Special to WJW

In the wake of six years of diplomatic neglect by the Bush administration, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has placed devastating pressure on the Israelis and Palestinians, daily endangering the lives of civilians and threatening to erupt into a regional war involving Israel's neighbors, as foreshadowed by last summer's Lebanon war.

Such continued threats to the Jewish state and to peace in the region must be urgently addressed by all who care deeply about Israel's well-being and the democratic principles on which Israeli society is based. This can only be accomplished by focusing on talks leading to a renewal of the peace process, not by continuing to talk about textbooks.

Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, is a pro-Israel, pro-peace American Jewish organization. Our call for vigorous U.S. leadership in facilitating a negotiated, two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rooted in our commitment to Israel's well-being and security. Most American Jews, as well, and the majority of Israelis and Palestinians also support a negotiated settlement to the conflict that would result in the establishment of a Palestinian state coexisting peacefully beside Israel.

Lasting peace for Israel and her neighbors guides Brit Tzedek's work; this is our mission. Yet we are now called upon to clarify details of a letter our organization sent Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) following her remarks at a press conference about Palestinian textbooks. Ironically, the crux of that letter was an appeal not to allow the discussion surrounding Middle East peace to be sidetracked by secondary issues such as textbooks.

In addressing the issue of textbooks in Palestinian schools, our letter clearly stated that Brit Tzedek "deplores the use of any textbooks with political, national, religious or other kinds of bias." We strongly object to any pedagogical materials that diminish the possibility of peace and fuel hatred of another people, acknowledge that some Palestinian texts remain problematic, and maintain that their content is not the primary cause of Palestinian animus, but only a symptom that will adequately be addressed by resolving the underlying political conflict.

Further, Brit Tzedek urges Sen. Clinton and all congressional leaders ‹ and all who seek presidential office in 2008 ‹ to take a comprehensive view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and draw on multiple sources of information in reaching any conclusions. We hope all American leaders will put renewed diplomatic engagement between Israel, the Palestinians and all of its neighbors at the top of our nation's foreign policy agenda.

Brit Tzedek fully recognizes the ever-changing dialogue on Middle East peace. Just last week, we mobilized our national grassroots network to urge senators to reject a "Dear Colleague" letter calling on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ban all contact with Palestinian moderates who join the new unity government, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a key voice in support of negotiations. This so-called "pro-Israel" letter was a slap in the face to Israel's own wait-and-see policy, coming just days after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Abbas.

Encouragingly, the letter's lead sponsors have changed the text to permit diplomatic contact with Abbas, though, unfortunately, it continues to prohibit contact with other like-minded moderates upon whose support Abbas depends. Maintaining open channels to Palestinian moderates clearly serves both U.S. and Israeli interests, and this matter, not analyzing Palestinian textbooks, should receive major consideration by the Congress and the American Jewish community.

Palestinians, Israelis and Americans have all proven adept at finding reasons to justify ‹ at different times in history ‹ refusing to engage in negotiations to end this conflict. But where has this gotten us? Nearly 60 years after the successful realization of the Jewish national dream, and 40 years following the end of the Six Day War, the conflict is still exacting a dangerous and increasingly deadly toll.

It must stop. Rather than continue to lock horns and level insult and accusation, all who are devoted to the Jewish state must marshal our efforts for the resumption of peace talks toward a negotiated two-state resolution. To address the needs of the Israeli people, we must support the urgent work of peacemaking ‹ not tomorrow and not next week; diplomatic engagement must start today. It is time to talk.

Diane Cantor and Marcia Freedman are the executive director and president respectively of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace.