http://www.wrmea.com/archives/July_2008/0807020.html#jimmy_carter
SIDEBAR
A Letter From Uri Avnery to President Jimmy Carter
Tel-Aviv, April 13, 2008
Dear Mr. President:
I am writing to you on behalf of Gush Shalom,
The Israeli Peace Bloc, to congratulate you
on your wise and courageous decision to meet
in Damascus with Hamas leaders and talk
with them on the ways to promote peace
in our region.
I believe this is an act
whose time had come-or rather,
is already long overdue-and I
would have liked the government
of Israel to avail itself of your
position,
your prestige and your tireless energy,
in order to help end the suffering and
bloodshed among both peoples.
As an increasing number of
people are coming to realize,
the policy of boycotting Hamas,
starting on the day that the
movement won the democratic
elections held among the
Palestinians,
has failed utterly and caused
terrible suffering and bloodshed
to both peoples.
The government of Israel,
with the sup****t of the present
U.S. administration, has undertaken
large and small military operations;
constantly sought to foment
civil war among Palestinians;
and imposed an inhuman economic
boycott of the Gaza Strip, which
exactly today reaches a cruel
new peak with the denial of
fuel to a million and half people.
Not only did all these acts
fail to break Hamas' power;
on the contrary,
they resulted in increasing
its popular sup****t and severely
weakening Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen),
who is more and more perceived as a
collaborator,
unable to bring his people any real achievement.
The time has come to turn a new page,
based on recognition of reality:
Hamas is a significant force
among Palestinians, and will
continue to be such,
for better or worse,
in the foreseeable future.
It is impossible to reach an
Israeli-Palestinian agreement-and
actually implement it-without Hamas
being a party to that agreement.
Your visit to our region, Mr. President,
has the potential of imparting an enormous
momentum to removing the obstacles presently
hindering serious negotiations aimed at ending
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the
Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands
conquered in 1967.
To the mind of myself and my fellow activists,
what is most urgently needed at present includes:
* A full cease-fire, between all Israelis
and all Palestinians, which will provide a
safe daily life to the inhabitants of the
Gaza Strip and to those of the Israeli
communities near it;
* Removal of the shameful economic siege,
which is a terrible collective punishment
for the inhabitants of Gaza;
* Achieving at last an exchange of
prisoners which would restore to
their homes and families the captured
Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as well
as a significant number of Palestinian
prisoners;
* Encouraging the creation of a
Palestinian National Unity Government,
representing all im****tant factions and
able to negotiate on behalf of the entire
Palestinian people-instead of the complete
veto which the governments of Israel and
the U.S. at present impose on the creation
of such a government among Palestinians.
It would have been best for all of us, Mr. President,
were you able to go to Damascus with a full mandate
from the government of Israel and from your
successor in the White House, to promote to
the best of your ability the solution to
the conflict in our region and the end to
both peoples' suffering. But even in the
absence of an official government mandate,
know that you are going to Damascus with
the warm regards and full sup****t of the
peace seekers in Israel.
Most Sincerely Yours,
Uri Avnery, former Member of the Knesset,
on behalf of Gush Shalom (The Israeli Peace Bloc)
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