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| 7/1/2009 8:59:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | | Transcript of "Community Conversation on Israel, the West Bank and Gaza," provided by Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington | June 29, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
White Oak Middle School
12201 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20904
There are certainly plenty of people I don't know in this room, but it's good to have you here this evening. And I hope you'll bear with us as well. It's a little warm in here because there's a lot of us, but what I thought I would do this evening, before I go forward with the slides...
This is the second town hall meeting that we've done on issues related to the Middle East, particularly Israel and Palestine relationships and moving forward with the peace process. We held a meeting over at Prince Georges Community College in the winter, and let me just assure you that it was both colder and wetter that evening for those of you who were there... and part of the reason that I wanted to do this was, I think I never really mince words, when I came into Congress after...we began the 111th Congress. It was at a time that Israel was in the middle of its operations of Operation Cast Lead and that had been followed by a number of - over some period of time - rocket attacks into southern Israel. The United States Congress - the House anyway - decided that it wanted to issue a resolution. And I looked at the text of that resolution and realized we were going to be voting on it the day after the United Nations had issued its own resolution with the United States court and I concluded that it was really inappropriate for the Congress to be intervening at that late stage. And I was concerned about the resolutions for a number of reasons, but one of my concerns that actually led me, rather than voting 'no' on the resolution, but to vote 'present' the reason for that, and I explained this to the people who were at the town hall meeting and through a press release. The reason for that is because I also didn't... while I was not ...I definitely was not supportive of the Operation Cast Lead and particularly the bombing of civilian areas in and around Gaza city, I did not want to send what I thought would have been a very inappropriate message that I thought that the Hamas rocket attacks on Southern Israel, and particularly on the town of Sderot, were appropriate either and so as a result rather than voting 'no' and certainly not voting for the resolution I voted 'present.' And I will just share with you that I heard across the board many different view points following my vote and as a result I decided that I thought it was important for us as a congressional district to really open up this dialogue and conversation about the Middle East. I think that it's a conversation that doesn't take place in the breadth and depth that it needs to throughout our Congressional District. And so I said that well, if this is the case, than it will be important for me to come before the people who are my constituents and explain both my vote in January and I guess it was just days before the Presidential inauguration and then also at that town meeting I made a commitment as I had that at some point or other during this year I would make my own personal trip to the region to meet with and talk with people on the ground in Israel and Gaza if we could get in and the West Bank. And after many fits and starts because of our congressional schedule I was able to make that trip in May. I committed at the time...at our town hall meeting... I committed then that when I came back from that trip I would convene another town hall meeting. So, that's why I'm here tonight...some of you may be here for other reasons, but that's why I'm here this evening.
And I will just say that for me, I have never traveled to the region before and although in my 10 years or so at the ARCA foundation having funded issues over that ten years related to particularly peace projects in the Middle East and the surrounding region I had not visited the region before. Other members of my foundation and trustees had in fact done that over the course of 20 years or so and in particular a lot of my instruction and engagement on the Middle East actually came from one of our trustees at the ARCA foundation who over some period of years has taught at the University in Tel Aviv and written rather extensively about the Middle East and so I took this trip in May over the Memorial Day holiday...and as I said I traveled to the three somewhat distinct, although, you know, somewhat close geographic areas, and had a sense meeting with a range of people and I think someplace back here on the table or either posted on my website is the itinerary that lists the very range of people that a group of us met with. I traveled with Congressman Brian Baird from Washington State and Congressman Peter Welch from Vermont. And it was actually a really good group because we were small enough. And we traveled under the auspices of a project that's run out of the New America Foundation, which is a nonprofit education and research institute that works on a variety of both domestic and international issues based in Washington, D.C. It is a nonprofit group that I have known since its inception because the ARCA foundation was one of its first donors. But this project is actually new to the New America Foundation; it had been housed at the Century Foundation - another private foundation for several years with support which I was instrumental in getting for them to run a project that pulls together a variety of voices from throughout the Middle East - Palestinian, Israeli, Arab Israeli, Jewish Israeli, Christians - to talk about the Middle East and under that project we would bring a lot of those civic leaders and others to the United States, traveling around to different parts of the country, engaged in town hall meetings, and discussions.
I had also worked on another project at the foundation that brought together mothers - Palestinian and Israeli mothers - who traveled together to talk about their desires for peace and what they thought about their children's future, and again these projects were designed to go around the country and in communities and states that don't often have that conversation, and so that's the context in which I decided to take this trip sponsored by the New America foundation during the memorial day.
And as you can see for those of you who picked up the itinerary or had a chance to look at it on my website, you can see the wide variety of folks that we met with from government leaders in Israel and the West Bank. We did not meet with any of the Hamas leadership in Gaza but we did travel under the auspices of the United Nations in Gaza and we met with civic leaders, people who run civil rights organizations to legal rights organizations, groups that are working on...I met with the fellow who is one of the leaders of the settlement movement. We sat across the table and talked with each other for about an hour/an hour and a half about the question of settlements and why settlements. It helped me have a perspective at least from people who are deeply committed to settling Israelis, deeply committed to settling throughout the area. We also met with various members of the Knesset. It was a very vibrant day at the Knesset that day and I thought my goodness if Congress operated that way it would be fun. It was good. There was quite a spirited debate actually going on the floor of the Knesset that day and we were able to sit and listen to that and watch the outcome of a vote and because everybody was convened it allowed us to meet with a number of different party leadership from the Likud party to the Meretz party to everything in and between. Again, it was very instructive to people's thinking and what I can share with you is that I wish that both the kind of spirited debate and interchange that I think takes place in Israel all the time would actually take place here in the United States, I think we would all be better off for it.
In addition to that it was helpful we didn't just stay in Tel Aviv. We, as I said, were able to drive through, and I think both the driving and the complexity of driving from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramalah, Gaza City, the complexity of traveling throughout the region was instructive in itself. Israel, because of it's own security concerns, which are real, has had to invest an awful lot of its own resources and with support from the United States into the security infrastructure which includes the transportation infrastructure, the communications infrastructure - all of it - and I think seeing that and experiencing it in terms of getting around clarified, actually, a lot of things for me. I also had the opportunity, as I said, to go into Ramallah, a drive that really from Tel Aviv shouldn't take all that long but because of the complex network of roads in fact it does. You know, traveling from Ramallah to, for example, to another Palestinian town, can often take what should be a 20 minute drive could take hours even for us and we had clearance to do that travel. Again a very complex network of infrastructure.
I would also say in Tel Aviv we met in addition to the various Knesset party leaders also met with the government leaders and in particular the gentlemen who is set to be, if he hasn't yet been confirmed already, the new ambassador to the United States. I think we met with him just before that would happen. We also met with some of the military leadership as well both to discuss security of settlements and the movement of goods and people across the various check points. And as I said in Ramallah we had an opportunity to meet with some of the government leadership and some of the political party leadership. Always a little more challenging to get your hands on.
