On February 12, 2009, the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held a hearing titled "Gaza After The War: What Can Be Built On The Wreckage?". I have written a series of diaries on this hearing in order to describe what Congressmembers are publically hearing and saying regarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
The previous entries have included:
Part 1:Opening Statements from Subcommittee members
Part 2:Opening Statement of David Makovsky of the Washington Institute For Near East Policy
Part 3:Opening Statement of Dr. Ziad Asali of the American Task Force On Palestine
Part 4:Opening Statement of Dr. Michele Dunne of the Carnegie Endowment For International Peace
Part 5:Opening Statement of Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute
Today's entry will include the submitted testimony of Dr. Safa Rifka, National Board Chair of the American-Arab Anti-Disrimination Committee. Dr. Rifka was not on the scheduled list of witnesses. The statement was intoduced by Congressmember Keith Ellison (MN-05) (and submitted without objection by the Chairman, Congressmember Gary Ackerman (NY-05)) during his opening remarks. When describing the testimony, I will be using Dr. Rifka's words and statements to the best of my ability.
The Attacks On Gaza
Introduction
~The exploitation of division between the Palestinians has led to a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
~Electricity, water, and food are scarce in one of the world's most densely populated spots.
~Chronic malnutrition has long since reached third world standards and the vast majority of the 1.5 million residents of Gaza live below the poverty line.
~The most recent Israeli assault on the people of Gaza left over 1,300 Palestinians dead and thousands more injured. 13 Israelis, three of them civilians, tragically lost their lives as well.
~This horror came after 18 months of sanction and siege, in which 262 Palestinians died from lack of medical treatment and nourishment.
~According to the UN, the vast majority of these casualties were civilians.
US Made Weapons And Potential War Crimes
~Throughout the course of this attack, the State of Israel used American made weapons to target a largely civilian population.
~Despite claims from the Israeli Defense Force, independent human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have indicated that the Israeli offensive in Gaza may have been tantamount to war crimes.
~Request for State Department investigation into potential Israeli violations of the Arms Export Control Act, and it is time for Congress to hold a hearing on such a report.
~The images of children, fatally wounded by American-produced weaponry, are not conducive to any of our efforts to bridge divides between the United States and the Arab and Muslim World.
~The solution is not to censor these images, but rather to prevent American manufactured weapons from destorying civilian lives and infrastructure.
~Our government has failed in its oversite responsibility and enforcement of our own laws prohibiting such atrocities.
Humanitarian Aid
~Immediate humanitarian assistance should be sent to Gaza to help aid the traumatized civilian population, assist the overburdened and incapable health system, and send a message that the United States truly cares about Palestinian civilians.
~This aid should not only be sent, but be allowed into the territory.
Policy Problems Of Division
Introduction
~8 years of Bush policies in the Middle East has left much of the region in disarray, and the Palestinians have perhaps suffered immeasurably.
~What had been the status quo for many years, starting with President George H.W. Bush and continuing with President Clinton, shifted dramatically under President George W. Bush.
~President Bush's policies can be divided into 2 periods.
First Period Of Bush Administration
~Marginalization of Yasser Arafat and the push for democratization of Palestinian governing institutions.
~After Arafat's death, the free and fair election of Mahmoud Abbas as President of the PA in 2005 was lauded by President Bush.
~President Bush continued to call for democratization of Palestinian institutions, including the Palestinian Legislative Council elections of 2006, until he saw the outcome. The election of Hamas ended this first period toward the conflict.
Second Period of Bush Administration
~Prior to 2006 elections, President Bush stated the PLO was defunct and the only true and legitimate representation is the democratically elected leadership of the Palestinian Authority.
~When the largest opposition party in Palestinian politics, the Islamic Resistance Movement, participated in the 2006 elections, and won, the policy of the Bush Administration abruptly halted and began to meander backwards in disarray.
~What resulted from this was a crisis of legitimacy in Palestinian politics. The election of Hamas was democratic, with numerous US and international observers attesting to this.
~Since the 2006 elections, the division among the Palestinian people has grown.
~The continued neglect of the elected party and later the suffocation of the people in Gaza, coupled with the support of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, and the economic revitalization centered in Ramallah, served only to reinforce the perception among many Palestinians that the US and Israell sought a more divided Palestinian nation.
~If Yasser Arafat did not have the legitimacy to sign the Camp David Accords (since he needed the consent of the Palestinian people) in 2000, how can we expect a Palestinian partner to accept an agreement today when the leadership is fragmented, and there is much less on the table?
~The policies of the Bush Administration have yielded destruction, division, and the exacat opposite of peace.
~It is time for a fundamental shift in policy toward the conflict.
Steps Forward
Forge Palestinian Unity
~Any Obama policy, interested in having a realistic and lasting agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, must be a policy that encourages unity among the Palestinian people and not division.
Enforce Agreements Evenhandedly
~The outcome of the recent Israeli elections indicates the electorate's sharp movement to the right end of the political spectrum.
~The leaders of Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu parties, who will likely lead the next Israeli government, have openly announced their intentions to ignore previous promises made by former Israeli governments.
~The US must communicate a clear message to the new Israeli government that we expect them to abide by previous agreements and that the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, the expansion of the settlements, and the destruction of civilian life are debilitating the two state solution.
Conclusion
~Ultimately, the US will continue to play as significant role in the dynamics of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict whether it is through its active engagement for peace, or its deafening silence in the face of Israeli occupation.
~One of the first actions of President Obama was to name former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell as the Special Envoy to the Middle East. He has proven his abilities to broker peace in outher troubled spots in the world and we all hope and pray that Envoy Mitchell will be successful in his efforts.
Next diary: Congressional Members Question The Panel
