...for the week ending March 2, 2007

I. Bills and Resolutions
II. Bush's Double-Standard on Engagement with Syria

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I. BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
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(NON-PALESTINIAN REFUGEES) H. Res. 185: Introduced 2/16/07 by Rep. Nadler (D-NY) and three cosponsors, "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the creation of refugee populations in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region as a result of human rights violations." Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

(NON-PALESTINIAN REFUGEES) S. Res. 85: Introduced 2/16/07 by Sen. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and three cosponsor, "A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the creation of refugee populations in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region as a result of human rights violations." Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Note: This issue has been raised in every Congress since 2003 (e.g., see H. Res. 848 in the 109th Congress), in what is viewed by many observers as an attempt to counter-balance the Palestinian refugee issue by demanding that resolution of claims by Jewish refugees from Arab countries be part of any Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. The effort appears to have become more sophisticated over time, with the more recent versions of the resolution broadening the message to address all non-Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, rather than just Jewish refugees (although it is not clear what other refugee populations the resolutions are referring to, and the Dear Colleague that accompanied H. Res. 848 in June 2006 made clear that the sole focus of the resolution was Jewish refugee claims).

For the record, APN addressed this issue in the Briefing Book for the 110th Congress, urging Members of Congress to:

- support efforts to restart a political process that can lead to resolution of all issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including refugees;

- reject actions that seek to prejudice the outcome of final status negotiations on this issue, bearing in mind the broad acceptance that has already been achieved, informally, of the notion that any solution to the refugee problem will have to be found inside a Palestinian state, rather than inside Israel;

- recognize the existence, too, of claims by Jewish refugees from Arab countries, bearing in mind that resolution of such claims is not an Israeli-Palestinian issue, but rather a bilateral issue between Israel and the countries these Jews fled-it therefore must be dealt with in the context of normalization of ties between Israel and the Arab world; and

- reject efforts to make resolution of claims by Jewish refugees from Arab countries an obstacle in the path of Israeli-Palestinian peace or to hold Palestinian refugees hostage to this issue.

The briefing book is available online at: http://www.peacenow.org/features.asp?rid=&cid=3361

(ISRAELI SOLDIERS) S. Res. 107: Introduced 3/1/07 by Sen. Clinton (D-NY) and 10 cosponsors, "Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Israeli soldiers held captive by Hamas and Hezbollah, and for other purposes." Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. This is the Senate version of H. Res. 107.

Bills/Resolutions on which action was taken:

(ISR-US SECURITY COOPERATION) HR 884: On 2/27/07, the House voted to suspend the rules and pass HR 884, the "Promoting Antiterrorism Cooperation through Technology and Science Act," by a vote of 396-16. The bill calls for U.S. antiterrorism cooperation with specific partner countries, including Israel.

(ISR-US SECURITY COOPERATION) S. 4, Sec. 1201: On 2/22/07 the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs reported out of committee S. 4, the "Improving America's Security by Implementing Unfinished Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007." The version reported out of committee was amended to include (among other things) a new section (Section 1201), entitled "Promoting Antiterrorism Capabilities through International Cooperation," -- with text basically identical to HR 884.

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II. BUSH'S DOUBLE-STANDARD ON ENGAGEMENT WITH SYRIA
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On March 1st APN sent the following message to all Foreign Policy staff in the House and Senate offices, with the subject line:

I wanted to make sure you knew that yesterday Americans for Peace Now (APN) commended Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's decision to participate in talks with Syria and Iran. We applauded the administration for acting on this key recommendation of the Iraq Study Group and reminded the White House that the report's authors urged the administration not to "cherry-pick" from their set of recommendations -- bearing in mind that other key recommendations of the ISG included a "renewed and sustained commitment by the U.S. to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts" and a call for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and Syria.

Commenting on Secretary Rice's decision, APN president and CEO, Debra DeLee, noted: "This welcome policy development would be truly significant if followed by a nuanced policy of engagement with key regional players, as recommended by the Iraq Study Group three months ago. Adopting the ISG recommendations could open the door to a dramatic transformation of the current diplomatic stalemate in the region. It could allow for a resumption of an Israeli- Palestinian as well as an Israeli-Syrian peace process and would give the international community more tools to curtail Iran's nuclear quest."

Paradoxically, this positive development comes on the heels of accounts in the Israeli press just last week of vehement U.S. opposition to the opening of even exploratory talks between Israel and Syria. According to the reports, when Israeli officials asked Secretary Rice how the U.S. would view the opening of such talks, the Secretary replied: Don't even think about it.

As a Jewish, Zionist organization dedicated to enhancing Israel's security through peace and to supporting the Israeli Peace Now movement, APN is appalled by notion that an American administration would actively dissuade Israel from pursuing peace. We are even more appalled that while objecting to Israeli-Syrian contacts, the Administration has no problem engaging in contacts of its own with Syria, when it suits the Administration's agenda on issues not related to Israel.

Commenting on this, Delee noted: "One thing is clear: when the Bush administration is politically engaging Syria, it has no business keeping Israel from taking up Syrian president Bashar Assad's offers to resume peace talks without preconditions. Standing in the way of Israeli- Syrian talks was unjustified all along. Doing so now would add hypocrisy to folly. If the Bush administration wants to be a real friend of Israel, it would facilitate such talks rather then impede them."

Syrian President Bashar Assad has repeatedly called for peace talks with Israel, and Israeli politicians -- from Defense Minister Amir Peretz to Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter -- have argued that it is time to consider engaging Syria to try to achieve a peace agreement. Public opinion polls show that most Israelis support resuming peace negotiations with Syria. In late 2006, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni even appointed a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official to be the special 'project manager' for possible future contacts with Syria."

When the Syrian president says he wants peace, the least President Bush should do is allow Israel to call his bluff," DeLee commented in late 2006. "These days, when the memory of the Israel- Hezbollah war is fresh and Israelis fear another round of war on their northern border, it takes a lot of chutzpa to tell Israel not to even talk about peace with its neighbor...It is bad enough for an American administration to be passive about helping Israelis and Arabs reach peace. It is outrageous, however, for the President to pressure Israel not to negotiate."

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On August 29, 2006, APN sent a letter to President Bush calling on him to publicly clarify that the U.S. does not oppose renewed Israel-Syria negotiations. The letter also urged a reappraisal of the American approach towards Syria, noting that current policy has helped push Syria closer to Iran. More information about the letter is available at http://www.peacenow.org/pr.asp?rid=&cid=2952. The White House sent no response to this letter.

Americans for Peace Now promotes Israeli security through the peace process and supports the Israeli Peace Now movement.

For more information, contact Lara Friedman, APN Director of Policy and Government Relations, at 202/728-1893, or at lfriedman@peacenow.org.