I was actually just reading in Friday's paper ...there was an article about the increasing responsibility the Palestinian forces have now for security over the West Bank as Israel is gradually handing those security tasks over to the Palestinian Authority.
Then also in Gaza the United Nations and several international humanitarian organizations have relief operations going on there but it's very very complicated. There's a lot of destruction there are...I think 3,000 or so people who are homeless and then another 25,000 or so, who are in need of repair of some sort or other of their homes.
I will tell you, I was actually surprised in Gaza City that the market seemed full. We walked around the market places and the market seemed, appeared to be full-they are. And it's not because the goods aren't getting there. But the problem is they're getting there mostly through the illegal tunnels. And the challenge for Israel, and for I think for Egypt too, that because there is a convergence of both legal and illegal material and goods coming through the tunnels it's tough to discern the different and so it actually makes it more complicated to provide the security and closure of the tunnel operation. The other downside as we talked particularly to the UN folks there the other downside of the tunnel operation is that Hamas basically charges an enormous tax or toll and so Hamas get its... what it needs but the people aren't necessarily getting goods in a way that they can afford them. And so I think that heightens the complexity of how we try to figure out how to move food and other necessary goods legally across the borders and at a level that is appropriate for Gazan citizens without keeping so much activity going on in the tunnel so that you don't know the difference between bombing materials and other weaponry and food products that are coming through and so I think that is a security challenge in the region.
In visiting, I bounce back and forth because the comparison and contrast is very striking to visit Gaza City to hear the intensity that people feel about not being able to rebuild their homes and schools and things and then to go just five miles away to the town of Sderot which has the capacity and has had the capacity from the Government to do the repair work and security work that needs to be done in that town after the bombings, so you don't really see the physical impact of the bombing in Sderot - the rockets in Sderot but you see the bombing in Gaza but at the same time you hear the fear. The fear of the kids who have to go to school at a school where the playground suffered a rocket attack. Or we visited with a really amazing young man who has twin 11yr olds in Sderot. And his 11year old boys are afraid to sleep in their bedrooms at night and they sleep with their parents because a rocket hit the home right next door to them. That's very very real fear...And I think the challenge that we face as we see the very evident devastation - and it is evident devastation in Gaza and outside of Gaza City but you feel and see the real fear that the people in southern Israel live through because although the rocket attacks are sporadic, they happen. And really, you will see the picture as we go through here of qassam rockets I mean they are just the most rudimentary and crude weaponry ever, but they are dangerous and destructive. And so I have been in, perhaps you can hear it, I have been juggling these two very real and present at least for ordinary people contrasts of violence and more than that, contrast of a lack of peace. I have wrestled with these images in the several weeks since I have returned but it has helped for me - and I do plan to return - but it has helped for me to clarify some of my thinking about what needs to happen next but I will say in all three areas without a doubt people were...
I talked to some folks on the beach in Tel Aviv and they anticipated as much President Obama's speech in Cairo as much as the young people running around barefoot on the streets in Gaza and as much as the people on the West Bank and Ramallah. There was great anticipation - not anticipation because they were afraid of what he would say but anticipation because they wanted him to say something that would give them another thread of hope that we would be able to move toward real peace and anticipating United States leadership in that direction. And I think among "officialdom" - you know, elected officials and some of the civic and civil society leadership, there was a little more questioning and skepticism but the ordinary people - the folks in homes, and in markets and on the street, they were looking forward to President Obama's speech because they believe that the United States has an important role to play in peace and they want the United States to be engaged and be engaged actively. I mean, I think almost more than anything else that rang clear for me and it didn't matter where and in what community and I think that's important for us as Americans and I have had an opportunity to travel to some other areas in the broader Arab states and the broader region prior to that and I think that's true across the board. And I think as I listened to the President, what I heard him say is that there's a lot of responsibility to go around if we really are committed to peace. And part of that peace in his view is moving more deliberately toward a two state solution that's real. He did not absolved Arab states from responsibility. He did not absolve Israel from responsibility. Nor did he absolve Palestinians from responsibility. And I would say he was also speaking to us as American about our responsibility to play a leadership role in the region. And I would say the least of which we should play that role because of our own national security interests. Our national security interests are tied in Israel's security. And the more we come to grips with that, the more important it becomes to us as Americans and not just to - I think that for a long term resolution in the region I am struck it isn't just Jewish Americans who have to take responsibility for peace or for whom peace is a concern. It has to be a concern for all of us across all communities. And I think it's the truth everybody has to be. We've gone through too many administrations for whatever domestic political reasons, usually because the President is kind of in trouble on some other things they wait until the 11th hour to say aha! Now it's time for us to play a leadership role on Middle East peace. And we have seen - and this is Democrats and Republicans. And we have seen administration after administration wait until the 11th hour of their presidency when they have had 4 or 8 years to be more engaged and dynamic on the Middle East and they've waited and I think as a result it has put Israel's security in jeopardy, it has left Palestinians without a home, and it has raised national security issues for the United States. And I am glad to see that President Obama first up he appoints George Mitchell as his envoy. Secretary of State Clinton who is clearly - who although she obviously has many concerns around the world she is engaged in the Middle East. And they are partners and I think we are seeing an administration who is not going - and I think it's up to us to make sure that's true - but I think we are not seeing an administration that is going to wait until the 11th hour of this Presidency to be engaged in peace. And I think that is good for all of us. And I can tell you that just across the board and throughout the region and again not the political apparatus - when you're an politician you can get skeptical about a whole bunch of stuff but I'm talking about real people in their homes for whom these security questions aren't an exercise in academia but they're real because they live them every single day and they want us engaged.
And so what I think I will do is walk through some of my impression (this is not all - we took literally thousands of pictures) but some of these give you (how many of you have traveled to the region - quite a few of you -- and how many relatively recently/in the last year?) ok, and so but to give you a sense there's a lot of fluidity in the region as well, and so I would hear from people that the Israel or even the Gaza or West Bank that they experienced today is not the same one they experienced a year ago or two years ago and I think that shows the dynamism that there is in the region. And it can be helpful if we figure that out or it can be unhelpful if what we say today may not apply sometime down the line. And so these are just my impressions which could change on another trip in another 6 months or with a different set of people...
