The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has condemned the Obama Administration for its unprecedented, biased and disgraceful condemnation of Israel for announcing a program of building Jewish homes in eastern Jerusalem, while failing to condemn the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s naming a public square in Ramallah after Dalal Mughrabi, who commanded the terrorists that perpetrated the 1978 coastal road bus hijacking, in which 38 Israelis, including 13 children, were slaughtered; and also failing to condemn Iran’s unrelenting drive to obtain nuclear weapons.

·        On a recent visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Vice-President Joseph Biden condemned Israel for the announcement of forthcoming Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem saying, “I immediately condemned the action” (‘Remarks by Vice President Biden and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas,’ March 10, 2010).

·        Biden’s condemnation was followed by a harsh telephone call to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who, in the words of the State Department, called the Israeli announcement “a deeply negative signal about Israel’s approach to the bilateral relationship and counter to the spirit of the vice president’s trip” (Glenn Kessler, ‘Clinton rebukes Israel over east Jerusalem plan, cites damage to bilateral ties,’ Washington Post, March 15, 2010). Clinton also later described it as being “not only an insult to Biden, but an insult to the United States” (Moshe Dann, ‘A blessing in disguise,’ Yediot Ahronot, March 15, 2010).

·        Israel’s program of Jewish construction in Jerusalem was also described by senior Obama adviser David Axelrod and as being “destructive,” an “affront” and an “insult” (‘Israeli settlement action “an insult”: Obama aide,’ Yahoo News, March 14, 2010).

·        According to the Washington Post, “[President] Obama had approved Clinton’s call, sitting down with her during their weekly meeting Thursday to determine the language she would use. ‘The secretary and the president worked through together the specific points she would be making to Prime Minister Netanyahu,’ deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said … In her call, Clinton appeared to link U.S. military support for Israel to the construction in East Jerusalem … [State Department spokesman P.J.] Crowley said. ‘She made clear that the Israeli government needed to demonstrate, not just through words but through specific actions, that they are committed to this relationship and to the peace process’” (Glenn Kessler, ‘Clinton rebukes Israel over east Jerusalem plan, cites damage to bilateral ties,’ Washington Post, March 15, 2010).

Write, email, phone or fax President Obama. Secretary of State Clinton and your members of Congress to them that Jews have an historical, religious and political right to live in Jerusalem and that building homes for Jews is not an obstacle to peace. Tell them that the Palestinian Authority’s honoring of terrorist Dalal Mughrabi is a genuine anti-peace act that deserves American condemnation, not silence.

In your message, you might consider including some of the following points:

·        The Obama Administration has never ‘condemned’ Palestinian Arab actions of naming streets schools and sports teams after Jew-killers, or the Palestinian Authority (PA) refusing to arrest terrorists, or PA leaders calling Jew-killers heroes and martyrs, as they have done in recent weeks. They have never said these PA actions are ‘destructive to peace’ or an ‘insult’ or an ‘affront to America’ on the rare occasions that they have even referred to these issues.

·        In contrast to its condemnation of Israel, the Obama Administration promotes ‘healthy relations’ between the U.S. and the Arab Muslim terrorist regimes of Syria and Libya; President Obama has even said that we shouldn’t ‘meddle’ in the internal affairs of Iran.

·        President Obama said in a speech to the G-20 Summit that the U.S. will no longer ‘dictate’ to other countries and will ‘forge partnerships as opposed to merely dictating solutions.’ In Middle East, negotiations, he told Al-Arabbiya that the U.S. will henceforth start ‘by listening, because all too often the U.S. starts by dictating’ – but this is exactly how the Obama Administration is behaving towards the human-rights loving ally Israel that is now being treated like an antagonist.

·        Israel never agreed to freeze Jewish construction in Jerusalem when instituting a unilateral (and unreciprocated) 10-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria – but is now condemned by the Obama Administration for building plans in Jerusalem that lie within the scope of this agreement that Secretary Clinton herself supported and hailed at the time as  ‘unprecedented.’

·        There is no reason why Jews cannot live in eastern Jerusalem while 1.2 million Arabs live all over Israel, including in Jerusalem.

·        Jerusalem is Israel’s religious and historical capital. In contrast, it is not mentioned even once in the Quran.

·        When the eastern half of the Jerusalem was under Jordanian Arab control from 1948 to 1967, it languished and became a backwater in which Jewish religious shrines and rights were violated. No Arab ruler other than Jordan’s King Hussein even visited the city during that period.

·        Urge the Obama Administration to rescind its condemnation of Israel and to start condemning Palestinian terrorism, incitement to hatred and murder and glorification of terrorists, in clear language and without delay.

Please urge President Obama & Secretary of State Clinton to immediately defuse the current tension with Israel and to rescind their unprecedented and unwarranted condemnation of Israel.

Please urge Members of the House and Senate to make statements in support of America’s strong relationship with Israel and the need for the United States to work closely and privately with the Jewish state to address any issues between the two governments.

Phone: 202-647-4000; 1-800-877-8339 (Federal Relay Service)

Letter: U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520

Or click here to email Secretary Clinton at the Department of State.

House and Senate members can be reached through the Capitol switchboard at (202) 225-3121 and through our website.