March 19, 2007
A
revised letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is currently being
circulated by Senators Nelson and Ensign. The new text allows for
continued US engagement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whereas
the previous letter had banned contacts with “any member of a Palestinian
Authority”. CMEP appreciates this change in the letter and the efforts
of Senators Nelson and Ensign, and other Senate offices, to address the
concerns that CMEP’s
Washington
office and church advocates had raised last week.
However, while
recognizing this improvement,
CMEP remains concerned that the revised letter still blocks
US
engagement with key members of the new Palestinian unity government who
seek peace with
Israel.
(There will be 6 Fatah ministers and several independents in the cabinet
of the new government) Salam Fayyad—slated to be the new Finance Minister
and respected as a moderate who has worked to end corruption in the
PA—would be among those with whom the the US would not be able to engage.
News reports today
indicate that
US policy will
be to decide on contact with the Palestinian cabinet members on a
case-by-case basis.
Spokeswoman
for the United States Consulate in
Jerusalem, Micaela
Schweitzer-Bluhm said, “We won’t rule out contact with certain individuals
with whom we have had contact before. We will evaluate the situation as
we go along.” (For more details, see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/world/middleeast/19mideast.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin).
For the sake of US national security and the suffering peoples of the
Middle East, the US must do all that it can to engage Palestinian
moderates in ways that positively impact the conduct of the new PA
government and prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. The
implication of “no contact” with some key pro-peace Palestinians remains
troublesome and CMEP continues to encourage Senators to refrain from
signing the Nelson-Ensign letter.
Thank you for your attention to these issues. I welcome your comments and
questions and look forward to having an opportunity to work together to
support Congressional initiatives that encourage
active US diplomacy to help bring about Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Sincerely,
Julie Schumacher Cohen
Legislative Coordinator
Churches for Middle East Peace