Some of the interesting meetings - this is a home in the Old City actually looking out on the city and it was the home of an Arab Israeli and I think and maybe you all know this because you all just know so much more than I do but I didn't know there is a twenty percent minority Arab population in Israel and that a lot of the domestic internal debate has to do with the rights, roles, and responsibilities of a majority and a minority and similar ways that we engage in those same debates here. That was one debate that we witnessed on the floor of the Knesset. And my view point/vantage point is that you see the density and so this notion that you can live over the long term with walls separating east and west Jerusalem or barriers...through a region that is by comparison very very small and so I have those impressions....And again looking out at the density of the city and the vibrancy, as well there, but recognizing down below on the street for those of you who haven't traveled there, if you are a Palestinian living in Israel your capacity to travel is very different. If you're an Israeli /a Jew Israeli your capacity to travel is different. You might have different concerns. You might have security concerns as you move in and out of the Old City and the new. But you don't get that if you don't see that impression you just see the city when you're looking out beyond it but you get on the streets and you clearly have that impression.
And again this is a street scene seeing the density the closeness of the streets and proximity in which the people must live because it's where they live. In and around here there are also pockets of where, for example, what might have been almost exclusively Palestinian areas there are now cropping up in between what are described as settlements, and so when I had in my view this idea of settlements I was thinking out in the countryside but within the city itself, these much smaller communities which also have to have their own security apparatus. If you could imagine that you were living in Washington D.C. and they were living in Adams Morgan and 14th was divided one side of 14th to the other side 14th street with one community living on one side of the barrier and one community living on another side of the barrier you can imagine that if either of those two sides what if one of the two communities decided to move and plant itself and then required an entire security apparatus around say a home or a complex or a handful of homes that that could really complicate the moving arrangements in those kind of close quarters.
Here this is looking out on...in a Arab area there is a mosque directly behind me taking this picture but looking just directly down at a Jewish cemetery - again the closeness and the proximity and the importance to me highlighting for me the importance of moving toward peace because it's important when you're trying to share a city that you really have the capacity to do that and to do that and do that safely and visit your ancestors safely.
And here this is very interesting because what you see in the front here Palestinian, a Palestinian settlement, or a Palestinian town. And then you see in the background, there are two Jewish settlements that are not quite together. And so when you hear this conversation about should settlements be expanded or should they be allowed to grow naturally what we're talking about is here is connecting this here. And imagine if you're connecting, for whatever reason, because you have increased population, there are any number of reasons that are given, but you can imagine it also requiring road and transportation infrastructure and barriers that ensure the Palestinians living in this town right here are really not able to get to this settlement out there and the apparatus and infrastructure that's required to maintain that.
And here again the security wall you can see stretching all along the countryside and the highway's divided. It's a pretty enormous, tremendous infrastructure. There are separate in some areas where the barrier and the highway go through there might be on one side an Israeli settlement and on the other side a Palestinian town or say a school and divided by a highway and so what used to be and another Palestinian town and there was a time that the Palestinians would cross a road or whatever to get to the school and now because of the security infrastructure it's very complicated to do that and so there's a secondary infrastructure a road system that's been created to allow them to get from one town to a school or from one town to another town.
This again is showing you the ways in which the barrier is divided and the infrastructure is around virtually every enclave of towns and settlements.
Here is the security walls that separates east and west Jerusalem. What struck me is the kind of graffiti written all over these walls - it's a very visual reminder of the tension that exists in this city. And it's a real and present reminder but whenever we look at this wall - and I don't usually talk about this but I'm a Christian and so when I was standing right there I realized when I was standing there a lot of Christians have really left Jerusalem and as a Christian I had to process for a moment how to get from the sites that are important to me and my religion and my religious tradition with the barriers that are intended to separate the Palestinian neighborhoods from the Jewish neighborhoods and I just thought to myself and I'll just share - I thought to myself where do I fit in here, where do I fit into this city that is the home for all of our religious traditions and many of our religious traditions and heritage and it's just an impression I had sort of standing there because we had traveled the long way to get from one side of the security wall to the other side.
And again you see the rather intense road infrastructure also through here and again you know sometimes separating fertile areas from areas that are not so fertile and so you can imagine the impact on communities that are trying to grow crops or are unable to grow crops or even transport their produce from one market to the next market.
This was at a boys school that was run by the United Nations in Gaza City. And I have to tell you, it was reported to us that prior to last summer there had been a number of schools that operated that were not Hamas schools. Now with the exception of a couple of schools run by the United Nations virtually all the other schools in Gaza are run by Hamas. I don't think this is a helpful development for any of us. It was... I talked to a couple of women in a marketplace and they were fully covered and they said to me that prior to last summer they were not covered at all and that there's so much more control by Hamas over the population now that wasn't present before and so it's made me question whether what has taken place there is actually...question whether it is more or less helpful to win the hearts and minds of the people as opposed to what's been done to clamp down on the leadership.
This particular school is one that's run by the United Nations and I think there's about 700 boys there. It is striking in Gaza the number of children. A little over fifty percent of the population are children under 15. For me, just thinking about security, I would raise the question for all of us, what it is that we are doing and how are we doing it that will speak to this 50 percent plus population under the age of 15 and we will speak to them with violence and then that's what they know and grow, or will we speak to them with peace? It's certainly a question that I had. This particular school had just an extraordinary number of boys in this school. They were doing an art project, and I think we'll come up on these pictures. I saw two interesting art projects when traveling in Gaza and near Jerusalem.
One of them was a project that these boys have worked on to draw their feelings after the bombing occurred. And when you see the pictures you will see these are striking pictures for young children to be drawing. The other pictures are pictures that were drawn by Jewish and Arab students that go to school together in a little town called Neve Shalom/Wahat-al-Salaam. It is an intentionally mixed community. It's existed for about 25 years (somebody correct me if I'm wrong... there are kids who have grown up there who are raising their families there) in any case, this community, this mixed community, the pictures that these children drew are such a stark contrast to the pictures that were drawn in Gaza and I think this stuck with me because it's a sign of the potential and opportunity that we may have but with these children in Gaza we run the risk of losing yet another generation that will be highly politicized and some of them doing great danger and harm. These are the pictures from Neve Shalom/Wahat-al-Salaam. This community is...we stayed overnight there - has anyone stayed there? It's a beautiful community...and we stayed overnight there and had a chance to talk with a number of the community and some of them have lived there a long time and others were raised there and are now raising their children in this community. In grade school the Arab children go to school with Jewish children and then when they come out of grade school they go to separate schools but it's instructive how grounding it is for them to go to school together and when we talked with some 16-25 yr olds who have lived in the community and then gone out to separate schools and I have to tell you I mean their perspectives on the possibility of living together peacefully is completely different than some other children's perspectives.
