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Say "No" to Sharon's Unilateral Plan
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Progressive Portal
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Apr 24, 2004 14:00 PDT
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KERRY JOINS BUSH IN ENDORSING A PLAN THAT DENIES
PALESTINIAN RIGHTS, DEFIES INTERNATIONAL LAW AND U.N. VOTES
[From Arab American Institute <http://www.aaiusa.org/>]
By endorsing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "unilateral
disengagement" plan, both George Bush and John Kerry have lent their
backing to much more than Israel's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip
- they have also essentially put the weight of the United States behind
Israel's claim to large portions of the West Bank (captured by Israel
during the 1967 Six-Day War), its refusal to acknowledge Palestinian
refugees' rights under international law, and its reckless policy of
assassinating Palestinian leaders.
In doing so, the two candidates have broken with decades of United
States policy and a long series of United Nations resolutions; moreover,
they have committed the U.S. to positions that only compound the
difficulty of achieving peace and justice in the region. In the past,
even as the U.S. tacitly backed Israel's policy of building Jewish-only
settlements and roads throughout the occupied territories, both
Republican and Democratic administrations have maintained that
"final-status issues" such as the borders of a future Palestinian state
and the resolution of the refugee problem could be settled only through
negotiations between the parties directly involved.
But once Sharon realized that he had a chance to get U.S. support for
his position on these difficult issues, he dropped the demand that they
be left to future negotiations and instead sought an American
endorsement. At their recent meeting, Bush, apparently in an effort to
attract Jewish voters (especially in the swing state of Florida) and to
consolidate his support from the Christian right, gave him everything he
asked - without consulting the Palestinians or extracting any
compensating concessions from Israel.
For his part, Kerry has endorsed Bush's move without qualification. The
following dialogue took place between Kerry and NBC News's "Meet the
Press" host Tim Russert on 18 April 2004:
RUSSERT: On Thursday, President Bush broke with the tradition and policy
of six predecessors when he said that Israel can keep part of the land
seized in the 1967 Middle East War and asserted the Palestinian refugees
cannot go back to their particular homes. Do you support President Bush?
KERRY: Yes.
RUSSERT: Completely?
KERRY: Yes
[Full transcript is at: <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4772030>]
Pandering to Sharon and voting blocs that support him is not the path to
peace and justice in the Middle East. Write to Bush and Kerry and remind
them that Palestinians must play an equal role in determining the final
settlement of this conflict.
Take Action
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Send a message at:
http://capwiz.com/arab/issues/alert/?alertid=5612486&type=CU
More Information
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For the full text of two letters exchanged by Bush and Sharon describing
their new policies, see:
http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/historicaldocuments/260.shtml
For critical commentary on the agreement and Sharon's plans, see:
http://www.aaiusa.org/pr/release04-19-04.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/21/EDG8067KEB1.DTL
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=322
http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/259.shtml
Summary of Sharon's "disengagement plan," from Israeli daily Haaretz:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=416024
Powell urges Palestinian Prime Minister to support the plan:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/419447.html
For various sources -- supportive and critical -- on Israel's policies
toward the Palestinian people, see the "Israeli-Palestinian" section of
ProgressivePortal.org's Links page:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/links/
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