Reps. Barbara Lee (D-East Bay) and Jackie Speier (D-Peninsula) were among a group of congresswomen on a recent six-day tour of Israel and the West Bank under J Street’s auspices.
Barbara Lee
Other members of the group, which returned to the United States late last week, were Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) and Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.).
The delegation of women, including 14 female philanthropists, met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and “ordinary women.” The visit included crossing into the West Bank from the Kalandiya checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
The trip was sponsored by the J Street Education Fund and the Women Donors Network, a group that promotes investment to advance peace and women’s rights.
Jackie Speier
A spokeswoman for J Street, Jessica Rosenblum, said the trip was part of the organization’s overall effort to promote a two-state solution.
“Our hope is that this and future delegations will help to open up and deepen the conversation in Congress about American policy in the Middle East,” Rosenblum said.
In one meeting at a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, several settlers insisted that their small town, Shiloh, would remain part of Israel in a two-state solution. Some described a scenario in which Palestinians would be allowed to stay in their homes but not receive national or voting rights — which drew a sharp reply from the members of Congress.
“Some people would call that apartheid,” Speier said. — jta
All
03/01/2012 at 01:56 PM
The suggestion that Arabs not wishing to be part of the state of Israel in new borders and therefore being unable to vote for its state institutions is “apartheid” is odd. US citizens in the District of Columbia cannot elect congressional representatives and, coincidentally, there are over 100,000 Jews in Israel who cannot vote for the Knesset, being only permanent residents. Arabs could have the option of being politically represented by Jordan which, after all, is part of the original “Palestine”. In any case, a population that has been killing Jews for 90 years and attempting either to prevent Israel from being established or trying to eradicate it through terror, and which is being administered by Israel due only to their being part of an agressive war against Israel, can not be expected to gain all political rights to that state they seek to destroy.
The League of Nations granted political rights solely to Jews in the country, not even mentioning Arabs. Those that would be assured but “civil and religious rights” were termed “non-Jews” which meant Muslims, Christians, atheists or any of a dozen national groupings residing in the country at the time. But not Arabs as they were to gain the national rights in other countries of the former Ottoman Empire.
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