And then these were the pictures from the school - same age children - pictures from the school in Gaza City. You can see the really stark contrast. The United Nations - about the only thing that is present there because the Palestinian Authority used to operate even with the Hamas controlled government used to operate some other schools or civil society there but since last summer that is largely not true, but the United Nations does operate some computer learning centers, literacy classes and other things mostly for women because women will come. And it is at least a way to chop away at what is a growing really profound illiteracy problem in the Palestinian territories that had not existed before. Palestinians had been highly educated but of course many Palestinians have left who were educated have actually left and so what remains is a really huge gap educationally, and so the United Nations runs some of these programs, there's a library, that's there. They run literacy programs mostly for the women and young girls - again these are just pictures of the program.
Again the streets...you can see here in Gaza City in every pocket and corner children were just everywhere. For me, that just says what the opportunity is and also says what the danger is. There out in the street and not in school, and also because Hamas has free reign now Hamas has been able to politicize them and it's not helpful to security.
Again you can see these qassam rockets - this is at a police station in Sderot and you can see the qassam rockets and you can see the dates on some and they span a range of time but it's thousands of them. You can see how really just crude and rudimentary they are but still very harmful and dangerous. They had qassam rockets at the police station just lined up at the back of the station.
This is a woman's home in Gaza...We have a picture of it, but we don't have it here... back inside of here she has put her blanket and everything she owns there because she's afraid to leave because she doesn't want anyone else to come there and plant themselves there. She has 4 children who are living away with her sister because they can't live there. There is also an encampment just a couple hundred yards down the way, because she believes she's in much more physical danger for herself as a woman living inside the encampment alone (her husband was killed in January).
This is in Gaza just outside of Gaza city a cement construction factory. Right now they're collecting all these rods from the construction materials to refurbish them or rehab them in some way for reuse.
This is the International School. There is wide-ranging debate about what was going on or not at the International School. From Israel's perspective they believe that there was terrorist activity going on at the International School, other's say not. In any case it was destroyed. I was just standing in the rubble at the school. There were schoolbooks; I picked up social studies books, diplomas, and all the rest.
What I'd like to do now is have a conversation and take some questions. I'm happy to take just about any question do my best to respond. I do want you to know that on these kind of questions although they don't consume me and Congress every single day they are important to us and to us as a country and to our security interest and so I think it's critical that we engage in a real conversation...I think we have microphones actually and so you'll have to line up (don't everyone jump up at once or else there'll be no one to listen).
I would really appreciate it out of respect for the people here, please do ask a question. You can see the line stretching really back and I don't know if we have someone who would volunteer to just be a time keeper but I say that out of respect for everybody in line. Please tell me your name and where you live.
Question: I wonder whether you believe in Israel's right to be a Jewish state and whether you believe the Palestinians should acknowledge that Israel's a Jewish state?
Edwards: Did everyone hear the question? The question is whether I believe in Israel's right to be a Jewish state and whether the Palestinians should acknowledge that Israel is a Jewish state. I think there are several things we have to do. One, the United States recognizes and validates Israel's right to exist as its own sovereign and in security and that its neighbors recognize the same thing. And I also imperative that - and whether those exact words have to be said before we can proceed with negotiation with trying to figure out and resolve issues - I think it's another question that our diplomats will have to answer. My recollection is that the Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank has acknowledged Israel as a Jewish state (shouts of "no") What Hamas has done or not is outside... (indecipherable) obviously, you don't have to tell me, I do know that. And so what I do think that this notion that we have to wait for a unified government from Gaza to the West Bank before we begin a process of moving toward a two state solution - I don't share that view. I don't think the President shares that view. I think we do have to make sure that in Palestine there's a government that also is also able to engage it's own politics and have safe and fair elections and that it has a civil society that has an infrastructure built that really is looking out for the citizens of Palestine. And it seems to me that if we can live on those things in the West Bank then believe me, the people in Gaza will want the same things and then Hamas will have to make a decision - does it want to engage in violence or does it want to work for peace and toward building up its own infrastructure and make a way for its people to be unified with the government in the West Bank but I don't think we can wait for that to resolve itself in Gaza before moving forward with what appears to be the growing capacity of the West Bank for it's own government.
Question: Sadly for any prospect for an enduring peace there's been no mention every in any of the peace proposals that there be a halt to the negative anti-Israel/anti-Jewish propaganda that has been skillfully integrated into the schools of the Arab children from before kindergarten and on up through the grades of their education system. ... this has become truly a cult phenomenon. The children believe and the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish beliefs persist ... through adulthood. Cult like beliefs ... question is how about the Arabs have called for a halt to the settlements and Obama too, how about a halt to this education too... how can there be acceptance or agreement for peace?
Edwards: First, let me say that I agree with the President's call for a halt to the settlement growth. I also agree with the President - when the President said in Cairo, he spoke to Arab states and he talked about their responsibility to stop the fomenting of violence. He talked about their responsibility - he talked about their responsibility and I agree with that. I also think that one of the things that I have ... read reported in Ha'Aretz were soccer matches in Israel also calling for the death of Palestinians. I think this kind of volatility and hatred - you could - we could disagree of whether it's this level in one place and another level in another place but the fact of the matter is that most people whether they are in Israel or through the West Bank want peace. I believe that they do. And I believe that there are some elements who don't, under any circumstance and with that too often those people get in the way of our capacity to think about how we move toward peace.
Question: Is the Arab Peace Initiative a document that the Obama Administration going to look at and consider...?
Edwards: I know that special envoy Mitchell and the state department are actively looking at the agreement and what you've heard from the President is that he wants to use that and the Arab states as a mechanism for implementation of peace. And I think that that's helpful. We actually do need to push the Arab states to do more than they are. There are a lot of reason that one could argue, and certainly you hear it, that the Arab states, maybe yes want peace, but, you know, maybe there are some disincentives and I think the United States has to play its own role and I think you heard this from the President in Cairo in pushing the Arab States to meet their responsibility for the region. And he did talk about a regionalism which I think is really important as well. Because this isn't just about what happens in settling the border between a Palestinian state and Israel it's also about the regional efforts that it would take for sustained peace.
Question: I've been in the Gaza strip twice in the last three months with a delegation of the UN and I've also been in Israel ... and I want to ask about the border closure. I think you articulated very well the fear on both sides - the fact that both are subjected to violence...(indecipherable) what about the disproportionate effects - much more extensive in Gaza...the people in Israel can leave if they choose to...The fact that the border closure is people have no hope...they can't leave they can't rebuild they can't go to school. They have no other reality but that... How do you feel about the border closure and what's the solution there?
