Following is a letter from Salomon Benzimra, co-founder of Canadians for Israel’s Legal Rights (CILR), to US Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the Middle East peace process.
Dear Mr. Secretary of State:
Back in February 2014, I sent you a letter (acknowledged by State Dept. as Incident #140215-000660) urging you to refrain from pursuing a “peace process” the basis of which has been flawed since its inception.
I followed it up with a second letter on May 14, 2014, in which I stressed the futility of such a pursuit in light of the duplicity of Palestinian leaders eager to join international conventions, in material breach of the Oslo Accords, and their desire to strengthen their alliance with the terrorist organization Hamas.
While recognizing your laudable perseverance in the search for peace, I tried to impress on you the obvious: the stubborn unwillingness of the Palestinians to sign any peace treaty, due to their pathological hatred of Israel.
That hatred burst out once more with a fury of Palestinian random stabbings and shootings of Jews in various parts of Israel during the past few days.
But your reaction to this Palestinian frenzy of terror was most disappointing. In your speech at Harvard on October 13, 2015, you insidiously exonerated the Palestinians on account of their “frustration” due to “a massive increase in settlements over the course of the last years.” Your analysis of the situation is simply appalling, in spite of your late lame retraction. I fully concur with Elliott Abrams who characterized your observations as “mistaken, ill-informed…morally obtuse and factually wrong.”
It is now apparent that after many years as Secretary of State you are still impervious to the most basic facts pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Your relentless pursuit of the chimerical “peace process” is driven by an ideology that proved to be bankrupt long ago.
And so, Mr. Secretary, I take the liberty to offer a suggestion. Spare yourself another debacle in the wake of the Iran deal. Do not fly to Jerusalem. You will only be adding tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, thus exacerbating the threat of climate change – the new priority of the Obama Administration. By staying home you will contribute more to peace than by remaining actively involved in a conflict you never understood.
Most respectfully
Salomon Benzimra, P.Eng.
Canadians for Israel’s Legal Rights — CILR
Toronto, Canada
www.cilr.org