Kucinich on Palestine

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By George Karsa
Al-Jazeerah, Feb 28, 2004

As an Arab-American and a lifelong supporter of the rights of the Palestinian people, I have good news for you! In this year's presidential race, there is a candidate who has the wisdom, the courage, and the independence to create a climate in which peace can finally become a reality between the Palestinians and Israel. That candidate is Dennis J. Kucinich, a 4-term congressman from Cleveland, Ohio. Congressman Kucinich not only supports statehood for the Palestinians, thus removing the single greatest source of anti-American sentiment throughout the Arab and Muslim world, but is the only candidate that has a clearly-defined plan for ending the occupation of Iraq and bringing our troops home within 90 days of his election. Dennis Kucinich is also the only candidate that has a plan for creating a just and lasting peace in both Iraq and Palestine. Leaders in national Muslim organizations like CAIR, ISNA, and the American Muslim Alliance have expressed support for Kucinich. Among the reasons cited by Muslims for supporting Kucinich
are:

1. Kucinich's opposition to the Iraq war.

2. Kucinich's support of Palestinian rights.

3. Kucinich's opposition to the civil liberties-shredding Patriot Act.

4. Kucinich's proposals for universal health care and expanded public education are consistent with their religious beliefs about providing for the less fortunate.

Based on several factors including legislative votes as well as sponsorship of legislation not voted upon, Rep. Kucinich has supported the Arab American Institute's preferred position 100% of the time. Dennis Kucinich is a statesman whose heart speaks of peace and reconciliation. The one concern that voters tend to express about supporting Kucinich is: Is he electable? In reality, this is the wrong question. The right question is: Will we elect him? That's why I urge you to support his candidacy and spread the "good news" by encouraging your friends, your family and your organization's membership to vote for him in your state's primary and in November's presidential election. Attached and below is the transcript of the response by Congressman Kucinich to a question about Palestine and Israel. Please contact me at gmkarsa@webtv.net if you would like for me to send you an audio CD of this response (which also includes excerpts from other
speeches.) Additional information can be seen at the Kucinich website at www.kucinich.us.

Specific pages of interest include: www.kucinich.us/supporter_resources/issuespdfs/ArabAmericans.pdf
(requires Adobe Acrobat reader) www.kucinich.us/issues/arab_americans.php (doesn't require Acrobat) The Arab American Institute's profile of Kucinich can be seen at www.aaiusa.org/kucinich_quotes.htm.

George M. Karsa
Co-chairperson Prescott4Kucinich
Prescott, AZ
gmkarsa@webtv.net

(928) 771-9426


TRANSCRIPT OF DENNIS KUCINICH'S RESPONSE TO AUDIENCE QUESTION CONCERNING PALESTINE

Question: Can you talk for a second about the plight of the Palestinians and our role, our support of Israel?

Dennis Kucinich: Let's start with where we are at this moment. The President of the United States needs to be able to construct a climate where both Israel and the Palestinians can survive. I mean, we have to agree that peaceful coexistence is not only a possibility, it is an imperative. So then, how can we proceed? As President of the United States here is how I would proceed: I would approach Ariel Sharon, assure him of my support for Israel, and ask him to take down the wall.

I would assure him of my support for Israel and ask him to stop building new settlements. (Applause) I would assure him of my support for Israel and ask him to agree that it's necessary to have an autonomous Palestinian state. (Applause) And it is not enough for the United States simply to advocate an autonomous Palestinian state, because political autonomy is not substantive unless you have economic autonomy. So, the United States must play a role with Israel and the world community in helping to rebuild the Palestinian areas and the new Palestinian state which would mean this: to build new housing, to build new schools, hospitals, roads, to create a new infrastructure so that people really have the basis to be able to survive, which they don't have right now.

The United States can play a very powerful role in helping to bring about peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and we can help to create a bargaining environment which is conducive to the parties agreeing to the following: the parties must come to an agreement - and we can help produce the climate - on the critical issues of the sharing of water rights so there's no wars over water rights in the future, and on providing mutual security, each for the other. There has to be an understanding that the security of one depends on the security of the other. That kind of mutuality will be confidence-building and will help to create the possibility of the parties agreeing on two of the most vexing issues, borders and right-of-return. But we cannot impose those decisions on the Israelis or the Palestinians. But we can create a climate of mutuality where they can get to that.

Furthermore, the United States needs to do something else. We must understand that we cannot put our foot on the accelerator of war anywhere in the world and expect that it's not going to have a destructive, undermining effect on our ability to keep peace in the Middle East. (Applause) Wherever I go around the country these issues come up and there's always this tendency - because there's so much anger out there about conditions.- there's always this tendency to try to draw forth statements of condemnation But we can take guidance from Lincoln in his second inaugural (address) when he said "with malice towards none and charity for all."

We have to be careful about adding to the climate which makes irresolution the order of the day. And so as President, I intend to go into those conditions with the intention of helping our brothers who are killing each other, solve their differences so that most, so that all may survive, because when we have that kind of karma where brother is killing brother, I do not believe it is for us to take one side so that the brothers can keep killing brothers. We need to help both come together and survive and keep the prosperity, and I intend to do that.

he can't get elected in this country. You must be with Israel on all counts, no matter what, or you will never be able to be President of the US. It's just that simple.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Talk about ideological purists! Anyone who doesn't support DK needs their politics checked.

I like some of his views, but I don't think some of his policies (especially with regards to MidEast) would be good for America.