Edwards: I do think that the border closure is really not helpful. I understand, look... Israel has a real and present security concern. And so I think we would be foolish not to acknowledge that. But at the same time, there has to be a way, and there was previously, for the movement of people in a way that is safe. When I see elderly people and children in need of medical attention having to wait get things figured out for them to get the attention they need I think that is a problem. It's also problematic as I spoke about earlier the movement of goods above ground and legally that are checked so that we ensure that there aren't goods getting through that can be used for bomb making but that we also know there are goods getting through that will enable the Palestinian people to make a way for themselves. And I have to tell you when I was in Gaza at the International School I saw a dispersed piece of weaponry and I saw the markings on it. The markings were in English. They were ours. And so if someone sees that they don't just see Israel they see the United States. And at the same time we also don't want materials getting through that can cause the harm on the other side of that fence. I think there is a way for Israel in cooperation with Egypt and also with the United States can figure out how more goods can get through - better for people to get a bag of lentils that has USA written on them then for them to find a dispersed weapon at a school with USA.
Question: For those of us for really want to work for peace, equality, and justice, and long term security for Israel now, and who support Obama Administration's initiative and your initiative, what would you suggest that we could do to really help to bring about a real peace?
Edwards: Well I think that we can start, I mean, part of the way the way we start, I think, engaging in a respectful dialogue and conversation because there are real... even from my conversations with people who, for lack of a better phrase, would describe themselves as staunchly pro-Israel, I would say to them, well, I'm pro-Israel too and I don't think there's anything, I don't think there's anything different between being pro-Israel and being pro-peace in that region and I think all of us have an obligation and all of us have an obligation to ... we can certainly have differences on strategy and even on policy but the way that we work those out is the way we expect people to work them out in the region, we work them out through a dialogue. And I may not be doing this perfectly, but this is what I'm going to do. And I think this would be useful to the Obama administration because I think the Obama administration, in my experience - let me back up - in my experience among Jews it that there's a wide variation of thought and ideas and feelings about what should happen in the Middle East. That should become much more evident in our public dialogue. I am African American, so when people say to me African American think "so and so" it's among the most deeply offensive things I can hear because it's not a monolith and neither is it a monolith among Jews and I think there are many of us that cross cultural, ethnic, religious, racial line who have a whole bunch of thoughts about what aught to happen in the Middle East and what the United States' role should be and I think the more we engage in that dialogue here and across the country the more grounding the President of the United States will have and the more empowered he will have to play the kind of leadership role the United States needs to play in working toward peace.
Question: Presentation from Peace Action Montgomery to Edwards
Question: We've had several conversations over the year about this topic and I just got back also from Gaza City - three weeks in Gaza and Israel - I have relatives there, and I'm one of those American...Jewish Americans, who fully supports the kinds of work you're doing and encourage you to do more and I also can testify to some positive things taking place in Gaza regarding the number of civil society organizations and so forth working together with peace and justice groups in Israel. My question is about the ability or your willingness to go to the State Department to request a full investigation into what happened in Gaza.
Edwards: I'll think on it. I have some other requests in to the State Department on this issue right now...one of the civil society groups that we met with in Israel - Be'Tzelem - they're an Israel based human rights organization. They actually just opened an office in Washington as well. They have requested their own inquiry in Israel into Operation Cast Lead and I think it's important for Israelis to step up and take the responsibility that they do for their own operations. I think it's a tougher call for the United States to step in and I'm glad those questions have been raised. Separating that question right there about the bombings that took place in Gaza...I think it really is important for us, although, you know, there is a lot of debate and argument about comparative response, and I think those are legitimate debates. The international community and the United States also cannot tolerate rocket attacks either and so I understand having an inquiry in Israel about its own operations because I think that in my discussions with Knesset leaders and even among government officials ...(indecipherable few words) there are questions that have been raised about its own internal military operations in Gaza and I think just like that would happen in some ways here in the United States as we raise questions about our own military operations in some places that we are not talking about today, and so it's important for that to go forward. I think they have filed some sort of a lawsuit - I don't completely understand it - but I believe that they have for an inquiry and so I'll take under consideration what it is that our own State Department can or should do, but higher on my priority list is to try to encourage our State Department and our Mission in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to encourage the Israeli Government to allow more and more goods and people to cross through the borders. I think that is a higher goal.
Question: I'm wondering what Congress can do to support President Obama in his agenda for Palestinian and Israeli reconciliation.
Edwards: I think I did just speak to that in a number of questions. Again part of our role and responsibility is to open up this dialogue because it really gives the President some operating room, it gives him some space, political space. Also it gives members of Congress some political space of our own to engage in a much more helpful dialogue. What's been shocking to me about Congress on this issue, frankly is on this issue, is the lack of dialogue. And I think it's important to open that up and I know that those of us who have had an opportunity to travel through the region beginning to have some conversations privately and quietly with our colleagues so that we can try to get over some of these barriers. One thing I'll share with you before we go on is that one of the things that happened just a couple weeks ago, so sad, but when the security officer was so brutally killed at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, it was actually an opportunity for those of us who are on different sides of things to actually come together and really condemn this act of really clear anti-Semitism from someone who is anti-Semitic and racist and who knew you could get to be eighty something years old and still hold onto this kind of hatred. But it allowed, in the oddest way, it allowed some of us who have not really necessarily shared the same viewpoints on the policy issues as our colleagues to be able come together and condemn that action and stand together for and on behalf of the family. I think these moments are important to take advantage of because it gets us out of our sort of entrenched places to think about a much bigger and more important picture and that was one - sadly, sadly, was one of those moments.
Question: (Indecipherable... something about) the Holocaust Museum and massacre of Palestinians/Jerusalem 1977... question is - ...right now, the issue of settlements is the issue President Obama has put on the table. My question is that we as Arabs and as Muslims...(indecipherable) you as a Congresswoman, how far are you going to go to stop the settlements - the issue of the settlements is going to be the difference between peace and no peace. The issue of settlements today ... (indecipherable) and the settlements are dividing them.... How far will you go given that that these settlements are being financed by American citizens - American citizens are financing all these settlements. My question is how far will you go - are you willing to criminalize putting money in the settlements, are you willing to criminalize putting the money in the settlements like you criminalize Muslims for putting money to build hospitals in Palestine?
Edwards: Thank you for your question. First of all, the call that President Obama has made for halting the expansion of settlements is a really important one and it is clearly at least the most visible sign that this administration is taking a different track and strategy and I want to empower our Administration to engage in diplomatic activity and I don't know that we would get there with your suggestion, and I'm not quite sure what it means, but I do support really strongly President Obama's call for a halt to settlement development. And I truly do believe and I'll repeat this, that my observation with settlement growth and development is an impediment to peace. There is no where else to go. If you want to think about what it would take to have a border with a contiguous Palestinian state, and I think there should be a contiguous Palestinian state, there just is no place to do it. And I think it is, and I want to separate...the settlements from outposts. Clearly outposts are against Israel's own law and they shouldn't be allowed to happen but we can't sort of trade off you know in a conversation well we'll close down some outposts and but not really deal with settlements. And so I do believe they're an impediment to peace and I respect the international border that has been recognized. Clearly there will be some negotiation and some trade off, and we need to get to that, but the starting point is the international border.
