August 1, 2007

House Members: Ackerman, Berkley, Berman, Cantor, Cohen, Davis, Emanuel, Engel, Filner, Frank, Giffords, Harmin, Hodes, Israel, Kagen, Klein, Lantos, Levin, Lowey, Nadler, Rothman, Schakowsky, Schiff, Schwartz, Sherman, Wassermann Schultz, Waxman, Weiner, & Yarmuth

Members of the Senate: Boxer, Cardin, Coleman, Feingold, Feinstein, Kohl, Lautenberg, Levin, Lieberman, Sanders, Schumer, Specter, & Wyden

Honorable Members of the House and Senate

Out of 525 members in the House, 30 of you, 5.7 percent, are of Jewish heritage. (Note: The correct numbers are 435 members which equates to 6.89% are Jewish members. As of 8/5/07, not one person had pointed out this very obvious error).

Out of 100 members of the Senate, 13 of you, 13 percent, are of Jewish heritage.

You hold the key to world peace in your hands and I urge you to act now to bring about the needed changes to accomplish this goal. Throughout the Middle East there is one, and only one prominent problem which affects the entire region. The resolution to this problem will bring peace to the region and greatly enhance worldwide peace efforts. The problem is the ongoing, unresolved Israeli/Palestinian Conflict.

This conflict has lasted for almost 50 years and much of the blame for not resolving the conflict rests in the hands of the American government. Influenced by powerful lobbies the American government has always taken a decidedly one-sided approach to the conflict. (Info about Jewish and Arab Lobbies see: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/lobby.html). The result of this one-sided view is obvious to anyone who will take the time to actually look at the situation. Led by a relative handful of Zionist (see: http://www.mideastweb.org/zionism.htm), generations of Israeli governments have continued to occupy and oppress the Palestinians. Armed by the U.S., the Israelis are able to reek havoc upon the Palestinians on a daily basis. Rather than return to the 1967 boundaries, the Israelis have continued to occupy more and more of Palestine's land. In addition, they are in the process of building huge walls to further isolate and separate the Palestinians.

Largely at the insistence of the U.S. Government, the Palestinians held democratic elections. However neither the U.S. nor Israel were willing to accept those elections. Nor were they willing to even hold dialog with the winning Palestinian party. Now a cleverly orchestrated wedge has been driven between differing factions of the Palestinians which will undoubtedly lead to more land grabs by Israel.

None of this is to say that the Palestinians are blameless. In their efforts to resist the Israeli encroachments, Palestinians have committed many unspeakable atrocities. Their suicide bombers have extracted and alarming toll upon largely innocent Israeli citizens. Their actions are always labeled as terror by the U.S. and Israel while equally alarming atrocities committed by Israeli troops upon largely innocent Palestinians are always labeled as defensive moves.

The unending occupation of Palestine and the failure of the Israelis to negotiate a real and lasting peace has brought, and will continue to bring, hostile relations toward Israel by much of the free world, especially the countries of the Middle East. (See http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm). Travel anywhere in the Middle East and nearly every citizen will tell you there will be no peace unless and until Israel recognizes Palestine and withdraws to the 1967 borders. The Arab League has had a peace plan in place (see: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/arabplan.html) since 2002 which has been largely ignored by the George Bush led American Government and the Israelis. Today, that plan has been resurrected and emissaries from several Arab countries have recently visited Israel. Secretary of State Rice is currently shuttling around the region in an effort to stimulate the dialog. (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/888657.html). There is serious talk now about a Regional Peace Conference sponsored by the U.S. It is important that the Conference be held and, it is equally important, that all countries in the region be included.

You, members of the House and Senate and influential leaders of the American Jewish Community, have an important role to play and the time to assume your role is now. You must look at what is happening in the entire world and explore worldwide attitudes about what is driving the anti-American and anti-Israel campaigns. These sentiments are caused by the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the disastrous war in Iraq, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the calls for democracy and then the rejection of democratically elected governments, the refusal to even talk with Iran and Syria, the labeling of Hamas and Hezbollah only as “terrorists”, and many other events which have only served to embolden Muslim fanatics. Rather than stem “terrorism” the actions of America have only fanned the flames. Hatred of America grows daily.

While Israel is an important part of the overall equation, it is not the only factor which should influence your opinions and your votes. There are active groups within Israel who are urging their government to make peace and settle the Palestinian conflict. Their voices are growing, but are largely unreported in the U.S. press. You, the American Jewish Leaders, must set aside much of your old personal views and prejudices, many of them generated by influential American lobbyist, and look more closely at the entire region and the entire world and then use your substantial influence to bring about a permanent solution of the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict. Peace in Israel and Palestine will go a long way toward bringing peace to the entire world. Peace in Israel and Palestine will greatly help in diminishing the influence of radical Muslim groups who use the conflict as their primary call to arms.

Throughout American history Jews have played a vital part in numerous causes. Many of the freedoms Americans enjoy, such as rights to vote, civil rights, and labor rights were all brought about by the assistance of dedicated and hard working American Jews. I urge you to take your places in history now by leading the American government in achieving a permanent peace settlement in Israel and Palestine.

Sincerely in peace,

Thomas Daly