The U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dated Nov. 21, 2019 objecting to the Trump Administration’s decision declaring Israeli settlements on the West Bank are legal and permanent.
The Trump administration decision is in defiance of decades of U.S. policy and international law.
The letter states, in part, “We write to express our strong disagreement with the State Department’s decision to reverse decades of bipartisan U.S. policy on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank by repudiating the 1978 State Department legal opinion that civilian settlements in the occupied territories are ‘inconsistent with international law.’ This announcement, following the administration’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem outside of a negotiated agreement; its closure of the Palestinian mission in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem; and its halting of aid Congress appropriated to the West Bank and Gaza, has discredited the United States as an honest broker between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, severely damaged prospects for peace, and endangered the security of America, Israel and the Palestinian people.”
The letter also states “The State Department’s unilateral reversal on the status of settlements, without any clear legal justification, therefore has offered a tacit endorsement of settlements, their expansion and associated demolitions of Palestinian homes. . . . As annexation and the United States’ approval thereof would destroy prospects for a two-state solution and lead to a more entrenched and possibly deadlier conflict, this decision erodes the security of both Israel and the United States.”
The letter was signed by 106 members of Congress.
Community Word contacted representatives from Central Illinois who did not sign the letter including Cheri Bustos, D-Moline; Darin LaHood, R-Peoria; and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg. None responded to repeated requests for comment over more than a month.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Evanston, signed the letter and posted this comment on her website:
“As a Jewish American, I have a deep personal connection to the State of Israel, and I have consistently been a steadfast friend and supporter of the Jewish state in her quest for peace and security. Both at home in my district and in the halls of Congress, I am always working to strengthen the U.S.-Israel bond, and to advance the security of the only true democracy in the Middle East, our ally Israel.
I am committed to ensuring the survival of Israel as a Jewish State. A negotiated, two-state solution that provides safety and security for all people in Israel alongside a Palestinian state offers the best prospect for long-term peace for the region. Such an agreement has the potential to provide lasting security for Israel, a better life for Palestinians, and a future for both. While the United States cannot dictate the terms of a peace agreement, strong U.S. leadership in support of peace remains critical.
Israel continues to face serious security threats, and U.S.-Israel security cooperation is as close as it has ever been. In addition to critical security funding and weapons sales for the Jewish state, the U.S. engages in training and joint military exercises with our Israeli partners and supports the research and development of new defense systems. In addition, the U.S. and Israel continue to closely partner in efforts to halt Iranian aggression and pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
James Zogby, co-founder of the Arab American Institute, has stated that the letter is significant because it focuses on human rights law and affirms the Fourth Geneva Convention finding the settlements illegal.
“Most important is that the letter strongly endorses the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands,” Zogby stated. “To the best of my knowledge we have never seen a Congressional statement affirming these Conventions in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel has long refused to acknowledge the applicability of the Conventions since under their terms Israel is guilty of: ‘annexing’ occupied lands, building settlements for their own citizens on this land, stealing resources from this land, the expulsion of and denial of repatriation of Palestinians who inhabited this land, and whole range of human rights abuses committed against the captive Palestinian population.”
The liberal advocacy group J Street also supports the letter.
“The administration’s decision to effectively legitimize illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank is designed to obstruct the two-state solution and could pave the way for unilateral Israeli annexation,” the group’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, said in a statement.
American Muslims for Palestine issued a statement condemning the Trump decision: “AMP reaffirms that Israel’s settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are illegal. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which both the United States and Israel are signatories, states clearly that ‘the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.’ Furthermore, the charter of the International Criminal Court makes this illegal colonization of Occupied Territory a ‘war crime.’”