Middle East Monitor / June 25, 2021
Over 70 House Democrats are urging US President Joe Biden to reverse the Trump administration’s “abandonment of longstanding, bipartisan US policy” relating to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, including support for a two-state solution.
The letter, sent to the White House on Wednesday and signed by 73 Democrats, calls on the Biden administration to formally withdraw former US President Donald Trump’s failed “deal of the century“.
With a total of eight demands, the lawmakers focused on Trump’s policy changes which they said brought Israelis and Palestinians further away from a two-state agreement, citing Israel’s 11-day bombardment of Gaza last month.
“This outbreak of violence was a painful reminder that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has no military solution and can only be resolved through diplomacy and a negotiated two-state solution that guarantees the civil and political rights, safety, and self-determination of both peoples,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Toward that end, we urge you to reverse the previous administration’s policies,” they added.
Led by Representatives Gerry Connolly, Peter Welch and Jan Schakowsky, the letter also requests that the White House quickly reopens the US consulate in Jerusalem, reissue State Department and customs guidance to clarify that settlements are inconsistent with international law, and oppose the forced expulsion of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem and throughout Palestinian territory.
“While there are additional steps that both parties to the conflict can and must take to preserve the possibility of one day reaching a two-state solution, we believe the first step for the United States must be to urgently restore American policy positions conducive to the prospects for peace,” the lawmakers wrote.
Representatives Ro Khanna, David Price, Betty McCollum, Marie Newman, Ilhan Omar, Mark Pocan and Jamaal Bowman were among the signatories to the letter.
Several Jewish lawmakers signed in addition to Schakowsky, including Representatives Andy Levin, Jamie Raskin, John Yarmuth, Sara Jacobs, Alan Lowenthal and Steve Cohen.
