Saturday, November 20, 2021

ZOA condemns Michigan rep’s ‘dangerous two-state solution’ bill

The Zionist Organization of America's Michigan chapter president is condemning the “Two-State Solution Act” proposed by U.S. Representative Andy Levin (D-MI), stating that the act is not “based on a constructive approach.”

The bill, co-sponsored by 24 House members, is “gravely perilous to U.S.-Israel relations, while supporting terrorism against Israel,” wrote ZOA Michigan President Sheldon L. Freilich in a statement.

He noted that the Levin bill would override the 1987 Anti-Terrorism Act that designated the PLO as a terrorist organization, even if the PLO engages in terrorism and even if Hamas becomes part of the Palestinian Authority.

He continued that Levin’s bill would also override the 2018 Taylor Force Act named for a U.S. Army veteran stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist, and also overrides the 2015 Continuing Appropriations Act that bans PA funding if the PA supports International Criminal Court investigations against Israel for alleged crimes.

He added that the bill undermines the military aid that the U.S. gives to Israel, as it bars Israel “from using weapons it receives from the U.S. to defend its citizens in Judea, Samaria, and unified Jerusalem.”

The bill further legitimizes the BDS movement, Freilich wrote, explaining that Levin’s bill would prevent Israel from labelling goods from Judea and Samaria as “Made in Israel,” and would insist upon a label of “Made in the West Bank” instead.

According to ZOA, “This provision is a shameful, government-sanctioned boycott of Israel – and parallels Nazi Germany and Arab League boycotts of Jews and Israel communities,” and moreover would also force Israel’s scientific, agricultural and other agreements with the U.S. to apply only to pre-1967 areas of Israel.

ZOA pointed out that the bill would also cancel prior American determinations on communities in Judea and Samaria, instead declaring these areas and neighbourhoods built in Jerusalem post-1967 as illegal, and that it doesn’t require the PA to resolve the conflict through negotiations while also ignoring Fatah’s “calls to commit acts of terror… throughout Palestinian society… [including] PA school textbooks glorifying martyrdom and inciting hatred of Jews, spouting classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and false history claiming Jews never lived in Israel.”

“The whole purpose of the bill is to empower the PLO and the PA while they support, fund, and glorify terror attacks against [Israel],” Freilich wrote. “The bill works against the most important accomplishment of the Abraham Accords, which is that peace comes when Arab states recognize and have positive relations with the Jewish state – without holding relations hostage to Palestinian intransigence.”