REMARKS FROM THE COALITION FOR A UNITED JERUSALEM
PRESS CONFERENCE, JULY 22, 2008 – ELDAN HOTEL, JERUSALEM ISRAEL
As American citizens living in Israel, we extend a warm welcome to Senator Barack Obama and
his two traveling companions, Senators Reed and Hagel, on their current visit to Jerusalem, the
eternal and undivided capital of the Jewish State of Israel.
We want to state from the outset that we are not here to endorse or criticize any candidate. What
we are here for is to call upon Senator Obama, as the presumptive Democratic Party candidate
for President of the United States, to state in clear and unequivocal terms that he recognizes that
Jerusalem is and shall for all time remain the exclusive and undivided capital of the Jewish State
of Israel. And, if he is elected as President, that that will be the unalterable position of his
administration.
A little historical perspective is in order:
In 2000, during a failed run for the House, then State Senator Obama stated “Jerusalem should
remain united AND should be recognized as Israel’s capital.”
In January 2008 Senator Obama answered an American Jewish Committee question posted on
their website: “How do you see the likely final status of Jerusalem?” with the following response
and I quote: Jerusalem WILL remain Israel’s capital, and no one should want or expect it to be
re-divided.”
At the recent AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC, to rousing applause and a standing
ovation, Senator Obama reiterated and I quote, “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, AND
it must remain undivided.”
While these statements are clear, Senator Obama recently appeared to muddy the waters during
his recent interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN when he said that his AIPAC statement “had
some poor phrasing” and he should have been more “careful in terms of our syntax.” This
apparent backtracking is highly troubling to the more than 250,000 American citizens living in
Israel.
The Coalition for a United Jerusalem calls on Senator Obama to:
• Reaffirm his positive remarks at the AIPAC Policy Conference regarding the need to
insure that Jerusalem remain the undivided Capital of Israel.
• Disavow subsequent retractions which qualified his original calls for an undivided
Jerusalem to mean only that it would not be separated by barbed wire as in 1948-67.
• Declare that security and access to all holy places can only be guaranteed by Israeli
sovereignty and administration as demonstrated during the past 41 years.
• Acknowledge that Israeli withdrawals from southern Lebanon and Gaza in the past have
led to destabilization and increased violence and terror, and that these withdrawals
presage a similar deterioration likely to occur in eastern Jerusalem if Israel were to
withdraw and turn the area over to Fatah, which would likely be usurped by Hamas.
• Take immediate steps to introduce a more balanced and a pro-Israel perspective by
appointing a number of foreign policy advisors who are more likely to consider an
undivided Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty or meet with leadership and
representatives from our organizations so we can offer a different perspective. Past and
present, formal and informal advisors, such as Zbigniew and Mark Brzezinski, Samantha
Powers, Robert Malley, Susan Rice, Merrill McPeak, Anthony Lake, David Bonior, Ivo
Daalder, Scott Lasensky, Dan Kurtzer, Joseph Cirincione along with current traveling
companion Senator Chuck Hagel offer an extremely one-sided “pressure Israel” view
which should be mitigated by advisors who are not predisposed to reject the possibility of
a unified Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
If there is one word that encapsulates Senator Obama’s campaign it is ‘Change.” Senator Obama
is certainly permitted to change his mind and if he has in fact done so, he is duty bound to state
so in clear and accurate terms so that the American electorate has a full understanding of his
position on this most significant issue.
*************************************
The Coalition for a United Jerusalem, comprised of the American Israeli Action Coalition, the
Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel, Emunah Women, the Rabbinical Council of
America in Israel, the Worldwide Young Israel Movement, and the Zionist Organization of
America, serves to highlight the views of some of the major American/Israeli organizations and
dual American/Israeli voting citizens living in Israel. The Coalition aims to voice their deep
concern over the future of the historical capital of Israel and the Jewish people.
AIAC: American Israeli Action Coalition:
Harvey Schwartz, Chairman
Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel: Rabbi Jeffrey Bienenfeld, President
Emunah Women: Toby Willig, Member, Board of Directors
Rabbinical Council of America in Israel: Rabbi Aaron Borow, President
Worldwide Young Israel Movement: Rabbi Aaron S. Tirschwell, Director of Israel Operations
Zionist Organization of America: Jeff Daube, Director of the Israel Office
For more information, please contact:
Aaron S. Tirschwell: 972.52.608.9756; aaron@youngisrael.org
Jeff Daube: 972.52.538.0840; jdaube@zoa.org
* * * * *
Submitted by hhoffman on Wed, 23/07/2008 - 00:06.
July 22, 2008
"AGAIN?"
It's just about three weeks since an Arab
resident of eastern Jerusalem utilized a heavy
tractor to overturn buses and cars in a terrorist
attack in the heart of Jerusalem.
Today another driver of a tractor left his
construction site in Jerusalem's Yemin Moshe
neighborhood and drove onto King David
Street, apparently seeking to recreate this
terrorist incident. He attempted to overturn a
bus and crashed into several cars, overturning
one. Eyewitnesses said he also tried to lower
the blade of his equipment on the head of a
passerby but just missed. At least sixteen
people were injured, one seriously, before he
was shot dead, apparently in combined effort
by a civilian and police, as he neared Gan
Hapa'amon (Liberty Bell Park), at the
intersection of King David Street and Keren
Hayasod Street.
