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Letter to Members of the House of Representatives on Restructuring Foreign Aid to The Middle East ~February 11, 1999~
February 11, 1999
The Honorable Members of the 106th Congress Dear Member of the House, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) looks forward to working with you and the Administration to further peacemaking between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and their Arab state neighbors. Your agenda at the beginning of this session includes FY2000 foreign aid, additional funding proposals related to promises made at the Wye River talks last October and perhaps also resolutions concerning Palestinian statehood and the future status of Jerusalem. CMEP asks your consideration of the perspectives we bring from the policies of our member churches and church organizations.
Restructuring Aid to the Middle East for Peace and DevelopmentThe Israeli-Palestinian-Arab peace process brings both opportunities and responsibilities requiring financial assistance from the United States. With an eye to other needs for U.S. foreign assistance, especially in Africa, we ask that these peace process related needs not be met at the expense of other regions. We are mindful of the disproportionate percentage of foreign aid already going to the Middle East ($5.4 billion out of $12.8 billion.) Since 1994, the churches that make up CMEP have advocated for the restructuring of foreign aid allocated to the Middle East region toward peace process and regional objectives. That restructuring began in 1997 when new money to Jordan was offset by reductions in aid to Israel and Egypt. In 1998, we supported the reduction of $40 million in aid to Egypt and the initiative of Israel to voluntarily accept a reduction of its economic assistance by $120 million for FY99. However, the churches cannot support the request by Israel that half of their $120 million reduction be redirected into military assistance. We ask that the amount of future Israeli and Egyptian reductions be rededicated to peace-process related needs and development programs in the Middle East and elsewhere.
CMEP has concerns about the Wye supplemental package of aid to Israel, the Palestinians and Jordan. It is our understanding that the Administration, along with its budget submission, will be requesting $1.2 billion for Israel, $400 million for the Palestinians and $300 million for Jordan, reportedly for multi-year dispersal, in addition to and separate from the foreign aid budget. It is our view that additional aid incentives for peace should be withheld until a final status has been defined and implementation of its provisions begun. But, at the very least, it should be noted that additional funds to Israel are for the implementation of the agreements reached at Wye, including Israel's commitment to withdraw from additional land in the West Bank. We encourage Congress to seek answers as to how the $1.2 billion figure was set and to ask for verification of the need for this very large amount. The additional aid to Israel should not be provided if Israel does not carry out the withdrawals from West Bank land as promised. U.S. policy has placed limits on U.S. aid to Israel, requiring that such aid not be used in the territories occupied in 1967 to build settlements and the infrastructure to support them. The Israeli Finance Minister, in November, is reported to have requested $1.2 billion for the cost of new roads in the West Bank for the use of Israeli settlers wanting to bypass Palestinian villages and cities. Bypass roads further entrench Israeli settlements in the West Bank and damage rather than advance the peace process. Such roads and the "security zones" surrounding them require the confiscation of Palestinian land and destruction of Palestinian homes. We ask your assurance that no U.S. funds will be used to build Israeli bypass roads in the West Bank or for other uses prohibited by the United States. CMEP urges Congress to support the Administration's request for continuing and additional aid to the Palestinian people for the development of water and sewer systems, schools and improvements to the Palestinian legal system that provide more respect for due process of law, human rights, copyrights, and other property rights. We further urge that generous assistance be provided to Jordan, and that those funds be directed to development and infrastructure purposes and not for the provision of addition weaponry.
As the five-year deadline for the Oslo Accords' interim period approaches in early May, a declaration of Palestinian statehood and the future status of Jerusalem are being discussed. The members of CMEP have long been committed to self-determination for the Palestinian people including the possibility of a Palestinian state, and to a secure Israel living at peace with its neighbors within internationally recognized borders. With final status negotiations on Jerusalem pending, CMEP has promoted the principle of the two peoples and three religious communities sharing Jerusalem. We see this principle as enhancing negotiations without prescribing the specifics in ways that would limit the negotiators. We encourage you, at this sensitive time, to refuse to support resolutions that would preempt negotiations about "final status issues" and undermine the peace process. We look forward to a continued communication with your office, as well as with our church members in your district, about a range of Middle East issues and U.S. policy. Sincerely,
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