Question: Thank you very much Congresswoman for this program. I think it's important for you to hear from the Jewish community and the Arab American community, of which I am a member. My question is regarding the kind of comment that people like yourself and the President make from time to time that it is essential that Israel's borders are protected, it is essential that Israel is protected, on and on and on and on about Israel is important for our national security but could you not at the same time also say Palestinian statehood is essential to our national security.
Edwards: I can say that.
Question: Would you invite the President to say the same thing? Because it's well known to the Arab American community and I'm sure that many Jewish people sitting in this people and across our country recognize that in the absence of a settlement of the Palestinian problem there will not be peace in the Middle East.
Edwards: Thank you for your comment. I think I said before I mean I agree with that and I do believe - I just want to want to step back because for so many American who aren't really this deeply engaged I want us to be selfish. I want us to think about what's in the United States' national security interest and what is in the United States' national security interest is for the Palestinians to have a state that is secure and for Israel to have its state that is secure. And that we recognize both those states in the international community, I think that's essential. We can debate whether ought to do it for Israel or we ought to do it for the Palestinians, but what we shouldn't debate about is that we ought to do it for the United States.
Question: Thank you for going and visiting the Palestinian occupied territories. My question is that you have shown us the pile of qassam rockets. Do you have any information about the white phosphorous that Israel used to kill 1,500 in the first few days in the war on Gaza?
Edwards: Here's what I will say about that. Because it's a question I raised when I was in Gaza and I went to the United Nations headquarters there and I saw the area where white phosphorous landed and I know that there was some discussion and some question about whether this was true, and actually we will try to get the clip of it - but we took video when we were there of a young man who is a former army officer - United States army officer and he now works for the United Nations and he was there on the day of the bombing of the United Nations facility and he's a Marylander, actually, and he was almost singlehandedly responsible for getting the vehicles - there were a lot of vehicles there that also were filled with fuel. He was almost singlehandedly responsible for removing those vehicles from the facility because had they been there when the white phosphorous exploded the entire city would have been destroyed. And he, he told us, on camera, and he's also now testified to the United Nations, that he personally, and this is a former Army officer that he saw the white phosphorous, he had had experience with white phosphorous before and they had, I believe the state of Alabama on them. While there we took the video of him describing this to us and his testimony has been before the United Nations and I believe that if it's not up on Brian's website - it's a little complicated getting the video up on the site but I heard him describe this and he was an incredibly incredible first-hand eye witness.
Question: You mentioned at the beginning of your speech that you'd like to see more dialogue on the issue. What would you like to see done in your district and also how can we best support you in your efforts to work for peace?
Edwards: Again, thank you for your question. Again, I think it's helpful for us to do this but each of you comes from a ... maybe you come from a faith community, civil society organization, some of you attend synagogues, others of you attend mosque, others of you attend churches and meeting houses - you can convene these discussions too - that's what you can do with your neighbors and in your communities. And I have to tell you, if we do that here, we'll be an example of how you engage in dialogue in a respectful way, in a way that recognizes differences but also looks for similarities in our vision and in our viewpoint, you could raise your hand if you want in this crowd, but wherever you stand on any of this stuff I bet there is not a single person in here who doesn't really believe in peace. I don't even have a lot of money, but I'm willing to bet that. And so we may share very different perspective on how we get there and what the problem is and stuff, but I know in our community and in our congressional district we believe in peace and so we have an obligation to our friends and our neighbors to engage in the kind of dialogue that will maybe help our President and will maybe help our Secretary of State and Special Envoy Mitchell figure out a different way forward.
Question: Would you please comment on the fact that during the Bush Administration there was a universal agreement that there was an understanding that settlements could grow at their natural pace and we have now gone back on that agreement and we have shown that the United States lacks integrity in its foreign policy and in addition I'd like to comment Christians have left Bethlehem and not Jerusalem. (Edwards: I realized that after I said it) It used to be 80-20 Christians, now it's 20-80 Christians. And also comment is that 2000 Israelis were murdered, that's the reason for the barrier.
Edwards: Let me just respond to a couple of things. One, although it was the Bush Administration's understanding, the Bush Administration didn't share that with the rest of the United States, the understanding, or the international community, and we have a different President who has a distinct and different approach and strategy to this issue. And as I said before I support him in a call for a halt to settlements, whether you call it natural growth or regular expansion. And I want to acknowledge, and I think that I did this early, that I understand why that security barrier is there. But for Israel, Israel right now because it does live under threat, it has to make such enormous investments this security infrastructure and apparatus and I don't want them to have to do that. And so I do support our President's goal of trying to reach a two state solution where all of the parties and all of Israel's neighbors agree to exist in peace. Because I don't want Israel to continue its great expenditure great both personal and other expense of the security apparatus and I don't think Israelis want that either. And I think that the, but I do understand why it was constructed, I do understand the jeopardy under which Israel felt and feels but that isn't a reason that we don't move forward in a different kind of direction both for the Israel, for the Palestinian people and for the United States.
Question: You had said that you agree with the Obama Administration that Israel's settlements are the focus of efforts to restart the peace process. Why should this be more central than any other issue especially in light of Israel giving up territory, Israel gave back Taba and Sinai, Israel has given and given and has given territories back... I have made over 72 trips to the Middle East, including meeting Arafat and the PA, and being in Gaza many times, and being in all the areas many times and been subjected to the bombings in Sderot while I was there volunteering. Why should a people, over 60 years have to put up with this when their own brethren surrounding them doesn't come to their rescue and hasn't helped to settle them in 60 years?
Edwards: I mean I really do. I appreciate your passion and your knowledge but I will say to you that the alternative is unacceptable and unsustainable for Israel's security. And so we're not in a circumstance, let me back up because I do not think the Obama Administration is not focused on settlements but settlement growth is clearly - you only have to look to see that it is a barrier to any peace that involves a contiguous Palestinian state. And that's just clear from the geography. And so I do support the President in his call for a halt to settlement growth and I also think that there is ultimately there is going to be some negotiation and trade off. Will all those settlements stay? I'm not really sure. Will all of them go, probably not. And so there will be room for negotiation, but clearly we have to get to a place where there is a recognized border and a respected border for a contiguous Palestinian state. And while I share the passion that you have expressed about the threat under which Israel has been in the region, we have to call on a new day for our Arab states to engage in cooperation for security and we have to call on, and we have to build up and support, a growing Palestinian civil society and a Palestinian government so that there is a possibility for a government that will be able to function and support it's people and exist in peace. So while I hear the very real passion that is felt by many people in this room. The alternative to continue like this and possibly worse is simply not acceptable.
Question: I wanted to know, will you vote for the upcoming international aid package including aid for Israel?
