US: Israel Policy Forum Encourages Rice to Engage Hamas for Peace

As Israel has wound down it's super-aggression in Gaza after the recent blitzkrieg attacks which killed over 130 Palestinians gained them world scorn, Israel is STILL implementing extra-judicial assassinations and closure on Gaza.

Our own pro-Zionist government just had it's own presidential candidate, John McCain visit who again reiterated the Bush administration's refusal to talk to Hamas.

Today the Christian Science Monitor posted this essay, "Should the World Talk to Hamas?" But who really matters when it comes to the possibility of talking to Hamas is raised? It boils down to two entities, the US and Israel.

In that article it refers to a letter which was written to Secretary Rice from the Israel Policy Forum, who on their own website describe themselves as:

OUR HISTORY

Founded in 1993 in the wake of the Oslo Accords, Israel Policy Forum (IPF) has grown to become the most important independent, mainstream organization dedicated to mobilizing American Jews in support of sustained U.S. diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. IPF is increasingly recognized as a central clearinghouse for policymakers seeking to more effectively engage the United States in the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (source)


Furthermore, this organization that wrote this letter to Rice encouraging engaging Hamas has as president currently Seymour D. Reich, no slouch Zionist himself, indeed he is the former president of B'nai Brith and the American Zionist Movement. Read HERE.

So if this organization is writing a letter urging engagement with Hamas then I ask, what are we waiting for Secretary Rice? Or are you pregnant again anticipating more "birth pangs"?

Following is the letter sent to Secretary Rice from the Israel Policy Forum. This is called DIPLOMACY Secretary Rice, something you are SUPPOSED to be doing.

Reaching an Israeli-Palestinian Agreement

Requires Finding a Way To Bring Hamas Into the Process,
Israel Policy Forum Writes to Rice

NEW YORK, March 21, 2008

In a letter sent yesterday afternoon to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel Policy Forum, noting that “we share your concerns over direct engagement with Hamss,” declared that reaching an Israeli-Palestinian agreement “requires finding a way to bring Hamas into the process.”

Israel Policy Forum (IPF), which advocates for sustained American diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between Israel and her neighbors and to actively promote the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, urged Rice “to continue and intensify your efforts to end the violence along the Israel-Gaza border” and supported her “encouraging” a third-party “to determine Hamas’s willingness to establish a cease-fire and to help stabilize the current situation.”

The full text of the letter follows:

Dear Madame Secretary:

We are writing to urge you to continue and intensify your efforts to end the violence along the Israel-Gaza border and to help establish conditions that would enable Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas to implement any agreements they may have reached in their bilateral discussions. Clearly, until all violence ends, any Israeli-Palestinian agreement, no matter how acceptable to the respective sides, will languish on the shelf.

With your determined and sustained personal involvement, a Hamas-Israel cease-fire and a border agreement among Israelis, Egyptians, and Palestinians could be reached. This could facilitate the conditions for reaching a Final Agreement on Permanent Status by the end of the year.

This requires finding a way to bring Hamas into the process. While we share your concerns over direct engagement with Hamas, we believe that it is impossible to achieve an agreement on any of the key issues -- including the release of Corporal Shalit -- without engaging Hamas through some means, simply because Hamas is the governing authority in Gaza.

Furthermore, no progress can be made with a divided Palestinian polity. Abbas cannot make peace alone. Nor can Israel reach a binding agreement with the Palestinian Authority while at war with the de facto Palestinian government in Gaza. Israelis cannot be expected to make the sacrifices needed to establish peace if Hamas, the most violent actor, is not included, at least tacitly.

Accordingly, we support your actions encouraging Arab states such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar or whichever interlocutor you deem appropriate, to determine Hamas’s willingness to establish a cease-fire and to help stabilize the current situation. We say this with the recognition that -- as in the case of Israel's indirect dealings with Hamas to free Gilad Shalit -- no progress can be made if Hamas is totally excluded from the process.

Should a ceasefire be established, we urge you to craft a new regime for protecting the ceasefire, either through international monitors, a multinational force on the Gaza borders, or at least through better coordination among Israel, Egypt, and the Palestinians. A ceasefire must not only be created; it must be sustained.

This is a moment of decision. An immediate end to the Israel-Hamas violence and a rejuvenated peace process are of critical importance to the Israeli and Palestinian people, and to American interests in the Middle East. This is an essential step on the difficult road leading to Israel living in peace and security alongside a stable and peaceful Palestinian state.

The Bush administration should act decisively to help bring an end to the deaths and suffering on both sides and to immediately revive the peace process. Otherwise, the initial gains of Annapolis and the President's trip to the region in January will be lost, and the current American policy will have failed.

Sincerely,

Seymour D. Reich Peter A. Joseph Nick Bunzl

President Chair Executive Director

Source