Category: Letters

Dear Mr. President,

This is the result of over 50 years of a failed policy. Unless we come to the rescue of these innocent civilians, there will be blood on our hands that history will not let us forget.
My government and my Christian brothers; I’m ashamed of you all.

Doug Willbanks
6580 SW Wilson Ave.
Beaverton, Ore. 97008
503-646-5634

Subj: APPEAL FROM BETHLEHEM
Date: 7/13/2002 8:48:59 AM Pacific Daylight Time

—–Original Message—–
From: Muzna Shihabi [mailto:muzna@palnet.com]
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2002 3:42 AM
To: muzna@palnet.com
Subject: [palestineinmyheart] APPEAL FROM BETHLEHEM

An appeal from the Governorate of Beth lehem

Today marks the twentieth day of the latest Israeli incursion into Bethlehem
govrnorate, which is the fifth in less than a year. The Israeli army is
imposing a total of blockade on the whole govrnorate including a curfew on
the cities of Bethlehem, Beit-Sahour, Beit-Jala, Al Doha and Al-Khader as
well as the three refugee camps of Dheishe, Aida and Al-Azzeh. Every few
days, the curfew is lifted for few hour’s to allow the citizens to buy their
basic needs of food. The situation is not exciting for the media and thus,
the tragedy of the 130 000 Palestinians in Bethlehem Governorate together
with the rest of the west bank and Gaza does not get reported. This appeal
is made to shed light on the human disaster in Bethlehem Governorate and ask
for immediate intervention of the international community based on its
commitments and rights to protect civilians and human lives under political
conflict.

During the past two years, Bethlehem Governorate has been subjected to an
escalating campaign of destruction by the Israeli army. Indiscriminate
shelling of the Israeli army has destroyed more than 250 houses. More than
seventy Palestinians, mostly civilians including 20 children have been
killed by Israeli army gunfire. More than 600 Bethlehemites are in Israeli
jails and the majority have been issued with administrative detention orders
i.e. without any charges and under harsh conditions in the infamous Ansar
III detention center in the Negev desert. The headquarters of the PNA have
been totally destroyed by the Israeli F 16 jet fighters leaving more than
1500 persons without shelter. The infrastructure that Bethlehem was able to
rehabilitate in the preparation for the new millennium has been destroyed.
Everyday, the Israeli tanks destroy electricity poles and water pipes. There
is ample evidence that the distruction is deliberate and systematic which
obliges us to ask the basic question: WHY???

Bethlehem Governorate has always been classified as an affluent society
characterized by a good standard of living and a healthy economy based on
tourism and other services. Its physical proximity to Jerusalem has further
strengthened the historic, economic, health, social and religious ties with
Jerusalem. For the past two years, Israel has progressively been working on
serving this organic relationship between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. As a
result, thousands of Bethlehemites lost their jobs in Jerusalem. The tourism
sector disintegrated with no tourists being allowed to visit Bethlehem.
Hotels are empty and the hundreds of Bethlehemites working in arts and
crafts have become unemployed. In all, more than 70% of the population is
now living in poverty. People are unable to pay their water and electricity
bills.

We see no justification for the continued Israeli presence in Bethlehem
Governorate. The Israeli army is hardly doing any thing that justifies its
incursion except caging the whole population of Bethlehem and driving them
into despair and frustration. The Bethlehemites are a proud and industrious
people who aspire for building their society and economy. They certainly do
not accept such conditions, which has transformed their lives to more
survival and charity dependence. They see that the Israeli army actions are
intended to implement a voluntary transfer policy that will affect first and
foremost the well-educated and middle class members of the society, which
traditionally comprises the Christians. They quote that the percentage of
Christians living in the Holy Land, which comprises Israel, and Palestine is
less than 1.8 %, which is by far the lowest percentage of Christians in all
neighboring countries.

As a Palestinian Moslem, I cherish the excellent relationship that I have
seen among Christians and Moslems in Bethlehem, which should become a model
for tolerance and co-existence in the whole region. During the 40 days
episode in the church of Nativity, I was an eyewitness of this relationship,
which has even been reinforced by our common destiny. I here recall the
latest statement of the Israeli opposition leader who described the Israeli
army practices against the Palestinian as a war crime that will have far
reaching effects on the whole region. Therefore, I appeal to you to act
immediately to stop the Israeli practices in Bethlehem Governorate, which I
am obliged to declare as a human disaster area, that needs your immediate
attention.

