Soon the prime minister of Israel will be meeting with you for the second time in less than a month and for the sixth time since you took office. I write to urge you, Mr. President, not to let Sharon con you into endorsing his destructive policies.


June 5, 2002

Dear President Bush,

Soon the prime minister of Israel will be meeting with you for the second time in less than a month and for the sixth time since you took office. I write to urge you, Mr. President, not to let Sharon con you into endorsing his destructive policies.

As you are aware, Sharon has rejected every peace proposal put forward to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, be that proposal, Arab, Israeli, European or American. He stood against the U.S. sponsored Camp David Peace Accord that brought about the first peace agreement between an Arab country, Egypt, and Israel in 1979. As well, he was one of the chief opponents of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference. He was consistently against the Oslo Peace Accords, which were signed on the lawn of the White House in 1993. Indeed, he and his party worked day and night to kill Oslo. Furthermore, he insured that every conceivable condition was put forth so that the Tenet Agreement and the Mitchell Plan would never be implemented. Sharon has rejected all United Nations’ effort to resolve the conflict and undermined the Saudi Peace proposal that could bring peace not only between Palestinians and Israelis, but also, between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Mr. President, Sharon is not “a man of peace.” His aims have, heretofore, been those of consistently crushing his enemies and forcing them to surrendering rather than making peace with them.

President Bush, Sharon is not fighting for the survival of the State of Israel. The Palestinians who are struggling for their freedom do not pose a threat to the survival of the Jewish State. In fact, all the Arab armies put together are not a serious threat to Israel. Sharon is crushing the Palestinian people and humiliating them and their leadership to assure the survival of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. I am sure you realize, Mr. President, that these settlements are the main reason for the continued hostilities between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I urge you, as the leader of the free world, to fight terrorism by fighting injustice. Take a righteous stand regarding the injustice of the settlement movement. The theft of Palestinian land and the denial of Palestinian rights to statehood, freedom and the pursuit of happiness, the destruction of Palestinian homes and fields, and the apartheid system that Israel is imposing on the Palestinians, are the cause of the strife that has led to widespread terrorism and the loss of so many Israeli and Palestinian lives.

Most Palestinians, myself included, utterly abhor and condemn incidents such as the recent bus bombing at the Megiddo Junction.  We grieve over the loss of lives and the suffering of our Jewish neighbors.  We look to you, Mr. President, to create an atmosphere in our region that will bring an end to such atrocities.

I pray, President Bush, that God will grant you and your administration, as well as the Congress of the United States, the courage to vote against Sharon’s deceptive policies and the enemies of peace in his government. I pray that you will rally behind Israelis, Palestinians and peace loving people all over the world, who long to see an end to this bloody conflict.

Sincerely yours,

Rev. Alex Awad
United Methodist Missionary
Pastor: East Jerusalem Baptist Church
Jerusalem