Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July/August 2003, pages 24-25, 52

Congress Watch

 

Some Congressional Support for Palestinian Statehood Seems Disingenuous

 

By Shirl McArthur

With the Bush administration agreeing that Israel's concerns will be addressed "fully and seriously in the implementation of the road map" to peace in the Middle East—despite earlier administration declarations that the plan was nonnegotiable—it appears that the unlikely, but potent, coalition of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim extremists are making progress in their efforts to obstruct the path to peace. Previously, several members of Congress, and some Jewish organizations, had spoken out in support for the "road map." The key element of the original plan, which was developed by the "Quartet" of the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia, requires that Israel and the Palestinians take parallel steps to achieve peace, including an independent Palestinian state, within three years. Israel, of course, wants the Palestinians first to stop all acts of terrorism and activities likely to promote terrorism before it is required to do anything.

Immediately after President George W. Bush announced that the road map would be released as soon as a new Palestinian prime minister and cabinet were named, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), John Ensign (R-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Reps. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Henry Hyde (R-IL), and Tom Lantos (D-CA) began circulating for signatures letters supporting Israel's position that Bush should demand, among other things, new Palestinian leadership, the creation of a new Palestinian security apparatus, and a cessation of terrorism before pressing Israel to take any positive actions. The letters were sent April 30, the same day Bush released the road map, and were signed by 88 senators and 322 representatives. The 12 senators who did not sign were Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Michael Enzi (R-WY), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Ernest Hollings (D-SC), James Jeffords (I-VT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Richard Lugar (R-IN), John Sununu (R-NH) and John Warner (R-VA). The 119 representatives who did not sign the House letter are named in the box at left.

At about the same time, however, Americans for Peace Now (APN) and the Israel Policy Forum, two American Jewish organizations that realize that peace between Israel and the Palestinians is in Israel's best interests, launched action calls and letters to Congress in support of the plan. And on May 9 Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), David Price (D-NC) and, interestingly, Hyde began circulating a letter to Bush in support of the road map, saying "along with changes on the Palestinian side, we share your belief that the road map must also be implemented by Israel, with the end goal, as you have stated many times, 'two states living side-by-side' in peace and security."

The letter was sent on May 20 with 44 signatures, whose names can be found in the box at left. The letter's organizers wanted Bush to stand firm in his resolve to push the road map, in the face of opposition from his party's extreme right wing. Pointing out that the letter's signers included a couple of Jewish members and more Democrats than Republicans, Issa said that they wanted to show Bush that there was "truly bipartisan" support in Congress for him to continue to pursue peace in the Middle East. Capps and Price both emphasized that peace will never happen without strong international support and U.S. leadership.

Interestingly, however, although AIPAC had been a driving force behind the Boxer/McConnell and Blunt/Lantos letters rejecting the key element of the road map, as soon as Bush released the road map AIPAC issued a press release saying it "welcomes the release" of the plan, and that "AIPAC does not agree with those who would dismiss the road map, because that would lead to an impasse in the peace process."

Then, on May 7 in the House International Relations Committee, ranking member Lantos, joined by Chairman Hyde and Middle East subcommittee ranking member Gary Ackerman (D-NY), introduced and passed as an amendment to the State Department Authorization bill the "Israel-Palestinian Peace Enhancement Act." The act would support the establishment of a Palestinian state, authorize a large U.S. aid program for the new state, and call for the president to encourage a multilateral aid effort. But this would happen only after the president certifies to Congress that a peace agreement exists between the Palestinians and Israel and that the new Palestinian government has complied with an eight-item list of requirements that include holding democratic elections, renouncing terrorism and the incitement to "acts against the state of Israel and its citizens," and is "engaging in ongoing and extensive security cooperation with Israel." A nearly identical bill, S. 1029, with the same title, was introduced in the Senate May 9 by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV).

 

Is the "Israel-Palestinian Peace Enhancement Act" a Sham?

This act has been trumpeted in the press and elsewhere as being a major step forward and movement toward supporting the administration's peace efforts. According to Hyde, the idea was to signal the Palestinians that if they continue on the reform path the U.S. would be prepared to provide significant support to them and seek international support. The San Francisco Chronicle referred to "a new tack on the Middle East" by Lantos, and several organizations and publications called the act the first time Congress has supported establishing a Palestinian state. APN immediately endorsed the proposal—but then, so did AIPAC.

Why? Are such hard-line supporters of Israel as Lantos, Ackerman and Hyde, not to mention AIPAC, really moving toward active support of the administration's push to achieve Middle East peace? Is the Peace Enhancement Act a major step forward, or merely a sham? The Jewish publication The Forward has speculated that these groups and individuals have concluded that Bush is determined to proceed, and they do not want to appear obstructionist. The Forward quoted one Jewish activist as saying that to confront Bush now on his Middle East policy could have "disastrous consequences."

However, it appears more likely that they have devised a way to be obstructionist while appearing to be forthcoming. A reading of the Peace Enhancement Act shows it to be a repudiation, rather than an endorsement, of the road map. To be sure, the act states that the U.S. "has an interest in a Middle East in which two states, Israel and Palestine, will live side by side in peace and security." But this is not the first such congressional statement. The omnibus appropriations bill passed last February, and described in the April issue of this magazine, includes a section called "Palestinian Statehood," containing many of the same points as the Peace Enhancement Act, although it did not specifically promise significant aid.

The key point, though, is that, with the exception of one "finding" that appears in the House version but not the Senate bill, all of the actions called for in the act are to come from the Palestinian side, with no mention of either parallel or reciprocal actions by Israel. In other words, the act is a restatement of Israel's position, and a recipe for certain failure, since such a program could never be sold to the Palestinian people without corresponding Israeli actions. The only hint that Israel should be forthcoming comes in the abovementioned "finding," which says that "a stable and peaceful Palestinian state is necessary to achieve the security that Israel longs for, and Israel should take concrete steps to support the emergence of a viable, credible Palestinian state." If that provision is dropped in the final version, it will confirm that the so-called Peace Enhancement Act is a strawman, designed to fail.

 

Arab-American Congressmen Visit Palestine and Syria

After being part of a 12-member congressional delegation visiting Doha to receive a briefing on developments in Iraq, Arab-American Congressmen Issa and Nick Rahall (D-WV), joined by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), went to Israel and the West Bank to meet with Palestinian and Israeli leaders.

On April 17 they met for an hour with new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, then with PA President Yasser Arafat, for an hour and a half over lunch. It was the highest level visit to Arafat since Bush called for his replacement last June, and the visit was not sanctioned by the State Department, although the visit to Abbas was. As soon as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon heard that the group had met with Arafat, he canceled his scheduled meeting with them and that of his Chief of Staff Dov Weisglass. However, the group did meet with Labor party figures Shimon Peres and Yosi Beilin on April 18.

In separate interviews with this correspondent, both Issa and Rahall said they were impressed with Abbas as someone who has a broad perspective and is forward looking.According to Issa, Abbas "is solidly in the peace camp."

From there they went to see Arafat because, as Issa said, they did not want to "show disrespect to the Chairman." Nobody wants to be ignored, Rahall pointed out, and to ignore a leader is no way to conduct negotiations. Israel has called Arafat "irrelevant," but Issa disagreed, saying, "he's very relevant." A major purpose of the group's visit to him, he explained, was to encourage Arafat to "use all efforts to assure that Abu Mazen's cabinet be approved as proposed." (At that time the cabinet had not been approved, and it was widely reported that it was because Arafat and Abbas were engaged in a power struggle.)

Rahall said he had reminded Arafat that the two had been meeting since the 1970s, and shared the same dreams for the Palestinian people, but "sometimes when one struggles it's hard to see that there comes a time when it's necessary to pass on the baton. Perhaps Abu Mazen can take it across the finish line." Both Rahall and Issa are sure that Arafat got the message.

On April 19 Issa and Rahall went to Syria, and on April 20 they met for two and a half hours with President Bashar Assad. Both congressmen felt that the meeting went very well and that they had a good dialogue. This was at about the time senior Bush administration officials and some members of Congress were leveling accusations and threats against Syria, as reported in the previous issue of this magazine, and both congressmen said their major objective was to get Assad's assurance that he would not harbor or grant asylum to senior members of Saddam Hussain's regime. Assad explicitly gave that assurance, pointing out that Syria has a list of wanted Iraqi Ba'athist leaders that is much longer than the U.S. list.Similarly, he denied accusations that Syria is hiding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, asking "of what interest would that be to Syria?" Rahall said, "Bashar has no desire to cause trouble with the U.S.."