Mohammad Al Madani

Governor of Bethlehem

Rezeq Faraj
http://rezeq.com

Dear Editoral Staff,

You must be intelligent people. You have access to many facts. You must also have a respect for the truth. The fact you are in a profession that takes pride in telling the truth in a country that is free to do so must make you strive to do so. So I ask, when you print someone’s letter that isn’t the truth, why wouldn’t you be happy to print a letter that explains what is the truth so you can educate your readers as to what is true?
Email Jon Mandaville, professor at PSU to see if I’m right. Dianemym@aol.com This will get you Diane, his wife. She will get him to give you an answer.
This man is also wrong about Arabs wanting to destroy Israel. I had no space to reply to that ongoing lie. Even Arafat in 1988 and 1993, and recently the whole of the Arab countries have recognized the right of the State of Israel to exist. They did this partly so Palestine would survive and their people would stop suffering. But they did do it in black and white.
There are fanatics in both camps. We have to stop allowing them to run the show. If you are an honorable paper, you will help by printing the truth. That is all I ask. You can start by printing my rebutal. Thank You, Doug W.

To the Editor,

Hanoch Liven, “Total Destruction Sought,” 7-13-2002 makes several of the usual misstatements we in the peace movement hear. Though less frequently as America becomes better informed.

Israel should never have been started as it was in 1948. We call this ethnic cleansing today. Several Jews, our state department and several intellectuals warned of the unfairness of moving immigrants into a land already populated. Turns out they were right.

The Palestinians have wanted to have their own country for years. The British gave all Arabs in that area the chance during WW I. “Help us drive the Turks from your land, and we will make you independent countries.”

The British and the French followed through with their promise to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. The British reneged on their promise to the Palestinians. Shame on them. That was only the start of the various injustices to the Palestinians who suffer terribly today.

Doug Willbanks

Submitted Sun, 14 Jul 2002

Letter to the Editor:

The Oregonian’s July 10 article “Israeli police seal Palestinian’s office”
reported that armed Israeli police shut down the Al-Quds University office
of Sari Nusseibeh, a leading moderate and senior Palestinian representative
in Jerusalem, accusing him of “political activity” in the city.

Dr. Nusseibeh is one of the most recognized voices of moderation and peace
among Palestinians. His unequivocal opposition to violence led him to
sponsor a full-page ad condemning suicide bombings. Nusseibeh’s efforts
for understanding and compromise prompted him to publicly call on his
people to give up on the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their
land. When his offices were being raided, Dr. Nusseibeh was in Greece
attending a peace conference in the company of Ami Ayalon, the former head
of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service.

Sharon and Bush demand “more moderate” Palestinian leaders but this is how
one is being treated.

John Grosvenor

Dear Mr President and Honored Leaders,

What Prime Minister Sharon said in 1973 below has not changed. He and his Zionist friends still want the remaining 22% of the Palestinians land. They will lie, kill and do whatever it takes to achieve that.

Including endangering our country.

Doug Willbanks

What is to become of the Palestinians?” “Oh,” Sharon said, “we’ll make a pastrami sandwich of them.” I said, “What?” He said, “Yes, we’ll insert a strip of Jewish settlement, in between the Palestinians, and then another strip of Jewish settlement, right across the West Bank, so that in twenty-five years time, neither the United Nations, nor the United States, nobody, will be able to tear it apart”.

Winston S. Churchill III (journalist, former member of Parliament, and grandson of the British prime minister) at the National Press Club, October 10, 2001, recalling his conversation with then-General (res.) Ariel Sharon in 1973

Dear Mr. President,

No president has given the Palestinians so much hope and at the same time
caused them such killing and destruction.
There is still hope Mr. President. The Palestinians are still in some of
their own land and alive.
Two things while you think about your next step will help.

1. Whenever people fight, common sense calls for them to be separated. The
military occupation our forefathers rebelled against ended with the
withdrawal of British troops. Stop the occupation Mr. President. Put in
international border troops along the pre-’67 border as per Res 242.

2. The provocative settlements must go. Without soldiers to back them up,
they may be too tempting a target for the justified pent-up rage of the
Palestinians. My party, your party as well, respects the law and the law
tells the Israelis to go home, the parties over. You’ve stayed too long
already.

Doug Willbanks

To the Oregonian

Israelis want too much Ken Cordler argues (Letters, June 28) that Israel should reject ceding the West Bank to the Palestinians and removing the settlers because there is a mix of Jewish and Arab historical roots in the area. But the same mixture of populations and histories is the rule in what today is Israel proper.

