Sample Letter:
I am very concerned about the US’s
involvement with ethnic cleansing. As you know, “. . . ethnic cleansing is a well-defined policy of a particular group
of persons to systematically eliminate another group from a given territory on
the basis of religion, ethnic or national origin. Such a policy involves violence and is often
connected with military operations. It
is to be achieved by all possible means, from discrimination to extermination,
and entails violations of human rights and international law . . . Most ethnic
cleansing methods are grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Convention and 1977
Additional Protocols.” Drazen Petrovic, ‘Ethnic Cleansing—An Attempt at
Methodology’, European Journal of International Law, 5/3 (1994), pp. 342-60.
However, you may not be aware that "
. . .
on a cold Wednesday afternoon, 10 March 1948, a group of eleven men,
veteran Zionist leaders together with young Jewish military officers, put the
final touches to a plan for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. That same
evening, military orders were dispatched to the units on the ground to prepare
for the systematic expulsion of the Palestinians from vast areas of the
country. The orders came with a detailed description of the methods to be
employed to forcibly evict the people: large-scale intimidation, laying siege
to and bombarding villages and population centers; setting fire to homes,
properties and goods; expulsion; demolition; and, finally planting mines in the
rubble to prevent any of the expelled inhabitants from returning." Ilan Pappe, Israeli Historian, in 'The Ethnic
Cleansing of Palestine,’ from the preface, page xii. This passage is very well documented in end notes;
sources include the Israeli Defense Force's own archives.
If the ethnic cleansing of Palestine
was something that only went on in 1948, perhaps we could forget about it
today. Unfortunately, many of the methods
of the Israeli military and government outlined above have continued slowly and
steadily until today while being interspersed with extreme punishing violence. Israel has endeavored to keep their policies
and practices of ethnic cleansing out of the media and out of the public eye
and to blame its victims when we do become aware. Even today—in our enlightened modern world, where
we embrace religious plurality and racial diversity—this ethnic cleansing is
going on, and the US supports it.
Israel claims its actions are in
self defense.1 The US echoes this call; and sends military aid and
arms against the tiny territories which remain of one of the oldest
civilizations on earth.2 We send arms against the civilian populations
of Gaza and the West Bank which are used for the purpose of ethnic cleansing. Self defense would only be a reasonable and
accurate claim if Israel retreated to its own legal and internationally
recognized borders.3 Israel in its illegal occupation of the West
Bank4 and its illegal blockade of Gaza5 is the
aggressor. This can be clearly seen by
studying any map that shows the territory taken over by Israeli forces over the
years and which continues today.6
In fact, there is a growing
understanding in the world and even inside Israel, that it is Israel’s own
aggressive actions that most threaten its security.7 We must rethink our support for Israel in the
light of our own values; the values of
the separation of church and state; and the values of freedom, equality, and
justice for all. Withdrawing our military
support from Israel’s ethnic cleansing activities and helping Israel to find
ways to peacefully withdraw from its illegal occupation and illegal blockades
is the right thing to do. It is the only
action we can take which supports our values.
And it is the only action we can take which will preserve our reputation
in the world’s community of nations as a fair and just nation.
Why does the US fund and arm ethnic
cleansing? Perhaps this is just a
rhetorical question. The better question
might well be; how are we going to defund and de-arm ethnic cleansing?
~~~
Sources and documentation:
2. Palestine, previously called Philistine, is
clearly shown on the map on the page linked below, covering the time period of 930
BCE–586 BCE.
