I learned that you plan to speak at the "Israel Inspires" rally at Rutgers this Thursday, October 9, 2003. Since the organizers of the event did not send me an invitation, I thought I should share with you my perspective on this matter.

You absolutely have every right to attend any function you deem appropriate. However, I  wish you would reconsider your decision to attend this politically volatile event.

If you must attend and speak, I hope you will urge the attendees to prod Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Occupation of Arab land is the root cause of violence in the Middle East. This advice will most likely engender you loud boos and libelous accusations of anti-Semitism. However, he is a more caring person who warns their friend that they are heading for mortal danger instead of leading them onto a  catastrophic future.  Please make the bold statement that criticism of Israel 's foreign policy and especially as it relates to its treatment of the Palestinians is not synonymous with anti-Semitism. After all, you have been a reliable friend of Israel and no one should question your motives. Please tell them that the illegal military and oppressive occupation is the root cause of violence and bloodshed between Palestinians and Israelis. I hope you will  also that while Israel has the right to defend itself against foreign invaders or acts of terrorism against its citizens, they must also recognize that military supremacy alone will not resolve their long-standing struggle with the Palestinians.

Please also tell Israel and its supporters that they have no right to cause the dispossession of the Palestinians of their homeland, property and human dignity. Please tell Israel and its supporters that the land they built their state on did belong to the Palestinians.

The forcible expulsion of the Palestinians has created the Palestinian Nakba or Catastrophe. More than half the Palestinians now live outside of their ancestral homeland. Almost 4 million Palestinians have been banished and must live in refugee camps throughout the Middle East . The Israel-Palestine conflict is not a black and white issue. It is a deeply entrenched national conflict between two peoples claiming the same land.   Short of a massive ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, Israel has to choose to either end its military occupation or annex the occupied territories and establish, between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea , a democratic bi-national or an apartheid state.  

America’s interests will be best served if we use our influence to bring the two warring sides to a peace based on justice as envisaged in part  by successive United Nations Resolutions, Arab League proposals and President Bush's 'Road Map".  Our American foreign policy has been blinded by almost total disregard for the rights of the Palestinian people. We have always, and to our detriment, viewed the Middle East only through the prism of Israel . We have given Israel over $100 billion in aid- a great portion of which goes not to build schools but to build illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian lands and to drive Palestinians off their farms, destroy their schools, hospitals and infrastructure. Some of that money went to buy an M-16 rifle that killed my then eleven years old brother. Our tax money is used to finance the illegal occupation and the subsequent humiliation of the Palestinian people.

Most Arabs and Muslims view this issue to be the central cause of their dislike of our foreign policy. I ask you, Governor McGreevey, which is better for America- to continue support the Israeli oppressive military regime and alienate over a billion people around the world OR to pressure both Israeli and Palestinian leaders into making genuine peace a reality in the Middle East and thus earn the friendship not only of the Israeli people but that of the entire world?  

Like you, I abhor the killing of innocent civilians everywhere. Some Palestinians factions have killed many innocent Israeli- some of whom were Israeli Arab citizens. Yet, so has Israel’s war machine, which, since the Fall of 2000,  has killed over 3000 Palestinians, the great majority of whom never carried a weapon. We hope you will tell Israel that Palestinians mothers also mourn for their sons and daughters when Israel shoots lbs 2000 tank bombs into their residential apartments just as Jewish parents anguish over the loss of theirs when a suicide bomber blows himself inside  a cafe. We hope you will also tell them that Israel 's long-term survival will not be achieved without historic and painful compromises to allow the Palestinians to have a home they can call their Palestine. The formula for peace is well known. It is up to Israel , which has the world's fourth largest army to relinquish its control over Palestinian lands. So long Israel continues to oppress the Palestinians, they will resist ,with whatever means they have, to gain their freedom and sovereignty. Israelis will not be secure and safe in their homes so long Palestinians are also not safe and free in their homes..

Governor McGreevey, If I did not succeed in changing your mind and you still plan to attend the “Israel Inspires’ rally, then I only  urge you to recognize that you also have another equally large audience of Muslim and  Arab citizens of New Jersey who will be listening to your every word. 

I look forward to your favorable reply.

Aref Assaf