For from the 7th century A.D. until 1948 (when Israeli forces expelled between 700,000 and 900,000 Palestinians), Israel/Palestine was overwhelmingly Arab. In an attempt to obliterate that history and prevent the return of refugees, Israel, by her own count, demolished 234 Palestinian villages. Others were seized intact and given to Jewish settlers.

A real attempt to separate the populations based on their historical areas of settlement would allow a small number of Jewish settlements to remain in the West Bank and require a huge portion of Israel becoming Palestinian territory.

This is unthinkable to Israelis, who want everything occupied in 1948 and the choicest bits of what they took in 1967. Their motives have little to do with history and everything to do with nationalism, colonialist arrogance and a racist double standard.

Robert Farrell

Status: Published 07/06/02

Letter to the Editor (Emailed to the Oregonian and the NY Times 7/3/02):

Thomas Friedman casts blame on Palestinians for initiating an uprising and
chastises them for never articulating why it was necessary (July 2 Op-Ed).
Israel’s actions make the reasons self-evident for anyone paying attention.

Israel bulldozed and took over 56% of the Palestinian
internationally-recognized land for illegal settlements and roads and took
ninety percent of the water. Israeli soldiers blocked Palestinian internal
movement, often abusively, at 200 checkpoints. Israel kept Palestinians
taxes and required businesses to buy Israeli items and not compete.
Israeli soldiers broke up peaceful Palestinian protests, frequently using
lethal means. When Palestinians begged for international observers, Israel
told the willing international community “no”.

Things are worse now and Israel is restricting media access and turning
away foreign-solidarity visitors. If we paid attention, U.S. taxpayers may
wake up and say no to our funding Israel and its military at $10 million a
day.

Jennifer Grosvenor

Status: Submitted to Oregonian and NY Times, July 3rd, 2002.

Printed in the Oregonian May 25, 2002

Letter to the Editor:

Michael Kelly ignores Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s brutal
history, Israel’s decades-long stealing of internationally recognized
Palestinian land for settlements and the realities of former Prime Minister
Ehud Barak’s peace offer (“If U.S. were in Israel’s shoes, Arafat would be
a goner,” May 8.) Please don’t perpetuate myths.

I am waiting for The Oregonian’s in-depth reporting on the history
and facts of the illegal Israeli settlements, the Barak offer and Sharon.

Israel’s land grabs include 60 percent of the West Bank and Gaza
with 400,000 settlers and 200 settlements. Four hundred-fifty kilometers
of highways/by-pass roads for Israelis-only create massive barriers to
Palestinian movement.

Barak’s “generous” offer was four separate land parcels, with
Israel controlling borders, airspace and water resources.

Israel’s governmental inquiry found Sharon responsible for the 1982
massacre of hundreds of Palestinian refugees. Too bad I have to learn all
of this via Internet accessing of government and nongovernmental reports.

Jennifer Grosvenor

Printed in the Oregonian 4/2/02

I found the Oregonian’s editorial on 3/30/02 “‘Playing with fire’
in Middle East’” to be biased and uninformed. The Palestinian resistance
is not an “uprising against peace” as you state, but an uprising against
occupation, war crimes and denial of justice. You are helping to hide
truths behind the cloak of terrorism and helping to perpetuate myths.
Shame on you.

Having recently read the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee
Report (http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/mitchell.htm), I am appalled
by the findings revealed. (Unfortunately there is not adequate space to
cite other readings.) Our U. S. government and media have been complicit
in keeping us from knowing that we are supporting an Israeli government
that is abusive, violates international laws, and is not peace-seeking.

Jennifer Grosvenor

June 26, 2002

To the Editor
The Oregonian

To the editor:

Bush’s Sharon approved Middle East Peace plan is a recipe for unending disaster. Who decides whether the Palestinians have met, despite the continued occupation and hopelessness, the requirements set forth by the Bush administration? Apparently the U.S. and Israeli governments.

What people would allow their occupier and their occupiers main supporter to chose their government? What happens if the Palestinians fairly re-elect Yasser Arafat? How can an occupied people be expected to run fair elections and start a “market economy” under a 24 hour curfew? When will the settlements and appropriation of Palestinian land, curfews, and checkpoints and all the other dangers and indignities of occupation end?

How many more suicide bombs, tank shells, and helicopter missiles will rain down on the Israeli and Palestinian people before this inept proposal runs its course? Israel’s largest paper, Yediot Aharonot, asks “How many other people will be gone by then, ours and theirs, the president did not say.” The world wanted leadership, Bush gave us continued occupation and despair.

Sincerely yours,

Peter Miller

Status: Published, July 1st, 2002