Any other requirements we "should" have?

a reasoned, adult analysis of this particular issue! Dennis explains in a fair, even-handed way how we and the palestinians and Israelis can come together and be better than we all were before. The fact the this man has no platform from which to educate and lead is the greatest of indictments of our country.

;)

to hide behind. :hi:

Just imagine if the "frontrunners" didn't have the media to hide behind.

They might have to talk about real issues.

TWL

that would be - er - anti-Semetic. oh, wait, this is what most Jewish & Arab Americans want.

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=2003081419122329

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=319461

..

great article (George Karsa is a friend of mine and he's been working hard for Dennis)

...which is the name that the particular piece of land located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea has been historically called for the last 2000 years. It is the southwestern corner of a piece of land that has been known as "Greater Syria" since the days of the Persian Empire.

Unfortunately, your dismissal of Palestine (and its people) is why we have the problems there in the first place.

The modern state of Israel didn't just magically appear on a piece of vacant land in 1948: there were people already living there, whose family roots went back hundreds, maybe thousands of years. The new jewish settlements didn't happen just on vacant land: they were built over existing Palestinian towns and farms.

Methinks you need a history lesson. Go have a read and tell us once again how Palestine doesn't exist.

:eyes:

He is very dedicated to the Palestinian people and has had programs and shown some very troubling vidoes on the Israel/Palestine issue at our local library. We are all connected and to keep killing our neighbors is so sad & unnecessary.

He is also a very strong DK supporter in Prescott, AZ.
(Great article, George.)



Peace
DR

Dennis Kucinich has been morally and ethically correct on virtually every subject that will guarantee political defeat.

Israel is the microcosm of world folly: its very existence is a result of religion, passion, denial and guilt, and it presents a situation that is almost, by definition, unsolvable.

You can't say that Israel is out of line in America and not be run out of town for it. You can't say that Jewish influence in American Politics pertaining to it is too great and too unassailable. You just can't.

Religious hatred in Eastern Europe in the nineteenth century caused Jews to return to the Holy Land, the world's denial or outright culpability in the attempted genocide of a persecuted people propelled many more to form a State there, and collective world guilt at having done nothing allowed it to happen. Intractable peoples, both with legitimate issues, were allowed to deepen the divide by more collective world denial, and then unscrupulous leaders and peoples exacerbated the situation for their own gain.

It's a mess, it's an outrage, and if you attempt to say anything about it, you will surely pay.

Why did so many otherwise liberal or lefty Jewish politicians vote for the IWR? Saddam Hussein had paid families of Palestinian suicide bombers and terrorists $25K for their actions. Did Hussein give a fuck about the Palestinians? Hahahaha. Did Nasser? Hahaha. Did Assad? Beats me. Hussein wanted to be the great Pan-Arab Toughguy godking; this was just a means to an end.

Why did Henry Waxman vote for the IWR? Why is the PNAC largely Jewish? What the hell has Syria ever done to us? I guarantee you, had the war been tidier at its end, we'd have "pursued Hussein" into Syria, and this wouldn't have been for any other reason than shoring up Israel's flank; hell, they don't even have any oil...

Kucinch tells the truth. I don't always agree with everything, and the methods are certainly extreme, but he's got it right.

This is just another instance of his uncanny ability to guarantee that he can't be elected or even nominated. At least he brings it all up and gets it at least somewhat into the public forum, but I feel that he's also sapping strength from a candidate who truly can win, and throwing it to a "safer" bet who doesn't have anywhere as good a chance and wouldn't be as effective a leader. Whatever.

Examining his response here, he also doesn't address the issue of the Palestinian strain that vows elimination of the Israeli State. He addresses the right of return, but what does he propose about the confiscated property? What about representation in the government of Israel, especially with the overwhelming birthrate of the Palestinians, attempting to swamp the Jews with numbers? Hey, I don't have an answer either.

He's a scrappy guy, I'll give him that. Hopefully his marginalization won't also marginalize everything he stands for by association, but it definitely will to a certain degree.

Then again, without lighting rods like him, many things would simply get swept under the metaphorical rug.

One thing to be mindful of, too: just because he attacks things headlong with extreme solutions to get to the final perfection immediately doesn't mean that he's infinitely "better" than progressive or liberals of the more careful type. Process is not equal to goals. Forthrightness plays very well, but it doesn't WORK very well, especially in an evenly split electorate.

As for the ME issue, though, it's just a nightmare, and anyone who attempts to question Israel too much in American Politics will pay dearly for the honor.

regardless of the perceived consequences for him personally.

I've also been annoyingly vocal about reminding the more strident blocs that his supporters have been the most gentle, tolerant and downright nice of the partisan camps, even though they have more to ethically crow about than the others.

Of late, there's been a bit of ickiness that's essentially saying that anyone not following his particular course doesn't want to wind up at the same destination. It's all understandable, but it's a dangerous trap to confuse method with values or intent.

In addition, I'll also say that going so extreme at times of danger can backfire, and also that some things like the immigration policy are inviting disaster, but there's no escaping the truth: the guy's got a moral compass and an underpinning of strength and integrity that's beyond reproach. Hell, even when he was against abortion, you had to hand it to him as an original thinker and philosophically consistent: he was against the death penalty, against killing animals for food and against terminating pregnancies. (Anyone who's ever seen an ultra-sound knows that it's not an easy question to address.)

I also like to remind the purists and harsh partisans of other candidates that Kucinich likes Edwards; this says a lot for both of them.