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[Press release]
For immediate release
July 17, 2009
Peter Lippman 206-285-2154
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Linda Frank 253-537-1405
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STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB McKENNA MEETS WITH CONCERNED CITIZENS ABOUT PARTISAN LETTER TO SECRETARY CLINTON
Members of the Save Gaza Campaign and other concerned citizens met yesterday, July 15, 2009, with Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna to discuss his earlier signing of a controversial letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supporting Israel's attacks in Gaza during December and January. The letter of March 30th, signed by only ten of the fifty state Attorneys General, was an exoneration of Israel's prolonged and brutal attack upon the civilians of Gaza.
The group of fourteen who met with McKenna included members of local and national organizations including the Save Gaza Campaign; the Rachel Corrie Foundation; Voices of Palestine; Palestine Solidarity Committee-Seattle; Jewish Voice for Peace; the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation; United for Peace of Pierce County; Olympia Friends Meeting; International Trauma Treatment Program; and Women in Black-Seattle.
A Freedom of Information Act file revealed that upon receiving dozens of messages protesting the letter, Attorney General McKenna's office directed an inquiry to the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco seeking advice on how to counter criticisms. The Israeli consulate assured McKenna's office that the letter he had signed was indeed accurate. However, the group meeting with McKenna yesterday delivered a written rebuttal of the AG letter from ten distinguished international legal scholars and attorneys and pointed out substantial omissions and inaccuracies.
Dr. Steve Niva, Professor of International Politics and Middle East Studies at The Evergreen State College, stated that the letter mistakenly painted the Israeli action as a war for which there was "no choice" and one of self-defense. Dr. Niva, whose research includes tracking statistics related to rockets launched from Gaza, stated that rocket fire had decreased dramatically after a June 2008 ceasefire and only escalated after a November 4th Israeli raid into Gaza killed six Palestinians. Niva noted that when Hamas was elected in 2006 in a free and fair election, the Israeli government "put the clamps on Gaza" and later imposed "what could only be described as a medieval siege." Though the siege continued after the ceasefire agreement, rocket fire significantly subsided. Dr. Niva stated, "Israel had a policy option and chose, instead, a war option."
Tom Nelson, member of the Washington State Bar Association and participant in a National Lawyers‘Guild delegation to Gaza after the Israeli attacks, stated that there were clear violations of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act and that a strong case exists for restricting sales of some U.S.-made weapons and equipment to Israel, as the British government has recently announced it will do. Nelson concluded, "The AG letter to Secretary Clinton was based on faulty facts."
Participants pointed out to McKenna that the partisan letter he had signed on to entirely omitted the essential background fact of the four-decade-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and the history of Israel's strangulation of desperately needed humanitarian supplies into Gaza -- a practice that continues to this day.
Palestinian-American journalist and author Ramzy Baroud, born and raised in a Gazan refugee camp, stated that his entire childhood in Gaza took place "within a humanitarian crisis." Baroud's family came to Gaza when their village in present-day Israel was destroyed in 1948. "This legacy lived with us and was to be relived in the Gaza Strip every day," said Baroud. He described to McKenna how in 1988 his mother was killed in the refugee camp by the Israeli military and how during the recent siege his father died when he was prevented from leaving Gaza to receive urgently needed health care. Baroud stated that his story was in no way unique. "There is perpetual suffering," he said. "It is important to remember that behind the statistics are people with aspirations and dreams that are never realized."
Participants told McKenna that the Attorneys General letter to Clinton not only failed to contribute in a practical way to resolution of the conflict, but encouraged the continued pursuit of failed policies. Bert Sacks, one of several Jewish members of the delegation, said that the letter did not actually support Israel, but only represented the positions of its most extreme factions. Sacks stated, "As someone who lived in Israel for five years, I came to this meeting as much for the sake of Israel's future as for that of the Palestinians. The one-sided and ill-informed support expressed in the letter from the ten Attorneys General is not helpful for understanding the situation and making peace between Israel and Palestinians."
Former King County Executive Tim Hill, who identified himself as an "Evans Republican," expressed concern that in signing the Clinton letter, McKenna had "touched a third rail." Hill recommended that McKenna withdraw his signature.
Attorney General McKenna listened cordially and promised to consult with the group in the event that future questions arise relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He indicated that if the opportunity arose, he would make a point of going to Gaza. McKenna made it clear that he did not expect that the approach taken in the letter would be repeated, but that if another letter were to be circulated, he would reach out to the organizations represented at the meeting to discuss it.
The group meeting with McKenna presented several requests including that he publicly withdraw his name from the Attorneys General letter to Secretary Clinton and call on her to use all diplomatic means to ensure that the governments of both Israel and Gaza cooperate with the U.N. Human Rights Council fact-finding mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone. The Goldstone mission is now pursuing investigation of violations of international law by all parties to the events in Israel and Gaza during December and January. The Attorney General indicated that he would respond to the requests within a few weeks.
Interested members of the media may learn more about the meeting and contact members of the delegation by using the contact information in the heading of this press release.
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BACKGROUND:
Stephen Zunes' article of rebuttal
Letter of refutation by international legal experts
Letter of refutation by National Lawyers Guild president Marjorie Cohn
Alert about the AG sign-on letter, including a copy of the AG sign-on letter and documentation disputing AG letter claims (scroll down four paragraphs)
Amnesty International report on Gaza assault citing Israel's "wanton destruction" and contradicting several main points in the AG sign-on letter
Human Rights Watch report on Gaza assault entitled "Precisely Wrong"
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