiles, torpedoes and napalm for more than two hours in international waters. Our "passionate attachment" to Israel, Mr. President, which George Washington warned us about, has already forced our government to shamelessly betray its own many times over.

6) The US is colluding in Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian Territories--the occupation and the settlements are illegal under international law. The international court in The Hague may soon indict Ariel Sharon for war crimes at Sabra and Shatila.

7) Your failed foreign policy is putting all Americans at risk of extremist rage both at home and abroad. A fair and balanced foreign policy based on diplomatic efforts such as the Mitchell Commission, and international law, such as UN Resolution 242, is the vision that's needed for conflict resolution in the Middle East. Too bad you failed to provide it.

Sincerely,

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