Edwards: I don't know. (From crowd: "what?") I said I don't know. (From crowd: "Can you repeat the question?") The question was will I vote for the upcoming aid package including aid for Israel. Since I haven't even seen or looked at the aid package my answer is I don't know.
Question: Are you aware of the fact that the barrier, the security barrier, was not built in response to the settlements but was built in response to attacks in Israel proper suicide bombings were in ? (indecipherable), discotechs for teenagers, a Passover seder, and that without the settlements the barrier would still have been built and was effective in stopping the attacks and at the time that the barrier was built 87% of Palestinians supported those suicide bombings according to Palestinian polls and these are the people who are complaining about the hardships of the security barrier. Are you aware of all of those facts?
Edwards: Yes I am. And as I said, I am aware of why the security barrier is there and I am also aware that today you can, what struck me in my visit there was that in Tel Aviv for example, it feels like it's miles away from the West Bank - it's not really, but it feels that way because it feels safer. And in large part a lot of the feeling of safety and security has to do with that security barrier. All I am saying to you, is that for Israel's long-term security interest it would be better for us to invest in the kind of diplomacy that will get a Palestinian state and a recognition of the importance of a secure Israel and a secure Palestine than it will be investing in security barriers. And I don't think that we are, we will not - we're not light years from that and we're not close to it either and that's why we need the leadership of the United States to move these questions forward and as to the settlements they're a patchwork through the countryside and what has developed now is a transportation and security system to protect many of those settlements whether or not the barrier was originally designed for that.
Question: (indecipherable)
Question: It seems to me that in your description of your travels and the description of the intertwining and the denseness of the communities you made a very good case for explaining why there is no room between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. Palestinian Arabs already have a country - they're a majority of the country there. I have a question for you. You use the term "West Bank" as though it was a distinct entity. Would you please explain what you mean by "West Bank" - do you mean Jerusalem and the suburbs of Jerusalem, where most of these so called Jewish settlements are located?
Edwards: Actually when I speak to is the recognized international border and the greenline. I think that is a starting point for determining where it is that a contiguous Palestinian state exists alongside a contiguous state of Israel. And I know that there are those who do not share that viewpoint. As I said I met with one of the leaders of the settlement movement. And as he described to me he said to me, just as you did, that there is no such thing as the West Bank. He said to me that he believes... I asked why they settle across the countryside and across the recognized greenline and he said to me that he believes and I quote "we have a moral claim to the land." And I responded to him that I believe there are a number of peoples who claim a moral claim to the land which is why I believe there needs to be a political and diplomatic negotiation for what happens to resolve this question of where the two states are because we cannot have competing moral claims. When I described to the gentleman this notion that there are competing moral claims he repeated to me that he believed that the moral claims of the settlers were, in his words, and I quote again, "greater than the moral claims that others have to the land." That is not a viewpoint that I share. It is not a basis upon which I think there can be diplomatic resolution of two states. The majority of Israelis do not support settlement growth. That has been polled in Israel over and over again. That is why I believe there has to be diplomatic solution here and that if we can't resolve the questions of security and national interest in the Middle East with competing moral claims to the land.
Question: I wanted to thank you for the ... (indecipherable) you do, it's refreshing. (indecipherable)... it also saddens me to see the division between the Palestinians and the Israelis. I frankly did not see the hope, I just didn't see it. I am sorry to see it. I think unless Obama is willing to push Israel on settlement issues it aint' gonna happen, and I'm hoping that maybe you see some hope.
Edwards: Let me just be clear I think that in the President's speech in Cairo and I am sure there will be more coming from the administration is that there will be a lot of pushing from this administration on a lot of parties. I think the settlement issue is one that has garnered a lot of attention but the President has also pushed the Arab states, not just in their, both in terms of their role in the region in terms of implementing peace but he's also pushed them domestically in terms of their own activities in their own states. The schools that the President pointed to that he believes still foment violence and jihad - he's pushing Arab states on those questions. He's also pushing us. He's pushing us to open up to the notion that the United States has to play an active and engaged role in the Middle East for our own security interest and so I think there's a lot of pushing going on with this administration and that's exactly what's going to happen.
Question: My question is as a US tax payer. Why should I see my government use my tax money to support terrorists, kidnappers, murderers, haters of the United States, and people who celebrated 9-11 as a good thing?
Edwards: I think what you should do is see your taxpayer dollars invested in the kind of diplomacy that will ensure that we don't have another 9-11.
Question: I want to commend you for your courage. I am not speaking of courage to face any personal danger because I was also in Israel and the West Bank around the same time you were, for two weeks with a fact finding group of Americans, 26 of us, we went to Nablus and many other places but I never felt in any personal danger. But I hope and pray and I want to encourage you to have even more political courage in the coming year. What further steps can you take in working with other members of Congress in both houses because there's a sense of urgency I think many of us feel (indecipherable) that this needs to be time for Middle East peace. Could you perhaps form a caucus "yes we can Middle East peace."
Edwards: That's an interesting idea. Just what Congress needs is another caucus. Here's what I will say and these will be my closing remarks. I think we have a lot of work to do. Clearly we have that work to do here in our own community. And the President has a huge task ahead of him to do what needs to be done on behalf of the United States to pursue peace and that is not an easy task. My commitment to you is that we will continue our conversation and we should feel free to reach out to my office and there will be a number of issues that will come up over the next several weeks and months and I'm willing to talk about them with anyone and at any level. We may not agree. There may be some in this room or others not in this room with whom we may never agree and that will just have to be true. But it's also true that with the resident of the United States that there will be plenty of people who do not agree with him and plenty of people who for whatever reasons do not want him to pursue an agenda of peace and those of us who believe in it, who believe in what I'll describe as both a secure Israel and a secure Palestinian state have an obligation to pursue peace. We do. And so that's the agenda I'm going to be on. And so it's not going to make everyone happy but that's just the way it will be. And I look forward to your continued thoughts and your continued dialogue and again I appreciate the fact that you chose this Monday evening to spend your evening here and we'll see where things go from here.
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'What' controversy?
Edwards' discussion of Israel spawns big 'huh?'
by Adam Kredo
Staff Writer
What?" That four-letter question greeted Rep. Donna Edwards' uncertain response earlier this week when she was asked whether she would vote for aid to Israel.
The quizzical response was offered by several attendees at Monday's "Community Conversation on Israel, the West Bank and Gaza," hosted by Edwards (D-Md.).
"It was a very weird moment," said Elaine Senter, one of about 200 who had gathered at the White Oak Middle School in Silver Spring for the event.
Fielding questions from members of the audience, the freshman lawmaker was asked if she would vote in favor of a $48.8 billion foreign appropriations bill currently on Congress' docket that includes $2.22 billion in security assistance for Israel.
