On Jan. 20, members of the NH House State-Federal Relations and Veterans Committee will hold a hearing on HCR 7 which, if passed by the House and Senate, would “reaffirm support for the nation of Israel and the location of the embassy of the United States therein.”
The full resolution states: “Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring: That we reaffirm our strong support for the Jewish people and our truest ally in the Middle East, the Nation of Israel; the recognition of the current and historical capitol of Israel being in Jerusalem; and the location of the embassy of the United States now finally in Jerusalem where it should have been and where it should remain.”
Here are some questions for the committee to ponder before they vote.
Would you support a country that practices apartheid against Palestinians, according to the world’s largest human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, and, in agreement, its Israeli counterpart, B’Tselem? By the UN’s definition, apartheid is a crime.
Would you support a state arresting, abusing and jailing children as young as 12, and then coercing them into signing “confessions” without having a lawyer or parent present?
Would you support a nation that allows violent “settlers” who live on illegal “settlements” on stolen Palestinian land to attack and even kill Palestinians? Under international law, these “settlements” are illegal. Some extremist Israeli “settlers” burn olives trees, some of which are almost 800 years old. Such trees are the lifeblood of many Palestinian farmers.
Would you support a county that daily dehumanizes, degrades and demonizes Palestinian human beings who have lived under a brutal military occupation for 54 years?
Would you support Israel, a wealthy nation that enjoys universal healthcare, free tuition for college, and has one of the world’s most powerful militaries, by having New Hampshire taxpayers send $18,373,207 per year (NH’s share of the annual $3.8 billion) to this country?
Might that money be better used in New Hampshire for affordable housing, for healthcare, for our underfunded public schools, and for the Division of Child Youth and Family Services, so that children such as Elijah Lewis and Harmony Montgomery would have been better protected against harm?
Would you support a government that arrests and imprisons (and often tortures) Palestinians without any specific charges that are referred to as “administrative detention?” Israel has no constitution and no habeas corpus. Thousands of Palestinians languish in Israeli prisons even as some have gone on hunger strikes to express their contempt for such practices.
I believe Resolution HCR 7 is counterproductive for both Israelis and Palestinians. Some say the desired goal is to create a system or a situation wherein Israelis and Palestinians may either live together in a single state, enjoying the same rights.
Or, others say that the most viable situation is to agree to create two states with all people, Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Muslims and Christians, enjoying and having security, freedom and civil and human rights within each entity.
Finally, isn’t this resolution essentially unconstitutional for New Hampshire or any other state to support a foreign country and its policies, especially where they may pertain to treaties or possible wars?
In addition, committee members should be informed that by UN agreement, Jerusalem was to be a shared international city. This status was confirmed in UN General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948, which maintained the position that Jerusalem be made an international city, under United Nations supervision. Clearly, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem violates Resolution 194.
I urge the House State-Federal Relations and Veterans Committee to vote against this resolution. In voting to support HCR 7, the committee would be complicit in supporting a nation, Israel, that denies millions of Palestinians, Muslims and Christians, of their basic human and civil rights.
(Will Thomas is a member of NH Veterans for Peace. He lives in Auburn.)