~~~~~~~~~~
It is reported that the terrorist was Hassan
Abu-Tir, a resident of the Umm Tuba
neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem, and
possessor of an Israeli identity card. Hassan is
a relative of the Hamas parliament member
Muhammad Abu-Tir, who is being held in Israeli
prison.
Passage to eastern Jerusalem was reportedly
blocked for a period as the police were seeking
two additional individuals. Perhaps more
information will follow in the next day or so.
~~~~~~~~~~
Barack Obama is here in Israel now and all of
this occurred about half a block from the King
David Hotel, where he will be staying tonight. I
might hope that this would help bring home to
Obama the situation that we are living with.
~~~~~~~~~~
Tonight a press conference was held in
Jerusalem by the Coalition for a United
Jerusalem, which consists of the American
Israeli Action Committee, the Council of Young
Israel Rabbis in Israel, Emunah Women,
Rabbinical Council of America in Israel,
Worldwide Young Israel Movement, and Zionist
Organization of America.
These groups -- all American organizations with
representation in Israel -- took advantage of
Senator Obama's presence in Jerusalem to raise
serious questions about his position on
Jerusalem.
In his recent speech to the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Public Policy
Conference, Obama said, "Let me be
clear...Jerusalem will remain the capital of
Israel, and it must remain
undivided." ("Undivided" is a code word
universally understood to mean that it would
remain exclusively under Israeli sovereignty.)
Within days he had backtracked, explaining that
what he meant when he said "undivided" was
simply that the city shouldn't again be divided
by barbed wire as it was between 1949 and
1967. He suggested that there was room for
Palestinian sovereignty in the city as well. In a
CNN interview, he said he thought a good
"starting point" for negotiations was the Clinton
plan advanced at Taba in 2000, which called for
a divided city, but actually was subsequently
taken off the table.
~~~~~~~~~~
Now the Coalition publicly called upon Obama
to:
-- Reaffirm his original remarks made at the
AIPAC Conference.
-- Disavow his subsequent retraction.
-- Declare that security and access to all holy
places can only be guaranteed by Israeli
sovereignty.
-- Acknowledge that Israeli withdrawals from
southern Lebanon and Gaza have led to
destabilization and increased terror, and that
this presages a similar deterioration likely to
occur in eastern Jerusalem if Israel were to
withdraw and turn the area over to Fatah,
which would like be usurped by Hamas.
-- Take immediate steps to introduce a more
balanced and pro-Israel perspective by
appointing a number of foreign policy advisors
who are more likely to consider an undivided
Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. Past and
present formal and informal advisors to Obama
in his campaign offer an extremely one-sided
"pressure Israel" view predisposed to rejecting
the possibility of a unified Jerusalem.
~~~~~~~~~~
All of the salient points were made during the
course of this press conference regarding why
Jerusalem should remain undivided:
Issues of security if half of the city were to be
in the hands of Fatah or Hamas, which would be
able to shoot at western Jerusalem.
Religious issues regarding our right to retain
control of our holiest site, which the
Palestinians are eager to usurp.
The long-standing tradition of Jerusalem as a
Jewish city, going back 3,000 years.
The affront to Israel of not allowing her to
determine her capital without challenge, when
no other nation is similarly challenged.
Connected to this, the fact that the vast
majority of Israelis is opposed to division of the
city.
The actual logistical impossibility of dividing the
city, as Arab and Jewish neighborhoods are
intertwined.
~~~~~~~~~~
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to
town to visit on Sunday and addressed the
Knesset yesterday, the first British prime
minister to do so. He attempted to begin and
end with a phrase in Hebrew. He described
himself as a life-long friend of Israel and
described his father's ardent support for our
nation. He praised Israel's achievements "in the
face of the war, terror and violence,
intimidation and insecurity" as ""truly
monumental," saying they represented a
"boundless capacity of mind and spirit." He
pledged to fight academic boycotts of Israel
inside of Britain.
"Let me tell the people of Israel today," he
declared, "Britain is your true friend."
~~~~~~~~~~
And then... then he advised those gathered that
"peace is within your grasp." This peace would
be founded upon "a two-state solution based on
1967 borders," with "Jerusalem the capital for
both," a "just and agreed settlement for
refugees" and "freezing and withdrawing from
settlements."
They do it every time. This is the mantra, with
every single "friendly" visitor seeming to
consider it de rigeur to make this
pronouncement. It was not enough for Brown to
say we need to make accommodations with the
Palestinians in order to achieve peace, that we
must negotiate flexibly to that end. He had to
spell it out -- '67 borders (they were armistice
lines, Mr. Prime Minister, not borders), sharing
of Jerusalem and all. These are issues that are
supposed to be negotiated, yet he has
determined the outcome already.