"I don't know," Edwards responded, eliciting a chorus of remarks from audience members that seemed to signal stunned confusion.
"What?" "What was that?" "What did she say?" murmured several attendees, as they stirred in their seats.
"I said, I don't know," Edwards responded in a louder voice. "Since I haven't seen or looked at the upcoming aid package, the answer is I don't know."
Senter, a former president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, believes the flummoxed attendees were simply "stunned by" Edwards' answer. "I got the impression that she had no intention of voting for it," she added.
Sheldon Sacks, also from Silver Spring, had the same interpretation of Edwards' rejoinder.
"To me, that was the telling point, that here's someone who is going to vote against" foreign aid to Israel, said the 66-year-old. "My wife and I were both very stunned because we thought it was really out of line."
However, Todd Gardner, the Silver Spring resident who asked the question, doesn't believe that Edwards' answer amounted to a renunciation of the aid package.
"I didn't see it that way," said the 54-year-old, explaining that "the gasps" likely came from staunch Israel supporters who expected an "explicit" affirmation from Edwards.
Rather, Gardner added, "I was very surprised that she said she hasn't seen" the bill, given that it was approved by the House Appropriations Committee nearly a week before Monday's program.
Asked on Tuesday to clarify her remarks, Edwards provided a statement that said she fully supports aid to Israel, but had concerns about the aid package in regard to Afghanistan.
"I ... understand that the safety and security of Israelis are dependent on this foreign assistance," Edwards said in the statement. "My goal is to move our nation and Israel in a direction where this kind of security apparatus is unnecessary, but until then I support the United States continued assistance to our ally Israel."
Tempers flared repeatedly during the session, as questioners of varying political persuasions -- from staunch pro-Israel supporters to Muslim advocates -- asked Edwards about such topics as Israeli settlements and the recent war in Gaza.
In fact, when one questioner asked Edwards if she would pressure the State Department to demand that Israel investigate alleged war crimes resulting from Operation Cast Lead (something the Israel Defense Forces has already done), she responded, "I'll think on it."
"It's important for Israelis to step up and take the responsibility that they do for their own operations," Edwards said, praising Israeli nongovernmental organizations for pressing the issue within the Jewish state. (An April Jerusalem Post article reported that an IDF investigation into purported war crimes during Cast Lead found that "throughout the fighting in Gaza, the IDF operated in accordance with international law.")
However, Edwards added, "it's a tougher call for the United States to step in" from the outside and urge that an investigation take place.
"Higher on my priority list," she said, is trying to "encourage" the State Department to "encourage the Israeli government to allow more and more goods and people to cross the border" into Gaza.
Edwards would return to that issue repeatedly throughout the evening, lamenting the difficulty that both Palestinian and Israeli Arabs face in navigating between the territories and Israel proper.
"Your capacity to travel is very different" depending on who you are and where you live in Israel, Edwards said. "When I see elderly people and children in need of medical attention having to wait and have things figured out for them [at a border crossing], ... that is a problem."
Edwards, who has come under fire from those in the Jewish community for her perceived Middle East views, had a few words for those who label themselves "as staunchly pro-Israel."
"What I say to them is, 'I'm pro-Israel, too!' I don't think there is any difference between being pro-Israel and pro-peace in the region."
Homogeneity of opinion within the Jewish community is a myth, Edwards said. "I'm African American, so when people say to me, 'African Americans think so and so,' it is about the most deeply offensive thing I can hear because it's not a monolith. Neither is it a monolith among Jews."
Before the question-and-answer session -- in which Edwards refereed squabbles between passionate audience members -- Edwards narrated a PowerPoint presentation of her recent trip to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
Toggling between images of devastation in the Gaza Strip, the narrow corridors of Jerusalem's Old City and the West Bank territories, Edwards said that her journey through the region has helped "to clarify some of my thinking in what needs to happen next" along the bumpy road to peace.
That vision, Edwards explained as images of her trudging through rubble in the Gaza Strip passed across a large projection screen, includes amping up U.S. intervention in the region, putting a stop to all Israeli settlement activities and moving toward "a two-state solution that's real."
Asked if a road map to peace should require an explicit Palestinian admission that Israel is a Jewish state, Edwards replied, "What's really important is that the U.S. recognizes and validates Israel's right to exist as its own sovereign state and in security, and [that] its neighbors recognize the same thing."
Pressed on whether the precise language in such a statement would include the operative word "Jewish," Edwards said, "Whether or not those exact words have to be said before one can proceed with negotiations ... is [something] our diplomats are going to have to answer."
As far as the "notion that we have to wait until there is a unified government from Gaza to the West Bank before we begin a process of moving toward a two-state solution," Edwards said bluntly, "I don't share that view."
Children, she said during the photo session, provide both a glimmering hope and grim reality in the region.
"There were just children everywhere" in Gaza, Edwards recalled. "For me, it says what the opportunity is and what the danger is -- because [Hamas has] free reign now, [they] have been able to politicize [the children] in a way that is not helpful to security."
In a nod to her detractors during the Q&A session, Edwards said, "We can certainly have differences of strategy and even policy," but it's ultimately necessary to work it out through a dialogue -- "I may not be doing this perfectly, but this is what I'm going to do."
Following the conversation, Harry Appelman, a co-leader of the Southern Maryland chapter of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, said that Edwards "did a great job of responding to diverse voices."
"I was fearing there might be this hostile [feeling] from the more hawkish" segment of the Jewish community, Appelman said, ultimately characterizing the crowd as a "good mix" of players on all sides of the Middle Eastern divide.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, July 03, 2009
Article comment by:
Rosalind Feldman
Sitting next to me was an activist from the Democratic Party, who headed an African American coalition in Md. Each time a pro Israel person commented she said negative things under her breath, but loud enough for those around her to hear. She lves in Columbia. The meeting seemed overwhelmingly attended by really anti Israel types who verbalize the slogan of "peace" as an excuse for overriding justice for Israel. They have a concern for the Palestinians, but are heartless towards Israel, and would definitely shed crocodile tears if Israel was destroyed. The meeting was not well advertised in Md. Congressional District 4. Edwards is not representing my point of view and I am her constituent, not by choice, but by law.
Posted: Thursday, July 02, 2009
Article comment by:
Marlene Cohen
I spoke with you after this event. I think this is a good article, with lots of good detail on Edwards' comments. But it doesn't note the surprising fact that many, perhaps most,in the audience supported her desire to push for peace...you seem to seek the extremes here more than the middle, where the majority was that evening.
She noted the homogeneity of Jewish voters is a myth - you might have pointed out that the audience composition attested to that claim. In particular the headline is misleading..."I haven't seen the bill" does not mean I won't vote for it. People are paranoid.
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