(Permission to copy in whole or in part is given with the desire that others will also ‘chime in’ to the President and their Congress critters or post in other internet venues)

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

CC:
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Barbara Boxer
Rep. Brian Bilbray
HRVP Catherine Ashton
Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations

Dear President Obama;

On this Memorial Day, 2001, I write you as a 64 year old registered, independent voter who is a citizen of the United States.

I write you because in all my time of being alive, I have never been so ashamed of -and sad for- the country of my birth as I am now.

When a foreign head of State -Netanyahu- can stand before a full session of Congress and state lies, mis-information, and effectively set conditions which preclude any peace negotiations and get more standing ovations than yourself when giving the State of the Union, such is truly shameful. And it is so sad to contemplate that such is the result of concern for election financing, for there can be no doubt that members of Congress are not so ignorant that they are unable to recognize when they are being lied to, provided mis-information and told of preconditions that preclude peace regarding what General Petraeus has stated about the issue fomenting anti-American sentiment due to the perception of U.S. favoritism towards Israel.

Ex-President Clinton once asked -upon interacting with Netanyahu- “”Who the f*&k does he think he is? Who’s the f*%king superpower here?” . Allow me to answer those questions now.
Netanyahu thinks -and knows from your statements and actions- that he is the tail that wags the dog. And that it is Israel that is the ‘superpower’ because it can dictate the U.S. response to the Palestinian/Israel issue.

Netanyahu stated “Israel has always been pro-American.”; if that was truly the case, the U.S.S. Liberty would not have been attacked by the Israelis. And if you or anyone else who receives this letter disputes what I write, they can contact the USS Liberty Veterans Association.

He spoke of Tehran in 1979; do you or anyone else think that U.S. citizens aren’t aware of the role the U.S. played in the coup which overthrew the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, and the role that played in 1979?

He stated “only Israel’s Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights”; talk about an outright lie. The fact is that his country is practicing apartheid and segregation against the Palestinian population. The fact is that they have taken away the homes, the lands of people who live under Israeli control, and that Israel is practicing the worst form of violence against peaceful, nonviolent resistance that Palestinians are adopting today in trying to defend their rights for freedom and for dignity. And that Israel has secretly revoked about 140,000 residency permits to Palestinians between 1967 and 1994.

And in stating “This is not easy for me. I recognize that in a genuine peace, we will be required to give up parts of the Jewish homeland. In Judea and Samaria, the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. “, Netanyahu deliberately ignored the fact that both “Judea and Samaria” are the West Bank. Which has been ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED since 1967. Another bald faced lie applauded by the entire Congress.

Netanyahu also said “Because all six Israeli Prime Ministers since the signing of Oslo accords agreed to establish a Palestinian state. Myself included. “ Yet the fact remains he has boasted that he destroyed the Oslo process.

He told Congress “You see, our conflict has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state. It has always been about the existence of the Jewish state. This is what this conflict is about. “

I completely agree with this quote from Dr.. Mustafa Barghouti: “Well, Mr. Abbas has said repeatedly that he is recognizing Israel. And if we—if Israel is recognized as a Jewish state, then what happens to the one-and-a-half million Palestinians that Netanyahu is claiming have equal rights in Israel? They are not Jewish. This state should be democratic. A democratic state should fulfill the needs of all its people. Do you think—what would happen if somebody comes out and says the United States should be declared as a Catholic state or as a Protestant state? What will happen to the Jewish community in the United States then? In my opinion, each country should be recognized as a democratic state, which means all its citizens have equal rights. And that does not negate the needs of the Jewish population. That does not negate the history of the Jewish people and their suffering. On the contrary. If you want them to last in a good state, that state should be democratic and not based on discrimination and racist differentiation between people, as is the situation today in Israel.”

Netanyahu also said “This compromise must reflect the dramatic demographic changes that have occurred since 1967. “ which COMPLETELY ignores that those changes were/are against International Law, not only the UN Charter but also the Geneva Conventions of 1948. And the Geneva Convention of 1949 forbid a power occupying enemy territory in war time from annexing it or in any way changing the life ways of its people. Which is exactly what Israel has done and for which it now wants the world to ignore.

Netanyahu said “Israel will not return to the indefensible lines of 1967.” Indefensible? What utter and complete nonsense. The ’1967′ borders are actually those that were obtained before Israel launched its 1967 ‘Six-Day War’ on Syria, Jordan and Egypt. (There is no doubt that Israel launched this war). One can’t launch a war and annex one’s neighbor’s territory because you fear that your own border presents security challenges. That Israel simply ignores rulings by the International Court of Justice says it all about Israeli commitment to the ‘rule of law’.

He stated “Jerusalem must never again be divided. Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel.” This is obviously,again, referencing illegal occupation of territory by Israel and puts an insurmountable roadblock to peace, thereby, once again, showing his disingenuousness as someone wanting peace. The fact of the matter is that if Jerusalem is to know peace, it will revert to when the U.N. governed it; it should be declared an World Heritage Site.

Netanyahu stated “Peace cannot be imposed.” yet that is the very thing he is trying to do by his statements regarding the Jordan Valley, “indefensible borders”, Jerusalem, and West Bank settlements. And the ‘land swaps’ he proposes remove all possibility of a contiguous,viable State for the Palestinians not only because of the size of these areas that would be swapped, but also because these areas include at least 85 percent of the water resources that Palestinians need in the West Bank. They take away water resources. These settlements blocs, if they are annexed to Israel, will definitely destroy the contiguity of territory in the Palestinian state, and they would destroy any possibility of the viability of the states.

In closing, I strongly urge you and Secretary of State Clinton to refrain from any effort to undermine Palestinian Statehood efforts at the United Nations. If you really want -and value- peace you will do so as it is the ONLY mechanism which will alter the Israeli intransigence. And if the issue of Palestinian Statehood comes before the U.N. Security Council, I again strongly urge you not to veto such an effort but to simply abstain and become the dog that wags the tail.

It would be truly tragic if the desire for monies for re-election over-powered the need for peace in that region of the world. And NOTHING the U.S. could do to be on the ‘right side of history’ ,undermine the recruiting grounds for terrorists, and regain credibility with the Arab street will have the impact that abstaining from any vote in the U.N. regarding Palestinian Statehood will have. In addition to forgoing any ‘lobbying’ against such Palestinian efforts.

As an old line from the Maverick television series goes, “If the lord had more respect for money, he would have given it to a better class of people”.

Sincerely,