The problem is that the Palestinians have
convinced the world that they have a right to
these things and that justice won't be done
unless they receive them. Many of the world's
leaders don't give a damn about us at all and
are eager to accommodate Arabs. But even
those professing friendship have conveniently
convinced themselves that if only this can be
achieved peace will be possible, and take it
upon themselves to advise us of this.
~~~~~~~~~~
Prime Minster Brown should be told that true
friends don't ask friends to surrender their
ancient heritage and box themselves into a
non-defensible position.
~~~~~~~~~~
I -- with others -- have been speaking for some
time about the need for a change in the
paradigm of thinking in the Western world with
regard to this issue. It's time for recognizing
that the notion of a Palestinian state is failed:
That in 14 years the PA has not built necessary
civic and economic infrastructure and does not
provide equal rights under the law, or freedoms
of speech or press or basic human dignity. That
the PA is thoroughly allied with terrorism. The
"moderate" Abbas rejoiced for Kuntar's release,
for heaven's sake!
The notion of a Palestinian state is ridiculous on
the face of it. And yet the world will not let this
go.
~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, it's harder to tell the world this
when we have Olmert as prime minister. He
held a joint press conference with Brown and,
while he defended our need for settlements,
announced that he believes that there can be
an agreement with the PA by the end of 2008
and that we are "closer than ever."
~~~~~~~~~~
The days of Olmert as prime minister, however,
are numbered. After considerable infighting, the
Kadima party has changed its constitution so
that an early primary is permitted. A date --
presumably in September -- now must be set
for the party leadership contest.
In response to some of the fierce internal
Kadima fighting that went on with regard to
this, Olmert reportedly referred to Livni as a
"backstabbing liar."
While an unnamed Kadima MK said, "Olmert is
a corpse that has already started to stink and
he needs to be removed as soon as possible."
~~~~~~~~~~
As to the possibility of an indictment of Olmert,
we're being by State Attorney Moshe Lador that
a decision on this will be coming soon. The
body of evidence being gathered against Olmert
would soon be handed over to Attorney-General
Menachem Mazuz, who will make the final
decision.
The cross examination of Talansky is still in
process, but daily more questions are raised
about his reliability as a witness, as he "forgets"
things he knew before, or professes confusion
as to why he said what he did before, or just
contradicts himself.
The state's case is not built exclusively on his
testimony however, as Israeli investigators
went to the US to garner documentation and
further testimony. And there is as well the
question of Messer's willingness to talk.
Besides which, there is the new issue of alleged
double billing of non-profits for Olmert's trips,
with excess funds having gone for his private
use.
I cannot predict how this will play out. There is
a strong desire in many quarters to see true
justice done. Very clearly, at a minimum,
Olmert is finished in politics because his
associates and the nation have heard enough.
The statement about his being a corpse that
has started to stink says it all.
Case after case has been cited of leaders who
resigned because of legal or even complex
political difficulties. Even Nixon was evoked in
this regard the other day -- Nixon having had
the sense to say that his remaining in power
while he fought the accusations against him
would distract the nation from important
business. Only Olmert has hung on despite
everything, and to hell with the nation.
Whether he will be held legally accountable for
his various doings remains to be seen.
~~~~~~~~~~
Al-Hayat in London reported today that
according to an Egyptian source -- Egypt being
the go-between in negotiations on Shalit --
Marwan Barghouti is among the 70 prisoners
that Israel has so far agreed to release in
exchange for Shalit. This would be another
huge error -- another victory for terrorist forces
that makes a mockery of Israeli justice. To the
best of my knowledge this has not yet been
confirmed by other sources.
Barghouti, a Fatah leader, founder of the
Tanzim and major instigator of the first
Intifada, is serving five life sentences. As the
man who gave his blessing to a 2002 terrorist
attack on a Bat Mitzvah party that killed six and
wounded 30, he is just one more evil being who
should never see the light of day. He would
surely be recidivist, returning to terrorism as a
leader.
In spite of Hamas demands, however, it is
being said that Israel has refused to release
Popular Front Secretary-General Ahmad
Saadat, who was involved in the assassination
of Israeli Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.
In any event, the Egyptian source is saying that
Hamas will not release Shalit unless Israel
agrees to all 450 names that have been passed
via Egypt. The full demand is for 1,000
prisoners, but it is 450 names that are critical
to Hamas. If Israel has only agreed to 70, there
are many other names besides Saadat that are
being refused.
~~~~~~~~~~
Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin reported to the
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
today that Hamas has taken advantage of the
"ceasefire" to plant mines across widespread
areas of Gaza.
(Sounds to me not only that we should have
gone in before this happened, but that when we
ultimately do, which, one assumes, eventually
we will, there will have to be more air
operations.)
Diskin additionally reported that the smuggling
of weapons into Gaza has continued without
letup, as well, and that the group has rockets
that can reach Kiryat Gat and likely Ashdod. As
Hamas is gaining strength during this time, it
has a vested interest in maintaining the "quiet."
Diskin is opposed to the "ceasefire," and says
that we need a presence inside of Gaza in order
to combat terrorism. He is also opposed to the
release of Barghouti.
~~~~~~~~~~
see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info