AMP deplores President’s electioneering at AIPAC conference; 
calls on White House to support Palestinian rights

(CHICAGO 03/06/2012) -- The American Muslims for Palestine, a national, grassroots organization whose mission is to educate the public about Palestine and its rich, cultural and historical heritage, today deplores and disapproves the speech President Barack Hussein Obama made on Sunday, March 4 at the annual convention for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

In typical election-year politics, the president compromised American values in his remarks, which clearly were geared to pander to the ultra-right American Jewish vote. By attempting to purchase conservative Jewish support for his re-election bid, Obama sold our values and exposed the hypocrisy in American foreign policy. He supported freedom and liberty for Jewish Israelis but ignored the fact that not only are Palestinians not free, they are oppressed and occupied by the nation he says shares our “commitment to human dignity; a belief that freedom is a right that is given to all of God’s children.”

AMP asserts that such unconditional support in the face of international acknowledgement that Israeli occupation policies are illegal and inhumane weakens the United States as a moral world leader and seriously calls into question our position as the vanguard of global human rights.

The president hailed “more than six decades of friendship between the United States and Israel.” But historical facts seriously call into question whether Israel is an ally or rather a liability. The US sends Israel more than $3 billion per year in unconditional military aid. Add to that amount loan guarantees, free and reduced-cost weaponry, and other grants and aid, the amount Americans send Israel is the equivalent of about $8 million per day, according to the Congressional Research Service.

But what do we get for that money?

Israel has illegally used weapons it’s obtained from the US or purchased with American taxpayer money, such as the use of white phosphorus on civilians during Operation Cast Lead.

Israel has been caught selling US military technology to countries such as China, Venezuela and India.

And Israel has been caught spying on the United States. Jonathan Pollard is one such spy. He currently is serving a life term in prison for giving classified national security and military information to his handlers in Israel.

Mr. Obama called Israeli President Shimon Peres his friend, saying he’s been a “powerful moral voice that reminds us that right makes might – not the other way around.”

Unfortunately, history does not support Obama’s lavish praise. Peres resorted to ‘might’ in many cases; he is implicated in and sometimes directly involved in grisly massacres and murders.

In 1956, Peres was Minister of Defense when Israeli border police were ordered to kill any Palestinian in the village of Kafr Qasem who were outside after curfew. Forty-seven men, women and children were killed as they made their way home from work, unaware of the newly imposed curfew.

Also in 1956, Peres “masterminded” Operation Kadesh, the Israeli war of aggression that lead to Israeli occupation of the Sinai.
In 1996, Peres was prime minister when Israeli Occupation Forces so fiercely shelled the tiny Lebanese village of Qana, people were decapitated and ripped to shreds. In the murder of more than 200 refugees, Israeli forces killed a family of 12 – including a 4-day-old baby, journalist Robert Fisk wrote.

And in 2008, Peres was president when Israeli Occupation Forces slaughtered 1,409 Palestinians – including at least 355 children – in Gaza during three weeks in December 2008 and January 2009.

Finally, Peres was also instrumental in the creation and implementation of Israel’s ‘secret’ nuclear program that has resulted in at least 300 nuclear warheads, according to many sources. Despite Peres’ assurances in 1963 to President John F. Kennedy that Israel “will not introduce nuclear weapons to the region,” the CIA reported in 1968 that Israel possessed four atomic bombs, according to a report by Daniel Moran of the Department of National Security Affairs in the Naval Postgraduate School.

Mr. Obama also reaffirmed US support for Israel’s intentions toward Iran, reiterating that all options were on the table. The American public does not want nor need another war; yet, pragmatic ploys to garner conservative Jewish votes threaten to harm the nation by dragging us into what many experts say will be a catastrophic conflict.

The president boasted that he has stood against every resolution in the Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council that would hold Israel accountable for its egregious and inhumane policies, which continue to violate international law and which deprive Palestinians of their basic human rights.

Finally, Mr. Obama said Palestinians must “reject violence.” AMP asserts the president is turning a blind eye to the occupation, closures, siege on Gaza, checkpoints, Apartheid Wall, and settlements. He is also ignoring the Palestinian civil society’s call for non-violent protests across all sectors of society – from peaceful demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall in places like Nabi Saleh and Ni’iln, to the call for the peaceful boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel. Palestinians have been giving peace negotiations a chance for more than two decades; yet they still do not have their own state, their freedom or their human rights.

AMP declares it is time for the United States to reject the double standards that allow Israel to violate human rights and international law with no ramifications. President Obama must reclaim his moral compass and must vow to stand for dignity, justice and liberty for all people – including the Palestinians. After all, God also created the Palestinians, and Mr. Obama said to AIPAC – freedom is a right guaranteed for all of His creatures.