 

Senate Condemns Violence Against Arab Americans

On May 22 the Senate passed Senate Resolution 133 "condemning bigotry and violence against Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, South-Asian Americans and Sikh Americans." Although the resolution, introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) on May 6, contains no enforcement mechanism, it does call upon local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to "work to prevent" and "investigate and prosecute vigorously" bias-motivated crimes against all Americans, including those named in the title.Speaking in support of his resolution, Durbin pointed out that "hate crimes against these communities have spiked" since the beginning of the war on Iraq, and "we must condemn them in the strongest terms."Co-sponsors of S.Res. 133 were Sens. Joe Biden (D-DE), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Michael DeWine (R-OH), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Zell Miller (D-GA), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sununu, and George Voinovich (R-OH).

Issa introduced a companion bill, H.Res. 234, on May 14, but it has not been acted upon by the full House.Co-sponsors are Reps. John Conyers (D-MI), John Dingell (D-MI), Michael Honda (D-CA), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Ray Lahood (R-IL), Jim McDermott (D-WA), James Moran (D-VA) and Rahall.

Shirl McArthur, a retired foreign service officer, is a consultant in the Washington, DC area.

sidebar

 

119 House Members Resist Pressure to Sign Letter Opposing "Road Map" to Peace

The 119 representatives who resisted AIPAC pressure and did not sign the letter supporting Israel's position that the Palestinians should meet a list of preconditions before Israel should do anything to implement the "road map" are Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Anibal Acevedo-Vila (D-PR), Brian Baird (D-WA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cass Ballenger (R-NC), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Joe Barton (R-TX), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Doug Bereuter (R-NE), Rick Boucher (D-VA), Robert Brady (D-PA), Dan Burton (R-IN), Steve Buyer (R-IN), Lois Capps (D-CA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Donna Christensen (D-VI), Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO), James Clyburn (D-SC), Mac Collins (R-GA), Larry Combest (R-TX), John Conyers (D-MI), Danny Davis (D-IL), Nathan Deal (R-GA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), William Delahunt (D-MA), John Dingell (D-MI), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Calvin Dooley (D-CA), David Dreier (R-CA), John Duncan (R-TN), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Paul Gillmor (R-OH), Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Gil Gutknecht (R-MN), Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), David Hobson (R-OH), John Hostettler (R-IN), Amo Houton (R-NY), Kenny Hulshof (R-MO), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Jay Inslee (D-WA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Ernest Istook (R-OK), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Paul Kanjorski (D-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Gerald Kleczka (D-WI), Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Ray LaHood (R-IL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Frank Lucas (R-OK), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), John Mica (R-FL), Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA), Gary Miller (R-CA), George Miller (D-CA), Alan Mollohan (D-WV), Jim Moran (D-VA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), John Murtha (D-PA), Richard Neal (D-MA), Bob Ney (R-OH), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), James Oberstar (D-MN), David Obey (D-WI), Tom Osborne (R-NE), Michael Oxley (R-OH), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Ron Paul (R-TX), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Thomas Petri (R-WI), Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), David Price (D-NC), Jack Quinn (R-NY), Nick Rahall (D-WV), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Ralph Regula (R-OH), Harold Rogers (R-AL), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Martin Sabo (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Robert Scott (D-VA), Jose Serrano (D-NY), Don Sherwood (R-PA), Nick Smith (R-MI), Vic Snyder (D-AR), Pete Stark (D-CA), Charles Stenholm (D-TX), Charles Taylor (R-NC), Gene Taylor (D-MS), William Thomas (R-CA), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), Michael Turner (R-OH), Nydia Velasquez (D-NY), Peter Visclosky (D-IN), James Walsh (R-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Mel Watt (D-NC), Frank Wolf (R-VA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).

 

84 Representatives Urge President to Implement Road Map

ýhe 44 representatives who signed the letter to the president applauding his release of the "road map" were Reps. Baird, Baldwin, Bob Beauprez (R-CO), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Capps, Clay, Conyers, Duke Cunningham (R-CA), DeFazio, Dingell, Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Sam Farr (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Frank, Goodlatte, Gutknecht, Hinchey, Rush Holt (D-NJ), Houton, Henry Hyde (R-IL), Issa, Walter Jones (R-NC), Kaptur, Sue Kelly (R-NY), Ron Kind (D-WI), James Leach (R-IA), John Lewis (D-GA), Ed Markey (D-MA), McGovern, Millender-McDonald, George Miller, Moran, Pascrell, Rahall, Regula, Rick Renzi (R-AZ), Rohrabacher, Sanders, Rob Simmons (R-CT), Snyder, John Spratt (D-SC), Lee Terry (R-NE), and Mark Udall (D-CO).

—S.M.

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