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Dear Dear Brit Tzedek Member,
Senator John Kerry, your senator and chair of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, has recently taken several powerful
and highly visible pro-Israel, pro-peace actions. Kerry's visits
to Gaza and Syria, followed by his speech at the Brookings Institution in
Washington, DC, where, among other points, he spoke at length
about the need to take serious steps regarding settlement
activity, have given a huge boost to President Obama's efforts
to achieve Middle East peace. Please thank him
today.
Some details:
- Gaza visit: The Senator made his Gaza visit soon
after the fighting stopped between Israel and Hamas -- the first
such visit by a US lawmaker since Hamas seized control there in
2007. He did not meet with Hamas, and he stressed that Hamas
must end its attacks on Israel. But his visit to Gaza sent a
message that the US is ready to look with fresh eyes at, and
exert renewed energy in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
- Syria visit: The Senator met with Syrian President
Bashar al Assad, who told him, in Kerry's words, that he is "is
prepared to resume peace negotiations with Israel and embrace
the Arab Peace Initiative once again." Kerry favors direct
American participation in such talks, if such a presence can be
constructive.
- Brookings Institution speech: After his trip,
Senator Kerry spoke at the Brookings Institution, where he
called for reinvigorated US leadership in seeking peace while
making clear that the US "will defend Israel's security
unflinchingly". But he insisted that "the settlements are
fragmenting a future Palestinian state and complicating the work
of Israel's defense forces," and that, "nothing
will do more to make clear our seriousness about turning the
page than demonstrating -- with actions rather than words --
that we are serious about Israel freezing settlement activity in
the West Bank." He stressed that in the past US
opposition to new Israeli settlement activity has "usually
existed on paper alone".
Kerry said he sees the recently re-offered 2002 Arab Peace
Initiative -- a Saudi-initiated proposal that would end the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and pave the way for normalized
relations between Israel and all countries of the Arab world --
as a starting point, and he said the US must "help the
Palestinian Authority deliver for the Palestinian people, and we
must do it now. In Gaza, we must ensure that we deliver
desperately-needed humanitarian aid and reconstruction
assistance without empowering Hamas."
In the wake of President Obama's stated intention to improve
relations with the Muslim world and to push for a resolution of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Senator Kerry's actions help
to show that the US is serious about changing realities on the
ground in the Middle East. Please click here to thank him now.
It is vitally important that we thank Senator Kerry for his
outstanding actions over the past several weeks. Our elected
officials need support and reinforcement when they take such
positive actions on this issue.
B'Shalom,
Donna Spiegelman
Boston Brit Tzedek Chapter Chair
Carolyn Toll Oppenheim
Western Massachusetts Brit Tzedek
Chapter Chair
Bill Gamson
Martha's Vineyard Brit Tzedek Chapter
Chair
Bonnie Alpert
Co-Chair, Boston Chapter Advocacy
Committee
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Senator
John Kerry (if you live in Massachusetts)
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: Thank You For Your Strong Leadership For Middle
East Peace
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
As a Jewish constituent and a supporter of Brit Tzedek
v'Shalom, I am writing to thank you for the significant actions
you have taken in the past few weeks in furtherance of a
peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the
wider Israeli-Arab conflict.
The sum of your actions --
your visit to Gaza, your talks with Syrian President Bashar al
Assad, and most of all your forthright statements at the
Brookings Institute about the need for the United States to make
clear the absolute importance of a settlement freeze -- lend
much-needed public backing to President Obama in his
determination to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
Please keep up this great work!
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
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