In fact, all other
historical maps of the region, until recent aggressions, clearly show Palestine
as existing in the same geographic area and with the same major cities as are
shown in modern maps up until 1948.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah
4. This interactive map shows Israeli occupation outside its legal and
internationally accepted borders in Palestinian West Bank Territory: http://www.theguardian.com/flash/page/0,,2088220,00.html to best understand what you are looking at,
click and leave on the "green line" button (under security barrier). With nothing else clicked on, you can easily
see the light colored area inside the green line--which is all Palestinian territory
under international law. (The green line is synonymous with pre-1967 borders. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Line_%28Israel%29)
On the interactive map, leaving the "green line" clicked on; you can
click other buttons on and off and get a clear picture of the extent of Israeli
incursions into and occupation of the West Bank as
well as a clear look at the results of Israeli ethnic cleansing as supported by
the US. This ethnic cleansing, as well
as the accompanying incursions and occupation of the West Bank continue today: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-plans-expropriate-400-hectares-west-bank-army-092041942.html
5. “For over five years in Gaza, more than 1.6
million people have been under blockade in violation of international
law.” This statement was made in
2012. Gaza has now been blockaded for
seven years. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42227#.VAM49GM0_SY
7. “ . . . many
members of the country's (Israel’s) security establishment have long warned
that the occupation is unsustainable and wrong, is a threat to Israel itself,
and have placed the blame on Israeli political failures.” http://www.vox.com/2014/7/7/5877375/former-security-chief-blame-the-israeli-government-not-palestinians “Forty-four per cent (of American Jews) believe
that the construction of new settlements damages Israel’s national security”: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel
~~~~
Please
feel free to copy and paste all of the above, remove my name and add your own,
and send by e-mail * or snail mail to the elected leaders, officials, and
representatives in your country. You may also send it, in your own name, as a
letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
Since you will be signing your own name, please feel free to edit, or
make additions as you see fit. Also,
please change the salutation to address the specific person you are sending it
to, say, President Obama, or Bernie Sanders, for instance.
* To send
by contact form, you will need to use a shorter version, please scroll down.
~~~
Contact
your Congressional Reps!
You can
click on your state on the map below, and all your state reps are shown, with
phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and contact forms. If the numbers are
overwhelming go back to the first page and simply enter your zip code in the
form (no other information is needed) only the reps for your area will appear. http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
Contact
the White House using this form: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
You might
also want to search facebook for your reps’ names, and post this or similar statements
in comments or directly to their pages.
~~~
Short Version:
I am very concerned about US
involvement with ethnic cleansing.
You
may not be aware that "
. . . on a cold Wednesday afternoon, 10 March 1948,
a group of eleven men, veteran Zionist leaders together with young Jewish
military officers, put the final touches to a plan for the ethnic cleansing of
Palestine. That same evening, military orders were dispatched to the units on
the ground to prepare for the systematic expulsion of the Palestinians from
vast areas of the country. The orders came with a detailed description of the
methods to be employed to forcibly evict the people: large-scale intimidation,
laying siege to and bombarding villages and population centers; setting fire to
homes, properties and goods; expulsion; demolition; and, finally planting mines
in the rubble to prevent any of the expelled inhabitants from returning."
Ilan Pappe, Israeli Historian, in 'The Ethnic
Cleansing of Palestine,’ from the preface, page xii.
This passage is very well documented in end
notes; sources include the Israeli Defense Force's own archives.
Photos and news stories of the discovery of
mass graves from some of these events are making their way around facebook now:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2334205/Mass-grave-uncovered-containing-dozens-Palestinians-killed-1948-war-founded-Israel.html#ixzz3C6CSiSt8
If the ethnic cleansing of Palestine
was something that only went on in 1948, perhaps we could forget about it
today. Unfortunately, many of the
methods of the Israeli military and government outlined above have continued
until today. Israel has endeavored to
keep their policies and practices of ethnic cleansing out of the media and to
blame its victims when we do become aware.
Israel claims its actions are in self defense.1 Self defense
would only be a reasonable and accurate claim if Israel retreated to its own
legal and internationally recognized borders.3 Israel in its illegal
occupation of the West Bank4 and its illegal blockade of Gaza5
is the aggressor. This can be clearly
seen by studying any map that shows the territory taken over by Israeli forces
over the years and which continues today.6
