FCNL Letter to Administration in Response to Gaza Flotilla Raid

Jun 1, 2010

June 1, 2010

Dear President Obama,

Israel's deadly interception of the international flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials to Gaza is symptomatic of a broader, failed, policy for which the United States as well as Israel and other countries bear responsibility. We urge you to act now to change this policy.

In response to the Gaza flotilla deaths the International Crisis Group noted:

For years, many in the international community have been complicit in a policy that aimed at isolating Gaza in the hope of weakening Hamas. This policy is morally appalling and politically self-defeating. It has harmed the people of Gaza without loosening Hamas's control. Yet it has persisted regardless of evident failure.

We at FCNL agree. We ask that as a first step to change this failed policy you declare that the United States does not support the continued blockade of Gaza. We ask that you follow your statement with diplomatic representations to Israel intended to restore the normal flow of people and goods through the Gaza-Israel border crossings. If you fail to persuade Israel to lift its blockade, we ask that you support a UN Security Council resolution ordering an end to the blockade and take appropriate action to enforce the resolution.

Opening Gaza to normal commercial traffic will end the state of controlled suffering that the blockade has been calibrated to create and will permit the reconstruction of homes, schools, clinics, and the public health infrastructure of electricity, water, and sanitation networks destroyed more than a year ago in the Israeli assault on Gaza.

Opening Gaza to normal commercial traffic will also enhance Israeli security by making it possible to shut down the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. The tunnels have served as a lifeline for the 1.4 million people of Gaza, but they have also permitted Hamas to rearm. Opening the Gaza-Israel border crossings and closing the tunnels will again permit Israeli inspection of all goods entering Gaza.

Reopening the Gaza crossing points will permit restoration of the effective ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that prevailed between July and November 2008. During that period an average of 2.75 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel each month. Since the end of Israel's military action in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, an average of 24.5 rockets per month have been fired into Israel. The ceasefire was nearly ten times more effective in stopping rocket attacks against Israel than Israeli military action.

Beyond ending the Gaza blockade and restoring a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, we urge you to press forward with efforts to achieve a negotiated peace between Israel and the Palestinians. This latest incident with its tragic loss of life again illustrates the destabilizing effects of the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the impediments it poses to U.S. interests in the region. We welcome recent statements by officials of your administration emphasizing the importance of Middle East peace for U.S. interests from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean, as well as for the interests of the peoples of the region themselves. It is time now to move from statements to actions that achieve results. We urge you to act with speed and determination to open Gaza and move forward to achieve peace.

Sincerely,

Joe Volk
Executive Secretary
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