Post by layth. on Feb 8, 2009 21:27:16 GMT -5
February 5, 2009
Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
Congratulations on winning such a decisive and historic election. You ran an excellent and effective campaign. As you know your precedent has left you a lot of problems on all fronts and they all need to be fixed. A failing economy, two wars going no where, a prison camp tarnishing the image of our nation, and a crisis in the Middle East to name a few. George W. Bush’s policies have clearly proven not to be the solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the page has to be turned in respect to that issue. Clearly whether you support the Israelis or the Palestinians in this issue everyone must agree that it is a two-party PROBLEM that requires a two-state solution. In order for the United States to achieve peace in the region, which appears to be of high priority on your agenda, both sides need to be held accountable for their actions. America must hold Israel accountable for its recent use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus on civilians in Gaza.
Moreover, Gaza and Hamas have been condemned by the Bush Administration completely over the rockets it fires into southern Israel, it quickly gave Israel the green light to do what ever it needed to defend itself from the rockets. How does killing 700+ women and children through the use of illegal weapons an act of self defense? Israel was defending itself from rockets that resulted in the unfortunate death of 4 people, compared to the 1,100+ of Gaza Palestinians. There needs to be fairness. You cannot expect both sides to have an equal want for peace when one side has been allowed to get away with such acts of magnitude while they get blamed and ridiculed while living in a region that is not allowed aid, electricity, gas, food, just white phosphorus; a weapon that was violated by the Geneva Conventions. You ran on the idea of change and giving Israel a green light without holding it responsible needs to change.
In contrast you might have those who say that Hamas is a terrorist group organization that needs to be handled in a different way and is a threat not just to Israel but to the United States. Mr. President Hamas was democratically elected by the people of Gaza as a reaction to the blockade caused by Israel and by the downfall of Yasser Arafat, who the Israelis quickly wanted removed from his post. Hamas didn’t take over the Palestinians against their will. So Hamas needs to be dealt with as a legitimate third party because it was caused and encouraged by Israel. Hamas is just as much as a problem as Israel but has been held accountable by this nation 100% of the time and you cannot expect them to expect you to negotiate fairly by letting Israel get away with its wrong doing.
Therefore, Mr. President, please publicly and fairly conduct an independent investigation in Gaza through your Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, to see if white phosphorus has been used, even though there is already convincing evidence, and hold Israel accountable for its actions. Do not let the Washington based AIPAC lobby influence you to do otherwise, we know you will listen to the people and not them, for a change. Failure to respond to this letter appropriately, unfortunately, will prove otherwise.
With great respect,
Layth Dahbour
MHS Student
Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
Congratulations on winning such a decisive and historic election. You ran an excellent and effective campaign. As you know your precedent has left you a lot of problems on all fronts and they all need to be fixed. A failing economy, two wars going no where, a prison camp tarnishing the image of our nation, and a crisis in the Middle East to name a few. George W. Bush’s policies have clearly proven not to be the solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the page has to be turned in respect to that issue. Clearly whether you support the Israelis or the Palestinians in this issue everyone must agree that it is a two-party PROBLEM that requires a two-state solution. In order for the United States to achieve peace in the region, which appears to be of high priority on your agenda, both sides need to be held accountable for their actions. America must hold Israel accountable for its recent use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus on civilians in Gaza.
Moreover, Gaza and Hamas have been condemned by the Bush Administration completely over the rockets it fires into southern Israel, it quickly gave Israel the green light to do what ever it needed to defend itself from the rockets. How does killing 700+ women and children through the use of illegal weapons an act of self defense? Israel was defending itself from rockets that resulted in the unfortunate death of 4 people, compared to the 1,100+ of Gaza Palestinians. There needs to be fairness. You cannot expect both sides to have an equal want for peace when one side has been allowed to get away with such acts of magnitude while they get blamed and ridiculed while living in a region that is not allowed aid, electricity, gas, food, just white phosphorus; a weapon that was violated by the Geneva Conventions. You ran on the idea of change and giving Israel a green light without holding it responsible needs to change.
In contrast you might have those who say that Hamas is a terrorist group organization that needs to be handled in a different way and is a threat not just to Israel but to the United States. Mr. President Hamas was democratically elected by the people of Gaza as a reaction to the blockade caused by Israel and by the downfall of Yasser Arafat, who the Israelis quickly wanted removed from his post. Hamas didn’t take over the Palestinians against their will. So Hamas needs to be dealt with as a legitimate third party because it was caused and encouraged by Israel. Hamas is just as much as a problem as Israel but has been held accountable by this nation 100% of the time and you cannot expect them to expect you to negotiate fairly by letting Israel get away with its wrong doing.
Therefore, Mr. President, please publicly and fairly conduct an independent investigation in Gaza through your Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, to see if white phosphorus has been used, even though there is already convincing evidence, and hold Israel accountable for its actions. Do not let the Washington based AIPAC lobby influence you to do otherwise, we know you will listen to the people and not them, for a change. Failure to respond to this letter appropriately, unfortunately, will prove otherwise.
With great respect,
Layth Dahbour
MHS Student
